Montana Health officials have announced five confirmed cases of measles in Gallatin County.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services along with the Gallatin City-County Health Department in Bozeman confirmed its the first instance of the highly infectious disease since 1990.

The individuals are children and adults who were exposed to measles while traveling outside of Montana. The cases reside in Gallatin County and are currently isolated at home. All five individuals are unvaccinated, or vaccine status is unknown.

The Gallatin City-County Health Department continues to assess any potential exposures while the individuals were contagious and are contacting the people who may have been exposed, commonly referred to as “contact tracing.” People potentially exposed are being provided with information about the exposure date and disease symptoms to watch out for.

The Gallatin health department has determined that there are points of exposure to the general public. Potential exposures to the public can be found on the GCCHD website and will be updated as needed or as more information becomes available. The spread of measles can occur before people know they have the disease, and before any rash appears. The times listed on the website include the period when the exposure occurred and two hours after.

Individuals who are immune to measles through vaccination, laboratory evidence of immunity, laboratory confirmation of disease, or were born before 1957 are not considered at risk for infection. Individuals without prior measles infection or vaccination have a 90% likelihood of contracting the disease if exposed.

“While it is unfortunate to have cases of measles after 35 years of disease inactivity in Montana, we have been working diligently with our local partners to prepare,” said DPHHS Public Health Physician Dr. Maggie Cook-Shimanek. “We are confident that our public health and clinical partners will work together and address this situation as quickly as possible. It is important for everyone to know their vaccination status and to visit with their health department or health care provider if they are unsure.”

If you are unsure of your vaccination status, here are a few places you can review:

Call your old high school, college, or university and ask if they have vaccination records.
Contact your doctor’s office, urgent care, or pediatrician. Even if you have not been there in years, they may still have records.
Reach out to the health department where you grew up.
Check your home state immunization registries.

Measles is a highly infectious airborne disease that typically begins with a fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, white spots in the mouth and a red rash that appears about 14 days after exposure. The rash usually starts on the face and spreads downward to the rest of the body. It is particularly dangerous for infants for whom vaccination is generally not recommended until 12 months of age. Maintaining a high level of vaccination in the community helps protect infants who are too young to be vaccinated, as well as individuals who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

“Measles is highly contagious and highly preventable with vaccination, and ensuring people are immunized remains our best defense. If people are unable to find their vaccine records, there are no contraindications to receiving an additional dose,” said Dr. Peter Bulger, Gallatin City-County Health Department medical director.

Measles continues to be prevalent in many regions worldwide, resulting in an estimated 300 deaths every day. Cases in the U.S. are generally rare but have been increasing in recent years.

The best way to protect against measles is vaccination. No changes have been made to the existing measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine recommendations in the United States. Two doses of MMR, a measles-containing vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella, are 97 to 99% effective in preventing measles. Measles vaccines have been available in the U.S. since 1963, and two doses have been recommended for children since 1989.

If you are in need of the MMR vaccine, please call your primary care physician as soon as possible.

“We are actively working with individuals who are experiencing symptoms, "said Lori Christenson, Gallatin City-County Health Officer. “We greatly appreciate the cooperation of those involved in helping mitigate further exposures. We encourage anyone who is not vaccinated or unsure of their vaccination history to consider vaccination and to contact your health care provider or GCCHD. By getting vaccinated we protect ourselves and others around us from infection.”

There is no cure for measles once the outbreak has started. It’s a virus and medical professionals treat the symptoms related to the infection.

For more information about measles and the measles vaccine, visit the state health department’s website.

Filing for municipal offices opened Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 8 am and closes at 5 pm on Monday, June 16, 2025. Terms ending 12/31/25 are:

Town of Fort Peck

Alderman
Glenn R Guenther

Alderman
Joseph J French

City of Glasgow
Mayor
Rod Karst

Alderman, Ward 1 Stan Ozark
Alderman, Ward 2 Doug Nistler
Alderman, Ward 3 Danny Carr

Town of Nashua
Mayor
JoAnna Turner

Alderwoman
Ann Mac Donald

Alderman
Darwin Johnson

Town of Opheim
Mayor
Doug Bailey

Alderman, Ward 1
Scott St John

Alderman, Ward 2
Virgil Nelson

In addition, Gregg Fromdahl and Tommy Gonzales were both appointed to their seats on the Nashua Town Council, so those two positions need to be fulfilled for the remaining two years of the terms. That means that all five members of Nashua’s Town Council are up for election, three for 4-year terms that will expire 12/31/2029 (Mayor and 2 council seats) and two for 2-year terms that will expire 12/31/2027 (2 council seats).

Opheim has the same situation; Coreen Schumacher and Les Redfield were both appointed to their current seats on the Opheim Town Council. Once again, those two positions are open for filing to fulfill the remaining two years of the terms. Like Nashua’s Town Council, all five members of Opheim’s Town Council are up for election this year, three for 4-year terms that will expire 12/31/2029 (Mayor and 2 council seats) and two for 2-year terms that will expire 12/31/2027 (2 council seats).

The Primary Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

USDA is planning to severely slash its county Service Center offices around the country that house local staff for the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, potentially consolidating county staff into state committees, according to a report published Tuesday.

The website Government Executive, which covers the federal workforce, reported Tuesday that White House documents from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes to "severely scale back or outright eliminate funding for many programs across the Agriculture Department."

Government Executive reported the "passback" document from OMB proposes cutting fiscal 2026 funding levels to "gut research and conservation efforts, trim program budgets nearly across the board and cut staff. OMB in the document cited "many difficult decisions" that "were necessary" to reach the proposed spending level, the report stated.

Pointing to the savings by cutting USDA staff, the OMB document calls for "protecting the American people by deconstructing a wasteful and weaponized bureaucracy," Government Executive reported.

As DTN has reported, USDA leadership has warned its 100,000-plus employees that major staff cuts are coming, offices will be closed, and people will be forced to relocate if they want to keep their jobs. USDA currently is sorting through employees who submitted their requests for a Deferred Resignation Program that would pay them potentially through the end of September but terminate their employment.

Government Executive cites as many as 16,000 employees have accepted those deferred resignation offers.

The passback document, which is considered "predecisional" and subject to change, assumes the cost savings associated with USDA's RIF and reorganization plan, Government Executive reported. Passbacks serve as OMB's response to agencies' individual budget submissions. The Congressional Research Service has noted agencies can appeal certain programmatic decisions to OMB, but the documents generally serve as the White House office's final decision, the report stated.

In the document, OMB directed USDA to develop plans to consolidate its local, county-based offices around the country into state committees that would service the FSA, NRCS and Rural Development, the report stated.

"That would be laying off those county employees that USDA has," an official said to Government Executive. "Ironically, these are the people that are directly where the farmers are."

OMB suggested the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center, which provides management and shared services to FSA, NRCS and RMA, will have less work to do going forward "given the reduction of staffing proposed" for those agencies, Government Executive reported. FSA would see its salaries and expense account cut by 22% under the OMB suggestion as the agency modernizes the customer experience and implements "a smaller footprint of FSA county offices."

Zachary Ducheneaux, who served as FSA administrator under the Biden administration, noted to Government Executive that the Trump administration's approach will lead to farmers waiting longer to get federal loans and federal personnel will miss deadlines set in statute and regulation because "there is not enough time in the day." That will fail to satisfy congressional Republicans, he added, who criticized the Biden administration for taking too long to provide key services to their constituents, Ducheneaux told the website.

Congress historically has frowned upon USDA office closures, particularly local FSA offices. The 2018 farm bill includes language that USDA must notify Congress before closing any FSA office and provide justification for the closure. Offices in rural and underserved areas are protected to maintain services.

Such provisions were written into law after USDA proposed closing 200 FSA offices nationwide in 2006 under the Bush administration. In 2012, the Obama administration also proposed closing 131 FSA offices due to Congressional spending cuts. Congress then added annual appropriation riders to prevent USDA from closing local offices.

DTN reached out to USDA for comment on the Government Executive report but did not receive an immediate response.

Government Executive quoted Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who said the cuts OMB has proposed represented a "one-two punch" when coupled with the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs and ensuing trade war. She added the proposed cuts and program eliminations included in the passback would "pull the rug out on our farmers and rural communities," Government Executive reported.

"There's nothing efficient or smart about gutting our investments in American agriculture and our public lands," Murray told the website. "This proposal is a roadmap for retreat that would leave our country worse off."

Two programs that provide American-grown commodities to feed vulnerable populations abroad -- McGovern-Dole and Food for Peace grants, which are collectively allocating nearly $2 billion annually -- would see their funding eliminated, Government Executive stated. Discretionary spending on Rural Utility Service programs that provide advanced telecommunications technology to enhance learning and health care opportunities for rural residents and funding for reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal and storm water drainage in rural areas would be decimated.

The Senate Taxation Committee made headway on the property tax debate by moving several bills originating in the House through the committee on Wednesday morning, despite reservations by several legislators.

Gov. Greg Gianforte’s favored bill, House Bill 231, brought by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, moved on, as did House Bill 155, which has become a flagship bill from Democrats in both chambers. Some Republicans also feel rebates are the way to provide tax relief, while the HB 231 camp and the Democrats try and adjust tax rates.

House Bill 528, which was a late, under-the-radar and bipartisan bill from Rep. Ed Bryne, R-Bigfork, was tabled in the committee.

A motion to reconsider House Bill 154, a renter tax credit Democrats had previously hinted wasn’t dead, also failed to move to the floor. Senate Bill 90, a bill favored by Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and conservative members of his caucus, continues to hang around as a property tax option in the House.

SB 90 is a tax rebate that Democrats say does not provide enough relief. SB 90 has been added to HB 924, which includes a property tax credit. That legislation that would create a $1 billion trust that serves multiple interests, including childcare, infrastructure and disaster resilience.

“Senate Bill 90 is alive and well,” Sen. Greg Hertz, chair of Senate Taxation said during the meeting.

His words were foreshadowing — Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings made a reconsideration motion on SB 90 during the House’s floor session. Around a dozen House members rose to speak during discussion on the blast motion, which ultimately failed by one vote.

The committee made several amendments on both HB 155 and HB 231. For HB 155, brought by Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula, the amendment included language to roll back property tax rates to 2024 and provide a homestead exemption on the first $50,000 of a home, bringing some Democrats into opposition because of those changes.

“155 now is different. It’s changed,” Sen. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena said during the meeting. “I went from a yes to a no. It’s changed that much.”

Amendments to HB 231 included pushing the effective date back, as the bill was originally looking to be passed in March, and adding language to help fix a major hurdle for much of the property tax legislation — issues with charters in several cities that could see an increase local property taxes with the bill as introduced.

Language in HB 231 was amended to give local governments the option to switch from a mill-based levy to a dollar-based levy should they so choose.

There was also some debate over whether reimbursing cities with charters that conflict with state money could be a realistic option. Hertz said he thinks telling cities to ignore their charters is unconstitutional and had little doubt it would be challenged in court.

HB 155 and HB 231 will now head to the Senate floor for the full Senate to consider. Property taxes remain a major hurdle for the Legislature as the end of the session nears and Montanans face another jump in property values.

“I committed to Representative Jones to get this bill out of here,” Hertz said of HB 231. “I don’t like it. It’s more or less a Frankenstein bill now, but I hope we can get this bill out of here so we can have the discussion on the floor.”

The Montana Department of Revenue is reporting that marijuana sales in Valley County totaled $139,643.

This compares to $141,091 in February.

Sales in Montana totaled $26.582 million in March.

Since legal sales of marijuana began in Montana in January of 2022, there have been sales of over 1 billion dollars.

Sen. John Fuller championed a $55 million education bill by reminding the Senate of his fiscally conservative values.

“Some of you may know that I’m so tight, I squeak when I walk, but I do support public education, and I support it fiercely,” Fuller, R-Kalispell, said on Tuesday.

Sen. Sara Novak, a Democrat from Anaconda, said House Bill 252 isn’t perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction, and it will help especially small rural schools and young educators.

“It is some much-needed funding to our public schools to directly impact our teacher wages and specifically our beginning teacher wages,” Novak said.

Local school districts contribute large amounts to communities with payroll and compensation. According to OPI, this is the wage compensation paid by local school districts for the 2023-2024 school year. This is all payroll not just for licensed teachers.

Glasgow School District- $7.874 million
Hinsdale School District- $1.219 million
Opheim School District- $853,914
Frazer School District- $2.661 million
Nashua School District- $1.55 million
Lustre Elementary- $445,000
Malta School District- $4.593 million
Poplar School District- $15.322 million
Wolf Point School District- $9.758 million

The Senate voted 40-10 in favor of the STARS Act, or Student and Teacher Advancement for Results, sending it to the Senate Finance and Claims Committee for a closer fiscal analysis.

It’s among the bills to help public schools that one supporter said bolsters education without adding undue stress to already beleaguered residential property taxpayers.

Montana has struggled to increase starting teacher pay, and a proposal from the 2023 legislative session didn’t work as planned.

Backed by the Governor’s Office, HB 252 earned bipartisan support, although some critics said it doesn’t do enough for veteran teachers, who also need to be paid well.

Sponsor and Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, has said the bill aims to fix an ongoing problem, which is low pay for beginning teachers, and the state doesn’t have unlimited funds.

The bill would spend more than $110 million from the general fund in the biennium, according to the most recent fiscal analysis.

It also has other provisions to support education, such as incentives for academic achievement for students and tools to help teachers in areas with high housing costs.

After the Senate floor vote, Lance Melton, with the Montana School Boards Association, said funding proposals before the legislature, including the STARS Act, have been written to guard against a spike in local property taxes.

Property tax income goes in part toward public schools.

“All of those proposals have two — front and center — primary stakeholders, the child and the taxpayer,” Melton said.

The fiscal analysis estimates an increase to local school property taxes of $800,000 a year, but those dollars are associated with housing support voters might approve through local levies, not incentives for teachers.

Melton pointed also to House Bill 483 and House Bill 515, which both passed out of the House with bipartisan support and are in the Senate.

Sponsored by Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell, HB 483 would take any revenue growth that exceeds the state’s obligation to a school equalization fund and return it to taxpayers.

It has other Republicans and Democrats as co-sponsors and passed with a bipartisan 87-11 vote out of the House.

House Bill 515, sponsored by Rep. Linda Reksten, R-Polson, would in part help schools with major maintenance costs without asking property taxpayers for a levy or a bond.

On the House floor, Reksten said it has support from the Governor’s Office.

She said the bill transfers $75 million of one-time-only money from the general fund surplus to fill the school facilities trust fund — without affecting property taxpayers.

It passed out of the House on a bipartisan 73-25 vote.

A Poplar man died Monday evening when the semitruck he was driving went off the highway in Prairie County.

The 53-year-old was on the road north of Terry, according to a statement from Montana Highway Patrol. No others were injured in the wreck, and neither speeding nor intoxication were suspected to have been factors.

At around 8 p.m. on Monday, MHP reported, the Poplar man was heading south on Montana Highway 253. At mile marker 22, he went off the right side of the road, hitting a delineator post and overturning. The semitruck came to a stop on its hood. Emergency crews pronounced the 53-year-old dead at the scene.

Monday’s fatal crash was one of four across Montana in the past week. At least 40 people have died in vehicle wrecks on the state’s roads so far this year. Focusing on wrecks involving large trucks, 2023 ended with 711 large truck crashes in Montana. Of those, 18 were fatal and led to 27 deaths.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, will temporarily close or reduce services at multiple recreation areas across Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana beginning May 1, 2025.

USACE is currently managing seasonal staffing and resource limitations that affect its ability to safely open and maintain all recreation sites at normal levels of service. These temporary adjustments are being made to ensure visitor safety, protect environmental resources and sustain critical hydropower and dam operations across the Missouri River Basin.

“We understand these closures may disrupt plans, and we sincerely appreciate the public’s flexibility as we take the necessary steps to provide safe and sustainable recreation experiences this summer,” said Col. Robert J. Newbauer, Omaha District commander.

Recreation Impacts Starting May 1, 2025

Campground Closures
The following campgrounds will be fully or partially closed for the 2025 season:

East Totten Trail Campground, N.D.
Wolf Creek Campground, N.D.
Hazelton Campground, N.D.
Cattail Bay authorized camping area, N.D.
North Shore Campground, S.D.
Beaver Creek Campground (partial loop closure), N.D.
These closures will also impact supporting services, including contract janitorial, refuse, mowing, park attendant, fire ring cleaning and weed control. USACE will post closure signage at each location and process full refunds for any reservations through Recreation.gov.

Day Use Area Closures and Reductions
Several comfort stations and vault toilets will be closed at day use areas, including:

Good Soldier Day Use/Boat Ramp, S.D. – one vault toilet closed
North Shore Beach Day Use/Boat Ramp, S.D. – one comfort station and one vault toilet closed
Old Fort Thompson, S.D. – one comfort station closed
Left Tailrace, S.D. – one comfort station and one vault toilet closed

Visitor Center Impacts
Educational and interpretive programs at the following visitor centers will be affected:

Fort Peck Interpretive Center and Museum, Mont. – reduced to one day per week (from five)
Oahe Visitor Center, S.D. – closed
Fort Randall Visitor Center, S.D. – closed
Lewis and Clark Visitor Center at Gavins Point, Neb. – reduced hours (Wednesday-Saturday)

Powerhouse Tour Suspensions
Powerhouse tours at the following project sites will be suspended beginning mid-May:

Garrison, N.D.
Oahe, S.D.
Fort Randall, S.D.
Big Bend, S.D.
Fort Peck, Mont. – available only during Fort Peck Interpretive Center hours
Maintenance and Safety Reductions
Due to limited seasonal staffing, the following service reductions will be in effect:

Safety patrols reduced, especially during peak weekends and holidays

Janitorial services for comfort stations and trash removal reduced from seven days to an average of three per week

President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested a new program will be set up to help legalize farm workers and reduce the risk of farmers losing undocumented workers to mass deportations.

Trump discussed easing restrictions around undocumented farm labor during a Cabinet meeting Thursday. It was the first time the president had signaled a willingness to temper his mass deportation plans to help protect the labor pool for industries such as agriculture.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem highlighted border security and deportations, noting thousands of people have self-deported back to their home countries in the past two months.

Trump commented, "It's a very big self-deport that we're started."

The president then said farmers and other businesses need workers. Undocumented workers will be given a chance to self-deport and return to the country legally, he said. That should be an incentive for people in the country illegally to identify themselves under the Alien Registration Act with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

"We're going to work with people so that if they go out in a nice way and go back to their country, we're going to work them right from the beginning on trying to get them back legally," Trump said. "So that gives you a real incentive."

Trump suggested undocumented workers would have the chance to return to the country legally within a certain time frame, "which is probably going to be 60 days," he said.

For farmers, the president said farm workers who register would not have to immediately leave the country but could instead remain working on a farm -- at least for a temporary period.

"We're also going to work with our farmers so if they have strong recommendations for their farms, for certain people, we're going to let them stay in for a while and work with farmers and come back and go through a process, a legal process," Trump said.

Trump added, "We have to take care of our farmers, the hotels, and you know, various, various places where they need the people."

The president told Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in the Cabinet meeting that her department would work with farmers to help verify worker status on farms.

"A farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people saying they're great, they're working hard," Trump said. "We're going to slow down a little bit for them, and then we're going to ultimately bring them back. They'll go out, they're going to come back as legal workers, OK?"

A USDA Farm Labor Survey released in January pegged the percentage of undocumented agricultural workers at around 42%, or roughly 500,000 people, working in crops. A large share of those undocumented workers is also considered "settled" instead of migrant workers.

To fill the void of assuring they have legal labor, farmers' H-2A programs have grown in recent years and now fill more than 384,000 job positions. In the 2024 fiscal year, roughly 22,000 farms used H-2A guest workers. One of the complications with that program, however, is the workers are considered temporary, so livestock farmers are typically unable to use the H-2A program.

Farm groups have been pressing Congress for years to pass legislation that would allow year-round guest workers. At least some of those bills also have included provisions that would legalize farm workers in the country who currently are undocumented. The House passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act in 2021, but it stalled in the Senate.

In the Cabinet meeting, Noem pressed for people in the country illegally to register. Trump signed an executive order requiring undocumented people to register with Customs and Border Patrol or potentially face criminal charges. Noem said once people register, her department is looking for funds to buy them plane tickets back to their home countries. Noem suggested people who do so would have an opportunity to return to the U.S. legally.

"So, making sure that these folks have the opportunity to go home, so that they can get the chance to come back to America is important," Noem said.

Rollins, when she spoke in the Cabinet meeting, also addressed farmers and tariffs, telling Trump the agricultural community supports his action. Rollins said farmers are facing high inflation for inputs and also a $50 billion agricultural trade deficit (projected for 2025). Farmers support Trump's idea of using tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts to improve prosperity, she said.

"The period of uncertainty we are in, they know your vision will move us into an age of prosperity for all Americans, but for my people, for the farmers and ranchers, unlike any they have seen before," Rollins said. "And I think they are really, really excited and grateful for your leadership, but also you have never failed to say that you have the backs of our farmers and ranchers."

From the National Weather Service Office in Glasgow:

Here are the precipitation totals for the region from over the weekend.

Valley County Law Enforcement has announced the passing of former Valley County Sheriff Clifton Cook.

Cliff Cook was a 28-year veteran of the Valley County Sheriff's Office and was appointed Sheriff when Dan Taylor retired in 1994.

Sheriff Cook also wore many ats working for Valley County serving as coroner, rural fire department, search and rescue, tax collector, election ballot collector and many others.

Memorial arrangements are pending and will be announced at a later date.

The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA) is celebrating its first quarter under the leadership of Board President Conni French, who stepped into the role in January following the dedicated tenure of longtime leader Leo Barthelmess. French’s leadership continues the steadfast, rancher-led approach that has guided RSA since its inception, ensuring that the organization remains a trusted force for stewardship, conservation, and community resilience.

A rancher in Phillips County, French works alongside her husband, Craig, and brings a deep respect for learning, teaching, and mentorship to everything she does. With a background in education, she’s a constant student of the land and an enthusiastic sharer of knowledge—qualities that have made her a natural fit to help carry RSA’s mission forward.

Reflecting on the leadership transition, French acknowledged the strong foundation built by Barthelmess and the many ranching families who have shaped RSA’s mission over the years. “Leo’s leadership has been instrumental in shaping the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance into the strong, rancher-led organization it is today,” said French. “I deeply appreciate his years of dedication and am honored to have the opportunity to continue working together for the future of ranching, community, and conservation.”

Over the past three months, French has remained steady in the organization’s mission, reinforcing the values that RSA members hold dear while continuing its important work. She represented RSA on Voices of Montana with Tom Shultz, joining Northern Ag Network’s Colter Brown to highlight the challenges and opportunities facing ranchers today. She has also played a pivotal role in advancing early conversations around a potential agricultural grassbank—an initiative designed to support working lands while fostering mentorship between seasoned and beginning ranchers.
Like many agricultural organizations, RSA has faced funding challenges due to federal budget freezes. These pauses have created stress on some projects and uncertainty for the dedicated staff who carry the work forward. Still, French has led with clarity and calm, ensuring that RSA remains fiscally responsible while holding tight to its mission. The organization is prepared and eager to act with strength and purpose when opportunities reopen.

French often turns to a quote from Mother Theresa as a guiding pillar in her leadership: "Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the best you’ve got anyway." That mindset has shaped her approach to the presidency—grounded, generous, and focused on what truly matters.

With a continued emphasis on stewardship—of working lands, ranchers, and rural communities—RSA remains grounded in its mission while looking ahead with resilience and optimism. Under French’s leadership, the organization is not charting a new course, but rather ensuring that the path RSA has long followed remains strong for generations to come.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would make local agencies ask voters for a specific dollar amount of property tax increases on ballot levies rather than rely on mills — a property tax-based increase that can help account for inflation and changes in property values.

Local levies are often used for public services like libraries or fire stations. The bill would still allow mills for public schools.

