Author: Evelyn Pyburn

NWE Plans New Transmission Line to Meet Growth Needs 

18 March 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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by Evelyn Pyburn

NorthWestern Energy has announced plans to build an additional 230 kV transmission line that will serve customers in Yellowstone County and the region that will provide “critical” additional electric transmission capacity.

The 21-mile long line – expected to cost between $25 million and $30 million – will run from NorthWestern Energy’s existing Shorey Road substation and head northwest, ending at NorthWestern Energy’s existing Broadview substation. The project includes upgrades to the Broadview Substation and Shorey Road Substation, both North of the Billings Area with construction anticipated in 2027 and 2028.

Project siting and right-of-way acquisition is intended to begin in 2025 and construction of the new electric transmission line anticipated in 2027, to be completed within the next 3 years.

The line will be subject to the Montana Major Facilities Siting Act, which requires NorthWestern to file a public notice in area newspapers and with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality describing the project details and approach prior to easement acquisition.

The line will “ensure “continued safe reliable electric service is provided to support growing electric load and Billings area economy,” according to Jo Dee Black, NorthWestern’s Public Relations Specialist, who added it is a “top priority to provide critical additional capacity to the electric grid that serves the region. Black explained, “The project will provide important new capacity and reliability improvements to NorthWestern’s transmission system . .  . NorthWestern has seen significant residential and commercial demand growth in the Billings areas and expects that trend to continue.”

The new 230 kV line will consist of a combination of two-pole “H-Frame” steel structures and single pole steel structures, depending on terrain and engineering requirements, with potential pole heights from 70 feet to 120 feet. The news 230 kV line will be similar in appearance and design to other area transmission lines.

Montana Women’s Run Unveils Shirt Design

18 March 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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Registration Now Open for 2025 Race

For over four decades, thousands of participants have filled the streets of downtown Billings, wearing the uniquely designed Montana Women’s Run T-shirt. On May 10, 2025, walkers and runners will again take to the streets in the event’s signature pink shirt, featuring a vibrant design that symbolizes growth, transformation, and community.

The Montana Women’s Run artwork for the 2025 event shirt is a celebration of springtime renewal and personal achievement. At its center, a sprouting seed, opening leaves, and a blossoming flower represent growth and wellness, while radiating sun rays evoke optimism and energy. Surrounding elements—flower blossoms, a bumblebee, a butterfly, and multicolored dots—capture the spirit of activity, perseverance, and transformation. The Bitterroot flower shape reinforces the Montana Women’s Run brand, while the circular composition symbolizes wholeness and unity.

Registration is now open for the 44th annual Montana Women’s Run. As always the Run is on the day before Mother’s Day, Saturday, May 10, starting at 8 a.m. in downtown Billings. Proceeds from the event benefit charitable organizations in Billings that contribute to women’s and children’s health and wellness.

To register for any of the events, visit www.womensrun.org.

For announcements, updates and discussion about the many Women’s Run events, visit the Montana Women’s Run Facebook page or the Montana Women’s Run website.

The Montana Women’s Run began in 1982 with just 200 registrants and celebrated last year with over 5,600 women participating, including virtually, from around the world. Today, the race is recognized as the largest running event for women in the state of Montana, and one of the largest all-women’s races in the country. To date, the Montana Women’s Run has donated more than $1,827,500 to local organizations that promote women’s and children’s health and fitness.

The major sponsors of the 2025 Montana Women’s Run are AVA Law Group, Billings Clinic, Par Montana, First Interstate Bank, Graphic Imprints, The Planet 106.7, and KTVQ.

BSEDA Announces New Executive Director

18 March 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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Big Sky Economic Development (BSED) announced that Paul Green has been selected as the organization’s next Executive Director. Green has resigned his position as Director of the Montana Department of Commerce in order to accept the position. Green was appointed as Commerce director in January 2024.

BSED conducted a national search to replace retiring BSED Executive Director, Steve Arveschoug. Arveschoug will continue leading the organization through mid-April, to ensure a smooth transition. A start date for Green has not been determined; additional details will be announced as they become available.

The search for Arveschoug’s replacement was conducted by Jorgenson Pace, a search committee led by BSED Board Members and Montana State University Billings Chancellor Stefani Hicswa, along with other BSED board members and stakeholders.

