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9/08/2025
No GPS allowed in navigational challenge
Tobi Hlavnicka’s Ford Bronco is her daily vehicle for work commutes, school drop-offs and errands. This October, it will be her most valuable piece of equipment for a 1,500-mile, off-road rally through remote stretches of the American Southwest.
Hlavnicka, along with team partner Cara Carlson, make up team Raptor Rex. The Great Falls duo will make its third entry into Rebelle Rally, an all-women competition in which teams must rely on maps, compasses and math to navigate to checkpoints (as many as 50 in a day) in temperatures that can range from freezing to triple digits. No mobile devices or GPS systems are allowed.
“I’m super competitive naturally,” Carlson told Montana Free Press last week. “But you don’t have to do it to win, you can do it to learn a new skill and sustain yourself for eight days camping and sleeping on the ground, fixing your own rig.”
Hlavnicka said she discovered the rally and impulsively signed up three years ago with Carlson riding shotgun as the navigator. Even after changing a tire in two feet of sand in 115-degree weather, the duo decided to become repeat competitors among teams that range from novice to manufacturer-sponsored.
“We’re what the off-road industry calls privateers,” Hlavnicka said. “We go into this on our own, fundraise, get our own sponsors, have our own vehicle.”
Rebelle vehicles are required to be stock from the factory with few modifications, like upgraded tires and an air compressor hardwired to the vehicle. Hlavnicka and Carlson’s vehicle is the aforementioned Bronco, which is an off-road Raptor model named Rex that Hlavnicka quickly bought after seeing it on a Great Falls showroom floor. They keep a stash of extra air filters on hand to swap out after hours of driving in desert conditions.
On a typical rally day, they wake up at 4 a.m. By 5 a.m., they get their first look at the day’s checkpoint map and spend a couple of hours planning a route. They navigate using a map and a compass while tracking their speed to calculate progress. There is a scoring system for checkpoints, some of which aren’t physically marked on the trail and must be reached by expert navigation.
“Fom there on, there are checkpoints with opening and closing times,” Carlson said. “Some days you can make just nice, steady movement through the course. Other days you are having to push it and skip checkpoints based on time.”
Rally days are 10 to 12 hours long. Team Raptor Rex placed 16th in 2023 and sixth in the 4×4 class last year — the top “privateer” team in the rally.
At home, Carlson works as an architect, and Hlavnicka co-owns a well-drilling company. Both professions require some regular use of maps and schematics. But it took training to get comfortable barreling through a desert landscape, while punching in numbers on a calculator to reach the right latitude and longitude. Flat tires and other vehicle failures cost them time and points and have to be fixed quickly in the field. There are maintenance teams available, but those can cost points as well.
“It makes you find out what you’re capable of,” Hlavnicka said.
The 2025 Rebelle Rally is Oct. 8-18, and the rally website has a live tracking feature that allows you to follow team progress.
County detention officers face criminal charges
Three Cascade County detention officers have been arrested in less than a month, including two for domestic assaults.
On Sept. 2, Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said in a press conference that detention officer Joshua Yellow Owl was arrested and charged with partner or family member assault and tampering with a communication device, both misdemeanors.
Slaughter said that on Aug. 31, Yellow Owl attempted to break a woman’s arm and struck her while she attempted to call for help. A witness saw the alleged attack, and Great Falls police arrested Yellow Owl, who was initially held in the Chouteau County jail. Court records show he pleaded not guilty to the charges Sept. 2.
The announcement follows a similar press conference Slaughter held earlier in August, during which he announced that another county corrections officer, Lloyde Ogden Jr., was arrested for partner or family member assault and felony assault with a weapon. Ogden Jr. had a preliminary hearing on Aug. 29 but hasn’t yet pleaded to the charges, court records show.
“These allegations are shocking and unacceptable,” Slaughter said at the Sept. 2 press conference. “Domestic violence is a crime that will never be tolerated in Cascade County, regardless of who commits it.”
