The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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About every 20 years, Lewis and Clark County tackles the thorny issue of drafting a new, updated policy to plan for anticipated changes as the result of population growth in the county. Later this month, Lewis and Clark County will host a series of open house meetings to gather information from residents on the direction the county should take in develping a new Comprehensive Growth Policy. Since the county adopted its current policy in 2004, the county has seen a population i...
Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Tuesday that the state is deploying a small number of Montana National Guard troops to the nation's southern border, describing the action as an effort to help the state of Texas police cross-border drug trafficking in light of what he described as inaction by the federal government. According to the announcement, 10 Montana National Guardsmen have volunteered for active duty as part of Texas' Operation Lone Star. The Guardsmen are scheduled to...
Gasoline prices are ending the week several cents higher on average than the week prior, according to AAA data. For now, prices have remained relatively stable given analysts' forecast that drone attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure might drive prices for oil higher. "Renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure and increasing tension in the Middle East spiked oil prices recently," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement this week. "And with the...
The pending closures of Missoula County's two largest wood products employers, announced separately this month, will have effects beyond the local economy, limiting options for landowners and other mills throughout the region and making forest management projects more expensive, according to local and industry officials. "It's not just the facilities and jobs that are impacted at those facilities," said Todd Morgan, director of the University of Montana's Forest Industry...
BOZEMAN – The Museum of the Rockies will host the third annual “Dinosaurs and MOR!” festival April 12-14, bringing together top paleontologists, dinosaur enthusiasts and a lineup of activities for all ages. Events include family-friendly programs, junior paleontologist passport stations and 18 presentations by scientists from around the globe. For more information and to purchase tickets to any of these events, visit museumoftherockies.org/dinos. “Dinosaurs and MOR!” f...
LINCOLN, Mont.: This summer, the Montana Department of Transportation and Sletten Construction, in cooperation with Lewis and Clark County, will replace the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge over the Blackfoot River, located three miles west of Lincoln. Sletten Construction was awarded the contract to build the bridge for $3.9 million. Starting in early April, initial work will begin with crews trimming and removing trees. The traveling public should expect flaggers and short...
LINCOLN – Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte stopped by Hi Country Snack Foods Wednesday, March 20 as part of several Ag Week visits around the state highlighting Montana's 27,000 farms and ranches and related businesses. Hi Country has emerged as one of the states leading value-added agriculture businesses after transitioning to the use of Montana-grow beef for its products. In 2022, Montana Manufacturing Association and Montana Chamber of Commerce recognized Hi Country as the v...
Continuing a series of campaign reversals, Republican Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale announced Friday morning that he will not seek re-election to the state's eastern U.S. House district. Rosendale, a hardliner who was elected to the House in 2020 after serving as Montana State Auditor, launched a long-anticipated campaign for the U.S. Senate Feb. 9, only to call it off six days later. Then, at the end of February - by which point several Republicans had already begun...
Addressing his property tax task force at the group's first formal meeting Wednesday, Gov. Greg Gianforte had two big messages: Figure out how to bring some permanent tax relief to Montana homeowners - and don't do it by recommending a statewide sales tax. "As we and all Montanans know too well, property taxes are too high. That's why we're here - Montana homeowners need relief," Gianforte said, detailing a list of goals that includes slowing how fast property taxes are...
Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale, who just last week announced a highly anticipated run for U.S. Senate, is dropping his campaign after former President Donald Trump - the ultimate kingmaker in modern GOP politics - endorsed his primary opponent Tim Sheehy last Friday, shortly after Rosendale's announcement. "I have long been a supporter of the President, and remain so. But I have been forced to calculate what my chances of success would be with Trump supporting my...
Department of Public Health and Human Services officials announced today that, effective immediately, the agency will process applications to change sex markers on Montana birth certificates pursuant to a 2022 administrative rule on the subject and consistent with a 2023 law. “DPHHS must follow the law, and our agency will consequently process requests to amend sex markers on birth certificates under our 2022 final rule,” DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton said. “This notification serves to keep the public apprised of the law a...
If there's one thing Montanans seem to love, it's bragging about how cold their town got during a cold snap. Maybe it's pride in being able to deal with extreme cold; maybe it's due to the old idea that "40 below keeps the riff raff out;" or maybe its because record cold temperatures often make both state and national headlines, as Lincoln did on Dec. 22, 2022. It hit minus 49 at the Lincoln Ranger Station weather site and broke the previous local records of 48 below, set...
The federal agency that oversees the Endangered Species Act announced late last week that it will not add Northern Rockies wolves back onto the list of threatened and endangered species. In an announcement on Feb. 2, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that its decision was based on its analysis of "the best available data" from federal, state and tribal sources, academic institutions and the public. The agency found that the number and distribution of gray wolves, paired...