Supporters of House Bill 20 told lawmakers in the House Taxation Committee Tuesday that the change would stabilize local property taxes and clear up confusing language.

Bob Story, executive director of the Montana Taxpayers Association, said the bill helps voters better understand the transfer of taxpayer dollars.

“You shouldn’t allow governments to profit from growth in value due to reappraisals and inflation,” Story said. “If they want more money, they should ask the voters for more money.”

Executive director of the Montana League of Cities and Towns Kelly Lynch opposed the bill at the hearing, saying mills are necessary for local governments to fund growing communities.

“We have to retain those police officers, we have to retain those firemen over time,” Lynch said. “We have to pay for maintenance and operation of those facilities over time — a set dollar amount does not allow us to do that.”

Lynch said the League will support the bill if the dollar amounts are allowed to be fully adjusted for inflation. Currently, the bill only allows adjustment to half the rate of inflation.

Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.

This is from Capitolized from the Montana Free Press

https://montanafreepress.org/category/capitolized/

A bipartisan coalition of Senate moderates on April 8 gained more control over the final 19 possible days of the legislative session. In a deal amending the Senate’s rules, which was brokered with Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, moderates secured rare powers for Democratic Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade.

The move means Flowers gets pre-approval of conference committees, which are created by the Senate President, Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.

Conference committees are used to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills on the same subject. They can be a powerful tool for leaders of the House and Senate because bills reconciled in conference committees can’t later be amended on the floor of the House or Senate, creating take-it-or-leave-it choices for lawmakers.

There are also free conference committees, which are allowed to make sweeping changes to bills so long as those changes are within the scope of the bill’s title. And titles can be vague — think of this year’s House Bill 530 to “Generally revise business laws,” or House Bill 924 to “Generally revise state finance laws.” Contents of bills that have previously died in session have been known to find a second life in free-conferenced bills.

The rule empowering the minority leader states that “the president of the Senate shall appoint all conference committees, with the advance concurrence of the majority leader and minority leader.” Previous versions of the terms limited the majority and minority leaders to an advisory role.

The Senate approved the terms on April 8 on a 37-13 vote, with Regier voting no.

“We’ve got enough work right now that I think this was the path to get across the finish line,” Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, told Capitolized. Smith is part of the Democratic minority in the Senate, all of whom are part of the moderate coalition.

Additionally, moderates voting on the Senate floor replaced three conservative members on the Committee on Committees, which appoints senators to standing committees, joint committees and interim committees.

Two new members of the Committee on Committees — Sens. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, and Gayle Lammers, R-Hardin — belong to “The Nine,” a group of GOP lawmakers who have collaborated with the Democratic minority to pass several bills opposed by conservatives but prioritized by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. The chamber’s longest-serving member, Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, also known as the “Dean of the Senate,” assumed the third seat.

Sens. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, and Vince Ricci, R-Laurel, were removed.

Representatives of the coalition of moderates and McGillvray “were working to find a middle path to get us through the rest of the session in a healthy way. So, the options, I mean, frankly, were sort of blowing up the Senate versus trying to find a middle path that was agreeable,” Smith said of the change to the committee’s membership.

The Senate erupted on the first day of the Legislature when nine Republicans and all 18 Democrats voted to give new committee assignments to eight lawmakers — five Republicans and three Democrats — who had been placed on a single committee to address issues of the executive branch. They said the executive branch committee had no real purpose, describing it as a parking spot to keep them from meaningful work. Most of the Republicans assigned to the committee had won heated primary elections or had taken moderate positions, such as on abortion.

—Tom Lutey

Prices at the pump are coming down even though this is the time of year when gas prices go up. Supply and demand are the main reason for the dip. After OPEC+ announced it’s increasing oil production next month by more than 400,000 barrels a day – much more than expected – the price of crude oil has been falling. Oversupply coupled with tepid gasoline demand is resulting in lower pump prices.

On Friday, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was $3.21 per gallon. In Montana, the average price was $3.17 and in Valley County $3.11 per gallon.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand decreased from 8.49 b/d last week to 8.42. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 237.6 million barrels to 236.0. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 8.9 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI rose $2.77 to settle at $62.35 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 2.6 million barrels from the previous week. At 442.3 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($4.92), Hawaii ($4.52), Washington ($4.38), Oregon ($4.00), Nevada ($3.97), Alaska ($3.65), Illinois ($3.46), Arizona ($3.39), Pennsylvania ($3.38), and Idaho ($3.35).

The nation’s top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Mississippi ($2.73), Tennessee ($2.75), Oklahoma ($2.77), Louisiana ($2.81), South Carolina ($2.81), Texas ($2.82), Kentucky ($2.84), Alabama ($2.84), Arkansas ($2.84), and Kansas ($2.87)

Montana will soon have a new holiday on the books, after the House approved of Senate Bill 224 to add Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the list of legal state holidays.

The House on Wednesday passed the bill 87-12, establishing the holiday to be celebrated on the second Monday of October, in addition to recognizing Columbus Day the same day.

“The day has morphed into something to recognize everyone. Always going to be a strong presence of Montana Indians, but this effort is trying to incorporate and include everyone,” said Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, who carried the bill in the House. “It’s a day that celebrates the ancestral lineage of all Montanans, again, all Montanans.

“And it’s a day that is shaped and molded by each community and how that community wants to celebrate each other. So this bill gets away from eliminating a holiday and simply gives Montanans the option to celebrate what they prefer on the second Monday in October.”

Attempts to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day in previous sessions were unsuccessful, partially due to some versions of legislation eliminating Columbus Day completely. The current version of the bill passed the Senate in February with just three opponents.

The co-celebration of the two holidays in October is done in Rhode Island, Nebraska and Alabama, while four states and Washington, D.C., have established Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a standalone state holiday.

Running Wolf said in the committee hearing many Montanans came and shared stories about their backgrounds — some Native, some from other parts of the world. One man with Irish heritage came in and spoke the Irish language, sharing its meaning to his own history.

“And it was beautiful. And we celebrated it all together,” Running Wolf said. “… What we heard in the hearing is that people want to learn about each other and the rich heritage that so many Montanans bring to Montana.”

During floor debate, Rep. Ed Byrne, R-Bigfork, introduced an amendment to change the order of holidays in the bill, to make Columbus Day listed first to maintain “its precedence of establishment.”

Running Wolf said his biggest concern was that it would delay the process by sending the bill back to the Senate and cost more taxpayer money. The amendment failed to pass 27-70.

“Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a testament to our shared history values as Montanans, it celebrates the collaborative efforts to the stewards of our land, educates us about the profound knowledge and contributions of all Montana communities, and highlights our shared strength and responsibility,” Running Wolf said. “By honoring this day we take pride in our past, foster a deep understanding of all Indigenous entities and work together protect our cherish holiday heritage for future generations.”

The bill made one additional change to recognized state holidays by updating “Lincoln’s and Washington’s Birthdays” to “Presidents’ Day.”

The Valley County Community Pool Campaign Committee is proud to announce that the new community pool will be named Parke Place Pool. This naming comes following a generous donation of over $500,000 from The Jim Parke Foundation, which secured naming rights through the "Name Me Nemo" donation level.

Jim and Marilyn Parke were 1964 graduates of Glasgow High School, and though life took them beyond Montana, their love for their hometown never faded. Jim had a distinguished 37-year career with General Electric, retiring in 2005 as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Services and Senior Vice President of General Electric Company. While he was highly accomplished in the corporate world, he was equally known for his generosity, supporting numerous organizations with both financial contributions and leadership. His philanthropic efforts extended to the GHS Educational Trust and First Lutheran Church, reflecting his deep commitment to giving back.

Jim passed away in January 2018, but his legacy of perseverance and generosity continues through The Jim Parke Foundation's extraordinary gift. The Valley County Community Pool Campaign Committee is honored by this support, which provided a major boost toward the final fundraising efforts for the new pool and bathhouse.

Another major supporter, contributing $500,000+ is the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. This crucial funding source has played a significant role in making the Parke Place Pool a reality, supporting the development of outdoor recreation facilities across Montana. The Valley County Community Pool Campaign Committee is immensely grateful for this support, which brings the dream of a new community pool closer to completion.

"The Parke Place Pool is more than just a name-it represents the spirit of community, generosity, and the belief in creating opportunities for future generations," said the committee members. "The committee is grateful for the support that made Parke Place Pool a reality for the community."

The Valley County Community Pool Campaign Committee is thrilled to announce that Parke Place Pool is set to open in early-summer 2025, with an exact grand opening date to be announced. The completion of the new pool, bathhouse, and mechanical room will mark the culmination of a seven-year community-driven effort.

This project wouldn't be possible without the community's generosity. Over seven years, every donation-big or small-has helped bring Parke Place Pool to life. Thanks to this support, $4,432,251.57 has been raised. The committee is deeply grateful.

The committee is also excited to unveil the new Parke Place Pool logo, designed by Olivia Allen. This logo will be proudly displayed on the new bathhouse and featured on future merchandise. It is anticipated to become a symbol of the pool and the community effort that made it possible.

Generations of swimmers are expected to enjoy this incredible new facility for years to come.

To learn more about recreation activities, check out the Glasgow Rec Department Facebook page. For more information about the Valley County Community Pool Campaign, visit http://www.valcopool.com.

The committee looks forward to seeing everyone at the pool!

From U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers

Are you itching to go fishing? Courtesy docks are in at nearly all USACE boat ramps above and below Fort Peck Dam.

Remember to put on that life jacket!

From Valley County Election Administrator Marie Pippin

In addition to the Valley View Home Hospital District and the Glasgow City-County Library levy elections, there will be two school district elections held on May 6, 2025. The school district elections, just like the special district elections, are all mail-ballot elections. All ballots for all three elections will be mailed on April 18, 2025. If you are a registered voter in Valley County you will receive the special district ballot in the mail.

If you live in either the Hinsdale School District or Lustre Elementary School District, you will also receive a ballot for the school district election. After voting your ballots, please be careful to put the right ballot into the right secrecy envelope. The Special District secrecy envelopes are grey, Hinsdale School District secrecy envelopes are yellow, and Lustre Elementary School District secrecy envelopes are green. After placing your ballot in its correct secrecy envelope and sealing it, please place the secrecy envelope in the correct signature envelope, seal it, and return it to the Election Office at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office in the Valley County Courthouse. Only ballots received in the Election Office by 8 pm on May 6, 2025, will be counted.

Hinsdale School Districts 7A and 7C will hold a trustee election. There are two 3-year positions open on the Hinsdale School board. Also, Justin Strommen was appointed to his seat in 2024, so that seat needs to be filled for the remaining two years of the term. Candidates filing for the two 3-year positions are: Kent Hubbard, Sherri Idler, and Amy Rutherford. Justin Strommen has filed to complete the remaining two years of his existing term.

Lustre Elementary School District is running two levy propositions, a levy to impose an increase in taxes to support the General Fund and a proposition to continue, for another three years, the Building Reserve Levy of $20,000.00 per year.

There will be neither trustee nor levy elections for Frazer School District, Glasgow School District, Nashua School District and Opheim School District.

The updated 2025 calendar year runoff forecast for the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, continues to be below average. March runoff in the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City was 2.3 million acre-feet, 76% of average.

“Runoff into the reservoir system was below average for the month of March and conditions across most of the basin remain dry,” said John Remus, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. “Mountain snowpack has improved over the last few weeks but is still below average. We are forecasting a below-average runoff year for the basin.”

The 2025 calendar year runoff forecast above Sioux City is 21.9 MAF, 85% of average. The runoff forecast is based on current soil moisture conditions, plains snowpack, mountain snowpack, and long-term precipitation and temperature outlooks.

The volume of water stored in the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System is currently 50.8 MAF, 5.3 MAF below the top of the carryover multiple use zone.

Basin and river conditions continue to be monitored, including plains and mountain snow accumulation, and System regulation will be adjusted based on the most up-to-date information.

Mountain and Plains Snowpack:

Mountain snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin is accumulating at below average rates. The April 6 mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck reach was 94% of average, while the mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck to Garrison reach was 97% of average. By April 1, about 97% of the total mountain snowfall has typically accumulated, normally peaking near April 17. The mountain snowpack graphics can be viewed at: http://go.usa.gov/xARQC.

Spring Public Meetings:

The Missouri River Basin Water Management Division held two virtual public meetings the week of April 7. The meetings provided a status update of basin conditions, mountain snowpack, runoff, and planned operations for the year to meet the authorized purposes for the reservoir system. The recording of the meeting and supporting slides will be available on our website at: https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/mrwm/public-meetings/.

Reservoir Forecasts:

Fort Peck Dam
Average releases past month – 5,600 cfs
Current release rate – 7,000 cfs
Forecast average release rate – 7,000 cfs
End-of-March reservoir level – 2227.6 feet
Forecast end-of-April reservoir level – 2227.5 feet

Hydropower:

The six mainstem power plants generated 610 million kWh of electricity in March. Typical energy generation in March is 636 million kWh. Forecast generation for 2025 is 8.9 billion kWh compared to the long-term average of 9.4 billion kWh.

Republican Montana state senators have responded to being censured by the Montana Republican Party for "repeated alignment with Senate Democrats" this legislative session.

"This effort to silence us is especially troubling given recent events. Just last week, one of us, former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, was censured and banned from the Senate floor for awarding a state contract to someone with close personal ties. And now, after we raised concerns about how Senate President Regier is running things, we’re being targeted too—even though a recent investigation that raised questions about transparency and leadership was just swept under the rug," said Sen. Gregg Hunter.

A press release claims the senators "undermined the Republican majority leadership and disregarded the will of Montana Republican voters."

The censure alleges State Sens. Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Josh Kassmier, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel and Shelley Vance "consistently voted with Democrats, betraying the core values of the Republican Party."

The party's action means MTGOP will no longer support or fund the senators campaigns. The party also urges people to stop referring to the senators as Republicans.

The following was sent out Montana state Republican Senator Gregg Hunter:

An Open Letter to the People of Montana

April 4, 2025

Today, the Montana Republican Party, under the direction of Senate President Matt Regier, voted to censure us—nine Republican state senators—because we’ve been doing our jobs.

We were elected to serve you, not to follow orders from political insiders. We’ve been working every day to tackle the issues that matter to Montana families, small businesses, and communities across the state. But instead of focusing on passing meaningful legislation, party leadership is focused on punishing members who are actually getting things done.

Let’s be clear: this censure is nothing more than a distraction—meant to cover up the fact that party leaders have failed to deliver on the core priorities you sent us here to address.

While they waste time on political stunts, we’ve been doing the work. We helped renew Medicaid so over 90,000 Montanans don’t lose access to health care. We raised the business equipment tax exemption to support small businesses and local economies. We created dedicated funds to improve public safety and fix our roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure. We passed a child care tax credit to help working families and expanded services to support law enforcement, first responders, and communities in crisis.

We’ve done this work because it’s needed—and because it’s what Montanans elected us to do.

Meanwhile, leadership still hasn’t passed significant property tax relief bill, even though the governor asked for it months ago. Instead of leading, they’re blaming. Instead of solving problems, they’re chasing headlines. And now, they’re trying to discredit and remove the very senators who’ve been moving Montana forward.

This effort to silence us is especially troubling given recent events. Just last week, one of us, former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, was censured and banned from the Senate floor for awarding a state contract to someone with close personal ties. And now, after we raised concerns about how Senate President Regier is running things, we’re being targeted too—even though a recent investigation that raised questions about transparency and leadership was just swept under the rug.

This is not what Montanans want. You want results—not power plays. You want lower costs, better care, stronger communities—not endless political drama.

We’re not backing down. We’re not going anywhere. And we won’t stop doing our jobs—no matter how uncomfortable that is for the people trying to hold on to power.

This censure changes nothing. We’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep delivering. And we’ll keep putting Montana first.

Sincerely,

Senator Wendy McKamey

Senator Gayle Lammers

Senator Josh Kassmier

Senator Butch Gillespie

Senator Gregg Hunter

Senator Denley Loge

Senator Russ Tempel

Senator Shelley Vance

The Valley Community Emergency Food Bank is seeking donations after the federal government eliminated the Emergency Food Assistance Program which provided substantial support to food banks across Montana.

Here is the note from the Valley Community Emergency Food Bank:

Dear Community Members,

As always, your support is greatly appreciated, and even more so now.

We are no longer receiving food donations from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Funding for the federal program ended in March and we are now totally reliant on the kindness of our community.

With summer coming up, we would like to stock up on some essentials. This week we are doing a call out for peanut butter. If you would like to donate a jar or two, we’d be ever so thankful!

Our donation boxes are located at: St. Raphael’s Parish Center, the First Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Church, FMDH, Reynolds, Albertsons, Irle elementary, Glasgow’s middle School, and Glasgow High School.

Thank you so very much!

Two Rivers Economic Growth is excited to announce the 2025 Storefront Beautification Grant Program and the Glasgow Downtown Signage Grant – both opening April 7 and closing May 5! Only online applications will be accepted.

Storefront Beautification Grant
Open to all storefront businesses in Valley County, this annual grant helps boost curb appeal, attract more foot traffic, and promote a vibrant local economy.
Apply for up to $2,000 in funding for upgrades like: • Signage
• Windows & Paint
• Lighting & Awnings
• Sidewalks & Landscaping
...and more!

No match required for businesses that have been Two Rivers members for 2+ years. Others must provide a 50/50 match.

Glasgow Downtown Signage Grant – Funded by Prairie House Gardens
Specifically for businesses in the Glasgow downtown district, this grant supports high-quality, Montana-made signage that increases visibility and draws in customers. Two grants of $700 each are available – no match required and can be combined with the Storefront Beautification Grant for bigger impact.

Eligible signage must be:
• Exterior
• Hard and/or lighted
• Vinyl wrap or lettering on hard signage
• No banners, please!
Let’s make our community shine – one storefront at a time!
Applications open April 7 – Deadline is May 5

There will be a Trustee election in Hinsdale next month as three candidates are running for two three-year seats.

The candidates are Sherri Idler(incumbent), Kent Hubbard, and Amy Rutherford are running for two seats.

Jake Strommen(incumbent) is running uncontested for a two-year term.

Hinsdale is not running a general fund levy this year.

The election is set for May 6th.

The Glasgow City Council will meet on Monday at 5pm in the council chambers of the Glasgow Civic Center.

The Montana Republican Party has censured nine state senators and will no longer consider them to be Republicans — but the senators say they hold firm to the conservative mantle and the party should not insert itself into legislative business.

In a press release sent April 4, the party’s executive committee announced it had censured the nine senators for their “repeated alignment with Senate Democrats” this legislative session and for “undermining Republican priorities and leadership.”

The censure calls out the nine’s “unprecedented alliance” with Senate Democrats as a “coordinated scheme” to undermine the GOP leadership, including alleging ethical violations by Senate President Matt Regier, found to be unsubstantiated by the Legislative Auditor.

The committee unanimously voted for the censure on March 27 to the surprise Friday of at least four of the nine.

“I’m dumbfounded,” said Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester. “I’ve been a Republican longer than ( state GOP Executive Director Tyler) Newcombe’s been alive.”

In an extensive letter to the head of the state GOP, obtained by the Daily Montanan, Sen. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, said his responsibility is to the people of Montana, “not party bosses like you.”

The letter was an attempt to argue against the potential censure, and Kassmier emailed it to GOP Chairman Don Kaltschmidt on March 27.

However, Kassmier said he learned Friday that Kaltschmidt did not receive the letter; Newcombe also said neither he nor Kaltschmidt have seen the letter, but they made attempts to meet with the nine.

None of the nine showed up to the executive committee meeting on March 27; several cited conflicts while others said they had never received invitations.

In the letter, Kassmier said he is a conservative who supports the agenda of Republican President Donald Trump. Kassmier also accuses Senate President Regier, R-Kalispell, of “playing political games” to undermine Gov. Greg Gianforte’s agenda and of working with Democrats.

“I support the conservative tax plans endorsed by Gov. Gianforte. I oppose the liberal tax plans pushed by President Regier,” the letter said. “ … The governor’s tax plans are consistent with the Montana Republican Party Platform. The tax plans pushed by President Regier are not.”

Regier said Friday he had not seen the letter. However he responded to the censure of the senators by saying it was basically an acknowledgement of the status quo in the Senate.

“It’s been a very frustrating session for Republicans from the first day,” Regier said.

The division between Senate Republicans began at the start of the 69th Legislature, when the nine — Kassmier, Tempel, Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, and Shelley Vance — joined all Democrats to change the chamber’s rules, going against GOP leadership.

That coalition, in essence a working majority, has repeatedly flexed its muscles over the last three months to pass big pieces of legislation, change committees and at times effectively run the Senate floor, as well as block attempts to expel one of their members, Ellsworth, for ethics violations. Ellsworth has since been censured by the Senate.

Previously, the state GOP executive committee issued a statement “strongly rebuking” the senators, saying additional steps would follow if the group did not stop its actions against the party.

“Despite multiple calls for unity and adherence to Republican principles, the senators have chosen to align with Democrats, undermining Republican priorities and leadership,” the statement about the censure said. “…These Senators have undermined the Republican majority leadership and disregarded the will of Montana Republican voters.”

The executive board also voted to withhold any political funding for the nine in future elections and said the nine shouldn’t be considered to speak for the party.

Sen. Hunter, however, said his duty is to his constituents.

“The GOP central committee didn’t elect me,” Hunter said. “I don’t know what they’re using as a litmus test or not, but if you look at the Montana conservative scorecard, I’m more conservative than most Republicans.”

Sen. Wendy McKamey, R-Great Falls, said she’s “as Republican as they come,” and the state GOP was mischaracterizing the senators’ actions.

“We aren’t voting with the Democrats. The Democrats are voting with us to support the governor — not doing what other Republicans are doing to fight the governor,” McKamey said. “We’re doing the kinds of things good Republicans do.”

McKamey also said she was recently notified that she is receiving an award from the Republican National Committee for her conservatism.

In his letter, Kassmier wrote that his “strong conservative values” helped him defeat state GOP Vice Chairperson Lola Sheldon-Galloway in the 2024 primary for his Senate seat.

Kassmier also presents himself as a fiscal conservative and alleges Regier is working with Democrats in the House and is “a true liberal” spending taxpayer money on things like lawyers and new office furniture.

“A real conservative would never dream of spending money like President Regier,” Kassmier said in the letter. “When it comes to spending taxpayer money, President Regier is not a leader I follow.”

From the start of the session, however, Regier has repeatedly expressed frustration with the size of the governor’s budget and an interest in taking a closer look at spending in the state.

The censure Friday and allegations in the letter from Kassmier bring the split among Senate Republicans to the fore again as the legislature closes in on its last few weeks of work.

However, Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, said he will continue to work with all 32 Republicans and talk with them daily given the limited time left in the session.

“I’d like us to see us come together and get as much good legislation as we can out of here. So I’m not disowning anybody,” McGillvray said. “… I cannot look at a group of Republicans and say, ‘You don’t belong to us anymore.’

“That’s exactly a way to destroy what we need to accomplish for the good of Montana people.”

Kassmier said he echoed the sentiment toward unity. “We got a lot of work to do.”

Wine and beer will be available for delivery on Jan. 1, 2026 following the passage and signing of House Bill 211 on Thursday.

The legislation, brought by Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, creates a new third-party license which allows off-premises licensees the ability to utilize a delivery licensee and its drivers to deliver beer and table wine.

During a Senate hearing on Feb. 18, Zolnikov said the bill was three years in the making.

“I’m pretty confident that we have thought of every situation imaginable for alcohol delivery,” Zolnikov said during the hearing.

There are very specific stipulations for delivery in the bill and drivers will be asked to use, “identification scanning software technology or an alternative approved by the department” to verify a recipient’s age. Delivery drivers will have to go through a responsible server program, be at least 21 years of age and are not allowed to deliver to obviously intoxicated people.

Drivers cannot deliver to campuses and cannot have a felony, unless they have had their driving rights restored. They also cannot have a DUI charge in the last seven years.

