Nov12024

Democrat Staffer Seen Tampering with Montana Ballot Box

Montana-Statewide • Politics

This past Sunday, October 20, a man was caught on video tampering with an Official Mail Ballot Drop Box in Glacier County, MT. The surveillance camera footage can be found online at https://www.foxnews.com/politics/video-dem-aligned-individual-montana-ballot-box-sparks-tampering-concern-from-election-administrator

The video appears to show the individual putting both hands on the drop box and unsuccessfully trying to rip it from the wall it is mounted to.

The MT Secretary of State’s office identified the individual as read more

Nov12024

Worden Community Club to Merge with Community Project Connection

Huntley Project

With the president and secretary of the Worden Community Club (WCC) stepping down the WCC has offered to merge with the Community Project Connection (CPC) organization. Both groups have similar goals for the Worden community and are both responsible for events on Main Street.

CPC President Nikki Zimmer brought the merger proposal forward at CPC’s monthly meeting on 28 October. WCC President Linda Holmes gave a short explanation of WCC’s responsibilities including read more

Nov12024

Sheehy Still on Top, National Results a Toss-Up

Montana-Statewide • Politics

This past Saturday, October 26, Emerson College released one last poll on the Montana U.S. Senate race before election day. Coming in amidst a national upward trend in early voting, the poll showed Sheehy with a 50-46 advantage over Tester.

The 4-point margin is half of the 8-point lead that the New York Times and Remington Research polls gave Sheehy earlier this month. The poll is an improvement for Sheehy relative to the last poll conducted by Emerson College, which gave him a 2-point lead back in August. While not as stark a victory for Sheehy as other pollsters have given him, a four-point lead in the poll with the largest sample size in this race should be reassuring.

Nationwide, battleground states seem closer than read more

Nov12024

Tester Called Out by Montana Sheriffs

Politics

Recently, Senator Jon Tester’s campaign has circulated newspaper advertisements bragging about having procured millions of dollars in federal funding for local law enforcement. However, multiple county sheriffs have now called Tester’s ads “misleading”.

In a Facebook post, Roosevelt County Sheriff Jason Frederick issued the following statement:

I am not supporting either candidate, but as your Sheriff I must inform you this recent campaign ad for Jon Tester is false and misleading. I have reached out to his office with no response. My question is where is this 1.8 million in funding for Roosevelt County law enforcement? I have reached out to the commissioners, WP Mayor, and Tribal Chief of police. Nobody knows anything about this 1.8 million. Our citizens In Roosevelt County are suffering in every way because of drugs. I know 1.8 million would sure help us with many issues here In Roosevelt County. read more

Nov12024

Shorter School Weeks May Not be Beneficial

Local • Montana-Statewide • Top Stories • Yellowstone County

A new report from researchers at the University of Montana shows shorter school weeks may hurt student performance and school budgets, according to a report from Montana Public Radio.

While a growing number of schools in Montana have switched to four-day weeks, the researchers say data analysis on four-day school weeks “demonstrates a disturbing trend for education in Montana.” They found that student performance under four-day school weeks declines the longer a district uses read more

Nov12024

McNiven Meanderings: The calm before the storm

Politics • Meanderings

Jonathan McNiven

Folks, this is the calm before the storm for the election season is ending. In fact, it kind of feels eerie to a point as this is our edition before the election. I feel good about Trump winning BUT I felt that way as well when he lost in 2020, so I’m not sure what to think. However, I’m trying to be data driven and not emotionally driven. I’m also preparing myself to be disappointed as well just to be safe. However, I’m trying to look at the data which shows that Sheehy is up by good margins in Montana, and Montana is looking good for Republicans in general. On a national level, it will come down to the five or six swing states. Let’s hope and pray it all breaks Trump’s way.

Here’s the way I see it. If Trump wins, there will be read more

Nov12024

Montanans deserve better than emotionally charged rhetoric

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Proponents of CI-128 frame the initiative as the only way to protect abortion rights. But let’s be clear: Montanans already have strong protections for abortion under our state constitution. Since the Armstrong v. State case in 1999, Montana’s Supreme Court held that the state Constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion before fetal viability, based on the privacy clause. And despite recent legislative efforts to impose read more

Oct292024

CI-126 IS AN EXTREMIST DREAM COME TRUE

Letters to the Editor

If you are like me, you were probably taught that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This principle certainly applies to CI-126. While the supporters of CI-126 are claiming it will make politics in Montana better, the opposite is true. CI-126 will make our politics worse and more extreme.

CI-126 is an extremist dream come true. CI-126 creates a plurality voting system where four candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election. Plurality voting systems like CI-126 do not result in more moderation or more representative government. Plurality voting systems like CI-126 allow read more

Oct252024

Montanans, vote “NO” on CI-128

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Montanans, vote “NO” on CI-128

All of us have at least one thing in common: we all began life as infants in a womb. 

Despite our common beginnings, a disregard for vulnerable human lives at this early developmental stage is wreaking havoc here in Montana, where I grew up and have practiced as an Ob/Gyn for more than 20 years.

