News
School levy ballots coming your way
2+ hour, 31+ min ago (761+ words) The Helena Public School District is proposing more than $3. 4 million in levies that will go before voters on a May 5 ballot. Ballots were mailed last Friday, and the county elections office recommends that voters have their ballots in the mail…...
State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy withdraws from Eastern District House primary amid 'allegations of serious sexual abuse"
2+ day, 19+ hour ago (1532+ words) The news of Windy Boy's departure from the race came in a Thursday morning announcement by the Montana Democratic Party that referenced unspecified "allegations of serious sexual abuse against Mr. Windy Boy." Russell told MTFP she met Windy Boy on…...
Felony immigration charge dropped against Froid mechanic
5+ day, 16+ hour ago (592+ words) For more than two months, Roberto Orozco-Ramirez's family has been waiting for news of the legal fate of their father, a Froid, Montana, auto mechanic who was arrested by Border Patrol in late January. The federal government charged Orozco-Ramirez with…...
Where wildfire money goes
1+ week, 5+ day ago (997+ words) Fire requires three things to burn: Fuel, oxygen and heat, known as the "fire triangle." Firefighting depends on a different triangle: Weather, workforce and money. Which brings us to factor No. 3. And last week, two major announcements laid out how…...
As fire season bears down, fractured federal wildland fire service complicates efforts
2+ week, 5+ day ago (675+ words) Last week, a panel of Montana state officials asked their federal colleagues how plans for this summer's wildfire season are shaping up. The responses they got left many in the room frustrated. "Everybody has lots of serious questions about this…...
Congressional Democrats warn Interior Dept. wildfire plan lacks details
2+ mon, 3+ hour ago (570+ words) 10 Years In. Still Independent. For 10 years, readers have made this reporting possible. Right now, a $5, 000 match means your 10th birthday gift can go twice as far. Your previous gift helped make this work possible. Today, your next gift can be doubled…...
With shirts, Froid residents show support for neighbor after Border Patrol arrest
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (1560+ words) GREAT FALLS " Wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt with his father's diesel shop logo on the front, Roberto Orozco Lazcano, 19, leaned forward on the wooden court bench in a federal courtroom." He clenched his hands and tapped his foot on…...
Residents of Missoula area mobile home parks unionize, join effort to limit rent increases
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (1102+ words) When Maria Cassidy received a notice that her monthly rent was increasing by $200 after a Texas-based company bought Harvey's mobile home park in Bonner, her heart sank." "I felt trapped," she told Montana Free Press. "It especially impacted our elderly…...
For years he was just the beloved local auto shop owner. Then came'Border Patrol.
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (1271+ words) Community members first noticed the Border Patrol cars in early January. It didn't take long for word to spread in the small community of about 195 people that the federal immigration agents were watching 42-year-old Roberto Orozco-Ramirez. The father of four,…...
A tale of two trash sites
3+ mon, 21+ hour ago (1029+ words) Less than a year ago, James Bumgarner offered to sell the Belt-Armington solid waste dump site to Cascade County amid a lease dispute. Bumgarner owns the land, but the county had been leasing it for more than a decade. Cascade…...