Alcohol must be in a cargo area of the vehicle and out of the reach of the driver. There’s even a stipulation for bicycle delivery.

“I don’t know if there’ll be many deliveries by bicycle,” Zolnikov said in the Senate hearing, “But I like to know that all of our bases are covered, just in case. Maybe in Missoula.”

The delivery industry celebrated the legislation.

“By signing this bill, Governor Gianforte is putting local business, delivery workers, and customers first,” said Anna Powell, a senior manager for DoorDash in a statement. “We are pleased to see that beer and wine delivery will soon be available via Montana grocery stores, and we look forward to offering safe and responsible delivery throughout the state.”

In statistics provided by DoorDash, the number of U.S. merchants selling alcohol on the app increased by 37% over the course of 2023. Drivers earned, on average, nearly 20% more on deliveries with alcohol compared with deliveries without, according to the company.

“Across America, we’ve seen that safe alcohol delivery opens opportunities for businesses and delivery drivers to thrive, and consumers to have more choices at their fingertips,” Powell said in a statement. “This new law will make life easier for consumers and offer merchants and drivers a greater opportunity to thrive.”

Montana food banks are set to lose more than 300,000 pounds of food after significant cuts to a federal program that purchases healthy foods to distribute to those in need.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed earlier this week that it canceled $500 million in purchases for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, according to a press release from the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center.

The Montana Food Bank Network, which distributes food to 330 partnering food banks and other organizations, will lose more than $400,000 worth of food, according to the organization’s Facebook page.

The Missoula Food Bank will lose 91,000 pounds of food, or $180,000 in inventory, from the cuts, according to the organization. Last year, the food bank distributed 2.8 million pounds of food, including 228,290 pounds from the emergency assistance program.

The federal program was initially set up to move nutritious food from farms to food banks, Amy Allison, the Missoula Food Bank’s executive director, told Montana Free Press. The food bank receives a variety of food through the program, including nuts, raisins, cheese and other dairy products, she said.

“Unfortunately this will cause a reduction in the variety we [offer],” Allison said. “We think variety is very important because everyone’s diets should be diverse.”

The reduction will also significantly impact the food bank’s budget, Allison said. The nonprofit will likely fundraise to try to make up that deficit, which will be “incredibly challenging” if additional federal funding is cut, she said.

Government funding makes up about 21% of the organization’s budget and losing certain programs funded by federal money would be harmful for the community, Allison said. If money for the food bank’s federally funded Kids Table program, which provides free breakfast and lunch for children during the summer, is cut or reduced, it would have a significant impact on food security in the community, she said.

Rising grocery prices and increasing financial strain are driving higher demand for food bank services, which Allison said is expected to continue. On multiple days this year, the food bank has served more than 400 families, Allison said.

“We’ve never seen numbers like that, especially on a regular basis,” she said. “With the high cost of living in our community and rising food costs, we’re concerned the demand is only going to increase, especially as layoffs occur and some safety net programs are threatened.”

Even if other federal food program funding isn’t cut, reductions to other social safety net programs will reduce people’s ability to stretch their dollar and increase demand for food banks, Allison said. Despite the situation, anyone in need of food should not hesitate to access the organization’s programs, she said.

“I want to press the fact that we are still going to be here even when these cuts are made,” Allison said. “We are very strong, have the support of a very generous community and are not going anywhere. Our shelves are not bare, we stock several times per day and no one leaves empty-handed.”

Allison encouraged those who are able to donate and advocate against cuts like these on the state and federal levels. Donations of food and money can be made at the food bank or online. More information, including how to volunteer, is available on the Missoula Food Bank’s website.

While it’s unclear how significant the cut to the Emergency Food Assistance Program will be for the HRDC’s three food banks in Gallatin County, the organization is bracing for the change later this year, said Jill Holder, the nonprofit’s food and nutrition director.

Food from the assistance program makes up about 5%, or 100,000 pounds, of the Gallatin Valley Food Bank’s inventory, Holder said. The program accounts for about 19% of the food distributed by the Headwaters Area Food Bank in Three Forks and Big Sky Community Food Bank, she said.

“With the high cost of living in our community and rising food costs, we’re concerned the demand is only going to increase, especially as layoffs occur and some safety net programs are threatened.”

Amy Allison, the Missoula Food Bank’s executive director
It’s hard to know how much the reduction will affect the HRDC’s budget, but the organization will ultimately have to find any lost food from different sources, Holder said.

“That’s where food drives and community involvement are so important to the survival of food banks,” she said.

The HRDC is holding its annual Spring for Food Drive on Saturday with a goal of collecting 15,000 pounds of food, Holder said. Volunteers at grocery stores across Bozeman and Belgrade will distribute wishlists and collect donations of non-perishable items and hardy produce like carrots, potatoes and apples from shoppers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those interested can get volunteer information or make monetary donations online.

Holder said the food drive, one of the organization’s biggest of the year, will help support the rising number of families relying on food assistance. The Gallatin Valley Food Bank in Bozeman is serving 1,900 to 2,000 households per month compared to the previous average of 1,400, Holder said. That increase is due in part to population growth as well as the rising cost of living, she said.

The HRDC food banks have enough food and those who need help should come in, Holder said.

“Sometimes you need help, and sometimes you can give help. That’s the whole spirit of community food banking,” she said.

This story from https://montanafreepress.org/

Minutes after the Senate on Tuesday imposed a lifetime floor ban and two-year committee ban on former chamber leader Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, moves were underway to fill one of those vacant committee seats.

Sen. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, rose after the 44-6 vote to censure Ellsworth and proposed filling Ellsworth’s vacated seat on the Senate Rules Committee with Sen. Gregg Hunter, R-Glasgow.

In addition to the ban from the floor and removal from committees, Ellsworth was also prohibited from initiating communications with legislative staff or government department heads and banned from legislative branch offices. The censure stems from an ethics investigation into a government contract Ellsworth awarded to a friend without disclosing the relationship.

Kassmier’s move to put Hunter on the Rules Committee drew the ire of conservatives Wednesday.

“The sponsor of the motion has been stacking the Rules Committee with people. For what purpose, I'm not sure. But I mean, we've already had one motion to put two people on there. … So, to what end?” said Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls.

The motion to put Hunter on the committee passed 28-22. All Senate Democrats voted to put Hunter on the Rules Committee along with 9 Republicans.

To rule Rules is to rule the roost. There are nine Republicans who on Day 1 of the session coalesced with minority-party Democrats to form a formidable voting bloc on key issues. This group has a voting edge on the Rules Committee. Earlier in the session, the coalition appointed members of their group to several Senate committees, including Rules, which is what Emrich referenced.

And the Rules Committee has incoming business, that being a request from Sen. Shelley Vance, R-Belgrade, to refer a contracting matter concerning Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, to the Senate Ethics Committee. Vance requested on March 27 that the Rules Committee consider Regier’s hiring of outside legal counsel. It takes only one senator to request the committee take a look because those are the rules as they were published in 2023. Due to lack of agreement, the Senate hasn’t been able to adopt permanent rules for the 2025 session.

“I don't think I'm stacking,” Kassmier said Wednesday. “I'm just appointing another member after we removed a member, and Sen. Hunter as a freshman has shown great effort. He knows the process well, and I don't know why we would object to putting a Republican on the Rules.”

But to Emrich it was curious that no Senate Democrats objected.

“I’m really curious as to why the caucus on the other side doesn’t have a problem with that,” he said.

The Glasgow School Board will meet Wednesday, April 9th at 6pm in the Gary F. Martin Board Room.

Nemont Communications will elect 3 board members at its annual meeting June 11th in Scobey.

On April 14, 2025 Century Companies will begin construction on Duck Creek Road.

The contract was awarded for the Duck Creek project was awarded to Century Companies, Inc. out of Lewiston, Montana on January 3, 2025. Bid amount $6,571,706.40. No County funds will be used for this project. Construction to begin April 2025 and to be completed by October 29, 2025.

Work on this project includes repairing and reconstructing the existing paved surface, stabilizing the gravel road section, and widening the road width.

Some delays are expected during this time, and we encourage everyone to follow the traffic signals and message boards for access to the Duck Creek Recreation area.

There will be minimal flagging delays, and a detoured route on two separate occasions (TBD) for culvert installation.

Construction hours are anticipated Mon through Thursday from 7 a.m. to – 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays. Construction crews will be off-site during the weekends. If you have questions, call Century at 406-535-1200.

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), in partnership with Wickens Construction Inc., is resuming work on the Malta-South project as construction nears completion.

Beginning this month, crews will return to apply the final layer of asphalt, seal and cover (chip seal), and place permanent roadway markings on a 9-mile stretch of US Highway 191 (US 191) south of Malta. Crews will also pave the shared-use path along the west side of US 191. This work follows significant roadway improvements, including widening the road, reconstructing steep grades and sharp curves, and enhancing pedestrian safety near 9th Street West.

Key pedestrian improvements along US 191 included:

High-visibility pavement markings for both vehicles and pedestrians.
Curb bulb-outs at Ninth Street West to increase pedestrian visibility.
A new pedestrian-activated signal at Ninth Street West to alert drivers of crossings.
A separated shared-use path along the west side of US 191 from Secondary Highway 363 (S 363) to Ninth Street West.

The pedestrian improvements were added in response to community input during the design phase, ensuring the project met local needs, especially for school-aged pedestrians.

“Resuming paving on Malta-South brings us one step closer to completing these critical improvements,” said MDT Glendive District Construction Engineer Jay Fleming. “We urge drivers to slow down, stay focused, and follow traffic control signage to keep everyone safe.”

With construction activity increasing, MDT reminds drivers to stay alert and follow posted speed limits in the work zone. Traffic control measures, including flaggers, lane closures, and reduced speeds, will be in place to protect workers and travelers. Drivers should expect delays and use caution when traveling through the area.

The Phillips County Sheriff's Office released a statement this morning on an incident that occurred in Phillips County and Fergus County.

Press releases are to advise the public of what's going on with your law enforcement. It's also to show transparency when something goes wrong or you screw up. By the grace of God, this situation ended happily. - Sheriff Lytle

Holding signs and wearing red, more than 100 people gathered at Fort Peck Community College on March 22 calling for an end to the violence that has plagued the tribal community.

Protestors walked about one-third of a mile from the campus in Wolf Point to an abandoned building that recently burned down.

“A murderer killed my father,” 9-year-old Emadeline “Maddy” Weeks told the crowd. Her father, Cody Weeks Combs, was shot and killed near his home in Wolf Point in 2020. He was 28 years old.

“All my family members are gone,” she continued. “No one seems to … care. Violence has to stop!”

Located in northeast Montana, the Fort Peck Reservation is home to nearly 10,000 people. The two largest towns on the reservation, Poplar and Wolf Point, are separated by about 20 miles.

Frustrated by persistent violence and insufficient law enforcement resources to combat it, community members have held several marches this month to raise awareness and call for change. Some residents have proposed creating a neighborhood watch group, others say they plan to establish new programs to engage youth in positive ways.

Four hundred miles away in Helena, members of Montana’s American Indian Caucus are pushing for legislation that aims to bolster public safety in Indian Country at both the state and federal level.

The awareness campaigns come in response to several recent deaths on the reservation.

Stan Moran, Jr., a 48-year-old former addiction counselor and wrestling coach who struggled with homelessness, died in a fire while staying in an abandoned building in September.

Fort Peck Tribal Law Enforcement on Feb. 26 found the body of Gifford Standing near that same area. Standing, 47, loved sports, fishing and music and was engaged to be married on March 13, according to an obituary written by his family. Tribal police later announced that four people had been arrested in connection to his death, which they said was a homicide.

And two weeks ago, a child was stabbed near the wellness center in Poplar. Videos of the incident circulated social media.

Tribal council member Wayne Martell said while violence has been an issue in the community for years, lately, it’s become normalized.

“It’s so prevalent that we kind of overlook it,” he told Montana Free Press last week. “It feels like it doesn’t really have meaning anymore when it occurs.”

While Native Americans face higher rates of violence than their white peers nationwide, they must often rely on overburdened and underfunded systems of public safety.

A consequence of U.S. federal policy, on the Fort Peck Reservation tribal police generally handle misdemeanor crimes committed by tribal members. Federal entities, like the Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI, handle major crimes. And because of cross deputization agreements between the state and Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board, Montana Highway Patrol and county law enforcement also assist in public safety efforts. Wolf Point police officers also patrol within city limits on the reservation.

Despite these partnerships, however, Fort Peck community members say law enforcement services remain inadequate. Wolf Point Police Department Clerk Chris Will said it’s not uncommon for the department to have just one officer patrolling the 2,604-person city. With more resources, Will said the city could have two or three officers patrolling at once.

“It would help if we could have a presence,” Will told MTFP last week. “If people could see us out on the street, we can stop and talk to them instead of just having one officer go from call to call.”

Recent awareness campaigns have caught the attention of the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board. Though the Fort Peck Tribes receive federal funding for various programs, Council member Roxanne Gourneau expressed frustration at a recent council meeting, saying those dollars are often earmarked for specific purposes.

She urged the council to bring together law enforcement, criminal investigators, court officials and social service leaders to find solutions.

“We’ve got all this money, but all this crime,” she told her colleagues at the meeting Monday. “What can we do? What can we accomplish?”

The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes are not the only ones in Montana to voice frustrations with insufficient law enforcement funding. Devastated by the death of an 8-year-old child last fall, Northern Cheyenne community members in southeast Montana took to the streets to protest violence. The tribe in 2022 sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of the Interior, alleging the federal government has failed to provide adequate public safety services on the reservation. The Fort Belknap Indian Community, headquartered in north central Montana, in 2022 also sued the United States, saying the lack of funding has prevented them from hiring key positions.

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, has proposed a resolution this legislative session that would urge Congress to fully fund law enforcement on reservations in Montana.

Running Wolf on March 25 told the Senate Energy, Technology and Federal Relations Committee that the resolution “is a call to action.” He argued that adequate funding is necessary for tribes “to protect their communities.”

House Joint Resolution 1 cleared the House and must advance out of the Senate before arriving on the governor’s desk. While resolutions cannot create law or force action, they are meant to convey the Legislature’s desires and priorities.

Another bill brought by Running Wolf to bolster the state’s Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force became law. Effective July 1, the new law allows the task force to receive donations, grants and other money for operational expenses.

House Bill 545, also brought by Running Wolf, would rename the task force the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Advisory Council and add a homicide investigator to the group. That bill sailed through the House and will move to the Senate for consideration.

At a community meeting after the march last weekend, organizer Lance FourStar, proposed forming a goodwill ambassador program, where respected community members receive training to essentially act as a neighborhood watch.

Frances Weeks, who served in tribal and federal law enforcement for 13 years and whose granddaughter spoke at the march earlier this month, would help lead the program.

With insufficient policing, Weeks said people feel emboldened to commit crime, knowing it’s unlikely they’ll be held to account. Those who witness a crime, she added, are therefore less likely to come forward, fearing retaliation.

“It’s a Catch-22 for law enforcement, then,” she said in an interview last week. “They know people see things, but people don’t follow through and report it.”

The goal of the goodwill ambassador program, Weeks said, is to encourage people to report suspicious incidents to someone they trust.

“A lot of people just don’t know what kind of information might be helpful,” she said. “We want community training for community policing.”

Dave Mathison, a retired fire chief who is planning a similar march in Poplar, said young people would benefit from more services and activities.

“You look at these communities and there is absolutely nothing for these kids to do,” he said. “They’re only kids, and we’re creating nothing for them.”

He is planning a march against violence in Poplar on April 5 that he hopes will include music, bounce houses and games. Mathison said he hopes to implement a program that would incentivize young people to clean up the community and get involved in other safe activities.

“I don’t want the people of Poplar to leave,” he said. “We have good things that can happen on this reservation. There’s possibilities galore, but we have to get together as a team. There’s no more looking the other way.”

Mathison’s march against violence will begin at noon on April 5 at the cultural center in Poplar.

Glasgow Elks Lodge #1922 was recently awarded a Beacon Grant from the Elks National Foundation (ENF) for the 2024-2025 Elks year. The Lodge applied for and received a $4,000 Beacon Grant with the purpose of purchasing school supplies for children in our local area.

With this grant, the Glasgow Lodge purchased school supplies of all sorts to donate to the Backpack Fairies program that was started by anonymous generous caring individuals years ago. The supplies the Elks purchased will be distributed through the Backpack Fairies program to those who can benefit from their help. All ENF grants must serve specific populations in the Lodge’s community. Such as people experiencing homelessness, families facing food insecurity, survivors of abuse, students and families who are under-resourced, Veterans in need of assistance, or individuals facing other barriers.
If you would like to donate to the ENF via the Glasgow Elks, or if you would like more information about the Elks or to become a member, please give the Glasgow Elks a call at 406-228-2233, or stop by for a visit at 309 2nd Ave S. in Glasgow.

Pictured with just a handful of the school supplies that will be donated are Glasgow Elks Lodge #1922 Board members (L to R) Cheryl Ford, Max Knodel, and Kim Enkerud.

The filing deadline to file for Trustee positions on local school boards passed last week and in Nashua and Glasgow there will be no election on May 6th.

In Glasgow, there were two positions available including a 3-year term and a 1-year term. Stan Ozark filed for the 3-year term and Whitney Tatafu filed for the 1-year position. Since neither will face opposition, the school election will be cancelled for Glasgow.

In Nashua, Kent Novak was the only candidate to file for the trustee position and will be elected by acclamation. There will be no school election for Nashua. Novak will replace Michelle Fromdahl on the Nashua School Board.

KULR8.com

POPLAR, Mont. - A 17-year-old boy died in a crash on BIA Route 1 just before 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night, Montana Highway Patrol said in a report.

According to MHP, the teen was driving a Chevrolet Impala east on the highway when he lost control of the car. The car veered off the road to the left and rolled multiple times. MHP said the boy was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was not released at the time of the report.

(Press Release)
Wade Riden, Board Member of the Montana Masonic Foundation.

This year, the Montana Masonic Foundation has awarded schools within the Northern Lights District of Masonry just over $23,000.00, in Educational Grants. The Northern Lights District of Masonry includes Malta Lodge, Kyle Lodge in Hinsdale, Scobey Lodge, Lower Yellowstone Lodge in Sidney, Glendive Lodge and Jordan Lodge. The District covers all of Northeastern and much of Eastern Montana.

Schools receiving grant awards this year in the Northern Lights District include:
Dawson County High School: Science Department
$540.00 Patient Care mannequin for health science class and healthcare occupation club.
$397.00 Replacement safety goggles for science labs.
$738.00 2 steam/water distillers for science labs.

Other departments:
$697.13 Book binding machine for special education department to make handouts. Library
$1345.74 4 sets of telescoping leg extenders for the Wenger platforms. Drama

Washington Middle School/Glendive:
$1000.00 Update nonfiction books.

Dodson Public Schools:
$1000.00 Stem Kits and supplies for Science Fair Projects.

Fairview Schools:
$1000.00 Summer reading packets for 2nd graders.

Richey Public Schools:
$500.00 New science curriculum.

Saco Public Schools:
$3731.50 New science textbooks and lab materials to replace 40-year-old program.

Savage Public Schools:
$3243.04 Lighting system for theatre.

Westside Elementary School/Sidney
$3279.81 3 soprano xylophones & 3 alto xylophones for 2nd grade.

Wibaux Public Schools:
$5000.00 Elementary library update of books.
$793.00 7-12 grade library update of books.

The Montana Masonic Foundation's Educational Grant Program provides teachers, student aides, and/or principals in Montana's public schools an opportunity to apply for a grant to assist under-funded programs in the following areas: Music; Drama; Science; and Library; or areas of student enhancement or learning that have suffered cut-backs or are experiencing start-up concerns.

Proudly supporting public education in communities all over the great state of Montana is a primary purpose of the Montana Masonic Foundation. Since 2015 the MMF has given out over $700,000 to public schools – over $100k this year alone!

Other meaningful projects that the MMF has sponsored in the past include donating $9k to an "all-abilities playground" in Missoula. We encourage educators to apply for grants during our next grant cycle, which opens Oct. 1, 2025, and closes Dec. 31, 2025. Those who submit grant requests will be notified as to whether their request has been funded or not in the following January. Arrangements for checks to be distributed occurs in February and March.

Established in 1960, the Montana Masonic Foundation (MMF) is a 501(c)(3) that dispenses charity (public and private); encourages and promotes free public education and schools through endowments, grants, scholarships; as well as hosts a Masonic Library & Museum.

About other programs that the MMF sponsors:
The MMF's “Bikes for Books & Kindles for Kids” Reading Achievement Program encourages grade school children to learn to enjoy reading. The Montana Masonic Foundation purchases Kindles and bikes/helmets, and outside donors (such as Masonic lodges) receive them at a matching half price (up to the program designated funding limit). These are then awarded to students at the end of the program as a reward and encouragement for reading.

The MMF’s Museum houses a collection of artifacts mostly related to Freemasonry (one of the Marquis de Lafayette’s Masonic jewels, for instance) and from territorial development through statehood of Montana - such as the trowel that laid the cornerstone for the capitol building. It is especially known, however, for displaying an object with a significant Montana legacy: the Masonic apron of Meriwether Lewis.

The Northern Lights District of Masonry is appreciative of the Montana Masonic Foundation for supporting their chosen charity, Public Schools. Education has always been important to the fraternity. In the Middle Ages, Masons trained in geometry and architecture using an apprenticeship system. Masonry was one of the very few occupations in which literacy was required, and apprentice masons were taught reading and writing as well as arithmetic and geometry.

At the founding of America, Masons helped establish the first non-sectarian public schools and worked for tax-supported, compulsory education for all children. The movement grew and strengthened throughout the 1800’s. There are many cases on record in which the local Lodge built the schoolhouse, bought the schoolbooks, and paid the teacher’s salary until the community could organize to take over. In 1808, the Masons helped to organize an educational system for the city of New York. When a bill was first introduced in Congress to establish land-grant colleges, it failed to gain support. The bill was reintroduced, and letters were sent to Masonic Lodges across the United States, asking Masons to support the bill. At the official signing ceremony, the Masonic Fraternity was credited with securing passage of the legislation which today is helping to bring higher education within the reach of all Americans.

The Valley County Comprehensive Child Find Screening will be held Wed. & Thurs. April 2nd & 3rd at the First Lutheran Church in Glasgow from 9a.m. – 12noon & 1 – 3p.m. The screening is for all children from birth to school entry age.

The purpose of this screening is to find children who may need special help & Irle School kindergarten registration. The screening assessments include the following areas: Hearing for children of all ages; Speech for children 3-years old & older; Gross/Fine Motor Development; Concept Development. To make an appointment for the Child Find Screening please visit the Irle Elementary Facebook Page or the Glasgow Schools Website.

The Valley County Community Foundation would like to announce that the 2025 grant application is currently open until March 31st.

Grant applications will only be accepted online at our website, www.valleycountycf.net. Paper applications will no longer be accepted. Community groups, such as 501c(3) organizations, schools, & government entities, who are working to complete a project & looking for capital funds to assist in their project are encouraged to apply.

(from the Glasgow Courier)

A complaint for injunctive relief was filed with the Valley County Courthouse on March 3 requesting the preclusion of Valley County Clerk and Recorder Marie Pippin from conducting a recall election based on the petitions to recall Krystal Dickerson or Carl Millerick from the North Valley County Sewer and Water District board.

Both Dickerson and Millerick are current members of the board of directors for the North Valley County Sewer and Water District, and as a result are subject to petitions for recall under 2-16-615(2) M.C.A. Pippin has determined the petitions have signatures from the requisite number of qualified voters in order to move forward with the election, however Charles Carpenter, the attorney for Dickerson and Millerick, claim the petitions are both factually inadequate and inaccurate.

The petition allegations concerning Dickerson state she should be recalled for the following reasons: official misconduct, stealing district property (computer and phone), and for incompetence for incorrect billing and mismanagement of water district funds, employees and lack of general knowledge of the water system. The petition allegations concerning Millerick are very similar, stating he should be recalled for the following reasons: lack of physical or mental fitness due to his inability to coherently participate in water board meetings and the inability to understand the functions of the water board as well as incompetence for mismanagement of water district funds, employees and lack of general knowledge of day-to-day operations of the water district.