CI-128, an amendment on the ballot, would allow unlimited induced abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. As a physician whose entire mission involves saving lives, it’s difficult to read more

Oct252024

Obituary: Helmueth “Mutt” Leader

Obituaries

Helmueth Leader

Helmueth Leader, lovingly known as “Mutt,” passed from this life on October 4, 2024, in the home he built with his own hands more than 60 years ago. Born on September 11, 1930, in Billings, MT, Helmueth’s life began on a humble family farm in Shepherd, where he grew up without the luxuries of electricity or running water. This formative experience instilled in him a strong work ethic and the ability to “make do” with what he had, no matter how little that was.

Helmueth was the youngest of seven boys born to Fred and Mary (Zingelman) Leader. After his graduation from Shepherd High School in 1948, he read more

Oct252024

Vote Absentee Early, Vote Absolutely Republican!

Politics • Meanderings

Jonathan McNiven

Well, Folks, we are now two weeks into election season and 80% or more of Yellowstone County voters turn in their absentee ballots by now. As I write this column, I’ve still got to turn mine in but it will be turned in before this column is sent to the printer. On a national level, the push is out there to get your absentee ballots turned into the election’s office for a number of reasons.

  1. The conservative media is on message together telling everyone everywhere across the country to vote early. One of the reasons is that they can tell how many Republicans have voted compared to how many Democrats have voted. In the past, Democrats have been the ones to vote absentee ballots in bigger numbers than Republicans in general. However, it is being reported the Republicans are voting way earlier this year than in years before.
  2. By voting early, it can give the Republicans a good standing and representation of where the polls and voters are right after the polls close in each state. This way, the national media is saying that it will be harder for Democrats to “try and catch up” or “cheat” as they say. But ultimately, I believe the more that Republicans vote early (across the country and especially in swing states) will basically secure the election as voting early eliminates the risk of something happening on election day like a big snow storm or a personal health emergency arises or even an outlandish national emergency like an EMP that mysteriously appears so I can understand why the national push by conservative and Republican candidates like Donald Trump are pushing everyone to vote early.

read more

Oct252024

Billings Bypass Railroad Bridge Nearing Completion

Top Stories • Yellowstone County • Billings

Contractor Wadsworth Brothers Construction has begun paving up to the railroad bridge in Lockwood near Coulson road. The last of the concrete deck is scheduled to be poured this Thursday. (Courtesy photo)

Last week contractors working on the Billings Bypass Railroad Bridge started their final steps on the bridge that will connect Lockwood to the newly built Yellowstone River Bridge. According to District Administrator Michael Taylor, the contractor Wadsworth Brothers Construction will be pouring its final concrete for the bridge deck on October 24. The concrete deck will then need to cure for 30 days before the contractor will be able to groove the deck and install guardrails.  

The Billings Bypass Railroad Bridge is one of the read more

Oct242024

South Shepherd Storage Changes Hands

Local • Shepherd • Top Stories

Roy and Carol Wood of Springdale, MT, have bought South Shepherd Storage from Frank and Laurie Ewalt.   With only three available units and two RV parking spots open, the Woods have excitedly taken on an established business that they hope to grow into something they can pass on to their kids.

The 183-unit storage facility was built around 20 years ago but barely shows a day of wear. The Woods say they are lucky to have bought the place from owners who obviously read more

Oct172024

Fifty-Three Candidates for MT Legislature Sign Term Limit Pledge

Montana-Statewide • Politics • Yellowstone County

Recently, 53 candidates for Montana’s state legislature signed pledges to support term limits if elected. Of those candidates, 11 are running for seats in Yellowstone County, all of whom are Republicans.

On the State House side, Gary Parry (HD35), Larry Brewster (HD43), Kassidy Olson (HD45), Stephanie Moncada (HD47), Curtis Schomer (HD48), Sherry Essman (HD49), Jodee Etchart (HD51), and Nelly Nicol (HD53) have all signed the pledge. State Senate candidates include Gayle Lammers (SD31), Mike Yakawich (SD24), and Vince Ricci (SD27).

The pledge signed by these candidates states the following: read more

Oct172024

New Polling, Same Bad News for Tester

Montana-Statewide • Politics

Last week, the New York Times and Siena College released a poll conducted among 656 likely Montana voters. The results are in line with other recent polling, showing Republican Tim Sheehy with a 7-point lead over Democrat Jon Tester.

The poll had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. Less than 0.5% of respondents read more

Oct162024

Tester Spent $60K at High-End French Restaurant in D.C.

Montana-Statewide • Politics

This past week, Jon Tester’s campaign released their third-quarter finance data to the FEC. According to this data, Jon Tester’s campaign spent $60,549.34 at the Bistro Cacao in Washington D.C., dining their 69 times since January of last year. This span includes well over $200,000 in spending on meals.

According to reporting by the Daily Caller, Senator Tester was spotted downing read more

Oct112024

Get to Know Your Candidates: The Green Party’s Robert Barb

Montana-Statewide • Politics

The upcoming U.S. Senate election here in Montana is not just a duel between Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Tim Sheehy, but also features multiple third-party candidates, including the Green Party’s Robert Barb. Part of being an educated voter is knowing who all your candidates are and what their platform is. For this reason, we reached out to Barb to get his stances on certain policy issues.

According to Barb’s campaign website, he has read more