Article Summary – Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher of Montana’s 20th Judicial District is stepping down in early April amid several controversies. The state supreme court recently removed Christopher from a custody case, criticizing her decision to transfer a child from their mother in Montana to their father in Oregon as
Article Summary – A Montana state district court judge, Deborah “Kim” Christopher, embroiled in legal battles and misconduct allegations, is vacating her seat in April. The Montana Supreme Court recently removed Christopher from a child custody case for a gross misapplication of the law, and other complaints have been filed
Article Summary – The Montana Quality Education Coalition (MQEC) has filed a lawsuit against state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen and the Office of Public Instruction over the implementation of a new public charter school law. MQEC accuses Arntzen and the Office of Public Instruction of delaying the opening and operation of
Article Summary – Amazon has held a ribbon-cutting event for its first Montana logistics facility in Missoula, which can process between 6,500 and 7,000 packages a day and currently employs about 100 people. The facility, situated northeast of the Wye, will allow faster deliveries for Amazon customers within a 50-mile
Article Summary – Maad Abu-Ghazalah, a Palestinian who moved to the US and made money in Silicon Valley, founded Daily Hugz, a sanctuary for dogs in the West Bank in 2014 as a way to give back to his homeland. However, recent conditions in the West Bank, including restricted travel
Article Summary – The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is involved in an ongoing dispute regarding water levels in Montana’s Flathead Lake and the management of the Séliš Ksanka QÍispé Dam by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Citing low water levels last summer, the National Organization to Save Flathead
Article Summary – Missoula County’s two biggest wood product manufacturers, Pyramid Mountain Lumber and Roseburg Forest Products, are shutting down, impacting employment and local economies. The closures will affect not only the 250 employees of the two firms but also approximately another hundred indirectly connected jobs, such as log truck
Article Summary – After more than seven years since Montana Judge Ed McLean overturned the conviction of Cody Marble, who was convicted in 2002 for raping a 13-year-old boy in a juvenile detention center, both McLean and Kirsten Pabst, who filed the dismissal motion in 2016, now state they were
Article Summary – Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s first-quarter 2024 campaign finance filings reveal nearly $853,000 in primary election donations and another $395,600 for the general election, outdoing Democratic challenger Ryan Busse’s $417,500 in the same period. The funds do not include direct donations from the multimillionaire incumbent; however, his campaign
Article Summary – Elsie Arntzen, Montana’s State Superintendent, has come under bipartisan criticism for allegedly failing to properly implement new education laws. The criticisms center around state funding for early childhood literacy programs, the timeline for reporting spending on Indigenous culture instruction, the process for opening public charter schools, and
Article Summary – The Scott Street-Ravara housing development, built on a former contaminated lumber mill site in Missoula, is under construction and includes 89 homes and 200+ apartments. The project involves 46 income-qualified and 43 market-rate condos and townhouses, along with 220-225 apartments and 35,000 sq ft of commercial space
Article Summary – Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen sent a poll, as ordered by a state district court, asking lawmakers whether they want to override Governor Greg Gianforte’s veto of Senate Bill 442, a marijuana tax reallocation measure. The bill, which initially passed the Legislature with broad bipartisan support,