Green brings extensive experience in economic and community development, project management, and public-private partnerships. As Director of the Montana Department of Commerce Green oversaw multiple divisions focused on business attraction, infrastructure development, tourism, housing, and economic growth. Throughout his career, he has led initiatives that drive job creation, streamline regulations, and enhance stakeholder engagement. His leadership spans roles in both public and private sectors, including serving as Executive Director of the Montana Business Incubator and Two Rivers Economic Development Authority, where he successfully implemented strategic growth initiatives, secured major infrastructure investments, and worked with business and government leaders to foster economic resilience.

“Our selection committee worked hard to find an Executive Director who can lead our organization into the future,” said Nick Pancheau, EDC Board Chair, “As one of the leading Economic Development Organizations in the state with a talented team, it was important to select a candidate that both understands our local economy, and one who is ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work on day one. We believe we have found those attributes in Paul Green and we look forward to his leadership.”

“I am very pleased that the results of our national search resulted in an outstanding pool of highly qualified applicants,” said Chancellor Stefani Hicswa, “Paul will serve us well as our new Executive Director. I appreciate the hard work of the search committee and the excellent feedback from staff and stakeholders.”

Debbie Desjarlais, BSED EDA Board Chair, commented, “I’m pleased with the outcome of the search. The search committee, along with Jorgenson Pace, has worked long and hard on this search. I believe Paul Green is the right person at this time for BSED. Congratulations, Paul. We have the greatest confidence in the world of future success. Not just for the organization, but for the city of Billings.”

Governor Greg Gianforte has appointed Deputy Director Mandy Rambo as acting leader of the Department of Commerce. 

Rare Earth Minerals Add to Montana’s Treasures

27 February 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Sophisticated- analytical testing results from a rare earths mineral deposit in southwestern Montana are nothing less than “transformational from a United States government and world perspective,” stated a very enthusiastic Harvey Kaye, adding that the technology that the mineral exploration and technology development company, US Critical Materials, is developing in collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) can be just as transformational to the industry.

US Critical Materials, a Nevada -based company with corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced almost three years ago their discovery of high grade rare earth minerals at Sheep Creek near Darby, Montana. Even then, company representatives were quite excited about what they suspected to be the superlative quality of their find, which has since been independently confirmed.

Results from Activation Labs (actlabs.com), an independent geochemical and geo-metallurgical analysis lab,  confirm that Sheep Creek holds the highest reported grades of any known deposit in the United States, along with the highest concentrations of gallium—a material essential to national security. “The US Critical Materials deposit in Montana has sufficient rare earths and gallium to provide the world with the critical elements it needs to help meet demand well into the future,” stated Harvey Kaye.

Kaye and Ed Cowle, both directors of US Critical Materials, announced the company’s recent exciting developments in an interview with the Big Sky Business Journal.

US Critical Materials mineral claims in Ravalli County, Montana cover approximately 10 square miles. The initial 800-acre site contains over 60 carbonatite formations, which have the potential of holding more rare earth minerals at depth, underscoring Sheep Creek’s vast potential.

With grades approaching 9% (89,932 ppm) and combined neodymium and praseodymium concentrations of 2.4% (23,810 ppm), Jim Hedrick, President of US Critical Materials, and the former Rare Earth Commodity Specialist at the US Geological Survey (USGS), said, “US Critical Materials has higher rare earth grades than those found in Greenland and Ukraine. . . Recent discussions have highlighted US interest in Ukraine’s and Greenland’s rare earth deposits. However, according to data from each territory’s official Geological Surveys, Sheep Creek’s rare earth grades exceed known deposits in these two areas. Furthermore, the scientific verification of Sheep Creek’s mineral content is more comprehensive and precise than in Greenland or Ukraine.”

“Over my 30+ year career evaluating properties for the U.S. government, I have never encountered a deposit with the high rare earth and gallium grades being generated at Sheep Creek,” stated Jim Hedrick.

Another  advantage of the Sheep Creek rare earth mineralization is the unusually low levels of thorium, a radioactive element often associated with rare earths deposits that require special permitting, extra processing steps,  and disposal protocols.

“The high-grade rare-earth indications together with the low thorium readings are a unique combination,” stated Cowle.

Rare earth minerals (REM) and gallium are crucial elements for almost every technology in the future but especially for national defense, a growing concern since the US has few domestic sources for rare earth metals, and imports about 80 percent of what it needs from China. Recently China began to weaponize its control of rare earths and rare earths processing, and in the past year has banned the export of gallium, germanium, and antimony, to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) uses rare earth elements for a variety of purposes in its weapon systems – in radar, guidance systems, precision-guided munitions, lasers, satellites, and equipment including night vision goggles, yet mostly depends on China for its supply.