Court documents state Dickerson was elected to the Board in 2024, and prior to her service, she served as the District Secretary for two years, providing her with knowledge of the workings of the District. Millerick was first elected to the Board more than a decade ago, and prior to his service, he had a full career in managing production facilities, which included water treatment systems. He is currently fighting a rare form of cancer, which per physician orders requires him to limit his exposure to others. Due to these orders, he has been participating in Board meetings by telephone, virtually attending every meeting.

The court documents state that both Millerick and Dickerson are being targeted for this recall because of their efforts to root out corruption on the part of former District staff. It goes on to state the general manager was terminated as a result of mishandling of grant funds and the replacement was terminated for incompetence and insubordination. It also states in court documents that the termination decisions were made by the Board, not individually by Dickerson or Millerick, and are completely justified on the record before the Board.

It’s argued in the court documents that the petitions filed are facially insufficient as they are not based on sworn statements or personal knowledge as required by a previous Montana Supreme Court’s holding. It also states the petitions are facially insufficient because they do not include specific factual allegations necessary for voters to understand the basis of the recall.

There is currently a hearing set for April 8, to allow both parties to argue on the validity of allegations in the petition.

On March 10, Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen filed a position regarding the complaint for the injunctive relief stating Valley County’s role in the recall process is clerical and administrative in nature. As a result, given the conduct of taking a position as to the merits of the Complaint, and there being no defenses applicable or appropriate to raise, Valley County instead provides the notice of its review of the proceeding and intends to participate in a passive manner, unless otherwise directed by the Court.

The hearing will determine whether or not the recall election will move forward.

Valley View Home will have a Town Hall meeting on the upcoming Tax Levy Sun. March 30th from 2 – 3p.m. in the dining room at Valley View. Light refreshments will be provided & there will be a question & answer session. All are welcome, if unable to attend, you can watch a live feed on Valley View Home’s Facebook page.

Valley County voters will cast their ballot on May 6th on whether to continue a levy to help fund operations at Valley View Nursing Home in Glasgow.

Two Glasgow School District trustee positions are open for the May 6th annual school election. Terms expiring include Stan Ozark’s and Ryan Fast’s. One position is a 3-year term and the other is a 1-year term. Stan Ozark has filed for the 3-year position and Whitney Tatafu has filed for the 1-year position.

Applications to run for the school board are available on the school website under the news section, or can be picked up at the School Administration Office located at 229 7th Street North. There are separate applications for the different terms. The deadline to apply is 5:00 p.m. on March 27th. For further information regarding the election, contact Kelly Doornek at 228-2406.

If no additional candidates file the necessary paperwork, the Glasgow School Board will cancel the May 6th school election and elect Ozark and Tatafu by acclamation. The school board agreed last week that they will not offer a levy election for voters in the May 6th election.

As law enforcement in Montana continues to dismantle and disrupt drug trafficking organizations, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced authorities seized less fentanyl and made more drug-related felony arrests, including arrests of Mexican drug cartel members, in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2024, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) task forces seized a total of 275,091 dosage units of fentanyl in Montana – compared to 398,632 dosage units in 2023. While last year, fentanyl seizures decreased 31 percent, fentanyl seizures were still up 46 percent from 2022 and up 354 percent from 2021. According to RMHIDTA data, methamphetamine seizures increased 37 percent (211 pounds to 304 pounds) last year compared the year before; cocaine seizures increased 65 percent (41.31 pounds to 68.04 pounds); and heroin seizures increased 1,649 percent (.73 pounds to 12.77 pounds) after one significant seizure.

RMHIDTA task forces also made 551 felony arrests compared to 406 in 2023 – a 36 percent increase. And a 25 percent increase in arrests from 2021 and 2022. The arrests include members of major Mexican drug cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. Additionally, of the 58 drug trafficking organizations investigated last year by RMHIDTA, 67 percent were either significantly disrupted or dismantled.

These quantities are from the six RMHIDTA Montana task forces, which includes the Montana Department of Justice’s narcotics bureau agents and Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) criminal interdiction teams, which are overseen by Attorney General Knudsen, and are not all-inclusive of drugs seized by all law enforcement in the state but help to provide statewide trends

The longest serving Sheriff in the history of Valley County passed away March 20th. Here is the obituary for Dan Taylor who served Valley County for 22 years.

Daniel "Danny" Robert Taylor, born on May 25, 1940, in Glasgow, Montana, passed away peacefully on March 20, 2025, in Billings, Montana, with his son Kevin by his side. He was 84 years old.

Danny is survived by his devoted wife, Cindy Ann Taylor; his children: Darla Taylor-Ortner (Butch), Darrell Greenwood (Cindy), Shayne Taylor (Melissa), Kevin Taylor (Latosha), Holly Hunziker (John), and Ryan Taylor (Emily). He was a proud grandfather to RJ (Abigail) and Jeremiah (Miranda) Johnson; David and Zachary Greenwood; Hayden (Charlotte) and Hayley Taylor; Meghan Holt (Kenny) and Tyler Ortner; Blake (Karis) and Kylie Mckinzie; and Bexley Hunziker. He also cherished his great-grandchildren, Ethan, Cooper, Penny, Ella, Owen, and Korra. Danny is also survived by his nieces, Jerilyn Stright and Jana Waller, and his nephew, Merle Nikolaus, children of his late sister, Marilyn Nikolaus.

He was preceded in death by his parents, M.A. (Martin) and Bessie Fae Taylor.

As a young man, Danny worked as both a carpet layer and a butcher before joining the Valley County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Frank Powell. He served as a deputy for two years, undersheriff for two years, and then as sheriff and coroner for 22 years until his retirement in 1994. During this tenure, he also served as the fire chief of the volunteer Long Run Fire Department for many years and acquired skills in scuba diving and piloting aircraft to support search and rescue operations.

An entrepreneur at heart, Danny owned several family businesses, including the Meat Shoppe he started with business partner Neil Chouinard, Scotty Ice, and various food trucks such as The LunchWagon, Dan's Chuckwagon, and Screaming Steamer. He also ventured into retail BBQ sales (Grill YouPouRium) building several BBQ trailers for mobile cooking. After retiring from the county, he founded Hi-Line Security, providing services to various clients, including securing a Boeing facility in Montana. He sold Hi-Line Security after over 20 years but continued with a storage business he found time to establish alongside his security work. Taylor Storage was expanded over the decades even adding a rentable 1950s-themed diner, Dan's Diner. Even after transferring ownership to his children, Kevin and Holly, he continued to be a presence at Taylor Storage, tending to his aquarium fish and “holding court” from his office to engage with the community he cherished all his life.

Danny was deeply involved in his community, participating in organizations like the Jaycees and other fraternal groups. He also served as the Public Administrator in Valley County years after his initial retirement. He had a passion for boating with his family at their cabin in Fort Peck, Montana, and enjoyed Westerns, collecting Western-themed art, and classic cars. As a member of the Flatland Cruisers Car Club, he relished attending events and sharing stories with fellow enthusiasts.

Known for his warmth and outgoing nature, Danny had a knack for storytelling and staying informed about local happenings. Many in northeastern Montana knew him through his various roles and ventures, each with their own humorous "Danny" story to share. He was deeply proud
of all his children and extended family, especially how well they support and engage with one another.

Funeral or memorial arrangements are pending and will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Danny would have wanted to continue to support his loving wife, and so the family suggests donations to Cindy’s Medical Fund at Independence Bank in Glasgow. Condolences for the family may be left at Bellmortuarymontana.com

Danny’s legacy of service, entrepreneurship, and community involvement leaves an indelible mark on all who knew him. His stories, laughter, and dedication to his family and community will be dearly missed.

The US Border Patrol Havre Sector recently announced that earlier this month, they made several arrests at the northern border involving an attempt to smuggle in illegal aliens to the US.

Three individuals were identified as being illegally brought into the US, and the Havre Sector has identified all three of these individuals as member of Tren de Aragua, a transnational Venezuelan crime syndicate with known operations in several areas of the US. They are being charged with improper entry to the US and re-entry of a removed alien.

The smuggler was a US citizen, and will prosecuted for bringing in and harboring aliens.

Attention residents of Hall Terrace, Hurly Drive and along that stretch of Wedum Drive, you are invited to a pre-construction meeting for the upcoming water, sewer and street project in that area.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 25th at 10 a.m. in the Glasgow City Council Chambers at the Civic Center.

Important information will be discussed including project scope, schedule and anticipated duration.

Former Valley County Sheriff's Deputy Luke Strommen has reached a plea agreement with the State of Montana in his case where he was found guilty of sexual intercourse without consent. The Montana Supreme Court ordered a new trial in April of 2024 after an appeal by Strommen.

In December of 2018, Strommen was charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He was found guilty after the July 2020 jury determined he had initiated a non-consensual sexual relationship with the victim when she was 14 years old, and the actions continued for years while Strommen was working as a Valley County Sheriff’s Deputy.

In December 2020, Judge John Larson sentenced Strommen to 40 years in the Montana State Prison and wouldn’t be eligible for parole for 10 years. Strommen’s attorneys appealed the conviction to the Montana Supreme Court in February 2021.

The Montana Supreme Court reversed the conviction in a 4-2 decision and remanded the case for a new trial.

Strommen had been serving time in the Montana State Prison since he was found guilty by a Valley County Jury in 2020. He was released from custody after the Montana Supreme Court reversed his conviction and ordered a new trial.

In February, the State of Montana and Strommen reached a plea agreement that will have Strommen plead guilty to the charge of sexual intercourse without consent. Strommen also agreed that at the time of the offense, the victim was less than 16 years old, and he was 3 or more years older. He also agreed that the offenses took place between September 1, 2009, through January 9, 2011.

The plea agreement also states that the recommended sentence for Strommen be imprisonment of 10 years, all which is suspended except 3 years and 315 days. The sentence includes the defendant be subject to conditions of probation, which shall include in part that he registers as a sexual offender.

Strommen will receive credit for the time served of 3 years and 315 days.

Judge Jennifer Lint will preside over the sentencing hearing which will be held April 11th at 9am. Judge Lint has the authority to reject or modify the plea agreement at the sentencing hearing.

On Friday, March 21, 2025, the Valley County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with local FBI agents conducted an illicit drug interdiction operation stemming from intelligence received over the course of a yearlong investigation. The result ended with a traffic stop south of Glasgow, where two occupants in a pickup were arrested. A search of the pickup, approved by search warrant, revealed over one pound of Methamphetamine that was seized.

Multiple charges are pending for each person arrested including, Criminal Distribution of Dangerous Drugs and Criminal Possession with of Dangerous Drugs with Intent to Distribute.

The Valley County Sheriff’s Office continues to work hard in targeting and prosecuting drug traffickers to keep this community and surrounding communities safe.

Arrested was Deante Mathis of Lennox, Michigan and J Daniel Peters of Wyota, Montana.
They will have an initial appearance in Valley County Justice Court today, March 24, 2025.

Sheriff Tom Boyer

https://montanafreepress.org/2025/03/21/montana-farmers-troubled-by-tariffs/

Montana farmers are worried about being whipsawed in a trade war as the United States trades tariffs on farm products with China, Canada and Mexico.

Wheat and lentil exports are likely to face tougher markets in the coming year as tariffs erode favorable trade terms in Canada and China, producers told Montana Free Press in mid-March.

The current trade war is in some ways similar to a 2018 tariff battle with China that pinched wheat values indirectly as displaced U.S. corn and soybeans negatively affected the demand for wheat. That year, federal subsidies to Montana farmers grew by $140 million to offset trade-related losses.

Montana ranks third among states for wheat production, with 5.2 million acres planted and at least $1 billion in sales in seven of the last 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Historically, about 80% of Montana wheat is exported, primarily to markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Montana is also the top U.S. producer of lentils, with 720,000 acres planted in 2024 and $226 million in sales. Production values have tripled in the last decade, according to USDA. Canada has become a preferred buyer for lentil farmers along Montana’s Hi-Line.

But President Donald Trump’s trade war will be different from 2018, said Montana Farmers Union President Walt Schweitzer, in part because U.S. trade with China was permanently altered by the tariff fight seven years ago.

“China got busy and started building ports, railroads and distribution networks in our competitors’ backyard,” Schweitzer said. “They were helping build the infrastructure in Mexico, Brazil, Africa, Argentina, anywhere that was growing commodities that they needed to replace the U.S. market.”

Trade with China was complicated further by shipping challenges created by the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were also years of extreme drought in Montana.

“What happened is we lost our average market and so we had a lot of strong, stranded commodities with no home,” Schweitzer said. “And of course China had found other sources for corn and soybeans. Now, we’re really sitting on a surplus we shouldn’t have.”

Tariffs are a nuanced issue for the farmers union, Schweitzer said. The group’s national organization has long opposed unbridled free trade, arguing that protections are needed for United States producers. The National Farmers Union sided with Trump in 2017 when the president in his first term withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade group created by the U.S. to serve as a counterbalance to China’s increasing influence in Asian commerce.

What farmers union members support is targeted tariffs as a countermeasure to imported commodities that destabilize U.S. food production, Schweitzer said.

When new tariffs on products from China, Canada and Mexico were imposed in early March, the National Farmers Union warned that tariff-induced instability would create economic uncertainty for the American farm economy.

Similarly, economists for the more pro-trade American Farm Bureau Federation cautioned Tuesday that Mexico, Canada and China are the top three markets for U.S. farm products, with purchases of $83.3 billion in 2024.

The pace at which tariffs have been imposed and then paused this month made it difficult to determine the consequences, according to the American Farm Bureau. Canada imposed a 25% retaliatory tariff on most U.S. products, with canola seed and rice being primary targets. China tariffs threatened $12.8 billion in U.S. soybean sales. A more modest $482 million in wheat sales impacted.

China has never been a big buyer of U.S. wheat, said Gordon Stoner, who farms in northeast Montana and has served on the National Association of Wheat Growers and regional pulse crop committees.

Trade war impacts on Montana cattle are hard to follow because, unlike crops, beef sales aren’t direct. In early March, the U.S. Meat Export Federation estimated that U.S. exports of red meat to Canada, Mexico and China were worth $8.4 billion in 2024. The value that export sales added to cattle slaughtered equated to $415 per head, and $66 per head for pork.

The risk to Montana wheat growers is that soybean trade with China could sour, compelling farmers in North Dakota who normally plant soybeans to instead plant wheat, Stoner said. Any increase in wheat production is likely to drive down what farmers are paid for the grain.

Stoner is also eyeing Canada’s escalating tariffs on farm products. He’s particularly concerned about Montana lentil exports to Canada.

“What happens is they import our product and they sell it to India,” Stoner said. “For those of us who live along the border, we can haul into Canada and get a good price.”

Montana is the largest lentil-producing state in the nation, followed closely by North Dakota and Washington. Montana farmers sold $226.6 million in lentils in 2024, according to USDA. All three northern-tier states benefit from lentil sales into Canada, which normally imposes no tariff on U.S. lentils. The northeast part of the state is Montana’s biggest production area.

Lentils weren’t targeted in Canada’s first tariffs on U.S. farm products, according to Canadian trade data, but there is a second tranche of tariffs coming in April. Whether lentils will be on the list remains to be seen.

Specific tariff impacts to the Montana commodities have not been mentioned by top state and federal elected officials.

Earlier in March, Gov. Greg Gianforte framed President Trump’s tariff moves as necessary to address fentanyl coming into the United States. Trump also framed the tariffs as addressing illegal immigration and drugs while citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as his authority to impose them.

“The president has been clear he’s using tariffs as a negotiating technique first, to get compliance on the flow of fentanyl into our communities. And secondly, to get fair and reciprocal trade in place. Just, coming into this briefing, I saw that the Mexican tariffs have been postponed,” Gianforte said in a March 6 press conference. “So guess what? It’s working. You know, I don’t think he would have postponed the tariffs with Mexico, I don’t have all the details here in front of me, unless Mexico had been responsive to his request. So for the first time in a long time, we have a president that is negotiating on behalf of the American people. He said during his comments, it creates a little disruption in the short term, but I think Americans are prepared and understand the need for some of that disruption to get us in a better place. I’m proud of the fact that we finally have a president standing up for America in our in our trading relationships.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is in China this week talking about trade deficits, according to Communications Director Rachel Dumke. Daines, who became a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, lived in China more than 20 years ago while working for Proctor & Gamble.

Daines once delivered a red Igloo cooler full of Montana steaks to Chinese officials in Beijing in an attempt to court interest in Montana beef. The effort resulted in an agreement between Montana beef producers and China’s largest online grocer. The deal faltered in early 2018 at the start of Trump’s first trade war with China.

Daines says he’s bullish on Trump’s current trade plans.

“Ag is Montana’s number one economic driver, and with 95% of the world’s consumers outside the U.S., I look forward to working with President Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to expand market access for our ag producers. I meet frequently with Montana farmers and ranchers and value their input. I’ll continue fighting for them in Washington,” Daines said in a written statement.

Later this year, cities and towns across Montana will be holding elections for mayors and other local officials. However, a bill currently making its way through the Montana Legislature could significantly change how those elections will run after 2025.

House Bill 221, sponsored by Rep. Lukas Schubert, R-Kalispell, would move municipal elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years – putting them on the same schedule with federal and state elections. The House passed the bill 57-42, with almost all Republicans in support and almost all Democrats in opposition. It had its first hearing in a Senate committee this week.

Schubert said this move would get more people participating in local elections.

“I think it’s just a commonsense measure,” he said.

If HB 221 becomes law, there would still be municipal elections this year, but the winners’ terms would only last one year. Those positions would then go back up for election on the new schedule in 2026. There would also be special elections in 2026 and 2028 for one-year terms to get officials whose terms expire in 2027 and 2029 onto the new schedule.

Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell, Great Falls and Helena are all scheduled to elect mayors in 2025.

Joe McKenney is a Great Falls city commissioner, first elected in 2021 for a four-year term expiring at the end of 2025. He says having to run at the same time as federal and state candidates could make it tougher for city candidates to get voters’ attention.

“There's only so many billboards, there's only so many bench signs, there's only so many radio spots, there's only so many spots that we can buy on the news,” said McKenney. “And when all of these hundreds – it could be hundreds – of candidates are on the same ballot, running at the same time, how do we get our message out?”

Schubert told MTN he didn’t think moving city elections would lead to local issues getting lost.

“Putting them in the even-numbered years, it doesn't prevent anyone from looking at what their municipal or mayor candidate is – that's clearly a distinct role from a president or Senate or anything else,” he said. “But it gives those other people that ordinarily don't turn out an opportunity to vote, because it would be right there on the ballot.”

Two of Montana’s cities do have experience running local elections in even years: Butte and Anaconda. Both have consolidated city and county governments, and they elect their officers on the same schedule as counties.

Butte-Silver Bow chief executive J.P. Gallagher was reelected in November, at the same time as the presidential election.

“It brings more attention to it when it's a federal and state election as well,” he said. “Sometimes, our local offices – people don't know a whole lot about some of the elected officials that they're voting for. And so it at least gets them to pay attention to those local offices and elections, and so I think it's a benefit for us.”

In 2024, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s general election voter turnout was 81% and Butte-Silver Bow County’s was 76% – though the number of voters making a choice in each county’s chief executive race was about 5% lower. In 2021, municipal election turnout was 48% in Yellowstone County and Lewis and Clark County and 45% in Missoula County. In 2023, Gallatin County reported 33% turnout in its municipal general election.

In 2023, another bill to move municipal elections to even years passed the Senate but stalled in the House. Schubert said he believed the idea had a better chance of success this year because the Montana Secretary of State’s Office is more supportive.

This is an excerpt from "Capitolized" a publication of the www.montanafreepress.org

Just beyond the halfway mark of the 2025 Legislature, Senate Republicans are still dismayed about “the Nine,” a group of GOP senators who have broken with their caucus and partnered with Democrats to prevail on several key issues.

Emails leaked to Capitolized indicate that there is now a movement afoot to expel the nine Republicans from the Montana GOP for life and ban them from ever appearing on a ballot as Republicans again.

Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Glendive, broached the subject in an email to fellow legislators and others on March 13.

“I, Bob Phalen, propose that the MT GOP expel, for life, the Out of Line Nine from the Republican Party. They can join another party, or become independents, but they shall be barred for life from running as a Republican for any office in the State of Montana.”

Phalen asked Republicans in the chain email to forward the same demand to party Chairman Don Kaltschmidt.

To be clear, there exists no regulatory mechanism that could prevent Montanans from declaring affiliation with any party they choose, or no party at all, when running for office or voting. Likewise, political parties are free to oppose or endorse candidates regardless of political affiliation.

A recent example would be Green Party U.S. Senate candidates Robert Barb and Michael Downey, who accused each other of partisan fakery in 2024, while Green Party Chair Steve Kelly took the position of “si dicis te Esse, es,” which translates as “if you say you is, you is.”

Neither do Montana Republican Party bylaws empower the party to revoke affiliation for officeholders. Some other state parties do. Phalen referred to Arkansas and Texas as examples where Republican officeholders have been expelled.

Renewal of Medicaid expansion passed easily through the Senate on the votes of nine Republicans and all of the chamber's 18 Democrats. Several bills intended to limit the autonomy of Montana’s courts have also fared poorly, despite being a priority of conservative lawmakers. At one point, the coalition of Republicans and Democrats began assigning bills to committees, a task normally performed by the Senate president.

Moderate on some issues, but not all, this group of Republicans has been labeled with progressively amplified disdain, from “the Nine” to “the Nasty Nine” to “the Out of Line Nine.” They frequently support bills preferred by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte.

Members of the Group of 9:
Sens. Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Josh Kassmier, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel, and Shelley Vance.

Story credit to James Walling and the https://www.northernplainsindependent.com/

The Wolf Point City Council discussed the terminations of Police Chief Alisha Morales and Lt. Enrique Morales during its regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 17.

Following the January council meeting, Mayor Chris Dschaak said he turned investigation of the matter over to Valley County Sheriff Tom Boyer. On March 7, Boyer presented his findings. The substantiated allegations included partner/ family member assault, a hostile work environment and instances of sexual harassment. Both officers are on paid administrative leave. No acting chief is in place.

“We are looking at the availability of officers from other departments,” Dschaak said. “I’ve also been trying to find a temporary administrative chief. [...] I have contacted one former police chief and one former sheriff about their ability to help us out. Once I get someone to fill that spot, I will appoint them.”

The department has four officers available for duty. One is currently POST-certified.

A motion was approved to advertise for one police chief and one police officer.

During the public comment period, Robert Manning described an incident involving council member Ken Hentges, who allegedly raised his voice and made challenging, ideological remarks to Manning and his son recently at an area business.

Manning asked Hentges for his resignation, accusing him of raising his voice and shouting “MAGA strong” and making other challenging remarks and gestures during the incident. Hentges responded that his remarks were taken in the wrong way. Dschaak responded that he does not believe council members bring their politics into council business.

City Attorney Montana Wilson said the state constitution protects the dignity of all citizens and advised Manning that he has a right to move about the reservation without discrimination. He suggested that Manning could file a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau if he felt he was discriminated against by a member of city government.

Clerk Jhona Peterson read a letter aloud from a member of the public raising points against the proposed sale of Triangle Park. The letter was signed by more than 50 people. Wilson added that local residents have been calling his law firm expressing opposition to the sale. Dschaak maligned opponents of the sale for speaking up too late in the process, potentially costing the city time and expense.

Volunteer Fire Chief Clint Bushman was on hand to discuss various department matters, including strategies for improving the standards impacting local ISO ratings.

A task order was approved for approximately $80,000 to Great West Engineering for ongoing storm water and wastewater upgrades.

An amendment was discussed for landfill engineer Barry Damschen’s contract, raising his compensation to just over $13,000 for the year. Dschaak sent the matter to committee with the goal of developing a formal request for proposals so that the council can explore alternatives.

