Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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The Whitehall politically concerned citizens group now has an official name, Whitehall Indivisible. Whitehall Indivisible met on Wednesday, March 19th at 6 PM in the Whitehall Community Library basement meeting room and had 15 people in attendance, with eight new faces. The group received their first piece of anonymous correspondence (thankfully, not filled with poisonous powder) and added two people through the website. Whitehall Indivisible has a facebook page and is listed on...
A Senate Fish and Game Committee meeting last week was dedicated entirely to three hours of fiery debate on two controversial gray wolf management bills from Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls. House Bill 258 would extend the seven-month wolf hunting season by another three months and House Bill 259 would legalize infrared and thermal imagery for wolf management. Fish, Wildlife and Parks Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala, speaking for the department director, opposed the season’s extension into Spring. “A spring hunting season dur...
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 McGillvray, 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 d...
A bill in the Legislature would offer free school breakfast and lunch to all students who qualify for reduced meals. Supporters say it would offer critical help for children as grocery prices increase and food security becomes scarcer for families. Kim Popham, Director of Public Policy and Research for the Montana Federation of Public Employees, urged the House Education Committee to support House Bill 551 during the bill’s initial hearing last week. “In this committee, many of you often bring up the fact that our test scores are low, but let...
Montanans could have access to fully insured mental health screenings if a bill working its way through the Legislature passes. Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, is carrying Senate Bill 244, which would mandate insurance coverage for standardized, evidence-based behavioral health screenings and assessments. The Senate passed the bill on a 40-8 vote last month and it is now up for debate in the House. At a hearing in the House Business and Labor Committee last week, proponents, mainly healthcare providers and hospital representatives, urged the...
A federal three-judge panel has sided with a group of hunters who faced civil trespassing charges stemming from elk-hunting excursions into "checkerboard" land in Carbon County, Wyoming. The hunters in question crossed from one Bureau of Land Management section to another on multiple occasions in 2020 and 2021. In the process, they raised the ire of Fred Eshelman, a pharmaceutical executive whose Elk Mountain Ranch holdings span 50 miles of southeastern Wyoming, much of it in areas where public...
SUNDAY, MARCH 16 00:04:31 Traffic Stop: I-90 01:03:18 Traffic Stop: N Whitehall St 02:23:10 911: S Division St 13:26:22 Vehicle Accident (Non-Injury): I-90 16:19:40 Traffic Stop: I-90 16:55:22 Stranded Motorist: I-90 18:29:30 Traffic Stop MONDAY, MARCH 17 10:59:40 Traffic Stop 13:11:57 Reckless Driver: Hwy 41 13:21:48 Wildland Fire:L Brazill Ln 17:39:27 Traffic Stop: Hwy 2 W 18:01:36 Traffic Stop 18:56:28 Citizen Contact: W Legion St 19:52:19 Vicious Dog: E First St 23:02:51 Extra Patrol: W...
Whitehall's Concerned Citizens group has grown, and at the last meeting, held Wednesday, March 12, in the Whitehall Community Library, a total of 15 people attended and contributed to the discussion. Should the group exceed 20 people, a new location will be needed - but the group is very pleased to see so many new faces and welcomes all to attend. The group opened with a "Real or Fake" AI quiz and discussed types of media bias. We generally agree on the bias placement from right to left for...
In this legislative session, I introduced House Bill 740 to help Montana’s pharmacies stand up to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Decades ago, these industry giants started out filling a legitimate need in the processing and negotiating of prescription drug insurance benefits. However, they quickly grew and consolidated into some of the largest corporations in the United States, and now, just a few PMBs control virtually the entire drug benefits market. In 2023, the top three PBMs made a c...
Almost 3 in 4 Montanans were concerned about being able to afford housing in the state over the next five years, according to a Montana Free Press-Eagleton Poll. According to the poll, 2 in 5 Montana households spent more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage. That means roughly 40% of poll respondents self-identify as cost-burdened, a term defined by the U.S. Census Bureau to describe those whose housing costs exceed that threshold. Adults under 35 were more likely than those over 50 to feel concerned about being able to afford housing...
A bill that would allow exemptions for vaccine requirements at schools and daycares sparked impassioned debate on the Senate floor before passing on a narrow vote. Senate Bill 474 would require schools, daycares, and other organizations that require vaccinations to accept religious and medical exceptions. Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, opposed the bill. Similar exemptions already exist, which she said would be unsafely expanded under the bill. “This amended bill, as-is, would create the most permissive exemption policy in the country and l...
One person is dead after local and county law enforcement responded to a threat at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse Friday afternoon, according to authorities. At around 1:30 p.m., Helena police officers and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the county courthouse, 228 E. Broadway St., after numerous 911 calls reported that a woman was brandishing a handgun. The woman threatened several people, including a judge, according to a release from Helena Police Chief Brett Petty and county Sheriff Leo Dutton. The suspect, w...
SUNDAY, MARCH 9 01:07:52 Stranded Motorist 07:29:53 Traffic Stop: N Whitehall St 10:16:02 Animal: Sheep Camp Rd 11:16:10 Dog at Large: Mills Rd 12:14:21 Tow: Jackrabbit Ln 13:05:47 Hit & Run: I-90 13:13:48 Traffic Stop 16:23:59 Burglary 16:29:04 Stolen Vehicle: Hwy 2 W 16:46:27 Traffic Stop 17:11:38 Traffic Stop 17:35:22 Motorist Assist: N Brooke St 18:09:42 Traffic Stop 19:20:24 DUI: N Whitehall St 19:26:22 Burglary: Bluebird Ln 20:41:39 Wrong Way Driver: I-90 20:51:18 Motorist Assist: I-90 21:00:45 Citizen Assist: I-90 21:01:32 Suspicious...
