Billing’s attorney Emily Jones’s has been appointed to the Judicial Standards Commission. Jones is a University of Montana graduate as well as an appointee to the Montana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
An 180-room hotel, event center, public plaza and riverfront trail has been announced by Missoula city officials and representatives from Averill Hospitality. The site, known as Riverfront Triangle has sat vacant for decades, despite multiple redevelopment attempts. The Missoula Redevelopment Agency signed three agreements related to the $100 million project. One of the documents included one for the sale of a city-owned lot to Montana-based company Averill Hospitality, which is developing the project.
NorthWestern Energy is continuing its project to deploy wildfire smoke detection cameras across Montana. The company has installed 20 of the cameras over the past two years. These cameras use AI technology to check for potential causes of fires by assessing dust, haze, smoke from clouds, or other components that may be confused as smoke. NorthWestern Energy collaborated with fire responding agencies, dispatch centers, and emergency managers on selecting camera locations.
The state and U.S Forest Service inked a new 20-year shared stewardship agreement on a bid to expand logging in the forests of northwestern Montana. The Shared Stewardship Agreement between Montana and the federal Forest Service will aid in forest restoration, wildfire risk reduction and sustainable timber production.
Montana’s state parks saw bigger crowds in 2024. Visitation neared the record set during the pandemic years. The state’s annual park visitation report was published last month by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The estimated 3.2 million visitors to Montana’s state parks falls about 150,000 short of the all-time record set in 2020. It is a 20% increase from before the pandemic, and nearly double the visitation levels from a decade ago.
President Trump signed an executive order recently to increase entrance fees for international visitors to national parks. The idea was put forward by the Property and Environment Research Center based in Bozeman. The order directs the Department of the Interior, under Secretary Doug Burgum, to raise fees on foreign tourists.
Upper Missouri Waterkeepers, a conservation group concerned about water quality in the Gallatin River has filed a lawsuit against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality concerning the agency’s approval of a Big Sky subdivision’s septic system. The lawsuit, filed in Gallatin County District Court, challenges the constitutionality of DEQ’s recent approval of phase two of the Quarry Subdivision. DEQ applied Montana’s new exemptions for nutrient pollution discharges to reach the approval.
Immanuel Living, an independent living community has broken ground on The Lofts at Buffalo Hill, a 39-residence expansion of its campus in Kalispell. The new residence project is sold out. The contractor is Swanke Enterprises. The project should be complete in 2027.
Between 2008 and 2020, nearly 30,000 reported collisions involving large animals occurred in Montana. The collisions resulted in 54 human fatalities. The Common Ground Project a nature-based retreat and outdoor experience group estimates the incidents cost $212 million annually. The Project highlighted the dangerous and expensive repercussions of wildlife collisions, identifying I-90 in Mineral County as a hotspot. Data from I-90 between Drummond and Jens, showed a collared grizzly bear attempted to cross the highway 46 times, failing each time due to traffic. Another example is the Paradise Valley, where the 55-mile stretch between Yellowstone National Park and Livingston sees about half of all accidents involving wildlife.
The Kalispell City Council is starting the process of replacing outgoing City Manager Doug Russell. Russell was named city manager of Lakewood, Washington recently. He is expected to step into his new job on Aug. 25. A subcommittee of Council members will be formed to facilitate the search for a new city manager.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has released the Summer 2025 Montana Drought Outlook Report. According to the report, many regions in Montana are entering the fifth consecutive summer with abnormally dry or drought conditions. Exceptionally dry and hot conditions last fall greatly depleted soil moisture.
Mountain Prime Steakhouse, a new downtown Kalispell restaurant will occupy the former Community Action Partnership building at 214 S. Main St. The restaurant is owned by Tuyen Tran. Kalispell City Council has approved an accessory casino at the location. Many restaurants and bars build accessory casinos to recoup the price tag of a state-issued liquor license. Licenses are selling for around $1.5 million.
NorthWestern Energy electric customers will get a temporary rate reduction for the next couple billing cycles. NorthWestern and the Montana Consumer Counsel agreed to temporarily settle on a reduced rate as an ongoing quasi-judicial case is being adjudicated by the Montana Public Service Commission.
The Carter County Museum in Ekalaka has announced two major funding gifts. The museum has received a generous $100,000 gift from the Bank of Baker and a $300,000 award from the State of Montana Historical Preservation Grant. These funds mark a step toward realizing the museum’s plan to nearly triple its size. This would allow the museum to bring the vast majority of its rare and world-class collections out of storage and be put on display.
Benefis Health System’s plan to turn a Helena fast food building into an outpatient clinic is well underway. Plans are for a fall opening.
Attorneys for Missoula County have filed a denial of certain claims made by the Rhino bar in a civil lawsuit that alleged a breach of contract over alcohol sales at the Zootown Festival. Missoula County claims that the Rhino breached its obligations to seek and obtain Missoula County’s consent for retaining the Top Hat as a subcontractor to help with alcohol catering. Missoula County claims that as a result of the breach, the Rhino has foregone any benefit of the catering agreement. The County is also seeking damages in an amount to be proven at trial. The County is also seeking costs and legal fees that result from the Rhino’s alleged breach.
Work will begin ahead of schedule on Monday, July 14, in downtown Missoula to construct several fences along the Milwaukee Trail between Beartracks Bridge and the Madison Street Bridge to limit access to areas vulnerable to erosion. After constructing the wooden barriers, workers will do restoration work along 19 parts of the riverbank while building out five hardened access points at more popular areas, The area has more than 93 river access points with more than 630 linear feet of river bank erosion.
A former drop-in center for Helena’s unsheltered will be remodeled into Montana High School Association office space. Plans for the 631 N Last Chance Gulch building, owned by Seeley Building LLC, show a two-story building with eight offices, a conference room and a shipping area. The building used to be the home of Our Place, run by Good Samaritan Ministries.
The Montana Department of Transportation has restored the eastbound and westbound Hardin Rest Areas on Interstate 90. The rest area, located at mile marker 476 between Billings and Hardin, is now open to the public.
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Director Chris Dorrington and Governor Greg Gianforte joined the Bigfork community for the opening of the recently completed Bigfork bridge. The bridge first opened to the public in 1912, and over time, experienced corrosion and other issues due to its age.
West of Bozeman, the headquarters for Simms Fishing products at Four Corners will also become home for other outdoor brands. Simms was acquired by Vista Outdoor Products in 2022, which later spun off several of its brands into Revelyst. Headquarters where Simms produces waders and other gear will now be home for: Blackhawk manufacturing, Stone Glacier, Bushnell, Camp Chef and Primos. Roger Hutchinson, vice president for operations for Revelyst, said the plan is to relocate Stone Glacier next door to the Simms River’s Edge store.
According to a recent survey by Cheapcarrental.com, Bozeman is the most expensive destination in the United States to rent a car. The most affordable rental car in Bozeman averages around $156 per day. At the Bozeman airport, Enterprise, the least expensive rental car was $190 a day. The Bozeman airport processes around 7,000 rental cars per day on peak weekends. A 4% sales tax on rental cars, that means Bozeman airport car rental generates about $5 million in state revenues.
