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Montana Free Press

@montanafreepress.org

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Montana's independent, nonprofit source for in-depth news coverage of politics, government, and other issues that matter to the people of this great state. montanafreepress.org

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 2h

Our fall campaign is wrapping up this weekend. If every reader contributed $3 today, we could close the gap and reach our goal. Your gift helps keep clear, fact-based reporting free for everyone in Montana. Will you help us build what comes next by donating here? https://bit.ly/473m4kY

Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 3h

Long overloaded with too many inmates and not enough space to hold them, the state has turned to prisons as far off as Mississippi. Officials cite limited options; inmates’ lawyers and families say the repercussions, both practical and legal, are substantial.

While Montana builds its way out of an overcrowded prison system, inmate advocates say the state’s reliance on private prisons comes at a cost

Long overloaded with too many inmates and not enough space to hold them, the state has turned to prisons as far off as Mississippi. Officials cite limited options; inmates’ lawyers and families say th...

montanafreepress.org

Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 16h

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy headlined a Turning Point USA event at Montana State University Tuesday evening, filling in for Turning Point's founder, Charlie Kirk, just weeks after his assassination.

Vivek Ramaswamy, Gov. Greg Gianforte headline Turning Point USA rally Kirk had scheduled before assassination

Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA carried out a Montana State University stop scheduled before his assassination, Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Greg Gianforte headlined in Kirk’s stead.

Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 1d

The snowmaking operation on Spanish Peaks Mountain Club property will make Big Sky the first public ski area in Montana to turn wastewater into powder.

State approves Big Sky Resort plan to turn wastewater into snow

The snowmaking operation on Spanish Peaks Mountain Club property will make Big Sky the first public ski area in Montana to turn wastewater into powder.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 1d

The federal shutdown that started October 1 left large swaths of public land accessible but unstaffed as Congress members fought over the 2026 budget. That temporary situation could become the new normal, according to plans published by the Trump administration.

Shutdown smokescreen? Public lands furloughs could become layoffs.

Trump administration leaders planned more job cuts before budget impasse closed federal government.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 1d

Legislators and health care leaders have formed a working group aimed at addressing concerns that spurred local opposition this summer to a state facility that would treat mental health patients who have been charged with crimes.

Billings advocates want their city in the running for new state psychiatric facility

Legislators and health care leaders have formed a working group aimed at addressing concerns that spurred local opposition this summer to a state facility that would treat mental health patients who h...

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 2d

Environmental groups argue in a lawsuit filed on Aug. 8 2025, that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is failing a constitutional obligation to manage rivers for the benefit of the citizens of Montana.

‘Dead, dry rivers’: Lawsuit says state isn’t managing rivers for the benefit of all

Montana’s instream flow protocol draws scrutiny amid ‘wicked low’ streamflows.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 4d

The Yellowstone County gas plant was forecast to emit more than 23 million tons of atmosphere-warming greenhouse gases over a 30-year operational life.

Environmental groups say the state didn’t properly consider climate impacts of Laurel plant

The Yellowstone County gas plant was forecast to emit more than 23 million tons of atmosphere-warming greenhouse gases over a 30-year operational life.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 5d

Blackfeet Community College President Brad Hall’s path to homeownership wasn’t easy, but his experience offers insight into what’s possible when adequate housing is available to reservation residents.

House and home: When housing works, tribal communities win

Part 3 of The Shelter Gap, a three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes on reservation land and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 6d

Opened this year, the Watershed Navigation Center aims to reduce homelessness and crime by connecting those in need to housing and other essential services.

‘That missing piece’: Missoula program offers solution for jail crowding, homelessness

Opened this year, the Watershed Navigation Center aims to reduce homelessness and crime by connecting those in need to housing and other essential services.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 6d

A park gateway community wrestles with economic and employment uncertainty as government officials offer scant information about park operations.

Park visitors find open gates at Yellowstone on first day of government shutdown

Visitors and local businesses encountered open gates but closed visitor centers on Oct. 1, 2025.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 6d

A Flathead-based immigration advocacy organization is suing the state of Montana over a 2025 law that allows law enforcement to check the immigration status of individuals during routine stops, like when someone is pulled over for a traffic violation.