The next regular council meeting is set for April 21.

Story credit to: www.Billingsgazette.com

This is one time the National Weather Service won't say what's happening or what's coming.

In the wake of drastic workforce reductions across the weather forecasting service's parent agency — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — it's unknown whether or how NWS services like basic forecasts and warnings of severe and potentially deadly weather will be affected. It's also unknown how many people were lost at the agency across Montana or at specific offices in the state, or what effects that could have.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, contains agencies like NWS, the National Hurricane Center, the Tsunami Warning Center, the Weather Prediction Center and a suite of fisheries, climate, atmospheric and oceanic science and modeling offices. It is responsible for many of the weather forecast models that underpin both public and private, commercial weather forecasting services in the U.S. and abroad.

Since late February, the administration of President Donald Trump has slashed nearly 20% of NOAA's workforce through mass firings and deferred resignation offers, in which workers leave immediately but are paid for a few more months.

But weeks later, little else is known.

How many people were lost specifically at NOAA and each sub-agency? How many people were lost in each state from those agencies? What jobs did those people do?

And how will that impact services like forecasting weather; identifying and understanding productive commercial fisheries; better understanding climate change and drought; or providing alerts of dangerous conditions like floods, tornadoes, avalanches, blizzards, wildfire conditions, hurricanes, cold-snaps, ice storms or heatwaves?

Over nearly three weeks, the Missoulian was unable to obtain any information about how many people were fired or resigned from any of the NOAA facilities in Montana, such as the Missoula Forecast Office. No one at any level of government whom the Missoulian contacted would discuss the topic.

NWS operates four weather forecast offices in the state: Missoula, Great Falls, Glasgow and Billings.

Statewide, NOAA operates an array of radar facilities, radio transmissions of hazards, weather monitoring stations and meteorologists available to deploy to critical incidents, such as wildfires.

NOAA operates four U.S. Climate Reference Network facilities in the state: Dillon, Lewistown, St. Mary and Wolf Point. Those facilities monitor and track climatological data and compare it to historical norms and trends to understand in what ways climate is changing or remaining within historical norms.

NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research operates an ultraviolet and surface radiation monitoring facility at Fort Peck.

NOAA's Office of Education offers an environmental literacy program at the University of Montana in Missoula.

In an email Wednesday morning, Dan Zumpfe, the acting meteorologist-in-charge at the Missoula Forecast Office, referred inquires to NOAA's national press office. Zumpfe's email was in response to a request for information on how many people were cut from the Missoula office and what jobs those people performed. He wrote that he was "unable to provide information for this type of inquiry."

In response to questions about how many people had left NOAA in Montana, Susan Buchanan, NOAA's national press officer for weather, stated in a March 4 email that the agency would not discuss what she characterized as "internal personnel and management matters."

The Missoulian clarified that the request was not seeking personal information about specific employees, but rather general information about staffing reductions. Buchanan replied that she had no more information to add.

Instead of answering any questions from the Missoulian, she wrote: "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience. We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission."

She did not explain how the agency would do that with nearly 20% fewer workers.

Reached individually by the Missoulian both inside and outside of their workplaces, multiple NWS employees in Montana who remain at the agency all declined to discuss the staff reduction. Even when offered anonymity to discuss the topic, none of them would offer any information. One employee described a "culture of fear" that had taken root in the agency and left employees uncomfortable speaking to the news media, even anonymously.

A former meteorologist-in-charge told the Missoulian he left before the staff cuts took place and did not have information about them.

The National Weather Service Employees Organization, which states on its website that it's a union representing NWS workers, did not respond to a voicemail seeking information on staff reductions. The organization has no social media presence and, as of Wednesday, had not posted a news update to its website since late December, before Trump took office.

A broadcast meteorologist for a major-network TV news station in Missoula originally agreed to an interview with the Missoulian to discuss how TV meteorologists rely heavily on forecasts and data from NWS, and how cuts to the agency could inhibit their ability to offer weather forecasts to viewers.

However, after consulting with their general manager, the meteorologist backed out of the interview.

The Missoulian itself relies extensively on information from NOAA and NWS for news stories on dangerously hot, cold or windy weather, dangerous wildfire conditions, flooding, avalanche danger, significant winter storms, and historical weather and climate information.

What's known is this: Including all sub-agencies, NOAA employed about 12,000 people before the recent cuts. On Feb. 27, about 800 employees in probationary periods were fired. The next day, some 500 more employees accepted deferred resignation offers. Another 1,029 employees were fired in mid-March.

In all, NOAA lost about 19.4% of its workforce in less than three weeks.

The firing of probationary employees was similar to mass-dismissals at other federal agencies in February. Probationary employees are easier to fire and the Trump administration largely purged them — about 24,000 workers — from the government last month.

The Trump administration and other defenders of the mass firings portrayed the axed workers as all being new to their departments or agencies. But many fired employees were longtime employees who had recently moved to new jobs or had been promoted, and thus were in a probationary period for their new position.

The firings and resignations were coordinated by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Trump tapped Elon Musk, an immigrant from South Africa and the world's wealthiest person, to oversee DOGE. The "department" is not actually a congressionally created federal department, but rather an office within the White House tasked with reducing the federal workforce and reining in federal spending.

The Montana Senate on Thursday advanced a proposal that seeks to reallocate tens of millions of dollars of recreational marijuana taxes the state collects annually.

Senate Bill 307, proposed by Sen. Majority Leader Tom McGillgray, R-Billings, would rejigger where roughly $63 million in marijuana taxes are directed, stripping allocations for wildlife habitat, state parks and youth suicide prevention programming and instead funneling those revenues toward law enforcement and substance use disorder treatment programs.

“If marijuana taxes are directed toward parks, trails and wildlife habitat, then who has to pick up the cost of the harms that come from the legalization and the use of marijuana?” McGillvray said during last month’s hearing before the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee. “Do we want to have property taxes [going toward] more treatment, more crisis centers [for] people who are suffering from psychosis or mental challenges from the use of marijuana?”

Last month, SB 307 proponents argued before committee members that the state needs more money to treat substance use disorder, educate Montanas on the effects of marijuana use, and ensure that marijuana growers and retailers are complying with the law. Proponents of the legislation argued it makes sense that such money comes from the cause of those needs.

SB 307 proponent Ben Cort said he appreciated that it takes a holistic approach to addressing issues that can crop up with substance use.

“It’s a stool with three legs: treatment, prevention, enforcement,” Cort said. “[SB 307] takes all of those equally seriously. … If you do all three of these, you’ll get as good as results as you can.”

Opponents of the bill argued that SB 307 goes against the wishes of Montana voters, who in 2020 passed an initiative legalizing adult-use marijuana and establishing a 20% sales tax on it. Language in that initiative specified that one-quarter of the taxes collected would support conservation and outdoor recreation initiatives.

“This bill will strip crucial funding from conservation efforts and will have immediate negative effects on public land and recreation opportunities in our state,” argued Micah Fields with the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “As a state that draws substantial income from outdoor recreation and prides itself on abundant access to wild places and prime hunting and fishing, we deserve a method of funding that prioritizes and protects these resources.”

During floor debate on the measure Thursday, McGillvray addressed that critique of his bill, arguing that allocating revenue by citizen initiative is prohibited by Montana’s Constitution.

“I would submit to you that the deer, the elk, the moose, the geese are all doing pretty good in Montana,” he added. “FWP is flush with cash.”

Democratic Sens. Sara Novak of Anaconda and Minority Leader Pat Flowers of Belgrade pushed back on that assessment. They argued that the money allocated under House Bill 701 from the 2021 session, the legislation to implement the voter-passed referendum that legalized recreational marijuana use and sales, is being put to good use and this shouldn’t be an either-or proposition, particularly given the state budget surplus.

“I don’t think we are in a position to unravel House Bill 701,” Novak said. “I think we can support both, and this bill doesn’t allow for that.”

The Senate’s vote fell largely upon party lines. All of the chamber’s Democrats opposed SB 307 and all but two of its Republican senators — Wylie Galt of Martinsdale and Russ Tempel of Chester — supported it.

SB 307 now continues on to the Senate Finance and Claims Committee. If it passes that committee, it will go up for at least one more vote in the Senate. If it passes that vote, it will continue on to the House.

The Milk River Project continues to move forward with the goal of completing the project this year. An update on social media has some good news for those relying on water from the Milk River on the Hi-Line.

Our crews have been working tirelessly through the winter—some logging six days a week—to keep the project on track and ensure reliable water delivery to the Hi-Line. Their dedication is paying off!

Thanks to their hard work, we’ve accelerated the original September 2025 water delivery timeline to early July 2025—meaning water will be flowing through the system ahead of schedule!

That said, we’re approaching this acceleration with cautious optimism. Large-scale projects like this can shift quickly, and while the pipe and bridge work are ahead of schedule, the larger structures remain the key drivers of the timeline.

Water Outlook & Irrigation Forecast

While infrastructure progress is promising, water storage in Fresno Reservoir remains a concern. To provide meaningful early irrigation water in May or June, storage levels need to rise significantly. With over 90,000 irrigated acres between Fresno and Nelson, every drop counts.

We have over a month to monitor storage levels and will reassess at the end of April, hoping for a more favorable irrigation outlook. As it stands, current levels do not support a first irrigation option, making additional storage crucial for early water deliveries. We’ll continue keeping a close watch and provide updates as conditions evolve.

Pray for rain and snowpack!

A huge thank you to our crews, partners, and the community for your patience and support. We’ll continue to keep you updated—stay tuned for more!

INFORMATIONAL RELEASE

On March 19th, 2025, the Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice officers responded to the area east of the Thundering Buffalo Wellness Center for a report of a juvenile male that had been stabbed.

The Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigation and Patrol Divisions were able to identify the two suspects of the stabbing.
I
n coordination with a deputy from Roosevelt County, the Fort Peck Tribes law enforcement located and arrested the two suspects, also juveniles.

The Fort Peck Tribes will continue the investigation into this matter.

A bill that would implement negotiated raises for state workers and boost lawmaker pay in future legislative sessions was endorsed by the Montana Senate on a comfortable 37-13 margin Wednesday, with proponents fending off an effort to strip out the lawmaker pay raise.

State Senator Gregg Hunter, Senator Russ Temple and Senator Jonathan Windy Boy all voted yes for the pay raise.

House Bill 13, which passed the Montana House Jan. 27, faces a final Senate vote in the coming days before heading to Gov. Greg Gianforte for his consideration.

The bill, which implements a state pay plan negotiated last year between the governor and public employee unions, funds raises of either $1 an hour or 2.5% for state workers effective July 1 this year and again on July 1 of 2026.

Workers would receive the greater of the two increases. That means that, for example, a state employee currently earning $24 an hour — or $49,920 a year — would see their pay boosted to $25 an hour ($52,000 annually) this July and $26 an hour ($54,080 annually) next year.

According to a financial analysis prepared by the governor’s budget office, the raises will cost the state about $82 million a year once both rounds are implemented.

The bill also increases per diem rates for travel meal reimbursement and boosts state contributions to employee health insurance plans.

The lawmaker pay portion of the bill would increase pay for state representatives and senators, currently $10.33 an hour when the Legislature is in session, by tying it to Montana’s average wage, which is currently $27.90 an hour. The bill would boost lawmaker pay to 80% of the average wage in 2027 and to 100% of the average from 2029 on.

Most of the Senate’s debate before Wednesday’s vote was focused on the lawmaker pay provision as Sen. Sue Vinton, R-Billings, made an unsuccessful push for an amendment that would strike that portion of the bill. Quoting a written statement made by Gianforte as he vetoed a lawmaker pay increase that passed the Legislature in 2023, Vinton argued that the state benefits from a citizen-legislature model in which a measure of financial sacrifice is necessary to serve.

“Our system keeps governing close to the people and is part of what keeps Montana special,” she said.

Sen. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, also argued that lawmakers should serve primarily out of a sense of duty.

“This is a huge sacrifice to be up here, but we’re doing it because we love our neighbors,” she said.

Other lawmakers argued that the current pay rates make legislative service difficult for Montanans who aren’t retirees or employed with flexible work. Boosting pay, they said, would make it easier for a wider variety of Montanans, including those with young families, to bring their viewpoints to the House and Senate.

“This is a citizen Legislature and if we want to keep it a citizen Legislature we have to be open to all — and that includes the freedom to be able to afford to serve up here,” said Sen. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena.

Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, said his efforts to recruit legislative candidates have often been rebuffed as soon as would-be lawmakers hear what the pay is.

“We have to view ourselves as a professional body,” McGillvray said. “We want professionals, people who are of a high caliber, who are well-educated, intelligent.”

The governor’s budget office estimates the lawmaker raises will cost about $2.3 million a year once fully aligned with the state’s average wage. The Senate push to remove those raises from the bill failed on a 12-38 vote.

The Glasgow School Board met in regular session Wednesday evening.

Action items from the board meeting.

The school board approved the March 4th school bond election results. Glasgow School District voters approved a $2.9 million bond issue to pay for improvements to school infrastructure.

The board approved the bond resolution which will allow the district to sell $2.9 million in bonds to finance the school improvements.

McKinstry was hired as the District Design-Build Manager for the roofing and HVAC projects at the Glasgow Middle School and Glasgow High School.

The board approved changing the GHS math graduation requirements from 3 credits to 2 credits effective 2025-2026.

The board agreed to pay $7,324 in dues to the Montana School Board Association.

Glasgow School District voters will not be asked to vote on a general fund levy resolution for the May school election. The board could have put forth a levy request of $35,797.99 but decided that since voters recently approved a $2.9 million bond request there would be general fund levy request this year.

The board approved updates to the 2025-2026 school calendar and the 2026-2027 calendar.

Glasgow School enrollment for the February count was 767 students compared to 740 students in February of the last school year.

All Glasgow School Board meetings are recorded and all board information and recordings can be found here: https://www.glasgow.k12.mt.us/page/school-board

Commodity producers will start to see their share of $10 billion under the new Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) by the end of the week, USDA announced Tuesday.

The financial relief was provided in the American Relief Act of 2025 to help producers offset some of their financial losses from 2024 crops.

Hitting its deadline to get the program started, USDA officials said enrollment for ECAP will begin Wednesday, March 19. Commodity producers will receive pre-filled applications based on their 2024 acreage report, but farmers also can visit their local FSA office starting Wednesday to enroll in person. Once FSA processes an application, producers can expect payments to show up in their bank accounts within three business days, said Brooke Appleton, deputy undersecretary for Food Production and Conservation at USDA.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins noted producers are facing higher costs and market uncertainty, and the Trump administration is meeting its deadline to get the aid out.

“With clear direction from Congress, USDA has prioritized streamlining the process and accelerating these payments ahead of schedule, ensuring farmers have the resources necessary to manage rising expenses and secure financing for next season,” Rollins said.

Eligible commodities include corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, upland and extra-long staple cotton, long- and medium-grain rice, barley, oats, peanuts, other oilseeds, dry peas, lentils and small and large chickpeas.

The payments will be based on 2024 planted acres for the eligible crop. Prevented planting acres will be counted at 50% of the lost acres reported. There were just over 4.7 million prevented-planting acres in 2024.

The legislation had specific formulas setting payment at either 26% of economic losses — the difference between production costs and gross returns for that commodity — or, 8% of the crop’s Price Loss Coverage (PLC) reference price, multiplied by the average PLC payment yield, then multiplied by the eligible acres on that farm. For corn, wheat and soybeans, the 26% calculation provided a higher payment rate.

Steve Peterson, associate administrator for the Farm Service Agency, said production costs will be based on an Economic Research Service report of detailed farm expenses. Gross returns will be pegged to a producer’s reported acres, multiplied by the crop price reported in the Dec. 10, 2024, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), which was $4.10 a bushel for corn, $10.20 for soybeans and $5.60 for wheat.

In the Federal Register listing, USDA lists per-acre payment rates by commodity as:

— Corn, $42.91 per acre.

— Soybeans, $29.76 per acre.

— Wheat, $30.69 per acre.

— Cotton, $84.74 per acre.

— Sorghum, $42.52 per acre.

— Rice, $76.94 per acre.

For now, USDA will factor payments at 85% of expected total payment. Enrollment in ECAP will continue through Aug. 15. If additional funds remain after Aug. 15, Appleton said producers may receive a second payment based on remaining funds available.

The payments come as corn and soybean prices have been stagnant or lower since the crop insurance price was set at the end of February at $4.70 a bushel for corn and $10.54 a bushel for soybeans. Economists for corn and soybean groups said earlier this month at Commodity Classic that farmers, on average, are facing $100 an acre loss planting either crop this spring.

Beyond the economic aid, farmers who suffered losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 also should expect more details coming soon about how USDA will distribute nearly $21 billion in disaster aid. That includes $2 billion set aside for livestock producers and other funds that will be block-granted to states.

“We’re hoping to have more details on that coming soon, and giving timelines on when to expect those various programs to be rolled out,” Appleton said.

On the same day that Gov. Greg Gianforte held a Capitol reception celebrating National Agriculture Day and Montana’s growers and ranchers, the House shot down a bill that would have made it easier for farms to sell their products to food banks.

House Bill 649, backed by a broad coalition that includes the Montana Farmers Union and food banks, would have allocated $3 million to the Department of Agriculture to give out as grants to food pantries so they could purchase meat, produce and other items from local producers.

Characterized by many supporters as a “win-win,” HB 649 was backed by a broad coalition including the Montana Farmers Union, Indian Country advocates and food banks; however, opponents had some heartburn over the multi-million-dollar price tag.

The financial concern was ultimately enough for House lawmakers to vote down the bill by a narrow margin of 48-51 on Tuesday.

State Representative Eric Albus of Hinsdale voted no while Representative Valerie Moore of Plentywood voted for the legislaiton.

Rep. Shane Klakken, R-Grass Range, voted in support of the bill after its Feb. 27 hearing in the House Agriculture Committee, but he said conversations with constituents during the recent transmittal break had him reconsidering.

“They sent me back with a message,” Klakken said. “Watch your spending.”

Nearly 131,000 people in Montana struggle to put food on the table, according to data from Feeding America. About 40,000 of those experiencing food insecurity — defined by the federal government as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life — are children.

Hunger decreased during the pandemic as expanded social programs put more money in people's pockets. Community food programs also enjoyed a groundswell of support from donors and grocers.

However, hunger has started to climb again as those funds have dried up and economic pressures have returned.

Kiera Condon from the Montana Food Bank Network said donations of food and dollars to the organization have gone down significantly in the last two years as family budgets have grown tighter. Food banks rely on volunteers to keep the doors open, and it’s become increasingly difficult to stock the pantries with healthy options.

A $50,000 grant would allow a food bank to purchase 500 pounds each of Montana-raised meat and locally grown produce every month for 12 months, Condon estimated.

HB 649 sought to reduce hunger while also helping local ranchers and growers survive.

In 1910, about 60% of every dollar spent on food went back to the farmer, according to Grow Montana. Today, it’s 16%.

The Grow Montana report also found that only 3% of all food consumed in Montana comes from farms and ranches in the state, a far cry from the 70% in 1950.

At the Tuesday reception in the Capitol Rotunda, Gianforte heralded agriculture as the state’s top industry and declared March Agriculture Month in Montana. The governor voiced support for policies to benefit local producers, some of whom attended the event, such as tax credits and establishing connections with new markets at home and abroad.

Supporters of HB 649 said the bill would have done just that by giving food banks more purchasing power and requiring them to buy from Montana farmers and ranchers.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate agriculture than to provide a ready market for our producers and to, at the same time, assist those who are in dire straits or in need,” said Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula. “I think this is a great opportunity for us to establish what our priorities are in service to the state of Montana and its residents.”

Story credit to https://dailymontanan.com/

An attorney who is fighting for a Glasgow couple’s access to information surrounding their child being removed from a home in 2023 has withdrawn his latest filing, saying that an end-run by a current lawmaker could help cover up the Gianforte administration’s role in seizing their child.

However, that Republican lawmaker told the Daily Montanan he is simply taking what the Montana Supreme Court has said in ruling and codifying it in law so that no other legislator will have to take the state to the highest court in Montana just to get access to documents.

Bozeman attorney Matthew Monforton withdrew a filing he made last week in a state court seeking records the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has surrounding social workers removing a teenager from Todd and Krista Kolstad’s home because of concerns of suicidal threats. Authorities placed the teenager in a hospital for psychiatric care, trying to locate a longer-term treatment solution.

When a bed became available in Wyoming, the Kolstads objected, believing that another state would begin treatment for gender dysphoria. The Kolstads’ child identified as transgender, something they’ve said their religion sees as a sin. The Kolstads, instead, wanted their child to go to a Montana institution because lawmakers halted gender-affirming treatment without parental permission in the Treasure State.

Though the fight over the care of the child ended when she was placed with her biological mother in Canada, the legal fight centering on parental rights and why the Gianforte administration had fought to remove the child remains ongoing.

The Kolstads have gotten a sympathetic response from some conservative lawmakers who have pledged to use their access to the records, under a privilege in Montana law, to review the case. That includes Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings, who took the case to the Montana Supreme Court, which later ordered the entire file that the DPHHS had be turned over to him for inspection.

When the Kolstads used the same part of the law to request the same records, officials with the DPHHS turned over more than 2,400 pages of documents, but created a six-page list, often referred to as a “privilege log,” of documents the state was withholding from the couple based on attorney-client privilege. The Kolstads, through Monforton, argued in court filings that state law doesn’t allow DPHHS to withhold the documents from them while releasing them to Mercer.

But as the case has continued to wind its way through the courts, Mercer, a member of the Montana House of Representatives, has introduced House Bill 690, which would change state law so that parents would not be entitled to those documents, but lawmakers could still see them. The bill has already cleared the House, and is still alive in the Montana Senate, where it will likely be heard during the second half of the Legislature. Monforton said that because of the proposed legal change and because the bill has already been successful, he was forced to remove his latest legal challenge, which has allowed the Gianforte administration to withhold records concerning the teenager’s removal.

“It’s clear that the records DPHHS is seeking to shield will implicate them in wrongdoing,” Monforton said. “It stinks of corruption.”

However, Mercer said the purpose of HB 690 is to clarify in law that parents in Montana cannot be punished for disregarding or disagreeing with a child’s gender identity. Furthermore, the changes to accessing documents shouldn’t be surprising since the Montana Supreme Court signaled that even state agencies, like the DPHHS, have a right to withhold documents that are attorney-client privilege, a gray area in the law now, which he said could cause other similar cases to be entangled in lengthy court battles. Mercer told the Daily Montanan that he inserted new language into the bill to clarify that. He said that even if parents are denied some documents the state considers attorney-client privilege, they can still challenge that decision in court.

He agreed there may be cases where lawmakers have more access than parents to the files, but not much. He said that in order for a lawmaker to understand whether the state is truly following the intent of the law, they need all the documents, including attorneys’ advice, to understand the decisions. But, Mercer also said those same sensitive documents could violate attorney-client privilege, which the courts often treat as sacrosanct, which is why he added language that makes disclosing the contents of those documents illegal.

Monforton also questioned why the Republican-led Legislature and the Gianforte administration would allow a lawmaker more access and privilege than the parents of a child, especially since the GOP continues to emphasize parental rights.

As Montana law currently stands, it allows for a variety of people to gain access to a Child and Family Services file, through the proper written steps. That includes file notes, interviews and other documents, and the law is silent about whether notes from attorneys should be included in the case files or can be withheld under the legal doctrine of “attorney-client privilege.” Mercer’s law would add a provision that would allow lawmakers, including members of Congress, to evaluate the files, including documents the department deems attorney-client privilege, access that House Bill 690 doesn’t give to anyone else, including parents.

“This is the same party that supposedly values parental rights, and yet the Republican governor and Republican legislators are closing files to parents regarding their children,” Monforton said.

