Weekly News Roundup
Week ending June 2, 2024
Strong Winds Predicted Monday Night Through Tuesday
The Billings office of the National Weather Service predicts that strong west to northwest winds are expected to develop behind a Pacific cold front Monday night and continue through Tuesday. Gusts could reach 60 mph along the western foothills, and 50 mph further east at lower elevations. Heads up if you have outdoor or travel plans on Tuesday.
Tuesday, June 4 - YOUR VOTE MATTERS
Construction Beginning Tomorrow on Montana Highway 72 South of Belfry
Montana Department of Transportation Press Release BELFRY, Montana - The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and its partner Riverside Contracting will begin construction on the Belfry South project on Monday, June 3, weather and other unforeseen factors permitting. The project is located on Montana Highway 72 (MT 72), beginning at the Montana/Wyoming boarder, and extends for approximately 10 miles, ending just south of Belfry, at mile marker 10.3.
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.
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.
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…
Montana Army National Guard Soldiers Win Regional Competition
Montana Army National Guard Press Release Fort Harrison, Montana – Two soldiers from the Montana Army National Guard won the Region VI Best Warrior Competition, hosted by the Washington National Guard from May 13 through 17. Sergeant Hunter Grunhurd from Livingston, an indirect fire infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion, and Specialist Adam Broden from Belgrade, a firefighter with the 1050th Engineer Firefighter Tactical Group, won the Non-commissioned officer and Soldier categories respectively.
Otjen and Steffensen Release Book on Harrowing Experience, Resilience and Recovery
By Denise Rivette On sale today is AJ Otjen’s new book on Red Lodge firefighter Dan Steffensen, Burned Over: The Survival of Montana Fireman Dan Steffensen. It will be available after 1:00 p.m. at Beartooth Books in Red Lodge and area retailers. It is also available online through Amazon and at other bookstores nationwide.
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).
Why I'm Hopeful About the Future of the United States of America
By Denise Rivette Each week Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-chief of The Economist, a weekly British-based magazine in publication since 1843, sends out an email to subscribers describing the process of choosing the graphics and text for the cover of that week’s edition of the magazine. It’s an intriguing peek into the editorial staff’s perspective on a subject as they condense the substance of their reporting into a few words and images. Some weeks, the commentary is so spot-on and well-rounded that it serves as a primer on a subject. This week’s American cover focuses on the movement on one side of the abortion issue, what
Committee Puts $240k Behind Moderate Republicans in Legislative Primaries
By Arren Kimbel-Sannit and Eric Dietrich for Montana Free Press A political action committee with a mix of national and state money has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on mailers intended to sway voters in a series of bitterly contested Republican legislative primary elections that reveal the fissures in Montana’s dominant political party.
What’s Keeping the U.S. From Allowing Better Sunscreens?
By Michael Scaturro for KFF Health News When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he said, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.”
Federal appeals court won’t mess with judge’s injunction stopping voting registration law
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that while it will put a challenge to one of Montana’s voting laws on an expedited, or rushed, schedule, it refused to touch federal district court Judge Brian Morris’ decision to enjoin the law for the primary election, slated for Tuesday.
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.
Complaint: Department of Justice’s Montana Highway Patrol Fired Trooper in Retaliation
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Montanan The Montana Highway Patrol fired a trooper and union president in retaliation after she provided a workplace climate survey summary to union staff, according to allegations in an unfair labor practice complaint.
Attorney General Knudsen’s Legal Team Asks for Delay in Disciplinary Hearing
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan Attorneys defending Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen before the state’s Commission on Practice, which disciplines and regulates the legal profession, said they need more time to prepare a defense for Knudsen, who faces
Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary Dedicates June 1, 2024, as 'Clare Witcomb Day'
Press Release from Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary, Red Lodge Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary (YWS) Emeritus Board Member and beloved friend Clare Witcomb, 90, passed away at her home in Red Lodge on April 12, 2024. Her contributions to Beartooth Nature Center (BNC)/Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary (YWS) were immeasurable, starting with the support she and her husband, Dick, gave to BNC Executive Director Ruth Brown. In tribute, YWS has designated June 1, 2024, as “Clare Witcomb Day”.
New Help For Dealing With Aggression In People With Dementia Without Drugs
By Judith Graham for KFF Health News Caring for older adults with dementia is stressful, especially when they become physically or verbally aggressive, wander away from home, develop paranoia or hallucinations, engage in inappropriate or repetitive behaviors, or refuse to let caregivers help them.
Largest School District In Montana Raises Pay, Still Behind Wyoming
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Montanan Billings Public Schools, the largest district in Montana, used to get a flood of applications when it posted a teaching job. Now, Superintendent Erwin Garcia said it’s getting one application for every 10 positions, roughly a reverse of the 10 applications to one single job it used to get.
World Health Organization Overturns Dogma On Airborne Diseases, But The CDC May Not Act On It
By Amy Maxmen for KFF Health News The World Health Organization has issued a report that transforms how the world understands respiratory infections like COVID-19, influenza and measles. Motivated by grave missteps in the pandemic, the WHO convened about 50 experts in virology, epidemiology, aerosol science, and bioengineering, among other specialties, who spent two years poring through the evidence on how airborne viruses and bacteria spread.
Why We Celebrate Memorial Day
By Veterans Affairs This history of Memorial Day was taken from the National Cemetery Administration of the Veterans Affairs, which cares for, preserves and promotes the final resting place for our nation’s veterans. That includes cemeteries at the Little Bighorn Battlefield on the Crow Nation, as well as the Yellowstone National Veterans Cemetery in Laurel. To find out more about the administration,
The Duties of American Citizenship 1883
Forward by Denise Rivette Below are excerpts from a speech by Theodore Roosevelt delivered in Buffalo, NY on January 26, 1883 as presented on the National Park Service website. At the point in his life that this speech was given, Roosevelt was a 24 year old Republican New York State Assemblyman, representing the 21st district. According to the