The Wednesday, March 5th meeting, with 10 people in attendance, began with historian David Brooks recent address to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship and sparked a good discussion on ways to bridge divides. The Montana Legislative website continues to be challenging, as do several process points that we have noticed as bills move along, die, or get killed. We will persevere. The discussion shifted from the state to the federal personnel cuts by DOGE, and the question arose, “By what right are all these firings and layoffs h...
Lawmakers are on break this week after several marathon debates on bills last week in the run-up to the Legislature’s mid-session break. Last week was what Montana legislators call “transmittal week” — the last 5 days for general policy bills from the first half of the session to pass either the Senate or House, or they are effectively dead. “Members of the Committee, we’ve got a lot of work to do today. I’m going to try to move things along as best I can,” said Sen. John Esp, R-Big Timber, starting what became a nearly 12-hour-long Se...
Proponents of a bill that would prevent local governments from enacting red-flag gun laws say these regulations are unconstitutional. But opponents say they can be important in preventing gun violence. A red-flag law, or an extreme risk protection order, is a temporary order that a judge can place on a person requiring them to temporarily surrender their firearms if the judge decides there is a high risk to others or to the individual. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have implemented red-flag laws, according to the University of...
Legislators are considering a proposal that supporters say will help victims of sexual assault get local, timely care in rural areas by changing the source of funding for sexual assault examinations. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, said in an initial committee hearing last week that Senate Bill 491 would create a centralized state fund that uses revenue from the marijuana tax to pay for sexual assault medical examinations instead of local law enforcement paying for the care. “By passing this bill, we are reinforcing M...
A bill that would allow exemptions for vaccine requirements at schools and daycares sparked impassioned debate on the Senate floor before passing on a narrow vote last week. Senate Bill 474 would require schools, daycares, and other organizations that require vaccinations to accept religious and medical exceptions. Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, opposed the bill. Similar exemptions already exist, which she said would be unsafely expanded under the bill. “This amended bill, as-is, would create the most permissive exemption policy in the c...
We just passed the halfway point of our 90 days in Helena, and I am proud to report that we have made significant strides in tackling the big and small issues facing our state. With over 800 bills introduced in the House, we’ve sent just under 600 bills to our counterparts in the Senate. I made a commitment to support common sense solutions to the problems facing our state. Below are just a few of the many bills that have been presented by the House Majority that will tackle these issues. House...
SUNDAY, MARCH 2 00:42:17 Abandoned Vehicle: I-90 WB 06:35:35 Traffic Stop: I-90 08:04:14 Larceny/Theft: Rocky Mtn Dr 13:47:51 Medical: Red Forest Timbers Rd 17:28:58 Citizen Assist: East St 18:57:57 Animal: E First St 19:58:06 Runaway: S Division St MONDAY, MARCH 3 06:43:50 Motorist Assist: Hwy 69 06:44:17 Medical: W Second St 08:16:15 Traffic Stop: W Legion St 08:42:53 Trespass 10:52:22 Suspicious: E Legion St 13:59:06 Animal: Hwy 55 16:57:42 VIN Inspection: W Viella St 17:49:15 Citizen...
A trio of major property tax relief bills — Gov. Greg Gianforte’s flagship effort to pull down homeowner property taxes by boosting taxes on second homes and two other measures pitched by Democrats — passed the Montana House with bipartisan votes Thursday, advancing to the state Senate. Gianforte’s bill, House Bill 231, was amended by the House Appropriations Committee last week in an effort to win the Democratic votes necessary to overcome opposition from some Republicans. It ultimately passed the House on a 68-30 margin. The bill’s supporter...
A group of concerned citizens meets Wednesdays from 6-7 PM at the Whitehall Community Library. If you need help with the Legislative website, BillTracker, or your Substack media account, please come at 5:30 PM. The regular meeting will begin at 6 PM. At our Feb 26 meeting, we reviewed the functions of the legislative website that had stumped us previously: the recorded hearing videos are accessed via the “Now Streaming” button (or course!). The bill tracker function works, the state pays for it, and it is a separate platform that will send you...
Lawmakers have tabled a bill that would have raised Montana’s minimum wage to $12.06 an hour. Rep. Kelly Kortum, D-Bozeman, introduced House Bill 484 to the House Business and Labor Committee on Feb. 27. Supporters said the state’s current $10.55 rate doesn’t match the cost of living, but opponents disagreed and said the increase could increase inflation. Patrick Yawakie, representing the Blackfeet Tribe, Fort Belknap Indian Community, and Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy, said a person working 40 hours a week on minimum wage makes just shy o...
An effort to protect Montana agriculture from pesticide lawsuits passed the House Agriculture Committee last week and the full House will now vote on the bill this week. House Bill 522 would shield manufacturers, marketers, dealers, distributors, retailers and sellers from liability if a pesticide is labeled with a safety warning. Supporters said the bill would help farmers continue to use the products they might need. Karli Johnson with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation supported the bill. She brought examples of warning labels to her...
The House passed a bill on Feb. 27 that would allow parents access to their child’s medical records, with proponents arguing it will help parents help their children and opponents arguing it will endanger kids with unsafe home situations. Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, spoke in opposition to House Bill 377 due to concerns that it could further endanger a child in a precarious situation. They said as representatives of the state, it’s the Legislature’s job to make sure those kids are protected. Howell thanked the sponsor for amendments added to ad...
