In: News Headlines

A Fox News Digital breakdown of election finance records has found the 2024 Montana Senate race has shattered spending records with $309 spent per registered voter. Super PACs and outside groups have played a significant role in Montana advertising as Democrats pour money into a state where their                                                              majority in the Senate hangs in the balance.

According to the Montana Secretary of State’s website as of Friday evening at 10:45 approximately 243,341 absentee ballots have been returned out of a total of 522,069 mailed out. That represents a 46.61% return rate statewide. Up-to-date information can be found on the Montana Secretary of State’s absentee ballot count page.

Federal judge Dana Christiansen has heard arguments whether to allow the Flathead Warming Center to open this winter and participants are waiting for his decision for or against. Citing The Kalispell City Council has cited neighborhood complaints for stripping the facility of its conditional use permit. The Warming Center is being represented by the national nonprofit the Institute for Justice.

Montanans will set clocks back next Sunday morning at 2 as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end. The push to stop changing clocks was put before Congress in the last couple of years and although the Sunshine Protection Act was passed unanimously by the Senate in 2022 the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass it and President    Joe Biden did not sign it. A 2023 version of the act remained idle in Congress.

Where whiskey is for drinking water for fighting another round of adjudication has begun for historic water rights in the lower Clark Fork River basin and the Water Court cautions water rights owners against delaying their participation. The decree process is happening now even though a decree was first issued for the lower Clark Fork in November 1984. The adjudication has taken 45 years so far and 25 are still awaiting re-examination including the upper Clark Fork above the Blackfoot River.

According to a new analysis from the personal finance website WalletHub Billings is the 19th hardest working city in the U.S. It has a high employment rate at almost 96% and the largest share of  workers with multiple jobs at about 9%. To determine its rankings WalletHub compared 116 of the most populated cities across two key dimensions,  “Direct Work Factors” and “Indirect Work Factors.” Billings finished 30th in direct work factors and 14th in indirect work factors for a total score of 68.18 and the overall 19th place ranking.

The Kalispell City Council has scheduled a work session for this evening to discuss concerns with Downtown Traffic on Friday Nights.  It’s called “cruising” and people are complaining. Police have stepped-up patrols but without an ordinance little has been accomplished.

The Roxy Theater in Missoula now has a place to hang out and talk movies before and after the show. They’ll project movies with no sound while people can talk before or after the show without having to linger in the lobby areas or settle on a second place to meet up. The new lounge is currently decorated for Halloween.

Polson City Manager Ed Meece is a self-described “government geek.” His enthusiasm for the inner workings of city government and his hope that citizens will catch the bug too is behind “Civics 101: Polson” a class he’ll be teaching Tuesday afternoon from 5:30-7 at City Hall.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks is accepting submissions for the 2025 Montana Migratory Bird Stamp contest. The winning artist’s work will be featured on 2025 Montana Migratory Bird Stamps. The winner will receive $2,000 and will be featured on promotional content throughout 2025.

 

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