Rare Earths are also essential for the production of a full range of industrial and consumer goods including batteries, mobile phones, laptops, hard drives, lasers, electric vehicles, semiconductors, computer chips, 5g technology, solar panels, wind turbines and medical diagnostic devices.

Emphasizing Montana’s historic role as the “Treasure State,” Kaye said the discovery of rare earth metals and gallium heightens that status. Sheep Creek will be a better resource for the US because of its accessibility and higher critical mineral grades.

Montana, declared Kaye, will be “the point of the spear for national defense.”

According to Cowle, “Sheep Creek contains at least thirteen of the critical risk elements defined by the US Geological Survey. The key elements identified include neodymium, praseodymium, and gallium. The Properties also contain cerium, dysprosium, europium, gadolinium, lanthanum, niobium, scandium, strontium, barium and gallium.”

Gallium is not technically a rare earth mineral but it is rare. Gallium is defined as a critical mineral. In fact, the US is entirely dependent on imports for it, and it is vital to high-performance chips, which are foundational to semiconductors, 5G technology, smartphones, satellite systems, medical diagnostics and therapeutics, and next-generation defense platforms. 

The measured gallium grades at Sheep Creek range from 180 to 385 ppm— far exceeding the 50ppm that the U.S. had been importing, predominantly from China.

The Sheep Creek project represents the nation’s only viable domestic gallium initiative, providing a pivotal opportunity to secure and stabilize the U.S. supply of the mineral.

Since their initial announcement in 2022, US Critical Materials entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to develop a new technology to extract the minerals from the ore with the least environmental impact possible. Kaye emphasized that US Critical Materials is focused upon future mineral extraction in the most environmentally sensitive way possible – “We don’t want to create environmental problems, we want to solve them,” he said.

Most recently, the company has extended its cooperative agreement with INL through February 2027.

The new technology which is being developed is called “Electrochemical Extraction and Purification.” The process is expected to extract gallium and the full spectrum of rare earth critical minerals from the ore through use of a novel Electrochemical Membrane Reactor (EMR). It will, in fact, be adaptable and useful for the recovery of many value-added metals. The proposed EMR consumes only electricity, water and nitrogen. Chemical and waste generation are anticipated to be dramatically reduced, while also reducing costs.

US Critical Materials plans to file national and international patents on the new technologies. They plan to license this cutting- edge technology to other deposits in the United States and friendly countries, which will give the U.S. a strong “bargaining chip” in its desire to work with overseas critical mineral deposits.

AI (artificial intelligence) and geophysics plays a significant part in the exploration of the Sheep Creek project. US Critical Materials engaged aerial services to gather a wide range of geographical data over the 6700 acres of mineral claims that US Critical Material owns at Sheep Creek. That data was then be analyzed by AI to determine the geographical characteristics of the initial 800 acre, and then applied to the rest of the property to identify other potential sites worthy of exploring. The process identified an additional 30 areas that can be developed over time.

Another aspect of Sheep Creek that makes it so extraordinary is that the rare earth deposits are concentrated in “tight veins.” The reality is rare earth metals are not so rare – they can be found in many places but seldom in quantities that make them economical to mine. And, usually when they are found in productive quantities they are broken up and scattered which requires digging large pits and processing tons of material to gather the ore.

And more for Sheep Creek – the geophysical and AI data suggests that there may be a continuous source of ore deeper in the earth from which the “tight veined” outcrops extend. The project includes three adits or tunnels that were developed in the late 1950’s for niobium mineralization by the Continental Columbium Company.  These adits go as deep as 450 feet below the surface. They provide a visual “window” into the deposit—at depth. Sampling of minerals in the adits has shown high grade rare earths and critical minerals

 “We don’t anticipate doing any open pit mining,” said Kaye.

According to Cowle, US Critical Materials will be completing a form, SK-1300, within the next 60 days. This is a Securities and Exchange document which will include, among other things, a third party resource estimate valuing the minerals found at Sheep Creek. The company also expects to file a Plan of Operation with the US Forest Service in the second quarter of 2025 . The Plan of Operation will include drilling sites that the company would like to have permitted for exploratory drilling. The company does not have control over when the Plan of Operations would be approved and drilling permitted.

