No Snow Cancels Montana’s Premier Sled Dog Race

It's another year of cancellation for the popular "Race to the Sky" sled dog races in the Blackfoot Valley.

And it's no mystery that the lack of snow is to blame.

Organizers announced today they're canceling the races, which had been set for their usual starting date in mid-February. Pam Beckstrom tells me directors decided there's not enough snow, and lots of frozen, bare ground that makes it very hard on the dogs. Also, it's been a tremendous effort trying to clear trails after last month's windstorm, and Beckstrom says everyone worked to find alternatives, but ran out of options.

"Race to the Sky" has had a rough stretch of seasons. The 2021 race was canceled because of COVID, and the 2024 race was also canceled for a lack of snow. And last year's race was cut short because of dangerously cold temperatures.

RELATED: What Record Warmth May Mean for Montana Fire Season

Damaged bridge brings delays on I-90

It's been more of an inconvenience than a major slowdown today, as traffic continues to be diverted around a section of I-90 east of Bozeman where a truck clipped an overpass yesterday.

MDT has been diverting traffic around the overpass at the Bear Canyon interchange, sending eastbound traffic around the damaged bridge using the on and off ramps. Engineers are saying that will have to continue until repairs can be made.

Here comes the cold!

And the long-advertised switch to colder weather starts tonight, as an Arctic front pushes east across the state. Windchills in northeast locations like Glasgow will plunge to 15-below overnight and could be 30-below by tomorrow morning.

      Great Falls and Billings will feel around 15-below as well.

Bodnar gets PAC attack

He isn't even an official Senate candidate, and already, Montana Republicans have launched an attack on departing University of Montana President Seth Bodnar.

In a move that was not unexpected, Bodnar announced Wednesday he would be leaving the leadership post that he's held at UM for the past 8-years. He expressed gratitude for his time at the university, but said he and his wife "would like to consider whether to pursue a new way to serve our state and our nation."

     ️ It's believed that it could be a challenge for Senator Steve Daines as an Independent.

But GOP leaders were ready to pounce, with the Leadership in Action PAC immediately launching an attack ad on Facebook, criticizing him for driving up the cost of education.

The PAC also criticized Bodnar for allowing a transgender athlete to play sports.

Meanwhile, the Montana Board of Regents, with Chair Todd Buchanan saying UM had been "fortunate to be so effectively served by President Bodnar,”

Buchanan said during Bodnar's tenure, Bodnar "has systematically lifted the campus to new levels of excellence, positively impacting the University community and the city of Missoula in innumerable ways."

Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christen will work with the board to set up an "expedited" search for a permanent replacement.

Missoula Police investigation strange discovery

Missoula Police are trying to work out a puzzle… the discovery of blood at a location off River Road, which they are treating as possible evidence of suspicious activity. Detectives are hoping to hear from anyone who might have information to help them sort out what happened.

Explanation given for rare accident

Montana Highway Patrol has worked out the details of what happened when a man was pinned by a truck at a Bigfork cafe over the weekend.

Troopers say the driver of the truck was leaving the cafe when the truck and trailer rolled across the parking lot. They say he tried to free the truck from a utility pole, but when he got out again, he got pinned and died at the scene.