Nonprofit sues state to prevent law enforcement from checking immigration status during routine stops

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a law passed during the most recent legislative session.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 7d

People who maintained the nation’s nuclear missile arsenal are coming down with similar cancers. The Air Force is wrapping up a large study of the health risks they may have faced.

Nuclear missile workers are contracting cancer. They blame the bases.

Within the community of U.S. service members who staff nuclear missile silos scattered across the Northern Rockies and Great Plains, suspicions had long been brewing that their workplaces were unsafe.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 7d

Budget impasse could have bigger impact than just furloughs, government watchers warn.

The uncertainty around national parks and their neighbors in the shutdown

A “National Park Service Contingency Plan” dated September 2025 and obtained by Mountain Journal stated that “park roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to vi...

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 7d

With demand high, and plenty of land, why can’t developers build new housing to close the gap?

The development conundrum: Why is housing so hard to build in Indian Country?

Why is housing so hard to build in Indian Country?

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 7d

Wednesday marks the beginning of a new federal fiscal year, but without a federal budget passed by Congress and no agreement on a short-term funding bill, it appears agencies would begin the new budget year without money to function.

Here’s what a federal government shutdown could mean in Montana

If the federal government shuts down, several operations in Montana will be affected. Here’s what we know.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 8d

Daily fines of up to $500 and possible jail time are penalties for those who don’t move off the streets when the ban takes effect.

Hope and despair as Bozeman’s ban on urban camping arrives

Officials approved the new law but caution that prohibiting the camps that have troubled the city since the pandemic won’t end homelessness.

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Reposted by Montana Free Press

impactual @impactual.bsky.social · 8d

We are thrilled to announce the date for the first annual Local News Day: April 9, 2026.

Impactual is proud to support @montanafreepress.org in this day of action to grow audiences for trusted local news.

Check out the link in bio or visit localnewsday.org.

www.instagram.com/p/DPPAAngEUB...

Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 8d

After losing federal funding, the Department of Corrections hasn’t restarted a parenting program that state lawmakers put $120,000 toward earlier this year. The program had served roughly 160 fathers and 400 children during the program’s four-year tenure.

The state has money for a parenting program at the prison, but it's not operating yet

Families say that video calls for children aren’t the same as in-person time with their incarcerated parent.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 8d

It’s not clear if parks like Yellowstone and Glacier would stay open if the federal government can’t reach a budget agreement.

What happens to the national parks if the federal government shuts down?

It’s unclear if a federal government shutdown would affect the operations of national parks, including Yellowstone and Glacier.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 9d

Patrons filled the tiny tavern for a benefit to create a fund to benefit the victims and their families.

In photos: Anaconda residents mourn shooting victims at the Owl

Patrons filled the tiny tavern for a benefit to create a fund to benefit the victims and their families.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 9d

Montana homeowners have until Oct. 1, 2025, to apply for rebates of up to $400 on their 2024 property tax bills. That relief is one component of a bipartisan push by lawmakers and Gov. Greg Gianforte to address rising residential property taxes.

Applications for $400 homeowner property tax rebates due Oct. 1

Eligible taxpayers can apply through the revenue department website.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 9d

MTFP reporter Nora Mabie and Missoulian photojournalist Ben Allan Smith were invited to spend time in the Ackerman family home last winter to produce a portrait of the home life shared by thousands of Indigenous families across Montana.

Seven people, three bedrooms, and two days in the life of a family on the Blackfeet Reservation

Reservation housing in Montana is frequently overcrowded and underserved by the amenities most Montanans take for granted.

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Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 9d

Part 1 of The Shelter Gap, a three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes on reservation land and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.

No roads home: How a chronic housing shortage keeps reservation communities in crisis.

Part 1 of a three-part series examining barriers to buying, renting and building homes on reservation land and highlighting the community benefits of secure housing.

montanafreepress.org

Montana Free Press @montanafreepress.org · 12d

Law enforcement agents burned nearly 200 pounds of materials — not just 2 pounds of methamphetamine, as previously reported — inside an animal crematorium in Billings on Sept. 10, according to burn records reviewed by Montana Free Press.

Burning questions hang over the Billings methamphetamine incineration

The fiasco — including 188 pounds of unspecified materials burned by law enforcement — has drawn concern about safe disposal methods for Montana’s most commonly seized narcotic.

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