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Montana Free Press
Are property taxes Montana’s new wedge issue?
The MT Lowdown is a weekly digest that showcases a more personal side of Montana Free Press’ high-quality reporting while keeping you up to speed on the biggest news impacting Montanans. Want to see the MT Lowdown in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. The supplemental property tax...
Montana Supreme Court weighs arguments in second lawsuit over Smith River copper mine
The Montana Supreme Court on Friday heard oral arguments regarding a central Montana copper mine’s anticipated effect on regional water supplies. The lawsuit stems from a dispute about a mine that Tintina (now Sandfire Resources) seeks to develop along a tributary of central Montana’s Smith River. State environmental regulators cleared the Black Butte Mine to proceed in 2020, but a coalition of environmental groups challenged the project in court, arguing that it poses a threat to water quality and water supply.
Backers of abortion initiative sue attorney general over proposed ballot language
This story is excerpted from Capitolized, a weekly newsletter featuring expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Want to see Capitolized in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here. A group backing an initiative to enshrine specific protections for abortion access in Montana’s...
District court judge resigning during judicial standards complaint
This story is excerpted from Capitolized, a weekly newsletter featuring expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Want to see Capitolized in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here. A legally embattled state district court judge is stepping down from the bench in...
Legally Beleaguered District Court Judge to Resign
Get an insider’s look into what’s happening in and around the halls of power with expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Sign up to get the free Capitolized newsletter delivered to your inbox every Thursday. March 28, 2024. A legally...
Coalition sues education agency for ‘interfering’ with charter school openings.
The Montana Quality Education Coalition filed a lawsuit Thursday against state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen and the Office of Public Instruction related to an ongoing dispute over the agency’s implementation of a new public charter school law. The complaint, filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court, alleges that Arntzen...
Missoula looks to curb overdose deaths with free, accessible medication
Four new vending machines dispensing opioid-reversal medication will be available starting next month in Missoula’s hotspots for overdose calls — no quarters needed. The United Way of Missoula County is facilitating the Dose of Hope project in partnership with the Missoula Drug Safety Coalition and Missoula Public Health in an effort to reduce the county’s opioid overdose deaths, which increased 83% from 2019 to 2022.
Why some Medicaid providers are borrowing — or going into debt — to cover ‘unwinding’ payment disruptions
Jason George began noticing in September that Medicaid payments had stalled for some of his assisted living facility residents, people who need help with daily living. Guardian Group Montana, which owns three small facilities in rural Montana, relies on the government health insurance to cover its care of low-income residents. George, who manages the facilities, said residents’ Medicaid delays have lasted from a few weeks to more than six months, and that at one point the total amounted to roughly $150,000.
Amazon cuts the ribbon on Missoula facility, first in Montana
E-commerce giant Amazon touted its first Montana logistics facility in an event Wednesday, holding a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the Missoula-area operation with Gov. Greg Gianforte and Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier. The cavernous, 71,000-square-foot building is just northeast of the Wye, where U.S. Highway 93 splits off of Interstate 90...
Montana Supreme Court declares 2021 voting laws unconstitutional
In a highly anticipated ruling Wednesday, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s finding that four laws passed by the 2021 Legislature violate the fundamental rights of voters outlined in the Montana Constitution. The court’s 125-page opinion closes out an appeal filed in November 2022 by Republican Secretary...
Lily Gladstone: paving the way
More than 350 empty white chairs filled the recently built arbor at the center of the campgrounds in Browning, the headquarters of the Blackfeet Nation. Later Tuesday, those seats, along with bleachers that surrounded the perimeter of the building, were filled with families, friends, children and tribal leaders from the Blackfoot Confederacy, all in attendance to celebrate Lily Gladstone.
When dogs fly
It was 10 years ago that Maad Abu-Ghazalah began thinking about what he could give back to the people of the West Bank. Abu-Ghazalah, who grew up in Palestine but later moved to the United States and made money in Silicon Valley, reflected on what the people in his homeland needed. He didn’t think it was food or shelter.
The Viz: Growth rates tick down for large Montana counties
This story is adapted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday. Montana’s largest counties continue to grow in population, but the rate at which they’re adding new people has slowed in recent years, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which released official county-level population counts for 2023 March 14.
Flathead Lake level dispute boils in letters to federal hydroelectric regulators
This story is adapted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday. A federal agency that oversees hydroelectric dams has been roped, again, into an ongoing dispute about water levels in Flathead Lake. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission received a pair of letters this month related to its ability to referee dam management to sustain water levels in the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.
Safety net consolidation means closures for longtime nonprofits
This story is adapted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday. It was originally published under the title “Downstream Effects.”. Last fall, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services announced it would be seeking a single, statewide contractor...
The many-shaped charms of semolina pasta
I have met very few people who don’t like pasta. As you read this column, you probably have boxes of at least three or four different pastas in your pantry to throw together a dinner in a pinch. And there are plenty of tasty boxed pasta recipes on notecards in your little recipe box, in the cookbooks on your shelf, and certainly online.
Flathead Lake water dispute simmers on
The MT Lowdown is a weekly digest that showcases a more personal side of Montana Free Press’ high-quality reporting while keeping you up to speed on the biggest news impacting Montanans. Want to see the MT Lowdown in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. A federal agency that...
Missoula-area wood industry closures mean ripple effects for workers, tax base, forest management
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...
The price of vindication
This story was originally published by The Pulp, and may not be republished without the express consent of The Pulp. Last month, more than seven years after Montana District Court Judge Ed McLean effectively overturned the conviction of Cody Marble, who was found guilty in 2002 at the age of 17 of raping a 13-year-old boy while in juvenile detention in Missoula, the retired judge signed an affidavit stating it’s now clear he was deceived.
Gianforte outraises Busse in first 2024 campaign finance report
This story is excerpted from Capitolized, a weekly newsletter featuring expert reporting, analysis and insight from the editors and reporters of Montana Free Press. Want to see Capitolized in your inbox every Thursday? Sign up here. First-quarter 2024 campaign finance filings from Gov. Greg Gianforte show a nearly $853,000 haul...
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