If the drilling results are positive, US Critical Materials will search for a joint venture partner to file for a mining permit. US Critical Materials is an exploration and technology development Company, and not a mining company. Management would seek an established mining company, or possibly an end user of rare earths to file for a mining permit. “We would like to establish a joint venture with a major mining company or an end user– some of which are already investing directly in US or overseas mining projects,” stated Cowle.

Although difficult to estimate regulatory time horizons, US Critical Materials believes that the timing of their domestic critical minerals project could not be better.

There are only two active rare earth mining projects in the world outside of China: MP Materials in California, and Lynas in Australia.

 US Critical Materials has substantial mineral holdings in Montana and Idaho. A company press release states that the company is “dedicated to securing a domestically sustainable, high-grade supply of rare earth elements and gallium, reducing US reliance on imports, and ensuring a stable, independent supply chain for national security. We are currently utilizing and developing multiple environmentally friendly technologies for the exploration and processing of rare earths and critical minerals.”

County Sets New Rate for State, Feds to Hold Prisoners in YCDF

20 February 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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The Yellowstone Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution increasing the  inmate reimbursement rate for Montana Department of Corrections an Federal inmates, held at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF). The Montana rate will increase from $82.80 to $117 per inmate/day. The Federal government rate will increase from $85 to $117 per inmate day.

For several years, YCDF has been reimbursed a daily rate per inmate less than actual cost. Approximately 10+ years ago, the State of Montana provided their formula to Yellowstone County to calculate daily inmate rate. Since that time, the Board of County Commissioners and the Sheriff’s Office have attempted to recover actual inmate costs from the state. Montana officials have always claimed Yellowstone County improperly calculated the rate and imposed a rate set by the Legislature. The result has been Yellowstone County taxpayers subsidizing the State to hold their prisoners.

Over the past year, Commissioners, Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney’s office have worked to make YCDF and the criminal justice system, in Yellowstone County, operate more efficiently. While this has helped, it has not relieved pressure on the jail. YCDF routinely houses an average of 575-600+ inmates/day. On average, YCDF houses 50+/- DOC inmates and 50+/- Federal inmates per day.

The effective date of this resolution will be April 1, 2025. This provides an opportunity for the Montana Legislature, during this session to take appropriate action, states the press release.

They are Coming Back

23 January 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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The Blue Angels are returning. Following their hugely successful show in Billings in 2023, the Blue Angels have announced that they will be returning on August 22 and 23 in 2026 for the Yellowstone International Air Show. And, this show will be bigger and even better, according to Mathew McDonnell, who will once again co-chair the event with Jake Penwell.

Their previous Billings show drew more than 15,000 people to watch their aerial displays.

The event will be more patriotic and celebratory, declared McDonnell, noting that 2026 is the United States’ 250th birthday, and they plan to add to the show to truly recognize this historic date.

McDonnell said that most of the volunteers who were involved in producing the Blue Angels air show in Billings in 2023 are on board. They were all asked about their willingness to do it again, shortly after the 2023 air show, and before the request for a return visit was submitted to the Blue Angels. Everyone was enthusiastic about doing it again, said McDonnell – “even the airport for whom this is a lot of work gave an enthusiastic ‘yes.’”

Edwards Jet Service and Billings Flying Service will also return as important participants. Their support is vital in its success, according to McDonnell.“A lot of people are even more optimistic about the event, because they saw it done.”

 This time, the event won’t be competing “back to back” with Montana Fair, added McDonnell.

Equally enthusiastic, said McDonnell, are the Blue Angels. The Billings event will be special for them too because it is the one they selected to invite their friends and families to, because Billings showed them such a good time in 2023. The Blue Angels and their families will be arriving a week early just to enjoy Billings. Arriving early is not something they normally do. “They all remember us,” said McDonnell, although he noted that none of the pilots will be the same.

The board has already held its first meeting. “So far we are ahead on everything,” said McDonnell.

Because of their earlier experience, they are going hire someone to manage and coordinate the event and that someone is going to be Joey Domicoli, a former crew chief for the Blue Angels. “We couldn’t have a better person,” said McDonnell.

“We will be focused on shoring up our short comings,” said McDonnell, adding that parking is their biggest concern because many of the airport buildings have changed.

Minnesota Business Moves to Billings

21 January 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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It works.

Promoters of Montana as a great place to do business quite often achieve great success in convincing entrepreneurs to move their businesses to Big Sky Country. It certainly worked in convincing Peter Johnson to move his businesses – Archway Defense and Deep Attic to Billings from Minnesota.

A ribbon cutting last month at Big Sky Economic Development welcomed Johnson to offices at Rock31 in downtown Billings.

