This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday. After years of new arrivals swelling Montana’s population and straining its housing supply, new data released Dec. 19 by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the volume of net migration into the state has declined. As of July 1, 2023, the federal

Candy Murnion remembers vividly the event that pushed her to open her first day care business in Jordan, a town of fewer than 400 residents in a sea of grassland in eastern Montana. Garfield County’s public health nurse, one of few public health officials serving the town and nearly 5,000 square miles that surround it, had quit because she had given birth to her second child and couldn’t

As part of his persistent efforts to secure America’s borders and stop the deadly flow of fentanyl into Montana and the United States, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester pressed officials last week during a Senate Banking Committee Hearing about tightening our financial systems to hold bad actors like China accountable and crack down on illicit fentanyl trafficking. “We need to categorize fentanyl as the national

Roosevelt County Gordon Oelkers is one of 23 leaders who Gov. Greg Gianforte announced will serve on a property tax task force to provide recommendations to reform the property tax system and reduce the burden on property taxpayers. “Property taxes are too high. Our $1,350 property tax rebate helped Montana homeowners last year and will help them again this year,” Gianforte said. “We,

A Lewis and Clark County district court judge has struck down a new state law that dramatically increased the licensing fees for marijuana dispensaries with multiple locations. Under House Bill 903, a dispensary would have had to pay $5,000 to renew a license for its first shop, and then a cumulatively additional $5,000 for each additional location. Under the new law, it would have cost marijuana

I had a conversation the other day with a friend who kindly let me know about “his problem with the media.” Like any good conversation that begins with the premise, “You know what your problem is,” I took a deep breath, and buckled in. For anyone wanting to feel the same sense of dread, just try beginning a conversation with your significant other with those six magical words. To

After a short meeting that included discussion and accusations, Roosevelt County commissioners voted by a 2-1 margin to offer the county attorney position to Theresa Diekhans of Fergus County on Wednesday, Jan. 3. She accepted the position later in the week and anticipates a start date in Roosevelt County of Feb. 20. An election will take place in 2024 to elect a county attorney. Commissioner