Montana’s housing market in 2024 represents cooler economic conditions. According to the Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research high interest rates chilled the pace of transactions by reducing both supply and demand for homes. This trend suggests a reshuffling of desirability as affordability constraints and the higher relative prices in high-amenity markets drive buyers toward more affordable parts of the state. Montana continues to be ranked at or near the bottom for affordability for buying homes.
Montana Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson announced Thursday she will withdraw from a disciplinary hearing case to decide whether Attorney General Austin Knudsen should be suspended from practice for 90 days for 41 ethical violations. With her recusal only the court’s two new members Chief Justice Cory Swanson and associate Justice Katherine Bidegaray remain to hear the case. According to the operating rules of the court the chief justice or acting chief justice shall designate a replacement.
A 2023 Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks report estimated the state’s wolf population at around 1,100 animals. Thursday Montana lawmakers debated House Bill 222 that would allow unlimited wolf hunting across the state until the population was reduced to a threshold of 650 animals statewide. An amended provision said Fish Wildlife and Parks could pause hunting in May and June when the animals are denning and giving birth to young. The measure ultimately failed on a bipartisan vote.
President Trump’s freeze on funding for renewable energy resources is delaying financing for construction and expansion of a seeds-to-sustainable aviation fuels project in Great Falls that had been finalized a few weeks ago. According to the Managing Editor of Energy Tech Rod Walton it involves the first tranche of approximately $782 million under a guaranteed $1.44 billion loan.
Test scores from students across the U.S. in what’s known as “The Nation’s Report Card” have not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels of achievement a trend that’s true in Montana as well. Montana’s economically disadvantaged students lagged behind the most with an at least 19-point difference in scores across different categories. Montana is also seeing a gap between high-achieving and low-achieving students.
A new meeting series will explore the challenges to housing in Montana’s most rural communities by creating a place for discussion and collaboration hosted by NeighborWorks Montana the Montana Healthcare Foundation and Montana State University Extension. The lab will focus on areas that are designated frontier by the federal government or places with a population density of less than six people per square mile.
State wildlife officials examine over 100,000 boats annually at roadside inspection stations searching for signs of hitchhiking critters that could harm local lakes rivers and streams. House Bill 242 would double the maximum fines for boaters that bypass inspection stations. Those charged with knowingly transporting invasive species could be charged up to $1,950.
To combat inflation and rising costs Yellowstone County commissioners have passed a resolution to increase the reimbursement rates for inmates at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility to $117 daily. The jail houses about 575 to 600 every day including those going to state federal prison and inmates awaiting trial.
Ravalli County commissioners recently hosted the first of three public hearings scheduled through this spring that will lay the groundwork for potential wastewater infrastructure projects in Ravalli County. The aim is to modify existing septage systems to accommodate a growing population and tightening environmental restrictions. Solutions could range in size and scale.
The Helena Area Refugee Resettlement Team a program run by local nonprofit Hands on Global works with the International Rescue Committee to aid vetted refugees in settling in Helena and adjusting to American life. A series of executive orders from President Donald Trump has now blocked two Afghan refugee families from landing in Helena in February.