The businesses of this US Airforce veteran and former Federal Air Marshal are quite unique. Archway Defense, which Johnson founded in 2014, is a training program that provides training to local and federal law enforcement, as well as serving a vast array of corporate clients regarding workplace violence and active shooter mitigation training – all of which requires travel all over the county. The training is often provided at no cost to local governments because of sponsors and contributors who support the training. In fact, the Billings SWAT team has already benefited from such sponsor generosity.

In 2019, Johnson co- founded a tech startup called Deep Attic, which uses immersive, generative training, which is “augmented virtual and mixed reality” that is used in training to build skill sets faster “with an infinitely scalable business model in the deployment of VR AR technology.”

According to Johnson he really hadn’t thought much about moving his business until he encountered a cadre of Montana promoters (including the Governor) at the world’s biggest gun and outdoor gear show – the Shot Show in Las Vegas. He approached the Montana Chamber of Commerce booth and got invited to a reception for Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.

Johnson said that the Governor spent 20 minutes telling him all about Montana’s pro business climate. The Governor and others at the event convinced Johnson that Montana was the place to be. He spent much of 2024 moving and opened for business in October.

According to BSEDA, Johnson served five years as Federal Air Marshal (FAM) International Team Leader conducting counter-terror missions and surveillance around the globe. During his time with the FAMS, Peter achieved “Top Gun” at the Federal Air Marshal Academy in 2010. Prior to FAMS, Peter served six years in the USAF Air Base Defense deploying internationally for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Johnson’s experience included designated marksmen, clearing ordinance, conducting reconnaissance, and gathering intelligence with local nomads. CONUS Peter served as a pre-deployment trainer, combat arms instructor, and assisted the Inspector General’s Office in testing base defense vulnerabilities. Academically, Johnson achieved a B.A. in Criminal Justice with a heavy emphasis on Counter-Terrorism. His undergrad culminated with his capstone research focused on the Radicalization of Somali Youth in Minneapolis.

Rock31 is a program of BSED. It offers co-working space with a range of customizable membership tiers, amenities and resources for any business and at every stage of career development. In addition to being part of a entrepreneurial community at Rock31, members have easy access to all of the resources Big Sky Economic Development provides to the community.

Because it Feels Good

6 November 2024
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

So Billings, Montana has been noted as a place where people work hard.

Good job!

For all the things we are noted for this is perhaps the best. It’s been my observation over the years that human beings in general seem not only to like to work, but we are hard-wired to work. Whether we intend it or not, hardworking people thrive better than those who don’t, can’t or won’t work.

And, not only do we as individuals do better — in our standard of living, mentally and physically — but all that hard work contributes greatly to a happy, vibrant and robust community in which to live.

And more than that, it is the unleashing of all the ingenuity, creativity and productivity that is involved in work that makes us the strongest nation in the world, of all time. It was the unleashing of citizens to live, create and produce, as we choose, that allowed all that we enjoy in life to happen, while at the same time helping to support everyone around us. It was because of a government that placed individual liberty as a priority that we have choices and opportunity for happiness – to be the best of who we are.

Considering how much our work means to us it is rather confusing about why it tends to be so maligned. The weekends are greeted with glee, we seek means of avoiding work, look forward to retirement, and often complain about our work. Somehow that too must be part of our nature – perhaps the disdain is what incentivizes us to create and generate efficiencies that allow us to create more and to have time to direct to other efforts we enjoy even more.

A good indicator that even when we don’t have to, we still want to work is that most people upon “retirement” are quickly involved in some other endeavor, whether they call it work or not. I hear it from retirees all the time – “I am busier now than I have ever been.”

And in seeing the implosion that happens to those who are not so engaged, one must conclude that there is something about work that is important. Quite frequently when young people – perhaps a very talented singer who quickly rises to stardom and wealth — we see them self-destruct on drugs or flounder in aimlessness; perhaps that is an indicator that we need to be engaged in things that challenge us and gives us purpose no matter our status in life.

Perhaps not having a purpose that involves work is what generates a malaise that leaves so many anxious about how the world sees them or who live in chronic anxiety about the future or are consumed with anger that seems to have no focus.

Perhaps it is absolutely necessary to have that occasional moment of euphoria when we accomplish something — achieve a goal — and can sigh and say, “Ahh!”