Separately, Cascade County deputies arrested detention officer Breana Rowe on Aug. 24 for driving under the influence, speeding and driving without insurance. Rowe pleaded not guilty to the charges in Cascade County Justice Court.
Ogden Jr. is on unpaid administrative leave. Yellow Owl is on paid administrative leave, and Slaughter said that it’s still early in the legal process to determine whether it will be unpaid.
City eyes ‘tip of the spear’ in development talks
City officials may look to play a more prominent role in development plans and explore ways to fund the critical infrastructure that supports that growth.
During a Sept. 2 meeting, city leaders and commissioners discussed a lengthy memo written by City Manager Greg Doyon that outlined some of the challenges in attracting commercial and residential growth to Great Falls. The memo also provided a framework for action the commission could take to add oversight in the development process and, crucially, fund the sewer, water and road infrastructure that can be some of the most expensive pieces of construction.
“Is the way the city is participating too passive for the moment at hand?” asked Brock Cherry, planning and community development director, at the meeting.
On oversight, the city may look to hire a strategic development officer, a position that could potentially be funded through the city’s tax increment finance district funds. Such a position could help the city be closer to the “tip of the spear” in development discussions, as officials described, so that infrastructure challenges and costs can be addressed sooner.
The person in this position would need to be “exceedingly diplomatic,” according to Doyon. They would represent the city’s interests while dealing with private developers and public-private organizations like the Great Falls Development Alliance, which often works to recruit companies to do business in the region.
Representatives for GFDA weren’t available to comment Friday.
City commissioners said they would like to see a proposal for the strategic development officer position, which could be presented within weeks.
“We’ve been talking about this for 20 years, and we need to do something very different,” Commissioner Rick Tryon said. “And I think we have the right people in place.”
As for funding infrastructure, the commission moved earlier this year to raise utility rates that will contribute to a development fund that could help build capacity in the public water and sewer systems. But the city may explore other options, such as impact fees or special improvement districts, that would help fund those projects as new developments break ground. Those options will require commission approval.
One takeaway is that in today’s environment, builders who make massive investments in property are looking for more investment from cities on the underlying infrastructure, according to Doyon. Historically, private developers have shouldered most of those costs, but going forward it may require more from the city.
“Theyre looking for a partner,” Doyon said. “And so that may be hard for some to hear but that is the reality of conversations.”
5 things to know in Great Falls
Great Falls Fire Rescue Chief Jeremy Jones has been named deputy city manager for Great Falls. Jones has led the fire department since 2020 and will make the transition to the new role over the next month. Former Montana Department of Justice official Bryan Lockerby has been in the interim deputy city manager position.
A new developer is poised to prepare 20 lots at Eagle’s Crossing for new homes. After stalled development for more than 15 years, Cascade Communities has purchased the unbuilt property, and the Great Falls City Commission has allowed the company until 2026 to install sewer and water infrastructure. Cascade Communities is an affiliate of the Billings-based real estate firm Oakland Companies. The original developer of the neighborhood, Eagle’s Crossing LLC, was led by former Congressman Matt Rosendale. That company failed to fulfill its development plans amid the Great Recession.
The city will sell its former recreation center building to the highest bidder with a minimum price of $800,000. The facility, at 801 2nd Ave. N., has been out of use by the city and has a third-party lease in place. City Manager Greg Doyon told commissioners at a Sept. 2 meeting that an appraisal helped to set the minimum price and that the highest valid bid will take the property. A bid announcement is expected soon from the city.
The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration and congressional Republicans could seek to eliminate the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. The grants, part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are heavily used in Great Falls, with $200,000 to $300,000 awarded annually in recent years. According to an annual action plan, the city received $226,000 in HOME funds for 2025. The money is earmarked to support NeighborWorks Great Falls’ downpayment assistance program and support affordable housing programs in the city.
NeighborWorks Great Falls and Great Falls Public Schools will break ground on the 48th High School House this week. The project puts students to work to build homes and learn trade skills while adding affordable housing within the city. The program began in 1997. This latest project is at 1314 6th Ave. S., and the
