Daily News Roundup
May 30 and 31, 2024
Lisa Bennett, House District 55 Candidate, Files False Documents to Create 'Charity'
By Denise Rivette In researching her activities around election integrity and lack thereof (suing Carbon County over election records and continuing to maintain and install signs in violation of election laws), it was discovered that Lisa Bennett established a “charitable” organization after the flood of 2022 called Montana Concerned Citizens Foundation Fund (MCCFF). MCCFF was established by using, without permission, the signature of Chris Gallus (her then attorney), claiming Gallus as incorporator (a liability he states was never discussed and he would never have accepted), and fraudulently naming at least one person from Carbon County as a director without their knowledge.
Elks Candidate Forum Attended by Two District 55 House Candidates and Three State Candidates
By Denise Rivette Last night’s Elks Candidate Forum was well attended by voters and candidates alike. In addition to local candidates, two candidates for eastern U.S. House Representative, Joel Krautter (R) and Steve Held (D), along with Jerry O’Neil, who is campaigning to become Supreme Court Justice, came to meet and greet the voters of Carbon County. The candidate forum for District 55 State Representative was preceded by information and a plea for voters to pass the EMS levy presented by Tom Kuntz. Brad Barker and Lisa Bennett participated in the forum answering questions from the evening’s host, Gordon Sirine. Barker stayed to mingle with the voters for the meet and greet portion of the evening, but Bennett left shortly after the question period ended. Notably absent from the evening was Mary Horman, the only District 55 candidate not in attendance. This marks the first time in the history of the Elks Candidate Forums that a candidate has refused to participate in the nonpar…
Tom Kuntz Presents Case For EMS Levy
By Denise Rivette At last night’s Elks Candidate Forum, Tom Kuntz, Chief of Red Lodge Fire Rescue, made the case for passing the Emergency Medical Services levy on June 4. The levy would provide the funding needed to keep services available throughout the county. The two all-volunteer services in Bridger and Joliet are especially hard pressed and have had calls they have been unable to answer. Kuntz spoke of one recent incident in Fromberg where 911 was called by a person with chest pains. Bridger’s EMS was paged twice with no response. Then Joliet EMS was paged twice with no response. By the time a unit from Red Lodge responded to the call, the patient had died.
Heaven Needed a Gardener
On Friday, April 12, 2024 Clare Witcomb passed away peacefully at her home in Red Lodge, Montana with family present at her bedside. Clare Wells Hardy was born on October 23, 1933 in St. Louis, Missouri to Samuel Jerome Hardy of Utica, New York and Mary Charles Mitchell Hardy of Charleston Illinois. She was the third of four children; Shera, Molly, Clare and Sam (her sole surviving sibling).
Montana Senator Holds Up Nomination of State’s First Native American Federal Judge
By Ariana Figueroa for States Newsroom WASHINGTON — U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana is blocking the nomination of a lawyer who, if confirmed by the Senate, would be the first Native American to serve as a federal judge in the state.
Open Letter from Candidate Joel Krautter on Providing Content and Showing Up for Voters
Dear Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Downing and Ms. Arntzen, Politics and the way we choose our elected leaders in Montana matters. As the 2024 primary election for Montana’s eastern and central Montana congressional district is culminating, Montana voters are experiencing the worst, most disrespectful and wrong deluge of millions of dollars of self-funded negative advertising on television and the Internet in our 135-year history. As a candidate in this race, I have personally experienced and observed an emerging new paradigm in Montana politics that is deeply troubling to me. This negative Toxic Sludge Advertising dynamic is this:
Steve Held: Montana Needs a Congressman, Not a Clown
By Steve Held, Candidate, U.S. Congress, Montana House District 2 For over two decades, Montana has lacked representation in the U.S. House. I will be that member of Congress who actually wants to represent eastern Montana and get things done that benefit our cities, towns and farms and ranches.
Safety-Net Health Clinics Cut Services and Staff Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding’
By Katheryn Houghton for Montana Free Press One of Montana’s largest health clinics that serves people in poverty has cut back services and laid off workers. The retrenchment mirrors similar cuts around the country as safety-net health centers feel the effects of states purging their Medicaid rolls.
What Supreme Court Candidates are Saying About the Politics of Montana’s High Court
by Eric Dietrich for Montana Free Press Montana’s nominally nonpartisan state Supreme Court has come under intense partisan scrutiny in recent years, as Republicans argue the court’s repeated rulings blocking GOP-backed laws on constitutional grounds are evidence of liberal bias.