Mercer said the change in the law reflects the different roles of parents and lawmakers. He said the parents need to know the details of their child’s case, and that includes every document except those subject to attorney-client privilege. A lawmaker’s role is to ensure the state is complying with the laws the Legislature passes, but that often requires inspecting privately and confidentially whether the state is acting based on an attorney’s counsel.

“I don’t think the courts would say that there’s never any attorney-client privilege,” Mercer said. “And this means if there’s going to be a skirmish, it’s going to be something over whether a document is privileged. It narrows the scope of what can be challenged.”

Mercer also fought for the documents related to the Kolstads’ case, taking the challenge to the Montana Supreme Court, which agreed that he could also see attorney-client documents, but only after agreeing to additional non-disclosure agreements. The state’s Supreme Court did not directly tackle the matter in its decision, but noted in at least three different parts of an 18-page opinion that even though the current law is silent about documents the DPHHS has that it considers “attorney-client” privilege doesn’t mean the principle is moot. Mercer said since the unanimous five-judge decision, written by Justice Jim Rice, acknowledged that DPHHS had a legitimate concern, he was addressing those in the bill.

Monforton also told the Daily Montanan that the Kolstads plan to testify at the Legislature when the bill gets to a hearing in the Montana Senate so that they can hopefully amend the law to give parents at least as many right as lawmakers.

The Glasgow School Board will meet for their regular March meeting tonight at 6pm in the Gary F. Martin Board Room.

The Glasgow City Council met in regular session on Monday.

Action items approved by the Glasgow City Council:

Approved the Glasgow Trap Club to add a community garden to the shooting range.

Approved a resolution appointing Walker Olsen to the Glasgow Fire Department for a probationary period.

Approved a request by City Clerk Stacey Amundson to extend her excess vacation through June 30th.

The Public Works Director told the council that the city had expended over $44,000 to repair water and sewer line breaks in the city. The expenses are related to breaks on Valley View Drive and 4th Avenue North.

Jacob Renner appeared before District Judge Yvonne Laird in Glasgow on Monday for a disposition hearing.

According to court documents, Jacob Renner of Glasgow was arrested in November after the State of Montana alleged that Renner violated conditions of a sentence handed down to him in April of 2024.

Judge Laird ruled that Renner indeed had violated conditions of his suspended sentence at a court hearing in January.

Renner was sentenced on Monday to 20 years with the Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended. Judge Laird ruled he be turned over immediately to the Montana Department of Corrections.

In October of 2022, Renner had originally been charged with 2 counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in State District Court in Glasgow. In October of 2023, Renner entered into a plea agreement with the Valley County Attorney.

District Court Judge Yvonne Laird sentenced Renner to the Montana State Prison for a term of 20-years with all the time suspended. He was also credited with 60 days previously served in jail and ordered to pay $80 in mandatory surcharges.

Judge Laird did put forth conditions on Renner and stated if he were to violate any of the conditions of his sentence she would reconsider the suspended sentence.

At the adjudication hearing, the Probation and Parole officer assigned to the case testified that Renner never enrolled in Sex Offender Treatment class as required by the court. The officer also informed the court that sexually explicit content was found on his phone, and he had access to the internet when he did not have permission to.

Judge Laird ruled that although there were some efforts to register for the Sex Offender Treatment class the defendant showed little effort in actually completing it and had his mother do it instead. The court found there is a disconnect between defendant and the court's order and that defendant does not seem to think he needs to comply. Judge Laird ruled that Renner violated conditions of his suspended sentence and revoked his suspended sentence.

The Glasgow City Council will meet Monday at 5pm in the Council Chambers at the Glasgow Civic Center.

43 participants took part in the 6th annual Lucky Knuckle Brew Run on Saturday in Glasgow.

The Lucky Knuckle Brew Run was able to donate $430.00 to the Siding 45 Skate Park Committee.

The Montana Department of Revenue is reporting that cannabis sales in Valley County and in Montana declined in February compared to January.

The February reports shows that marijuana sales in Valley County were $141,091 in February compared to $147,113 in January. The amount of sales in February of 2024 in Valley County were $132,361.

Statewide, sales totaled $23,711,334 in February which is down $2.2 million compared to January of this year.

From The Williston Herald

WILLISTON — A major roadway project involving a reconfiguration of Highway 2 is scheduled to start on April 1.

According to a release from Reede Construction, Inc., Highway 2 from 9th Avenue West to north of 35th Street will be reconstructed "to improve access to the future Williston Square development."

A design of the Highway 2 reconstruction supplied by Reede Construction, Inc. shows that the highway will curve along the existing Highway 2 frontage road rather than connect with the 2nd Avenue West and 26th Street West intersection. A new four-way intersection for Highway 2 and 2nd Avenue West will be created, with the avenue crossing Highway 2 toward Williston Square.

Williston, ND — Williston State College (WSC) is exploring the possibility of offering a part-time night and weekend Massage Therapy program and is seeking public feedback through a short survey. The survey aims to gauge interest from residents in Williston and surrounding communities in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana.

The proposed program would provide a flexible schedule for individuals who want to pursue a career in massage therapy while balancing work and other commitments.

“We know there are people interested in massage therapy but unable to commit to a full-time, daytime program,” said Wendy McGinley, Professor and Program Coordinator of Massage Therapy at WSC. “This survey will help us determine if a part-time night and weekend option would make the program more accessible to students across the region.”

The survey is open to anyone interested in pursuing a career in massage therapy or supporting the growth of the field. Responses will help guide the development of the program to meet the needs of the community.

To participate in the survey, visit https://bit.ly/427VK7S . The survey will be open until May 31, 2025.

For more information about WSC’s Massage Therapy program, visit https://willistonstate.edu/programs/Massage-Therapy/.

HELENA – The 2025 Montana hunting regulations hit the shelves last month in advance of the new license year that started March 1, and hunters may have noticed a change.

For years, the hunting regulations contained pages for license or permit drawing odds from the previous year. The intent of these charts was to show hunters what the odds of drawing particular licenses or permits were from year to year. The problem is that these charts were largely misleading, and in some cases, just inaccurate.

The charts didn’t account for residency status. Nonresidents are capped at 10 percent of the drawing quota, which means far fewer licenses or permits are available to nonresidents than the statistics would indicate.
The statistics didn’t account for bonus points. The bonus point system in Montana is random by design. And though the odds of drawing a license or permit are higher the more bonus points you have, that’s not always the way it works out.

The statistics didn’t account for landowner preference applications. Landowner preference licenses and permits are taken from the quota before the general drawing.
FWP publishes detailed drawing statistics on its website. Rather than publish inaccurate tables, as in the past, this year FWP is directing hunters to the drawing statistics online and a more comprehensive explanation of bonus points in the regulation booklets.

A recent legislative audit found that bonus points were generally misunderstood.

“By publishing information on how bonus points work in Montana and directing people to accurate drawing statistics online, we hope we can alleviate some confusion and give people better information to influence their applications,” said Greg Lemon, communication and education division administrator for FWP.

Remember, April 1 is the deadline to apply for deer and elk permits. May 1 is the deadline to apply for moose, sheep, goat and bison licenses. Don’t wait, apply early.

This Presidential disaster declaration allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.

Impacted Area: North Dakota
Triggering Disaster: Wildfires and Straight-line Winds
Application Deadline: 8/25/2025
Primary Counties Eligible: McKenzie and Williams

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:
Montana: Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan and Wibaux
North Dakota: Billings, Burke, Divide, Dunn, Golden Valley and Mountrail

More Resources
On newlink , the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.

FEMA offers different assistance programs for individual citizens, public groups including government agencies and private nonprofit organizations. To find the FEMA help you need following a disaster event, visit fema.gov/assistance.

HilineToday.com (Babb) The Milk River Project published another update on the replacement of the St. Mary Siphon near Babb earlier this week via their official Facebook page.

Welding for pipes is reportedly finished on the top east side for the St. Mary Outlet Structure and is now back at the bottom, welding pipe that will soon reach the bridge and cross over.

NW Construction is also still involved on the project, and MRP says they’ve been screening material, installing flowable concrete for the trenches beneath the pipes, and backfilling the structure.

As of now, a finish date is still estimated for late summer of 2025.

North Central Montana District’s Fuels Management Program team is again burning woody hand piles this week in the Little Rocky Mountains near Zortman and Landusky in Phillips County, Montana.

The Zortman-Landusky Fuel Break project area consists of 17 acres of hand piles located on BLM-administered lands on the top of Antoine Butte, about 2.5 miles northwest of Zortman.

This fuels-reduction treatment will reduce conifer fuel loading and create a fuel break surrounding mining infrastructure and the communities of Zortman and Landusky. Hand piles were constructed during the 2023 field season.

Ignition operations are expected to be completed in one operational shift, with residual smoke expected to last for two to four days.

District fuels program planners intend to burn up to seven woody pile units throughout the fall and winter months when fuel moistures and weather permit safe operations and meet the appropriate treatment conditions. The project started in December but snow pack kept the crew from finishing the job until now.

The Montana Department of Motor Vehicles is receiving a new motor vehicle registration system & has directed all counties to not process any motor vehicle transactions March 13th & 14th.

All county offices must close out of the current motor vehicle system by close of day March 12th. This includes registration renewals, processing new title & registration transactions as well as reprinting receipts. No personalized plate can be ordered from March 8th - 16th. Business will resume Mon. March 17th at 8a.m.

When requesting motor vehicle transactions please bring your plate number, vehicle identification number or renewal card with you as these items will be required for the new system.

The Montana Department of Transportation is reporting that ridership on Cape Air Airlines in Glasgow is up 45% in January compared to last year.

In January of this year, there were 457 riders on Cape in Glasgow. 239 passengers got on in Glasgow and 218 passengers got off in Glasgow.

In January of 2024, there were 314 passengers getting off and on in Glasgow.

In all of 2024, there were 5,817 passengers who used Cape Air in Glasgow.

Other Essential Air Service Communities and ridership in January:

Glendive- 317
Havre- 513
Glendive- 324
Sidney- 1,021
Wolf Point- 412

The Valley County Commissioners met on March 5th for their weekly meeting. Action items from the meeting included:

Appointing Sherri Turner and Terri Risa to the Valley County Council on Aging Board.

Approved Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen to file a response to a court filing seeking an injunction to the North Valley County Water and Sewer District Recall Election which is set for June.

Approved renewing health insurance coverage for county employees from the Montana Association of Counties. This includes a 9.8% increase in premiums for Valley County. Valley County currently covers 85% of the monthly premium which is a monthly cost of $1309 per employee and $15,708 per year for each employee who opts in to the county health insurance coverage.

On Saturday, March 8, 2024, at 4:30pm, dispatch received a citizen complaint about erratic driving. A Valley County Deputy responded to the area and located a vehicle matching the description, stopped in the roadway with its left blinker on. which led to a suspicion of impaired driving. The driver attempted to flee, driving directly at the deputy's patrol vehicle. The deputy did an excellent job of narrowly avoided a collision.

The vehicle left westbound on Roosevelt Trail Road with the Deputy in pursuit. Another Deputy and a Glasgow City Police Officer, responded to the intersection of MT Hwy 24 N and Roosevelt Trail. The suspect continued onto Airport Road and into Glasgow, where a third Sheriff’s Officer attempted to stop the vehicle. Pit maneuvers were attempted at slower speeds in town but were unsuccessful.

The chase continued eastbound on US Hwy 2. An unmarked Sheriff’s vehicle moved in front of the suspect's vehicle. By slowing down, the suspect collided with the Sheriff's vehicle, ending the pursuit a few hundred feet later. The suspect was taken into custody without further use of force. Neither the suspect nor any officers were injured.

A 51-year-old Nashua Man was arrested, jailed, and received multiple citations. The incident went well, and no one was hurt. We appreciate the assistance of Glasgow Police Department.

Sheriff Tom Boyer

Over 27 consecutive years the Grobel Scholarship Trust has awarded $243,000 in scholarships. And for the 2025-2026 school year, the trust will award at least 3 scholarships, each in the amount of $3,500.

These scholarships are available to graduates of Valley County High Schools who have completed at least one full year of post-secondary study in nursing or another medical-related field. Applications are available from steve@exitjail.com or by calling or texting 757.846.0373.

Completed applications must be received or postmarked by June 6.

The Grobel Scholarship Trust was established in 1997 by Lynn and Lois Grobel to honor the memory of their daughter, Mary, a nurse and a 1970 Glasgow High School graduate. The members of the trust committee are Mary’s brother, Stephen L. Grobel, and Samuel D. Waters, Board Member, Opportunity Bank and Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc.

An effort increasing penalties for DUI offenders and changing up how sentencing is handled is on the precipice of passing through its first chamber.

House Bill 816 made it through second reading on Thursday morning in the House on a 57- 42 vote.

State Representative Eric Albus of Hinsdale and Representative Valerie Moore of Plentywood voted yes on the legislation.

The bill makes numerous changes to DUI laws, increasing fines for those convicted of misdemeanor DUIs, and allows people to serve their terms on weekends so they can continue working while being tested daily for their alcohol content.

Proponents say this is an inventive fix that will keep drunk drivers off the streets and allow for sentences to extend over a longer period of time, while critics say the bill in its current form has logistical concerns and isn’t ready for prime time quite yet.

“The idea here is to basically take drunk drivers and have them give up their leisure time while they are still working, and they are still providing for their families, and they are having to do sobriety testing is a good approach. Hopefully, that is going to start reducing our number of DUIs,” said State Rep. Fiona Nave (R-Columbus), HB 816 lead sponsor.

“Weekends are the busiest times for our county jails. They are often overflowing. It compounds the problems with booking and sometimes there simply aren’t beds available. I think that needs to be factored into any amendments,” said State Rep. Tom France (D-Missoula), one of 41 Democrats to vote against the bill. “And I think fundamentally, this should be a penalty that is available to the judge. But it should be at his or her discretion depending on all of these facts that really go into whether this is effective for the perpetrator, the defendant, and for the county, for the county attorneys.”

In its current form, HB 816 does allow for an offender to skip a weekend in jail if the local county jail is full, but those skipped days will have to be made up on the backend of the sentence.

The bill was referred to House Appropriations following its passage on second reading. It made it through Appropriations on a 12-11 vote. If the bill clears the House, it is expected to be amended in the Senate to account for those that work on the weekends, allowing for them to be incarcerated on their weekdays off.

“My expectation is to fix the things that need to be fixed in the Senate,” said Nave. “I don’t think that those will be difficult, and I don’t think that they will be opposed.”

A fiscal note states the bill will bring in about $1.4 million a year to the state due to increased fines under the bill.

A public hearing will be held in Phillips County regarding the possibility of a Public Safety Levy to supplement funding for the Phillips County Law Enforcement and Ambulance Service in Phillips County.

Full story: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/03/05/glasgow-couples-files-motion-to-compel-state-to-turn-over-documents/

The parents of a child that the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services removed because of a suicide risk and gender identity filed a motion in court on Wednesday, claiming that the state is continuing to withhold information about their case while turning over the same information to a state lawmaker.

Todd and Krista Kolstad are asking a Lewis and Clark County District judge to issue a write of mandate that would compel the department to turn over all documents related to their child’s case, including those listed on a six-page log that describes the information the state is withholding. They claim the documents listed on that document were given to a Billings legislator.

The case started nearly two years ago when the teenage child of the Kolstads had threatened suicide, after the Kolstads refused to acknowledge the child’s struggle with gender dysphoria. They have maintained that their religion considers transgenderism a sin. The child was removed by Child and Family Services and was hospitalized until a bed became available at an inpatient psychiatric unit.

Originally, the plan was for the Kolstads’ child to be put in a facility in Montana, but when a bed opened in Wyoming, officials placed the child there over the Kolstads’ objections. The parents believed that Wyoming would begin gender-affirming care for the child, whereas Montana would not without parental permission.

The legal battle that has ensued involves obtaining information about the Gianforte administration’s decision to remove the child, which at one point was being reviewed by Montana Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras — herself an attorney.

The fight has also involved state lawmakers. In court documents, both Rep. William Mercer, R-Billings, and Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, have asked for documents related to the case, under a section of Montana law that allows lawmakers access to confidential documents.

In the new court filing, the Kolstads’ attorney, Matthew Monforton, said that documents that had been provided to the lawmakers involving their child’s case were denied to them. In a response document sent on Feb. 15, Montana DPHHS said those documents, including text messages and group chats, were released to lawmakers under a different section of state law than what is granted to the Kolstads as parents.

The Montana DPHHS provided a six-page “privilege log” which is a spreadsheet document that describes broadly the documents that the state is withholding and a brief reason for why they’re being withheld.

The brief motion filed on Wednesday asks the court to order those documents be released to the Kolstads, and notes that those documents were released to Mercer, according to the court filing.

According to the filing, the Kolstads did receive 2,400 pages of documents related to their child’s case last month.

A bill requiring public schools to allow children to attend religious instruction for at least one hour per week is headed to the Senate.

House Bill 343, brought by Rep. Randyn Gregg, R-White Sulphur Springs, narrowly passed the Education committee by an 8-7 vote and squeaked by in the House on a 54-45 vote on Tuesday night. It passed a third reading, moving it to the Senate, on Wednesday morning.

State Representative Valerie Moore of Plentywood and Representative Eric Albus of Hinsdale voted in favor of the legislation.

Gregg presented it as an opportunity for religious families to be able to choose public schools over homeschooling. Montana had about 8,524 home school students during the 2023-24 school year, an increase of almost 9% over the previous year, according to the Office of Public Instruction. Additionally, there are over 8,500 private school students enrolled in Montana.

“For many families, faith is an important part of their children’s upbringing,” Gregg said. “Without options like time-released religious instruction, some parents feel they have no choice but to leave public schools for private or home education.”

Montana law already allows districts to release students for religious activities. The bill changes the word in the law from “may” to “shall,” thereby requiring districts to allow time for released religious instruction. The bill also allows schools to provide credit for the time those students are receiving religious instruction. An amendment to the bill does give districts the option to not allow credit for that time.

If the school or district does provide credit, they are required to review the curriculum. Some legislators expressed worries the review process could include uncomfortable conversations with religious leaders. However, the bill stipulates districts have to be neutral and can’t test the religious affiliation of requestors.

“This bill strengthens that commitment between schools and families by allowing schools to offer academic credit for these programs if they meet specific rigorous criteria,” Gregg said on the floor. “By doing so, we free up valuable resources and time for public educators, while ensuring families have access to the education they seek for their children.”

The bill received support from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group.

“The bill provides local school boards with clear guidance on how to award elective credit for release time and allows schools to examine whether the courses are academically rigorous and comparable to other elective courses offered to the students,” said Matt Sharp, an attorney with ADF. “It also avoids impermissible entanglement with religion by informing school officials that they shouldn’t examine the religious content or denominational affiliation of the course.”

Rob Watson, representing the Coalition of Advocates for Montana Public Schools, spoke against the bill. The coalition also includes the Montana School Boards Association and the School Administrators of Montana.

Watson said they have no issues with allowing students to leave school for religious instruction and their issues stemmed from awarding credits.

“A one size fits all mandate from the state does not serve the best interest of students, families or educators,” Watson said in a comment to committee on Feb. 19. “School districts should have the autonomy to determine which external coursework aligns with the academic frameworks and whether such courses should be eligible for credit.”

Gregg said during the floor debate it had “strong support” from legal and educational advocacy groups. However, the Montana Federation of Public Employees and the Montana School Boards Association spoke against the bill.

School instruction also came up in a second bill on Tuesday. House Bill 471, brought by Rep. Jedediah Hinkle, R-Belgrade, passed a second reading Tuesday night on a 56-43 vote.

Hinkle’s bill would require teachers to obtain written parental permission before students receive any instruction on “identity.” The bill adds language to laws regarding human sexuality instruction, commonly called sex ed.

“In this bill, identity instruction is a parental opt in, meaning that the school may not present these materials to any student that does not have permission from the parent or guardian,” Hinkle said on the House floor.

The bill defines the term identity instruction as having “the goal or purpose of studying, exploring, or informing students about gender identity, or gender expression, or sexual orientation.”

“This bill assumes withholding education is the safest option,” Rep. Melissa Romano, D-Helena, who is a teacher, said in opposition to the bill on the floor. “But in reality this just creates gaps in knowledge that harm all students.

“My job is to teach children how to think, not what to think. To help them navigate the world with knowledge, empathy and confidence.”

The Glasgow School District Bond passed today with a vote of 953-722. Voter turnout was 53%.

As of Monday, 1,437 ballots have been returned for the Glasgow School District Bond Election. This calculates to 45% of the ballots sent out have been returned to the Valley County Election Office. Over 1600 ballots have yet to be turned in by Glasgow School District voters.

Ballots need to be returned to the Valley County Courthouse by 8pm tonight.

Here are the improvements scheduled if the bond passes:

GHS/GMS Critical Roof Repairs $1.2 Million
GMS Boiler Replacement $500K
GHS Boiler Replacement Payment $350K
GHS/GMS Heat & Ventilation Controls $400K
Irle Elementary Boiler Repair $50K
De-Commissioning Obsolete GHS/GMS Boilers
Engineering Fees and Associated Costs $225K

A proposal to address distracted driving on Montana roadways passed the state Senate on Saturday following an emotional floor debate.

Senate Bill 359, which bill sponsor Sen. Sara Novak, D-Anaconda, is calling “Chloe’s Law,” would make Montana the final state to adopt distracted driving laws.

The bill would make holding or using a mobile device while driving illegal and supports using hands-free technology. The legislation was motivated by the death of a young woman, Chloe Worl, who was killed by a distracted driver in March 2021.

Novak said on the Senate floor she was the woman’s driver’s education instructor.

“My shock and sadness led to many thoughts about that crash as a teacher,” Novak said. “My mind repeatedly has played out so many times with questions as to if I do enough to teach these kids about defensive driving.”

The bill allows for hands-free devices — including smart watches — as well as earpieces. It sets fines for violations as well, with a first offense garnering a ticket between $75 and $149 for a first violation and jumps up to a minimum fine of $150 on any subsequent offense.

The bill cleared a second reading 33-17 on Saturday.

State Senator Gregg Hunter and Senator Russ Temple voted yes while State Senator Jonathan Windy Boy voted no.

“This isn’t about throwing a hammer down,” Novak said on the Senate floor. “It’s about doing little things that we can do to keep our roads safer in the state of Montana.”

Connie Worl, who is Chloe’s mother, testified in support of the legislation during the bill’s hearing in the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee on Feb. 26. Chloe, who worked at Barrett Hospital in Dillon, was 25 at the time of her death.

“The driver who killed our daughter crossed the rumble strips, and she was so distracted by whatever was happening on her cell phone, texting, Snapchatting, social media, she drove in Chloe’s lane for the length of a football field,” Connie said. “She had no idea she was in Chloe’s lane. She never hit her brakes. She slammed into our daughter, and she killed her instantly.”

On the Senate floor, the bill received significant debate.

Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, had multiple issues with the bill. He said it’s a local control issue, that drivers would just change their behavior to hide their phone use and that it would create more pressure on the court system.

“This will have an effect on county courts and their budgets and their workload. So just take that under consideration,” Trebas said on the Senate floor. “Maybe it’s worth it to you. It could be, but just know that that’s what you’re doing. You’re pushing more costs on the counties.”

Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, expressed worry about racial profiling, saying he was voting no on the bill because of that.

Other comments touched on whether or not it would apply to self-driving cars. Novak said that anyone in the driver’s seat would be banned from mobile devices while in operation of the vehicle.

The Montana Department of Transportation was a proponent of the bill, which Novak said she did not expect.

* Informational Release from Fort Peck Tribal Law Enforcement *

An investigation into the death of Gifford Standing is still being conducted and will continue.
Law enforcement had received information and tips regarding the death and subsequently had arrested four individuals that are considered persons of interest.

The individuals arrested are as follows (in no particular order):
Abrianne Deserly
Calvin Lester Jr.
Michael Menz
Dillon Wetsit

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (Glasgow Office) and the Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigations Division are working on the case.

Also, the department would like to thank the community for their help in the investigation, and to continue to provide information and tips.

