Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/montana/page/29/)
Health-care workers from across the state supported a bill last week that would create a felony offense for knowingly assaulting a medical professional. House Bill 268 would make it a felony to attack nurses, emergency responders and other professionals, punishing offenders with up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. (more…) Continue Reading →
During his State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Steve Bullock said that he “cannot tolerate that Montana leads the nation in youth suicide.”
“I am haunted by this statistic,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
Chief Plenty Coups, last of the great Crow chiefs, in battle wore the legs and feet of the chickadee braided in the long black hair behind his ear. After listening to an early vision received by this future chief, the Crow Elders told Plenty Coups, “The chickadee is your medicine. We must be wise like the chickadee.” And he honored this tiny bird throughout his life. Power from and communication between species is something most people don’t believe in now—or even try to understand. (more…) Continue Reading →
Editor’s note: This is an updated story covering the governor’s speech. Gov. Steve Bullock outlined his goals for the 2017 Legislature on Tuesday during his third State of the State address, including a responsible state budget, infrastructure, business growth and education. While addressing a joint session of the House and Senate, Bullock named common values, including, “Fiscal responsibility. Education. Infrastructure. Continue Reading →
Depending on what happens during the legislative session now underway, Montana could join 32 states that offer their residents an innovative, low-cost method of financing energy-efficiency projects for houses and businesses. The method is known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, which enables property owners to obtain no-money-down loans and pay them off over many years as part of their county property tax assessments. (more…) Continue Reading →
Though the 2017 Montana Legislative session has seen more than its share of partisan disputes, one issue has united lawmakers—reforming state law on rape and sexual assault.
The Montana Senate advanced a package of bills last week that deal with everything from the parental rights of children conceived by rape to the very definition of “consent.” (more…) Continue Reading →
The Montana Legislature debated two bills last week that would give patients a more active role in determining the cost of their health care. Senate Bill 100, introduced by Sen. Cary Smith, R-Billings, would give patients the option of directly determining payment options with their doctor for day-to-day care without having to go through insurance. (more…) Continue Reading →
[View the story “Thousands demonstrate at Montana Women’s March” on Storify] Continue Reading →
Editor’s note: Rep. Barry Usher called back after this story was posted. We have included his comments at the end of the story. Bicyclists from around the state are rallying against a proposed bill that would ban bicyclists and pedestrians from using virtually every two-lane road in the state that doesn’t have a paved shoulder. Kristi Drake, director of Billings TrailNet, said her first thought was not to worry about the proposal because it seemed to have so little chance of passing. (more…) Continue Reading →
Since the death of their son Steven Bearcrane-Cole on the Crow Indian Reservation in 2005, Cletus and Earline Cole have fought for the justice they feel their son deserves. They continue to believe that there was compelling evidence of murder, and that his death was never investigated properly by federal agents in charge of dealing with serious crimes on the reservation. (more…) Continue Reading →
