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Bills on budget, infrastructure, sex assault get attention

By: |
Clark

HELENA—Calls for unity across party lines abounded throughout the opening day of Montana’s 65th legislative session. Hundreds gathered in the Capitol rotunda on Jan. 2 as top state leaders were sworn into office. “Before any of us are Democrats or Republicans, we’re Montanans,” Gov. Steve Bullock told the audience in his first speech of the session. “And Montanans elected us to serve.”

The ceremony featured local school children performing Montana’s state song and Rep. George Kipp III, D-Heart Butte, performing two Native American songs. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, budget, Feed Bill, Montana Legislature, rape

Budget takes center stage in Legislature’s first week

By: |
Sesso

HELENA — Montana’s 2017 Legislature has begun to tackle a wide swath of issues, from public safety to infrastructure, from education to agriculture. But as the first of many bills were read in committee rooms around the Capitol last week, it became clear that everything this time around would focus on the budget. During a Republican caucus Tuesday, House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, told fellow party members that the challenges the entire Legislature faces in the coming months would be daunting. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Austin Knudsen, John Sesso, Montana Legislature, Ron Ehli, Steve Bullock

Billings donations destined for refugees in Missoula

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Refuge

If weather conditions are favorable this weekend, Jane Moses hopes to make another attempt to deliver donations for international refugees in Missoula. Moses and her daughter Libby made their first attempt on Tuesday and got as far as Livingston, where a stretch of Interstate 90 was closed because of high winds. They detoured through Livingston and looked into what lay ahead. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Community Leadership and Development Inc., Eric Basye, International Rescue Committee, Jane Moses, Mary Poole, Soft Landing

Competitive twins on the way to early college graduation

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Twins

Brenna Hoffman is planning to graduate this spring from Montana State University Billings with a degree in finance. Graduation is scheduled for May 4, meaning she will be graduating from college a little less than a year since she graduated from Billings West High School. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Billings, News, Brenna Hoffman, Brittney Hoffman, Edward Jones, MSU Billings, Orchard Elementary, Riverside Middle School

Conduct code for lawyers stirs Supreme Court furor

By: |
Law

The Montana Supreme Court has delayed action on a proposed change in the professional code of conduct for lawyers that has drawn hundreds of complaints from people who say the change threatens lawyers’ First Amendment rights. The proposed change comes from the American Bar Association, which adopted it in August. The change considers it professional misconduct for a lawyer to “engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law.” (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Blair Jones, Dirk Sandefur, Matthew Monforton, Montana Supreme Court, Nels Swandal

Missoula groups push back against Nazi-inspired leaflets

By: |
Rabbi

It’s a Thursday morning at Har Shalom and the children are gathered for play. But the synagogue’s spiritual leader has taken to the library, where she’s thinking of ways to counter the emergence of Nazi-inspired literature in Missoula. Over the past few months, hate-filled leaflets with Nazi propaganda have appeared at area homes. While the drops have been sparse and seemingly random, they are nonetheless troubling in a community that prides itself on tolerance. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, American Nazi Party, Har Shalom, Laurie Franklin, Missoula Current, Montana Human Rights Network, Rachel Carroll Rivas

Council to vote again on backing local option tax idea

By: |
Wally

The Billings City Council will decide Monday night whether to endorse efforts to pass a new kind of statewide local option sales tax—or to postpone a decision until a bill draft lays out more details on the proposal. The council also will be asked to approve a two-page list of priorities that the city will pursue during the 2017 Montana Legislature, one of the priorities being a commitment to support a local option tax of some kind. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Billings, News, Authorize Community Transformation, Billings City Council, Bruce McCandless, Ed Bartlett, Montana Infrastructure Coalition, Montana Legislature

Decades later, Mansfield’s thoughts on politics ring true

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Mansfield

Marc Johnson doesn’t pretend to know how to fix our broken political system, but he figures a good start would be to encourage people to learn about and reflect on our history. That’s why he recently launched a podcast called “Many Things Considered,” the motto of which is “Looking to politics past to make sense of politics present.” (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: Montana, News, Gallatin Public Affairs, Marc Johnson, Mike Mansfield, Pat Williams, Trent Lott, U.S. Senate

A fraught Thanksgiving weekend at Standing Rock

By: |
Overview

I spent my Thanksgiving this year at Standing Rock, where a poverty-stricken Sioux tribe has faced off with a $3.8 billion oil pipeline project. I did not understand the irony and deep significance of my trip until I was reminded of the holiday’s dual origins soon after I arrived at camp. In 1637 during the Pequot War, settlers from Massachusetts Bay colonies massacred something like 700 natives after a white man was found dead in a boat. Casualties included Pequot women and children, who were burned in their village or hunted and shot if they escaped the inferno. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Battle of the Little Bighorn, Dakota Access pipeline, Sioux, Standing Rock