Four years of legalized adult-use marijuana in Montana produce more than $1 billion in sales
In the four years since Montana began allowing the legal sale of adult-use marijuana, the state’s retailers have sold more than $1 billion in product. Adult-use sales have risen enough to offset a sharp decline in purchases regulated and taxed as medical marijuana.
Over the four-year period, Montana collected $217 million in marijuana tax revenue. Of that total, about $207 million came from adult-use sales, compared with less than $10 million from medical marijuana.
UM Expert Dr. Mehrdad Kia Analyzes Rising Violence and Resilience in Iranian Revolt
The Iranian protestors continue to revolt against their government, and thousands have been killed and more put in prison. Today on Voices of Montana University of Montana professor and Middle East expert Mehrdad Kia explained what is happening and why.
Dr. Mehrdad Kia
Montana DEQ Seeks Public Input on Major 420-Mile Transmission Line
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is calling for public comment on the North Plains Connector, a massive 420-mile transmission line project. Stretching from Colstrip into North Dakota, the high-voltage line aims to link eastern and western power grids to improve national energy reliability. Public meetings are scheduled for late January, with construction expected to begin in 2028. A final decision on the impact study is expected later this year.
Montana Military Retiree Hit Hard by Shutdown; Advocacy Group Pushes for Safeguards
Montana military retiree David Struckman of Billings never received his retirement benefits during the not too distant government shutdown. He says while his payments have resumed since the government reopened he had to dip into his savings to pay the bills and he feels for others who may not have had backup funds available. Jennifer Goodale a veteran and the retired affairs director for the Military Officers Association of America says her organization is working with affected organizations, congressional committees, and appropriators to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Jennifer Goodale
Secretary Christi Jacobsen: Verification tool flags multiple voter records as potential non-citizens
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has received preliminary results from its recent implementation of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which is intended to help ensure clean and accurate voter rolls in the Treasure State.
The SAVE tool flagged 23 voter records as potential non-citizens. It is illegal for a non-citizen to register or vote in Montana elections.
MoFi awarded $85 million in New Markets Tax Credits
MoFi, a nonprofit community development financial institution serving Western states, has received an $85 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
Over the past two decades, the program has delivered nearly $570 million in private capital to 46 businesses and projects across Montana.
Federal funding to boost Montana projects awaits Senate approval
A recent spending bill passed by the U.S. House includes more than $3.5 million in federal funding for various projects across Montana. If the bill clears the Senate, funds will support several initiatives, including understaffed law enforcement, fire services, and infrastructure needs.
Details of the spending bill are available at congress.gov.
Gas prices in Montana remain unchanged from last week
Average gasoline prices in Montana are unchanged from last week, averaging $2.75 per gallon today. Prices are 11 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 2.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.
Montana currently ranks 25th in the U.S. for average gas prices, unchanged from last week.
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A newly created conservation easement along the Stillwater River west of Whitefish is expected to help secure a critical wildlife corridor. The acreage, which augments a 655-acre conservation easement, connects with the 1,560-acre Kuhns Wildlife Management Area and vast swaths of state- and federally managed forestlands.
The board of directors for the Helena branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has welcomed new member Chris Dahl to a three-year term. Dahl succeeds Mary Rutherford of the Montana Community Foundation. Located in Helena, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’s only branch has a five-member board.
The Hamilton Community Cinema is under contract to purchase the Roxy Theater building on North Second Street, with hopes of bringing a movie theater back to the Bitterroot Valley. The valley has been without a movie theater since the Pharaohplex closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Environmental Protection Agency will share updates on its 2025 Residential Soil Lead Directive for Superfund sites and other waste cleanup locations at a January 27 meeting. The agency will explain how the national directive will be implemented in Butte and outline the timeline for issuing a new proposed plan.
The City of Great Falls has released the first draft of its Future Great Falls Growth Policy, a long-term framework governing development decisions from 2025 to 2045. City officials say the document reflects hundreds of community ideas, concerns, and goals gathered over the past year and a half, and they are now soliciting public feedback.