Over 2,000,000 square feet of office space used by the United States Department of the Interior will close according to a release from the DOI.

There will be a total of 164 offices shutting their doors with five located in Montana.

The following offices in Montana are slated to close:

Geological Survey in Bozeman will close on 12/31/2025
Bureau of Indian Affairs in Pablo will close on 6/30/2025
Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service in Bozeman will close 9/30/2025
United States Fish and Wildlife Service in Great Falls will close on 8/31/2025
Bureau of Indian Affairs in Poplar is expected to close but the date isn't determined.

The Glasgow City Council will meet on Monday at 5pm in the Council Chambers at the Glasgow Civic Center.

Tuesday is the deadline to turn in your ballot for the Glasgow School District Bond Election.

As of 12:30pm Friday, 2/28/25, the election office has accepted 1,178 ballots; that is an approximate 37.4% turnout so far.

ALL School Bond Ballots must be received in the Clerk and Recorder’s/Election Office by 8:00 PM on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, to be counted.

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and its partners, Sletten Construction and Morrison-Maierle, will soon begin work to replace the West Fork Poplar River Bridge on Montana Highway 248 (MT 248), located 2 miles east of Richland. This is the final bridge scheduled for replacement as part of the Timber Bridges-Glasgow Area project. Over the past two years, the project has replaced 15 timber bridges in northeastern Montana.

“We are excited to see the final bridge replacement progressing," said Shane Mintz, MDT Glendive District Administrator. “Replacing Montana’s deteriorating timber bridges is a top priority for MDT. The Timber Bridges-Glasgow Area project was the first to use MDT’s innovative bridge bundling approach, and the insights gained from this project have been instrumental in shaping the processes used in several ongoing multiple bridge replacement projects across the state.”

Work to replace the West Fork Poplar River Bridge will start with crews building a two-lane detour next to the existing structure. Once it is finished, traffic will be moved onto the detour, and demolition of the bridge will begin.

8 timber bridges were replaced in the Glasgow area in 2024 at a cost of $21,666,263. Federal money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is being used to replace hundreds of bridges across Montana.

Sletten Construction crews will also return this summer to seal and cover (chip seal) and install the final pavement markings at all bridge replacement sites located on MT 248, US Highway 2 (US 2), Montana Highway 24 (MT 24), and Montana Highway 251 (MT 251).

More Scottie Pride has recently made its way to Glasgow!

Our Police cars, our Fire Trucks, our License Plates, and NOW our new residential Garbage Cans brought to you by T&R Trucking, Inc.

* INFORMATIONAL RELEASE UPDATE

On the evening of Friday, February 28, 2025, the Fort Peck Tribes, in conjunction with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrested 2 adult males and an adult female who are considered to be persons of interest in the homicide death of Gifford Standing.
Please continue to provide information. Additionally, please respect and support Gifford's family in this trying time.

INFORMATIONAL RELEASE
*
On Wednesday, February 26th, the body of Gifford Standing, was located in an abandoned building, in the Wolf Point area. Standing's body was identified and was taken for an autopsy.
An investigation is underway.
The Fort Peck Tribal Law Enforcement wants to extend our deepest condolences to Standing's family.
Any information or tips are greatly appreciated and can be relayed to the Roosevelt County Dispatch Center at either 911 or the non emergent # 406-653-6240 or to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in Glasgow Montana 406-228-2533.

A bill that would have enacted right-to-work provisions across Montana died twice Saturday at the hands of moderate Republicans who crossed the aisle to join Democrats in opposition.

Senate Bill 376 was first voted down in committee when three GOP senators, Jason Ellsworth, R–Hamilton; Gregg Hunter, R–Glasgow; and Denley Loge, R–St Regis, voted against the legislation alongside the committee’s Democratic lawmakers. Hours later, bill sponsor Sen. Mark Noland, R–Bigfork, made a motion on the Senate floor to blast the bill out of committee.

“I think it would be a great opportunity that we get to stand on this floor and actually have a good debate on this particular bill,” Noland said in his introduction to the motion, which needed a simple majority vote to bring the bill before the chamber to debate.

But he was not successful.

“We have heard, overwhelmingly, over and over again, that the people of Montana do not want this,” countered Sen. Cora Neumann, D–Bozeman, on the Senate floor.

Fourteen majority Republicans voted alongside 18 Democrats to stamp out the blast motion.

On Feb. 28, labor advocates flanked the path from the Capitol’s rotunda to the Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee hearing a floor above at the end of the building’s east wing. That’s where Noland’s bill was to be heard by lawmakers.

Seeing the long line of people holding signs opposing his legislation, committee Chair Noland set a limit on speaking time for proponents and opponents of his bill, giving supporters 45 minutes and opponents an hour, plus any time not used by supporters. Limits on testimony are common when hearings are packed.

“We’re going to give you a little more time, because there’s more of you. And you know, I’m all about fairness,” Noland said with a chuckle.

Ultimately, time ran out before every opponent could offer their full testimony; more than 200 people signed the list to speak against the bill.

Only two proponents, National Right-to-Work Committee Vice President John Kalb and Montana Citizens for Right-to-Work Executive Director Randy Pope, spoke in favor of the bill.

“This bill would guarantee workers the right to decide for themselves whether or not a labor union deserves their financial support, the same as any other private organization,” Pope said during his testimony. “It is our belief that every worker who wants to join a union should have that right. And every worker that does not want union representation should not be forced to pay for it.”

Doug Meyer, a member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 103, drove from his home in Idaho Falls to protest the right-to-work policy in the halls of the Montana Capitol.

“Right-to-work does not work for blue collar and average, everyday workers,” Meyer said in an interview with Montana Free Press. “I believe it suppresses wages and I believe that those profits go back to the company and not to the workers that are actually building and doing the important work that needs to be done.”

A dozen nurses with the Montana Nurses Association arrived in matching cobalt shirts that read “Nurses want what patients need.” According to Chief Executive Officer Vicky Byrd, MNA is a professional association, not a union, but about 90% of its members are unionized.

Labor advocates hold a banner with anti-right-to-work messaging Credit: Zeke Lloyd / MTFP
“We’re in 30 local units across the state — public and private hospitals or facilities where nurses have chosen to form a union to advocate for better working conditions, for better quality care for their patients and better wage benefits,” Byrd said.

In 2023, a similar right-to-work bill died in committee. In 2021, right-to-work legislation passed out of committee before dying on the House floor. Last week, two pieces of legislation aimed at weakening organized labor went down.

Throughout his bill’s life, and even after its death, Noland maintained a jovial demeanor and positive outlook. As a seemingly endless line of opponents disparaged his proposed legislation, he listened attentively and took notes from the seat directly beside the podium. Noland said he valued watching public testimony inform the democratic process.

“It’s a great opportunity to live in America. Many countries do not have what we have,” Noland said as he introduced the bill. “When we hear today’s proponents and opponents, we get to decide what is right for the citizens of Montana.”

As he closed on his bill, Noland shed light on why he chose to endure the contentious hearing over a bill that faced a difficult path to becoming law. He shared an anecdote about his father, Jack Noland, who passed away in 2019. He retired from a job that mandated him to be part of a union for more than 40 years.

“He had to picket. He had to pay dues. He hated every minute of that part of it,” Noland said. “When he retired, he said, ‘I’m free. Son, really think about if you’re going to go to work for a union.’”

After the defeat of SB 376, it will be another two years until conservative Republicans can try to add Montana to the list of 27 states with right-to-work laws.

Helena, Mont.-In response to recent layoffs of federal employees, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry (MTDLI) is stepping in with a statewide Rapid Response Event on March 12 to guide affected workers back into the workforce.

“Montanans—whether loggers, miners, store clerks, or federal employees—deserve a strong partner to help them navigate the uncertainty of a layoff,” said Commissioner Sarah Swanson. “Our team is here to listen, build a plan, and provide the tools needed to get Montanans back to work. Job loss isn’t the end of the road, it’s a turning point, and MTDLI is committed to making workforce transitions as smooth and successful as possible – one worker at a time.”

The Rapid Response Event will offer in-person assistance at all 18 MTDLI Job Service Offices as well as online to deliver those seeking employment practical tools and personalized support. At the event workers can apply for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, conduct job searches, receive resume and interview training, and obtain support and resources for upskilling and education. Staff will assist in answering questions and crafting individualized re-employment strategies for all interested workers.

What: Statewide Rapid Response for Laid-Off Federal Workers

Where: All 18 MTDLI Job Service Offices

When: March 12, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Who: Commissioner Sarah Swanson, Unemployment Insurance Division, and Job Service Staff

Impacted federal workers are encouraged to attend. Those unable to join can participate remotely in the virtual presentation by clicking HERE at the time and date of the event. Job Service Offices remain open during regular hours and walk ins are welcome. For questions, please reach out to your local Job Service Office.

In April 2024, Governor Greg Gianforte and MTDLI Commissioner Sarah Swanson announced a Skills Matching Dashboard to assist workers affected by recent lumber mill closures.

In September 2024, MTDLI responded to layoffs at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine with a mining-specific Skills Matching Tool to help every impacted worker identify new employment opportunities and supplied additional supports to Job Service Offices across the state.

At their weekly Discussion and Decision meeting the Valley County Commissioners passed 3 resolutions calling for elections on 3 different topics.

The commissioners passed Resolution 10-2025 which calls an election for a special levy to fund the Valley View Home Hospital District in the amount of $200,000. If passed by voters, this would provide $200,000 year in tax money to Valley View Home for years 2026, 2027 and 2028. This election will be held May 6th.

The commissioners passed Resolution 11-2025 which establishes an election to authorize the Valley County Commissioners to levy 2 mills per year (approximately $63,000 for fiscal years 2025-2026 through 2028-2030 for additional funding for the Glasgow City-County Library. This election will be held May 6th.

The commissioners also passed Resolution 12-2025 calling for a North Valley County Water and Sewer District Recall Election. Voters in the district had petitioned for a recall election and received enough signatures to call for the special election. The election is asking for the recall of Krystal Dickerson and Carl Millerick from the North Valley County Water and Sewer District Board of Directors. This election will be held June 3rd.

Montana State Senator Gregg Hunter has taken criticism in Republican Party circles for not absolutely following the party line while serving in the Montana Legislature. In a story from earlier this week, the Montana Republican Party strongly rebuked Senator Hunter along with 8 other GOP Senators. Here is a response from Senator Gregg Hunter:

I write to you tonight from my home away from home in Helena - as both a public servant and a neighbor—to address the recent barrage of negative, untrue press. Let’s confront the elephant in the room: the “nasty nine” nickname that has been carelessly attached to me and some of my new colleagues. I want to set the record straight.

I am not a career politician. This is the first elected seat I’ve ever held, and it’s my first time in office. I serve because I care deeply about you—the people of northeast Montana—my friends, my family, and my neighbors. Above all, I am a husband and a father, and I let my family’s values and integrity speak for themselves. My life has always been about service.

I ran as a Republican because, anchored by my Christian faith, I believe in the values of less government interference, robust support for the private sector, a strong focus on the family, and the preservation of individual freedoms. I will not waver in my commitment to my conservative beliefs or in ensuring that my one vote does as much for this district as possible.

Whether I’m serving on a rural ambulance as an EMT in Valley County, in my past working as an ag dealer parts man alongside you during long planting and harvest seasons, or representing our co-op at community events year-round, I have always been on the front lines—lending a hand wherever it was needed most. For decades, I’ve devoted thousands of hours volunteering for local initiatives because I believe in the strength and spirit of our community.

I came to Helena to serve two fundamental purposes. First, to stand up for our corner of the state by ensuring we have fair access to state resources and the representation necessary to keep our communities thriving. Second, to protect critical services for our region. By advocating for the continuation of the Medicaid Expansion program, we can secure the funding that keeps our hospitals open, our ambulances running, and our life-saving services available when they are needed most.

When I took my seat on the Senate floor for the first time, it was clear that games had been played. The trusted committee-on-committees process that had guided our state Senate in every previous session had been tampered with—its sole purpose being to unfairly stack the deck against Medicaid expansion before it received a fair hearing and before I had the chance to cast my vote in support. But that wasn’t the only reason I opposed these political maneuvers. I also stood against them because they threatened another core value I ran on—less government interference and lower taxes. I support the governor’s tax cuts for businesses, farmers, ranchers, and homeowners because I believe that hardworking Montanans deserve to keep more of what they earn. Instead of backroom deals and political games, we should be working to lower the tax burden on our communities, support private enterprise, and ensure that government stays in its proper role—serving the people, not controlling them.

Moreover, from day one, the president of the Senate had hired my primary opponent to serve in his office which I felt was unethical and to intimidate me into supporting his priorities—priorities that serve the needs of his constituents in the Flathead, which are very different from ours.

I am just one vote, but I chose to use that vote to stand up for Northeast Montana—to fight for both lower taxes and fair access to critical services like Medicaid expansion. And I will continue to use my voice and my vote to put our district first.

The challenges we face in our district are real, and my commitment to you is unwavering. Leadership isn’t about labels or nicknames—it’s about service, accountability, and integrity. I ask you to look beyond the headlines and focus on the work we can do together to build a stronger, more resilient northeast Montana.

Thank you for your trust and support as we move forward—united in our common values and dedicated to the well-being of every member of our community. Doing right things for the right reasons is my focus.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions and indicate your community on the subject line so I have a better chance of not missing it.

Sincerely,

Gregg Hunter

Senate District 15

Gregg.Hunter@legmt.gov

Story Credit: https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-politics/controversy-over-bill-that-would-tighten-thc-restrictions

A proposed legislative measure, Senate Bill 443, has sparked significant controversy among cannabis industry stakeholders and consumers in Montana. The bill aims to revise state drug laws by limiting the THC content in marijuana products to 15 percent, including flower, concentrates, and edibles. Critics of the bill argue that it could severely harm local businesses and infringe upon consumer rights.

State Senator Greg Hertz, a Republican from Polson and the bill’s primary sponsor, argues that the increase in THC potency poses significant public health risks.

In a statement to MTN, the Senator said:

The average THC content in cannabis in 1995 was around 4%, and today it pushes 35% and even higher. High potency THC is contributing to mental health and addiction issues across Montana, particularly among youth and young adults. We need to place limits on THC for recreational users; otherwise, it will become a major healthcare problem.

The owner of Higher Capacity Dispensary in Belt, Jeff Erickson, expressed his concerns, stating, "It would put us out of business. Most people don’t buy cannabis that tests at or below 15%."
Erickson and other opponents believe the bill represents a covert attempt to repeal recreational marijuana usage.

“It’s a repeal in disguise. They can't repeal recreational [marijuana]. So they're going to give us a death by a thousand cuts,” he said.

Jordy Glick, a customer at Higher Capacity, emphasized that higher THC concentrates are essential for pain management.

“I do believe it's important that everybody has the freedom and choice as to how they treat themselves,” she said, advocating for personal choice in cannabis consumption."

The bill’s language includes a striking comparison, likening addiction to slavery: “We reject the slavery of addiction that comes from the high-potency THC industry and its destructive products,” it states.

The proposed legislation was set to be heard in the Senate Business Committee Thursday morning.

The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that $8.75 million of grant funding will be distributed to seven pilot communities to increase economic vibrancy and tourism appeal, enhance destination resiliency and diversify tourism-related assets and infrastructure. The grant funding is provided through the second round of Commerce’s Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program.
“Tourism significantly impacts towns and communities across the state,” said Mandy Rambo, acting director of the Montana Department of Commerce. “The Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program helps communities increase visitation appeal, which diversifies their economic opportunities and improves quality of life for local residents.”

To be considered for PCTGP funding, eligible applicants demonstrated community readiness, commitment, vision, goals and partnerships to aid in the long-term success of their plans.
“It’s gotten our community excited about the future,” said Joe Ungaretti, a steering committee member from Anaconda, which was a first-round recipient of the PCTGP grant. “This will be something that’s a great positive for our community, for our businesses and for recreationists around the state.”

The following communities will each receive $1.25 million of PCTGP grant funding within a two-year period, with the potential to receive $2.75 million over 60 months for these projects or plans:

• Hardin: “Big Horn Tourism Breakthrough”
• Choteau: “Celebrating our Heritage, Cultivating our Future”
• Fort Benton: “Destination Fort Benton Tourism and Recreation”
• Glasgow: “Explore Glasgow: Trails, Events Pavilion and Sports Hub”
• Glendive: “A Thriving Tourism Hub for All”
• Browning: “Indigenous Experience: People, Places and Pathways”
• Red Lodge: “Tourism Development Project”

In 2023, the Montana Legislature authorized the Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program enacted through Senate Bill 540. To learn more about this program and other upcoming funding opportunities, visit commerce.mt.gov.

Ballots were mailed out earlier this month to Glasgow School District voters for approval to issue $2.9 million in bonds to make infrastructure improvements in the Glasgow School District.

Here are the improvements scheduled if the bond passes:

GHS/GMS Critical Roof Repairs $1.2 Million
GMS Boiler Replacement $500K
GHS Boiler Replacement Payment $350K
GHS/GMS Heat & Ventilation Controls $400K
Irle Elementary Boiler Repair $50K
De-Commissioning Obsolete GHS/GMS Boilers
Engineering Fees and Associated Costs $225K

Ballots must be returned by Tuesday, March 4th at 8pm. Ballots may be returned to the Valley County Courthouse Elections Office.

A bill establishing Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana passed out of the Senate on Wednesday – marking the most significant progress the legislation has made in years.

Brought by Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, Senate Bill 224 establishes Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana and notably does not eliminate Columbus Day. Instead, the bill allows Montanans to celebrate either or both holidays on the second Monday in October.

The bill cleared the Senate by a 47-3 vote.

In a committee hearing on Feb. 5, two dozen people spoke in support of the bill, saying it promotes inclusivity and encourages Montanans to learn about each other’s unique culture and heritage.

Morigeau told his colleagues in the Senate on Tuesday that Indigenous Peoples Day is “shaped and molded by each community and how each community wants to celebrate.”

“I think what this bill does is really asks people to look in the mirror and just learn about yourself, learn about others and take the time to celebrate each other,” he added.

Several Republican senators spoke in support of Morigeau’s bill, saying they appreciated that the legislation did not eliminate Columbus Day.

The Tuesday hearing in the Senate was markedly different from that of the 2023 session. Two years ago, when Morigeau brought legislation to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, he spoke about atrocities Christopher Columbus committed against Native Americans. Republican lawmakers at the time criticized Morigeau for invoking past horrors and ultimately blamed him for the bill’s failure.

Morigeau and Sen. Susan Webbeer, D-Browning, each brought similar bills in 2021. Both bills died in committee before reaching the Senate floor. Opponents through the years have largely objected to the elimination of Columbus Day, arguing that Columbus is an important historical figure.

Morigeau on Tuesday joked that the conversation about Indigenous Peoples Day has “changed a lot from over the years.”

“I think I got yelled at last session on the floor, so I’m happy this dynamic has definitely changed,” he said.

SB 224 must pass out of the House before arriving on the governor’s desk.

The national beef checkoff has been in place since 1986, which is a $1 fee for each head of cattle sold. It goes to support research, marketing, and other beef endeavors.

Now, there is Montana House Bill 119, which is suggesting a second, statewide checkoff in Montana, which would fund the Montana Cattle Committee.

“This would add a dollar to all livestock that are being sold in Montana to each animal," Montana Farmer’s Union President Walter Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer’s main concern is that other states who have a state checkoff use the agencies that monitor the federal checkoff to manage it.

Creating a new agency is unnecessary and a poor use of the money.

Schweitzer said, “First and foremost is that it creates a second bureaucracy that's not necessary.”

“It promotes beef but it… doesn't do so on a state level," Montana Farm Bureau Federation Vice President Casey Mott said.

Mott explains that this bill would simply be the first step, setting up a vote for cattle producers.

“The producers themselves are going to vote whether they would like to have this committee”

Although one dollar sounds small, it would quickly add up.

“One dollar on any given year here in Montana would be about a million and a half to two million dollars collected," Schweitzer said.

While the Farmers Union is concerned with the money going toward creating the Montana Cattle Committee, the Farm Bureau Federation says the money would be invaluable to research and promotion of Montana beef.

“The research that we could do within the state would, would reap more return than a dollar per head," Motts said.

Another concern for the Farmers Union is the committee itself.

The members would be nominated by cattle producers, but they would need to be appointed by the governor.

“This checkoff creates a committee, a politically appointed committee by the governor," Schweitzer told MTN.

However, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation says that, because of the nomination process, the vote would be in the hands of the people.

“This is going to be run by ranchers," Mott noted. "It's not…run by the government. It's run by ranchers.”

Another important factor the Farm Bureau stressed is that you can opt out of the program altogether.

“If you really don't want to participate, you can request a refund,” Mott said

The Montana Farmers Union is not opposed to the idea of a state checkoff altogether.

They just do not agree with the current writing of House Bill 119.

“We can only support one that's going to do it right," Schweitzer said.

Both organizations suggesting reaching out to local legislators to voice your opinion on the bill.

House Bill 119 passed the House on Jan. 7 with a vote of 52-47. State Representative Eric Albus voted for the legislation while Representative Valerie Moore voted no.

The next step is a hearing with the Senate Ag Committee, which has not yet been scheduled.

The Montana Republican Party issued a statement on Monday “strongly rebuking” nine state senators who have formed a working majority coalition with 18 Democrats to effectively run the upper chamber from the floor, change rules, and pass legislation, often going against GOP majority leadership.

The statement said the senators’ actions have created obstacles for the Republican Senate majority and “undermined the will of the people.”

“Montanans voted for Republican governance, not compromises that shift power away from their elected majority. We believe these nine senators, at times, prioritized personal and political considerations over the broader priorities of their constituents. Their actions have contributed to a shift in influence that does not align with the platform they campaigned on,” the statement said.

Members of The Nine earlier told the Daily Montanan they believe they are acting in the best interests of their constituents, although they are not marching in lockstep. At least one member also said the shift in influence represents Democrats agreeing to work with their Republican group — not the other way around.

On the first day of the 69th Legislature, the nine Republican senators joined with the Democratic minority to change Senate rules, bucking their party’s elected leadership in the body.

Since then, the same group has voted to refer an internal ethics investigation of one member to the Department of Justice, reshape committees, and assign bills, all against the wishes of the GOP leaders.

“The MTGOP calls on these senators to cease obstructing key Republican priorities and return to the faithful representation of their constituents and the Republican platform. If their actions continue to damage the integrity of the Republican majority, the party will consider additional steps to address the situation. The MTGOP urges all members to uphold the trust of the voters who elected them and to work together in support of Montana’s future,” the statement said.

The senators called out by the state party are Sens. Jason Ellsworth, Wendy McKamey, Gayle Lammers, Josh Kassmier, Butch Gillespie, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel, and Shelley Vance.

The letter was signed by the Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt, and the executive board comprising Lola Sheldon-Galloway, Terry Nelson, Brad Tschida, Tanner Smith, Debbie Churchill, Steve Zabawa, Bruce Williams, Shane Eaton, Stu Goodner, Paul Fielder and Tracy Sharp.

GLASGOW – Chronic wasting disease (CWD) prevalence is increasing in most of northeast Montana, as is the spread of the disease across the landscape.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks recently tallied results of CWD samples taken during the 2024 big game season.

CWD was first detected in northeast Montana in 2018. Annual sampling of hunter-harvested animals, show the prevalence continues to increase, especially in mule deer.

“Region-wide, CWD prevalence in adult mule deer has increased from around 3 percent of the 2018-19 samples to almost 18 percent of 2024 samples,” said Scott Hemmer, Havre-area biologist, who helps keep tabs on CWD in the region. “Prevalence is more pronounced for mule deer in the northern hunting districts that border Canada.”

CWD likely first reached northern Montana from deer populations in Saskatchewan and Alberta, which have had CWD for more than a decade.