So Let’s Keep Solution Local

21 October 2024
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

It was quite disappointing to read the Governor’s Housing Task Force report and find not a single mention of property rights. It is after all the colossal violation of property rights that contributes most significantly to the imposition of costly regulations that make housing unaffordable.

The closest they came to giving even the slightest nod to property rights was a statement that said, “… homebuyers have the right to build and live on smaller pieces of land if they choose.” No dah! What an amazing discovery – in a free country, no less.

The task force was most accurate in identifying that the root of the problem of costly housing emanates mostly from local municipalities where “professionals” ply their trade of violating property rights and imposing utopian ideals and their costs upon citizens – which is usually rubber stamped by city administrators and councils in pursuit of special interests or lack the courage to stand up for the rights of property owners.

When you have bureaucrats telling citizens what kind of fence they have to have on their property and where to put it, or that they have to plant trees and what kind of trees, or how wide their garage door has to be and where it has to be, whether they can put an apartment in their basement, install a basketball hoop, have a three story building, conduct business in their building or how to build a deck – REALLY! at some point they are violating the right to determine how to use the property for which the property owner paid.

Those kinds of restrictions would never happen if government — at all levels —  respected the citizens they serve – if government recognized the Constitution and citizen rights.

I remember some years ago, William Perry Pendley, an attorney and property rights advocate, and former president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, saying  that almost all regulations are unconstitutional but they remain in force because no one has ever challenged them. That’s why the recent Chevron court decision was greeted with such applause by the business and private sectors – – it laid bare that fact.

If getting permitted in the process of building a house can add as much as 20 – 30 or 40 percent to the overall cost, which was cited as a problem by the task force, maybe the answer isn’t to try to get bureaucrats to respond quicker but to recognize that the person who OWNS the property shouldn’t have to ask permissions of someone who does not OWN the property. The bureaucrats certainly shouldn’t be dictating the minutia of what the property owner CHOOSES to do, right down to the details of fences, landscaping or paint colors!!!

Of course there are issues of safety and interconnecting with utilities,  traffic, etc. that have to be dealt with in collaboration with government officials, but they are not the things that make housing unaffordable. And even for issues of esthetics or other communal concerns there are processes that can be pursued that do not violate individual rights – but they most often do impose costs upon those who are trying to push the cost onto someone else. And, further, let’s bear in mind while all these regulations impose economic losses on many property owners there are others who position themselves and promote such regulations to enrich themselves in one way or another.

Anyone who understands how the free market works should truly be scratching their head as to why we even have a housing crisis. Any time there is a market demand for any kind of commodity or service, the market – ie. entrepreneurs and producers – usually responds so quickly that most consumers have been served long before politicians and bureaucrats can hold their first committee meeting. Anytime that does not happen there is usually only one reason – government. Even when it doesn’t appear to be government, if one digs deep enough they find it is government.

That local government is at the root of the problem is most unfortunate because those are the people least likely to want to address the problem.  There were occasional mentions, by the task force, that even though local governments had the authority to act, in some cases the State may have to take action. But, there were also objections from those worried about losing “local control.”

There is no need to lose local control, not if local leaders take up the challenge and address their local regulations with a total focus on removing unnecessary edicts and costs and letting the market (ie. homeowners) determine the product. That will undoubtedly require some different leadership – citizen leaders, not bureaucrats offering “model” solutions from on –high. We need a group of people who understand markets and respect property rights, as well as knowing what the barriers are – those who have been most often ignored in the past. 

But if that cannot be achieved and solving the problem must become the role of the State – then lets gett’er done. 

Construction Begins on Short-term Jail

21 October 2024
Evelyn Pyburn
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Last week construction began on the new short -term holding facility next to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF). The $6 million project is a collaborative solution by Yellowstone County and the City of Billings to address overcrowding at YCDF. It will provide a means of jailing offenders while they wait for arraignment. The two-story facility will house inmates for 72 hours – inmates who in the past have not been incarcerated because there was no room in the jail. The facility designed by Schutz Foss Architects Foss is being built by Sletten Construction and is expected to be completed in 13- 15 months. County Commissioner Mark Morris said that the contractors wanted to begin construction as soon as possible in order to have concrete poured and walls up before it snows.

The operation of the short term facility depends upon the establishment of an arraignment court which is currently in process. Justice of the Peace David Carter is in the process of training the two full time employees who are needed to manage the arraignment court.

Management of the holding facility will fall to YCDF. That it will require a couple more full time staff is sort of a moot point, according to Morse, because they are always trying to hire personnel  and are generally 13-14 short of being fully staffed.