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 April 2nd meeting of Whitehall Indivisible had 17 people present with one new face (welcome!) First up was the big item of the week that stood out in people’s minds: Senator Cory Booker’s 25-hour filibuster, Washington State Rep Pramila Jayapal’s work with resistance and protest, the Signal app chat, law firms caving to Trump’s targeting, proxy voting victory in in the US House of Reps with bipartisan support, more executive orders, massive cuts to Health & Human Services, elimination of due process for legal and possibly illegal (who kn...
Montana Judges could be required to take child abuse and domestic violence training if a bill in the Montana Legislature passes the House. Sen. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, is carrying Senate Bill 318, which supporters are calling “Brody’s Law.” Lenz said the bill will help judges deal with the suspects in abuse cases, whose personalities he said are frequently manipulative. The bill is named after a Bozeman child who took his life in 2023 after what his mother, Jody Hill, described as continued abuse. Hill said at a hearing on April 1 that her s...
Parents, guardians and teachers could have been reimbursed for education expenses through a new income tax credit that died in committee last week. Senate Bill 549 would have reimbursed up to $1,250 for tuition, materials, exam fees, transportation and other services like tutoring and therapies, among others. The fiscal note on the bill estimated a yearly $45 million in state funds being used for these credits starting in 2027, when estimated payouts would have started. Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, who is carrying the bill, said that...
Legislators are considering a proposal to invest in suicide prevention for Montana veterans, an effort proponents say will help to mitigate high rates of suicide in the veteran population. Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 95. He said the bill has had a long journey to pass the Senate and arrive at the House for deliberation. The final proposal includes a request for $300,000 to implement a three-pronged approach: screening services, educating providers, and peer support. Jestin Dupree, a tribal council member for...
mittee voted down two major tax bills backed by Gov. Greg Gianforte Wednesday, killing a measure that would have cut a full percentage point off the state’s primary income tax rate and another that would have increased property taxes on second homes as part of efforts to lower homeowner tax bills. The Republican-controlled committee, chaired by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, also voted down an income tax credit-based property tax relief bill that minority-party Democrats had pushed through the House. Separately, the Senate Finance and Claims Commit...
SUNDAY, MARCH 30 00:03:09 Citizen Assist 01:02:11 Citizen Assist: I-90 02:32:19 Medical: Yellowstone Trl 03:20:22 Citizen Assist 04:33:52 Vehicle Accident (Non-Injury): I-90 12:46:35 Animal: Hwy 55 15:17:30 Traffic Offense: I-90 15:23:03 Traffic Offense: I-90 15:54:06 Medical: Hwy 2 E 17:35:14 Traffic Stop: W Legion St 18:16:47 Traffic Stop: N Whitehall St 18:45:27 Traffic Stop: N Whitehall St 22:20:43 Traffic Stop: Hwy 55 MONDAY, MARCH 31 03:35:35 Motorist Assist: I-90 11:14:18 911 11:53:16...
Twenty people (including four from the county's north end!) gathered on Wednesday to discuss current events. We opened with an article on cryptocurrency and talked about the different types of cryptocurrencies and how the Trump family, foreign countries, power companies, and money-launderers are profiting off the untraceability, lack of regulation, and pump-and-dump schemes surrounding cryptocurrency. We reviewed the numbers behind the “mandate” of the Trump administration: Trump won the popular vote in 2024 with 49.81% of the people who voted...
A proposed resolution to release federal wilderness study lands sparked nearly two hours of passionate testimony in the Senate Energy Committee on March 25. Sen. Tony Tezak, R-Ennis, the sponsor of Senate Resolution 14, argued Montana’s federal wilderness study lands are unmanaged areas rich with resources made inaccessible because of federal regulations. “The wilderness study areas in these resolutions contain vast amounts of natural resources, which are critical to our national security and energy needs,” Tezak said. “Development of these r...
A bill protecting landowners from state seizure of private water rights on state lands has begun debate in the Senate, but not without concerns about school funding, water rights cases and public land access. Speaker of the House Brandon Ler, R-Savage, brought his House Bill 676 to the Senate Judiciary Committee after a series of tight votes in the House. Ler’s bill would prohibit the state land board from seizing private water rights used to irrigate or otherwise service state-owned, leased land. The bill would also mandate the sale of publicl...
A panel of lawmakers have tabled a bill that was an effort to protect prisoners’ constitutional rights to due process by adding enhanced access to psychological care in detention centers to state law. Rep. James Reavis, D-Billings, said the 14th Amendment requires “fitness to proceed” — meaning those charged with a crime must be able to understand what they are being accused of and that was the reason for his House Bill 236. Reavis said current law only includes psychological screening at one in-person facility in the state. “And that was...
Representatives from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T asked Montana lawmakers Friday to pass a bill that would offer them a property tax break if they expand their Montana networks, saying a lighter tax load on wireless infrastructure would encourage them to invest in reaching difficult-to-serve rural areas. The proposal, Senate Bill 534, would add wireless infrastructure such as cell towers to an existing tax break available to companies that expand their wired broadband networks. Shortly after the bill wrapped its initial public hearing before the...
In a House committee in late February, a legislator passed a tiny cylindrical object around the room, saying it is the key to Montana’s future energy security. The cylinder was a model for one nuclear pellet, which Rep. Gary Parry, R-Colstrip, says is equivalent to 157 gallons of regular gasoline. According to Parry, nuclear energy is the way forward for Montana as the coal energy industry wanes. “What we need to do is make sure that for Montanans we have a reliable, dependable base load,” Parry said in an interview, “that when it’s 50 below...
SUNDAY, MARCH 23 10:13:56 Traffic Stop 10:43:14 Traffic Stop 11:11:34 Traffic Stop: E Legion/B St 11:22:43 Vehicle Accident (Non-Injury): I-90 11:50:26 Traffic Stop 13:43:31 Welfare Check: Lost Moose Bend 16:02:09 Traffic Stop 16:17:07 Traffic Stop: W Legion St 16:46:38 Traffic Stop 16:47:21 911: I-90 17:26:33 Traffic Stop 17:48:51 Traffic Stop: W Legion St 18:19:10 Traffic Stop 18:54:51 Traffic Stop MONDAY, MARCH 24 16:23:40 Traffic Offense: Hwy 55 16:27:10 Traffic Offense: Hwy 2 W 17:09:52...
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...
