As we move through the Christmas season, I hope you’re finding time for what matters most — family, friends, and fellowship. I spent the week before Christmas in Helena in long days of budget meetings — going line by line through Montana’s year-end finances to prepare for the new year. That’s how Montanans do things: you make sure you’re ready before the weather turns. This week the

Gov. Greg Gianforte has announced state employees donated nearly 10,500 pounds of food to Montana Food Bank Network in his fifth annual interagency food drive competition held in December. This donation exceeded records set in previous years. Last year, state agencies collected over 7,500 pounds of food, with the Montana Department of Commerce winning the contest. This year, state agencies collected

Prosecutors in the Montana Attorney General’s Office filed official misconduct charges against Sen. Jason Ellsworth last week for acting outside the scope of his lawful authority as a public servant and requested that the court suspend him from office pending final judgment. The charges follow a Montana Division of Criminal Investigation investigation launched in February after a referral

In 1972, the people elected 100 Montanans from all walks of life to meet in Helena and to debate and create our State Constitution. They spent a great deal of time and effort tackling one of the most important issues in our state’s history: the Environment. Too much pollution and too little regard for proper practices left a legacy of degradation in many of our rivers, streams, fields and communities.

Three days after the government reopened from the shutdown, President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins continue to put Farmers First, including the unprecedented move to reopen over 2,000 county FSA offices in the middle of the government shutdown so farmers could continue to access U.S. Department of Agriculture services during harvest. The USDA will continue

Tired of being one of the very last states to vote in primary presidential elections, Montana is again debating whether it should go to the polls in early spring or even late winter. Fear of missing out is a powerful thing, legislators weighing the issue this week concurred, but so is February ground so frozen it can’t be punctured with campaign signs. The discussion took place at the Legislature’s

Earlier this year, Montana passed a law allowing for the use of autonomous vehicles on the state’s roadways. Part of the bill — Senate Bill 67 — also gave the state’s Department of Transportation and Department of Justice some rulemaking authority over their use. “The intention of this legislation is to get all parties to the table to promote the safest ways to promote autonomous

The Department of Public Health and Human Services announced the launch of the annual Gifts with a Lift program, now in its 73rd year. This program, which is jointly coordinated with the National Alliance for Mental Illness-MT ensures every patient at the Montana State Hospital receives a gift this holiday season. Gifts with a Lift relies exclusively on the generous support of Montanans across

Montana’s utility regulation commission voted Tuesday, Oct. 21, to demote one of its members, Brad Molnar of Laurel, stripping him of his title as the commission’s president in a 3-2 vote. The vote came after weeks of strife and an hour and a half of debate about the procedures for dealing with disagreements among the Montana Public Service Commission’s elected commissioners and their