Following the latest sampling efforts in 2024, northern hunting district (HD) 600 has a prevalence rate of 28 percent for adult mule deer. HD 670, in the north-central area of the region, shows a prevalence of 34 percent, and HD 640, on the eastern end of the region, has overall prevalence rates in mule deer of 30 percent. Prevalence in mule deer bucks is even higher.

“This increase is rather concerning, as we had early management objectives to keep prevalence rates below 5 percent in the population,” Hemmer said. “Other western states have reported deer population declines correlated with CWD prevalence surpassing 20 to 40 percent in a population.”
CWD in whitetail deer in northeast Montana hasn’t been as high as in mule deer, but whitetails also show prevalence increasing across the region in most districts.

“In adult whitetail deer, the CWD prevalence trend has been slower and more sporadic, from 0 percent in 2018-2019 samples in the region, to around 4 percent in 2024,” Hemmer said. “The lower prevalence rate in whitetails could be due to a variety of factors, but one that may contribute is that whitetails are more common along the Milk and Missouri Rivers, which are 40 to 50 miles from the Canadian border.”

Detection of CWD in Region 6 continues to spread as well.
This hunting season, CWD was detected for the first time in HD 620 in central Phillips County, with two positive cases. Every year, FWP staff see CWD spread both to new hunting districts and to new areas within hunting districts in northeast Montana.

In addition, for the first time, CWD was detected in a whitetail deer in HD 650, which is in McCone County.

Only two hunting districts in northeast Montana have yet to have a CWD detection: HD 621, which is in southern Phillips County, and HD 652, which is a permit-only area for mule deer buck hunting in McCone County along Fort Peck Reservoir. The absence of a detection doesn’t mean that CWD is not in these hunting districts, as fewer samples have come from these areas.
Managing CWD in the future

Hunting is the primary tool for monitoring and managing the spread of CWD. Hunter-harvested samples are the primary way FWP monitors the disease. These samples are critical to FWP’s efforts to manage CWD.

For the latest information on CWD, including detection maps, disease information and information on how to get your animal sampled please go to fwp.mt.gov/cwd.

What is CWD?
CWD is a contagious neurological disease that infects members of the deer family, including elk, moose, mule deer, and whitetail deer. It is always fatal to the infected animal, and there is no known cure. CWD was first detected in Montana’s wild herds in 2017.
There is no known transmission of CWD to humans. However, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that hunters harvesting deer, elk or moose from an area where CWD is known to exist have their animal tested prior to consuming the meat and do not consume the meat if the animal tests positive.

Update from City of Glasgow:

City employees and private contractors are back to work this morning on main line water issues in Glasgow.

City of Glasgow Public Works has released the following information:
Crews are back to work this morning on the break on Valley View. They had challenges last evening and conditions became unsafe and they weren't able to restore service. The city is optimistic service will be restored today. All the necessary parts and fittings are ready to go to replace a section of water main and retap the service line that was in play.

At 8th Street and 4th Avenue, the crew was able to get eyes on the water main but have not yet determined exactly where or what type of break they are dealing with. There is a large storm drain right on top of the water main that appears to have contributed to the water break. Crews will get things opened up more this morning and better be able to triage the necessary repair. If things go perfect, the goal is to have Albertsons back in service today. However, if special fittings are required and or a reset of a valve or valves is necessary it will require a parts run to Billings on Monday and service will not be restored today.

Some city residents and businesses have been without water since Friday.

When the St. Mary pipelines were built to provide water in 1915 to northern Montana, construction workers hit winter, too.

Then, said Jennifer Patrick, the project manager for the Milk River Irrigation Project Joint Board of Control, they had no choice but to wait — it was simply too cold to pour concrete.

One-hundred ten years later, more than 18,000 people depend on the water that’s diverted near Babb from the Milk River in order to irrigate some of the state’s richest farmland.

Last summer, one of the huge lines used for collecting water failed, dealing a blow to farmers, ranchers and residents even as far away as Canada. Federal leaders in Congress and state leaders rushed to figure a solution. That funding was held up and in limbo until early Thursday evening when U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana said that he had worked with the Department of the Interior to re-approve the project.

Funding had been uncertain, due to the federal funding freeze announced by President Donald J. Trump, and because the project was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, often targeted by the new administration as an example of waste.

“The St. Mary siphon failures this past summer were catastrophic. Farmers, ranchers and Montanans across the Hi-Line depend on these siphons for a reliable water supply and I’m glad the President and Secretary (Doug) Burgum share my goal of fully repairing the siphons as soon as possible,” said Daines.

Yet, despite temperatures that have dipped below zero and stayed stubbornly there, Patrick said the construction project is on schedule as workers use the latest chemical mixtures of concrete to pour in colder weather. That has made a big difference in how quickly the project is progressing. Patrick said large temporary heat shacks are being used so that welders can continue to stay on schedule. Sometimes, that means a temperature swing of more than 140 degrees from outside to inside.

All of the work would have come to an immediate halt, she said, if not for the forward-looking help of state lawmakers and the Gianforte administration, which made the project eligible for a revolving loan program. Right now, a $35 million loan is paying the bills keeping the work moving. With news of the funding release, the plans and construction should move ahead.

The Daily Montanan also reached out U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy for comments but did not receive a response.

“We’re paying a lot for winter construction, but we have to get this going,” Patrick told the Daily Montanan.

The totals for the overall project cost is estimated at $78.9 million.

Pro-Pipe Construction from Frenchtown is handling the welding of the 90-inch steel siphons.

“So far, 3,900 of the planned 6,444 feet have been installed,” Patrick said in a written update.

The timeline originally had set a late summer 2025 completion date, and currently Patrick said the project is on time.

“Given the freezing temperatures, special measures — including blanketing, heating and modified concrete mix designs — are being used to making the integrity of the pours. So far, test results indicate these techniques are working as planned,” Patrick added.

Patrick said the work is continuing, thanks in large part to a loan agreement that was pushed by Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, and Rep. Paul Russ, D-Havre, who made the measure part of House Bill 6 in 2023.

“Without state funding and all the help we’ve gotten from the budget office and the governor, we would not be moving forward,” Patrick said. “We’re obviously not the only project with a federal funding hold. But we’re a good project, and we’re confident in a review, we’re just held up with others.”

She said that a funding lapse of three months is about as long as the project could survive on state money alone.

“Even a week of water is important, and every day the construction crews can push it is time we can get,” Patrick said. She did say, though, a heavy snowfall could delay the project for weeks.

She said the impacts of the project finishing late or being delayed would be an economic loss of $60 million to $70 million annually. However, she said that many people don’t realize how many farms and communities, mostly clustered around Montana’s Hi-Line, would be hurt.

“People say, ‘How many miles?’ Fitzpatrick laughed. “This serves 700 miles of community.”

With a wide margin, the Senate pushed Medicaid expansion over one of its last hurdles Thursday, albeit with a lengthy debate and questions about why at least one staunch opponent helped get it out of committee.

Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, an outspoken critic of the federal deficit and the cost of Medicaid and Medicare, said he could see the writing on the wall for the program, which covers nearly 80,000 Montanans.

McGillvray said he earlier voted to get House Bill 245 out of committee because he believed it was best for the Senate, given supporters had the votes to “blast” it out anyway with a procedural move.

“I felt it was the best for the body, it was the best for the Senate, it was the best for keeping our Senate trying to work together, trying to have harmony,” McGillvray said.

McGillvray was among the 21 senators who voted against it on second reading, but 11 Republicans joined all Democrats to pass it with 29 votes.

State Senator Greg Hunter of Glasgow voted for Medicaid Expansion.

The bill, one of the key proposals of the 2025 session, was referred to the Finance and Claims Committee, and it will need another floor vote, but it’s in Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s budget.

During the debate Thursday, senators offered statistics about the program’s costs and heartfelt, personal testimony about its benefits, but Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, told his colleagues to mark his words about the appetite of the federal government to cut spending.

Montana pays 10% for people insured through Medicaid expansion, and the federal government contributes 90%, but that could change, and if it does, some legislators argue they’ll end up in a special session.

“We’re going to be back here, and I’m going to tell you, ‘I told you so,’” Glimm said.

The program is set to sunset in June 2025 without legislative action.

If the program continues, but the federal match drops, the Legislature would have to appropriate money, the state would have to apply to increase premiums to people in the program, or a combination.

Proponents of Medicaid expansion argue the program is especially critical for rural hospitals in Montana, and Sen. Gayle Lammers, R-Hardin, said 50 critical access hospitals rely on the program, and he said he wanted to ask those who represent rural communities questions.

“Where will your constituents go if their father has a heart attack? When their child is in a car accident or your wife goes into labor?” said Lammers, who carried the bill in the Senate.

Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, described one of the people the program helps, a man who cuts cords of wood for a living, asks for no help because he’s prideful, and is a simple person.

The man is frugal, and his splurges are eating lunch at the local drive-thru in the hometown where Morigeau grew up.

He said the same man has diabetes, and he’s had a harder time in recent years. He has lost a toe as a result, and has spent days in the hospital fighting infection, trying to save his foot.

“This guy is my dad,” Morigeau said, after a long pause. “You know, without rural hospitals, I don’t think my dad would be here.”

Sen. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, voted against Medicaid expansion Thursday, but he said he had wanted to have a more robust discussion about how to make the program better.

Instead, he said, the decision seemed made from the start, and he said it was time to move on from the topic.

“Medicaid has sucked the air out of the room here,” Lenz said. “For somebody like me, with respiratory issues, I need more air.”

Lenz said he and McGillvray debated about who would help send it to the floor from committee, and McGillvray ended up with the short straw — and the hate mail that came with it, but accolades too from people who might have been surprised.

“So anybody online, you can send the nastygrams to me,” Lenz said.

In support of the program, Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said she appreciated senators taking health care and the budget seriously. Neumann said 20 other states have reached out to Montana about the way it has structured Medicaid expansion “to get our best practices.”

“The Montana Medicaid model is a major winner that we should all be proud of,” Neumann said.

A group of nine Republicans has worked with Democrats in the Senate this session, and that group, minus Sen. Shelley Vance, R-Belgrade, supported the bill, and Sens. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, and Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, also supported the bill.

At their weekly Discussion and Decision meeting the Valley County Commissioners passed 3 resolutions calling for elections on 3 different topics.

The commissioners passed Resolution 10-2025 which calls an election for a special levy to fund the Valley View Home Hospital District in the amount of $200,000. If passed by voters, this would provide $200,000 year in tax money to Valley View Home for years 2026, 2027 and 2028.

The commissioners passed Resolution 11-2025 which establishes an election to authorize the Valley County Commissioners to levy 2 mills per year (approximately $63,000 for fiscal years 2025-2026 through 2028-2030 for additional funding for the Glasgow City-County Library.

The commissioners also passed Resolution 12-2025 calling for a North Valley County Water and Sewer District Recall Election. Voters in the district had petitioned for a recall election and received enough signatures to call for the special election. The election is asking for the recall of Krystal Dickerson and Carl Millerick from the St. Marie Water and Sewer District Board of Directors.

Efforts by a Miles City Republican to make Montana the first state in the country to ban mRNA vaccines failed in the Montana House of Representatives on Wednesday.

House Bill 371 from Rep. Greg Kmetz was soundly shot down by a bipartisan vote of 34-66. Republican lawmakers were the only ones to vote in the measure's favor. Of the lawmakers who supported the bill, 12 sit on the House Judiciary Committee, which greenlit the proposal last week in order to send it to the full chamber for a floor vote.

Republican State Representative Eric Albus voted to ban the mRNA vaccines while Republican State Representative Valerie Moore voted against the legislation.

The bill would have made it a misdemeanor to administer any mRNA vaccine for the treatment of an infectious disease such as COVID-19. It would not have applied to gene therapy products used to treat cancer or genetic disorders.

HB 371 targeted mRNA vaccines, which have become the subject of vigorous skepticism and conspiracies in certain conservative circles after being used to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccine doubters say the COVID mRNA shot was untested before being rolled out to the public, and they claim injections have led to dangerous health complications such as recurring cancers, myocarditis — inflammation of the heart — or even death.

“This wasn’t hearsay,” said Rep. Kathy Love, R-Hamilton, a longtime dental hygienist who worked throughout the pandemic. “I did medical histories all day long in detail, and this is what I saw. I can tell you firsthand it did have an effect.”

Opponents of the bill said the gene-based biotechnology leads to medical breakthroughs that save lives, and they cautioned against stifling access to such treatments.

“None of us can predict the future and other terrible viruses that are likely on the horizon," said Rep. Melody Cunningham, a Missoula Democrat and practicing pediatrician. "This bill would prevent Montanans from receiving innovative future therapies.”

The opponents pointed to medical authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control that have deemed the COVID-19 shot safe, effective and the best course of action for protecting against the disease that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives nationwide.

Research from the National Institutes of Health also found that some individuals experience health impacts after vaccination, but “serious adverse effects” are quite rare.

“The purpose we come for in this building is to craft public policy for the welfare of our constituents,” said Rep. John Fitzpatrick, R-Anaconda, who voted against the bill. “We are being asked to adopt a public policy that promotes what? It promotes death.”

Vaccine hesitancy isn’t entirely new, but it’s gone more mainstream in the years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Congress confirmed prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week as the head of the nation’s health agency under President Donald Trump.

Glasgow resident Colton Douglas Barstad has been charged in District Court with four counts of sexual abuse of children.

Court documents filed in District Court allege that Barstad in four different instances knowingly possessed a visual medium with a child engaged in sexual conduct.

All four charges allegedly occurred between October 22nd and 30th of 2024.

The Glasgow Police Department investigated the case according to court documents.

A warrant for Barstad's arrest was issued by Judge Yvonne Laird on January 29th and Barstad was arrested on February 15th.

Bond has been set at $100,000 and Barstad is currently incarcerated in the Valley County Detention Center.

Colton Barstad is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and all charges in this case are allegations.

Story credit to Northern Plains Independent of Wolf Point.

The Wolf Point School Board approved putting out for bids the project of building a new track at the high school during its meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.

School officials explained the current track is in such poor shape that Wolf Point isn’t hosting any track meets this upcoming spring.

“It’s to the point that if we don’t do this, we won’t have track,” board chair Roxanne Gourneau said.

Athletic director Eric Peterson explained the company that surveyed the current track provided three options. The options included: 1. Take the rubber off the existing asphalt and put improved rubber on the track; 2. Strip everything down, apply fresh asphalt and then rubberized the track; 3. Take asphalt off and have post-tension concrete. That option basically has a guarantee that it won’t crack for 60 years, but it will need to be resurfaced about every eight to 10 years.

Peterson said option 2 would probably be a smarter move than option 1 because it’s not known what shape the current asphalt is in.

Option 2 would cost an estimated $1.2 million while option 3 would cost an estimated $1.5 million.

Trustees felt that option 3 would be the best decision because the price isn’t too much greater than the option 2 proposal.

When asked for his recommendation,

Superintendent David Perkins expressed concern with the price tag. “That’s one of the problems, because you are looking at the same pot if you’re building a new school,” Perkins said.

He noted the decision is only to take bids at this point, not to accept a bid for the project.

Take some of the money tourists bring to Montana and use it to reduce residential property taxes — that’s the idea behind a bipartisan bill to allow voters in a county to take up a local option sales tax.

If approved by voters, the tax of up to 4% on things like restaurant meals and cabin rentals would go to offset property tax bills for primary residents and help renters, as proposed in House Bill 489.

The bill directs 90% of the money to stay in the county or consolidated city-county that approved the tax, and 9.75% to counties or consolidated governments that aren’t levying the tax, such as rural communities. The rest would be used to defray administrative costs.

Reps. Greg Oblander, R-Billings, lead sponsor, and Tom France, D-Missoula, a co-sponsor, outlined the rationale for the bill at a press conference last week and discussed the reasons it makes sense for Montana’s current economy.

Oblander said LOPTRA, or the Local Option Property Tax Relief Act, is the result of two years’ worth of conversations across Montana, and it balances state oversight with local control.

The bill is crafted in light of a shift in the state economy, with some industries in decline but tourism bringing in an estimated, untapped $5 billion a year, Oblander said. He said the bill asks tourists to pay for some of the services they use, and it puts the money toward solving a problem Montanans hear about every day.

“We all know that the problem in Montana is high property taxes,” Oblander said in a statement. “We have 13 million tourists that come through Montana each year, and this bill allows voters to decide for themselves to ask those folks to pitch in.”

Similar bills have been considered in the past, but Jennifer Hensley, a lobbyist with Missoula County, said this legislation was vetted by people who “hated it the most” — and, she said, for “very good” reasons.

The bill is scheduled to be heard Thursday in the House Taxation committee, and France said the proposal this year is bipartisan and has earned wide support. He said it allows local governments to provide services and be fair to local property taxpayers, to “govern effectively and fairly.”

“We have deep blue counties and deep red counties, we have urban counties, and we have rural counties, and they’re all trying to get a handle on this issue,” France said in a statement. “We recognize that they need more tools in the toolbox, and this bill provides that.”

The bill requires 25-75% of the credit to be distributed to renters, as determined by the local government, and a presentation about the bill said local government will determine how to administer that restriction.

County Commissioners from Cascade, Roosevelt and Missoula counties also spoke at the press conference in support of the bill.

Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said some smaller communities along the Hi-Line see a significant impact from tourism, such as from visitors traveling to and from Glacier National Park, but they have no way to recover funds.

“We have a lot of out of state people coming in, using our infrastructure and using our public safety, (and) this would be a way to capture some of those new dollars,” Oelkers said.

Cascade County Commissioner Joe Briggs said he travels outside Montana a fair amount, and such taxes are expected and would not be a deterrent to tourists.

Briggs, a Republican, also said if Cascade County initiated the local option tax, every residential taxpayer would see a “significant decrease in their property taxes.” However, he said it’s not coming from corporations or other Montana payers, but from outsiders, which is important to him.

The tax is focused on items tourists spend money on, although it would apply to everyone.

Annual visitor spending in Montana includes $1.4 billion on food and beverage, and $1.1 billion on lodging, among other categories, according to data from the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana cited by presenters.

If a 4% tax were levied in Cascade County, the property tax reduction on a home worth $500,000 would be 63%, and in Lewis and Clark County, it would be 49% for the same home, according to calculations from the bill presenters.

In Great Falls and Cascade County, that’s about a $500 credit, France said: “In our view, this is real money in Montanans’ pocketbooks.”

The sponsors said the bill comes with some guardrails in the items taxed and in the requirements at the ballot box.

For example, it excludes SNAP grocery items so as not to hit lower income Montanans, and it also requires local proposals to go to voters during a general election in an even numbered year, and at least 40% turnout for approval.

Polling conducted in winter 2022 showed 64% of people initially supported taxing tourists to reduce local property taxes, and after learning more details, the support grew to 70%, Hensley said.

Other proposals to cut property taxes also are moving through the Montana Legislature, but Oblander and France said HB 489 would work hand-in-hand with them including one supported by the Governor’s Office, House Bill 231, and another from Democrats, House Bill 155.

“We see this bill as complementary to the other good bills moving through the process,” Oblander said in a statement.

Rep. France added, “This idea would add to the entire scope of relief. HB 155 and HB 231 are both excellent moves in the right direction. This isn’t addressed with one single bill. We have an obligation to consider all options together.”

At the press conference, the presenters also pushed back against a narrative that local government spending is out of control.

Briggs said it’s a narrative more at the legislature than in the public, but local government is limited to raising taxes by half the average rate of inflation and has been for nearly three decades.

“I’m the first one to say that I suspect it has been very effective at squeezing waste out of county government, but you cannot live on a starvation diet forever,” Briggs said.

Ultimately, he said, it means local government can’t keep up with inflation or infrastructure needs. Briggs also said county budgets must accommodate unfunded mandates.

“What we spend on has changed because of federal regulations, and, quite frankly, because of unfunded mandates coming out of the legislative body,” Briggs said. “Every two years, they tell us, ‘You have to do something else, but by the way, you don’t get any money to do it with.’”

The Glasgow City Council will meet on Tuesday at 5pm at the Glasgow Civic Center.

The council will discuss the possibility of advertising a RFP for contracting the city's water and sewer operations and maintenance.

Another item on the agenda is a discussion on the possibility of allowing elected officials to participate in the MMIA Insurance plan.

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and its partners, Sletten Construction and Morrison-Maierle, will soon begin work to replace the West Fork Poplar River Bridge on Montana Highway 248 (MT 248), located 2 miles east of Richland. This is the final bridge scheduled for replacement as part of the Timber Bridges-Glasgow Area project. Over the past two years, the project has replaced 15 timber bridges in northeastern Montana.

“We are excited to see the final bridge replacement progressing," said Shane Mintz, MDT Glendive District Administrator. “Replacing Montana’s deteriorating timber bridges is a top priority for MDT. The Timber Bridges-Glasgow Area project was the first to use MDT’s innovative bridge bundling approach, and the insights gained from this project have been instrumental in shaping the processes used in several ongoing multiple bridge replacement projects across the state.”

Work to replace the West Fork Poplar River Bridge will start with crews building a two-lane detour next to the existing structure. Once it is finished, traffic will be moved onto the detour, and demolition of the bridge will begin.

Sletten Construction crews will also return this summer to seal and cover (chip seal) and install the final pavement markings at all bridge replacement sites located on MT 248, US Highway 2 (US 2), Montana Highway 24 (MT 24), and Montana Highway 251 (MT 251). For a list of bridge replacements and their locations, visit mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/glasgowtb/.

“Reaching the final phase of this project so quickly is a result of the dedication and hard work of our team and our partner, Morrison-Maierle,” said Russell Robertson, Bridge Division Manager at Sletten Construction. “We would like to thank the community for their continued patience and support, and we encourage drivers to reach out with any questions or concerns as we continue to work towards completing the project.”

During construction activities, minimal traffic disruption is expected. Traffic control will be on-site, speed limits reduced, and shoulder closures in place throughout the construction zones. Brief, single-lane road closures will be periodically required. All work is dependent on weather and other unforeseen factors.

Regularly scheduled email and text updates are available during construction. To sign up for updates or if you have questions or concerns, email Sloane at sloane@bigskypublicrelations.com or call the hotline at 406-207-4484, operated during business hours.

For more information about the Timber Bridges-Glasgow Area project, visit mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/glasgowtb/.

The Montana Lottery today released sports wagering data for the week ending February 15:

• Handle: $1,146,268
• Payout: $1,564,633
• Gross Gaming Revenue: ($418,365)
• Sales Agent Commissions: $34,388

The top three sports by percent of the total handle were:
• Basketball (41.7%)
• Football (41.4%)
• Soccer (5.8%)

The Montana Lottery’s sports wagering product, Sports Bet Montana, was launched after legislation passed in 2019 became law.

The Montana Lottery was created by a citizen's referendum in 1986. Since then, it has paid over $1.06 billion in prizes and returned approximately $361.3 million to the State of Montana and $104.5 million in sales agent commissions.

When Block of Bucks originated, not only was it a different organization in charge, but only winter outerwear clothing was purchased. In past years it has been a challenge to purchase clothing for infants and toddlers and a struggle to find volunteers to help families shop. With the changing times, Caring Hands Block of Bucks program will also be changing for the 2025 year.

For several years St Raphael Catholic Church has been doing a coat drive where they give out an enormous amount of winter outerwear. This seems to be taking care of the original purpose of the Block of Bucks program.

We will continue to raise funds for Block of Bucks in 2025, but with a new purpose. We will no longer use funds raised for winter clothing, but will be embarking on a new venture shifting funds to Valley County schools lunch programs.

In 2024 Caring Hands spent a total of $7,222.62 paying for lunches or donating to school food pantries to supplement children in need of food on weekends or school vacations. We have received a lot of positive feedback from grateful parents whose children have benefited from this donation.

We will continue the voucher program for children in need of clothes to shop at the Thrift Store or if items not available at the Thrift Store we can purchase new items. Vouchers are available from the schools or by contacting a Caring Hands member.

We so want to thank the individuals, community and businesses who have supported Block of Bucks over the past years. Your generosity is what has made this program such a huge success. We hope you will continue to support us in our new venture for 2025.