Lawmakers on the House State Administration Committee heard public comment Tuesday, March 16, on yet another bill that would change judicial elections in the state. Senate Bill 271 would add a single sentence to Montana code, but has the potential to vastly change judicial elections by allowing candidates to announce political endorsements. Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, is the sponsor of the bill.

A bill seeking to ease permitting requirements for gravel pits in rural areas and make it harder to call a public hearing on new facilities is drawing clear battle lines in the Montana Legislature, as property owners say it cuts them out of the process. In a hearing that lasted for more than two hours on Monday, March 15, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, called the bill —

Rural communities are big beneficiaries from the COVID-19 relief bill Congress passed on in March. The $1.9 trillion bill has some wellknown provisions, such as $1,400 stimulus checks, but also includes billions of dollars in relief for rural and farming communities across the country. Walter Schweitzer, president of the Montana Farmers Union, said farmers and rural towns didn’t seem to get