Six and a half years ago Dalton Mountain Road bridge was closed due to failing piles. Although it re-opened a few weeks later as a one lane bridge, the lingering question has been: when will it be replaced? This year finally seems to be the year, as the Montana Department of Transportation opened bids Feb. 1 for the bridge's replacement. At the. Feb. 2 Lincoln Government Day meeting, Lewis and Clark County Public Works Director Jenny Chambers said the Montana Department of...
The NorthWestern Energy rate hike that the Montana Public Service Commission adopted in October will stand following a decision from the commission this week. The increase was originally forecast to raise residential customers' electricity bills by 28 percent, but a reduction in NorthWestern's property tax bill and a "true-up" process designed to square NorthWestern's forecasted market power purchases with its actual expenditures have brought that figure down slightly. The...
Republican Governors across the country sent President Biden a letter on January 22 in opposition to proposed federal rules they say would unduly restrict the vehicle options available to Americans and force the use of electric vehicles. Among those signing the letter were Idaho Governor Little, Montana Governor Gianforte, and Wyoming Governor Gordon. The Governors wrote: "We are writing today on behalf of the American consumer to urge you to change course on your current mand...
Among several changes to Montana's income tax system that took effect at the beginning of the year is a provision that makes income from tips subject to state taxes. The shift aligns Montana with the federal tax system, in which tips have long been taxed alongside salaries and wages. It also means that many service-sector workers will likely have their state income tax obligation increased by hundreds of dollars a year. The change was made by the 2021 Legislature as part of...
The first Lincoln Government Day meeting of 2024 Jan. 5 proved to be short and to the point, despite getting off to a slightly late start. The start of the meeting was delayed for a few minutes as a camera was set up to record the meeting. A new law that goes onto effect in June, aimed at increasing transparency, will require the county to post video of their meetings in Lincoln and Augusta on line just as they do with their meeting in Helena. Commission Chair Andy Hunthausen...
This story is excerpted from Capitolized, a weekly newsletter featuring expert reporting, analysis and insight from reporters of Montana Free Press. A group of Montana law students and young activists launched an organization this week to help facilitate freedom-of-information requests and to educate both the public and policymakers on the state Constitution's right to know. The founders of the Montana Transparency Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, say they want to complement the state's existing landscape of FOI...
After years of new arrivals swelling Montana's population and straining its housing supply, new data released Dec. 19 by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the volume of net migration into the state has declined. As of July 1, 2023, the federal demographics agency estimates Montana had 1,132,800 residents. That's about 9,900 more than a year prior, or a 0.9% increase. While that's a lot of new Montanans - roughly as many people as the populations of Belgrade, Miles City or...
More than half of the snowpack monitoring sites used to measure the water supply for Montana watersheds are posting record-low accumulations, according to a report out this week. Several basins in central Montana have one-third of their normal snow-water equivalent - a measurement of water in the snow. About half of all of the basins in the report, including the Upper Missouri, Flathead, and Upper and Lower Clark Fork basins, are posting record-low totals. Eric Larson, a...
Before Tim Sheehy was the frontrunner in Montana's 2024 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, the ex-Navy SEAL, aerial firefighter, millionaire business owner, part-time rancher and occasional political donor was a 2004 graduate of a Minneapolis-St. Paul area private high school who grew up in a lake house outside Minnesota's Twin Cities. Sheehy emerged earlier this year from relative obscurity as a top recruit of the National Republican Senatorial Committee - the organization...
HELENA, Mont. – Nov. 17, 2023 – Montana District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy ruled in favor of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest on a legal challenge brought forward by Helena Hunters and Angler's Association, Western Watersheds Project, the Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians to the Forest's 2021 Land Management Plan. The case focused on wildlife claims under the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. "We are glad the court recognizes the For...
HELENA – As Montanans prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, Attorney General Austin Knudsen is issuing a reminder to be aware of common scams, which tend to increase during the holiday season. "Online shoppers make easy targets for scammers, so stay vigilant and cautious as you order gifts and make virtual donations this Christmas season," Attorney General Knudsen said. "Don't let a scammer ruin the holidays for you and your family." Attorney General Knuds...
The Montana Supreme Court Wednesday ruled against Montana county governments in a dispute over the Montana Department of Revenue's authority to order the full collection of the 95-mill state-level school equalization levy, a formerly obscure piece of tax bills that became a flashpoint this fall as state and local officials contended with frustration over rising property taxes. The ruling means that the 49 of 56 Montana counties that chose to collect a lower, 77.9-mill rate on...
