Montana
Working together to protect kids from lead in schools
The dangers of lead exposure for children are well known and many schools across Montana have made great strides to protect students and staff from lead in drinking water. But a number of Montana schools have not yet taken action and the possibility of lead in school drinking water continues to be a serious concern.
Children are particularly at risk because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults and the risks from lead include anemia, kidney and brain damage, as well as learning disabilities and decreased growth.
Because children spend a large share of their childhood in schools, it is extremely important to provide safe drinking water. Some schools may not even be aware of the danger because even when water entering a building meets safety standards for lead concentrations, older plumbing within schools could contribute to elevated lead levels in the drinking water.
In Montana, testing for lead began in 2020 in accredited K-12 schools where students can get drinking water. As of April, 487 school facilities (buildings) have tested for lead out of 591 in the state, leaving 104 schools — in both large and small communities — that have not yet completed the testing.
Fortunately, funding and assistance is available to help make sure all Montana schools can first test their drinking water and then take preventative steps if needed to eliminate any dangerous levels of lead.
For testing, an EPA grant supports free sampling for lead in drinking water for any Montana school. The schools can hire someone to do the testing and invoice the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
For schools where lead tests exceed the state standard, we supported and helped pass an amendment during the 2023 Legislature that provides funding that will cover the cost of labor and supplies for new faucets, drinking fountains or water bottle filling stations. Using this state program, we can work with parents, local communities and schools to keep our schools and children safe.
Here are the details: The Legislature approved $3.7 million for the replacement program which is available to any school that needs to upgrade its water drinking facilities. Each school building qualifies for up to $100,000 to replace water faucets, water fountains and purchase new bottle filling stations, with up to a quarter of this amount available for labor costs.
The funding should help most schools greatly improve their drinking water. According to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, a bottle filling station costs roughly $2,500 and faucets run from $300-$500 each.
One of the major challenges now is to help the remaining schools test and fix their drinking water as needed. Parents, teachers and school administrators should check with Montana Department of Environmental Quality for more information, or contact any of us, to learn the status of their school and how to participate.
Lead is a danger to our children’s health, but working together we can address this problem and help ensure that our kids learn in a safe and secure environment.
Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre, Rep. Melissa Romano, D-Helena, Rep. Mark Thane, D-Missoula.
WATCH: Big Sky beats buzzer to top Hellgate at AA tourney
WATCH: Big Sky beats buzzer to top Hellgate at AA tourney
The Great Falls High and C.M. Russell High girls’ track and field teams are set to host the Optimist Club Invitational on Saturday, April 25, at Memorial Stadium.
The annual meet serves as a midseason state-meet preview of sorts as the top athletes from across Class AA all come together to see how the field is stacking up head-to-head.
The meet begins at 11:15 a.m. with pole vault, long jump, javelin and shot put, while the 100-meter hurdles kick off the running events at noon. For a full schedule, visit the Optimist Meet page at athletic.net.
Here’s a look at the top competitors in each event heading into the Optimist, as well as where Great Falls athletes stack up.
Montana Class AA Girls Track and Field Leaders (as of April 23)
*Numbers in parentheses next to the event indicate AA automatic state-qualifying marks
100 (13.00)
1. Emery Peel, Billings Senior, 12.18; 2. Quinlyn Simmons, Helena High, 12.37; 3. Carleigh Mahn, Billings West, 12.47; 4. Nora Allen, Billings West, 12.61; 5. Isabella Donaghey, Gallatin, 12.62.
200 (26.70)
1. Carleigh Mann, Billings West, 25.53; 2. Emery Peel, Billings Senior, 25.63; 3. Cora Carahassen, Billings Senior, 25.95; 4. Quinlyn Simmons, Helena High, 26.01; 5. Nora Allen, Billings West, 26.02.
400 (1:01.00)
1. Aliyah Vogel, Billings West, 58.81; 2. Emery Peel, Billings Senior, 58.94; 3. Leah Roberts, Billings Skyview, 1:00.60; 5. Nya Myers, Missoula Big Sky, 1:00.81.
800 (2:24.00)
1. Hazel Cooper, Gallatin, 2:16.34; 2. Aliyah Vogel, Billings West, 2:18.75; 3. Phoebe Maixner, Bozeman High, 2:19.42; 4. Kylee Neil, Bozeman High, 2:20.71; 5. Dacia Benkelman, 2:22.28.
1600 (5:23.00)
1. Ada Thiel, Glacier, 4:53.63; 2. Phoebe Maixner, Bozeman High, 5:15.62; 3. Lauren Bissen, Glacier, 5:15.98; 4. Dacia Benkelman, Glacier, 5:18.73; 5. Hazel Cooper, Gallatin, 5:19.13.
3200 (11:50.00)
1. Phoebe Maixner, Bozeman High, 10:56.82; 2. Lauren Bissen, Glacier, 10:59.91; 3. Kylee Neil, Bozeman High, 11:16.50; 4. Reed Stromberg, Missoula Hellgate, 11:27.40; 5. Jane Allen, Billings West, 11:40.32.
100 hurdles (16.30)
1. Bristol Lenz, Flathead, 14.95; 2. Anita Black, Gallatin, 15.40; 3. Scarlet Harris, Great Falls High, 15.45; 4. Aizalyn Flaten, Gallatin, 15.66; Paisley Johnson, Missoula Hellgate, 15.71.
-Scarlet Harris, GFH: The junior was second in the event at the state meet last season (15.39) and has a personal best in her career of 15.14, which she ran as a freshman.
300 hurdles (48.50)
1. Aizalyn Flaten, Gallatin, 45.37; 2. Nya Myers, Missoula Big Sky, 45.99; 3. June Lay, Helena Capital, 46.92; 4. Paisley Johnson, Missoula Hellgate, 46.95; 5. Addison Brisendine, Glacier, 47.55.
-Aizalyn Flaten, Gallatin: Flaten, who was an All-State cross-country runner for CMR as a freshman and sophomore and was sixth at state last year in the triple jump while attending Great Falls High, was All-State (third, 46.59) in the event for the Rustlers as a freshman.
-Harris, GFH: Harris just missed the state podium last year in seventh. Her career-best time in the 300 came last year at the Optimist (45.58). She is just off the state-qualifying time this year at 48.62.
4×100 relay (50.60)
1. Billings West, 48.54; 2. Billings Senior, 49.23; 3. Big Sky, 49.33; 4. Helena High, 49.54; 5. Flathead, 49.87.
4×400 (4:12.00)
1. Billings West, 4:03.22; 2. Billings Senior, 4:07.62; 3. Gallatin, 4:09.73; 4. Glacier, 4:10.41; 5. Flathead, 4:14.17.
Shot put (35’3”)
1. Kate Breeding, Gallatin, 43-01; 2. Mena Kamps, Gallatin, 38-00; 3. Fayth Smith, Billings Senior, 37-07; 4. Allie Krueger, Glacier, 37-01; 5. Brittyn Boyce, Billings West, 35-10.
Discus (113’)
1. Brittyn Boyce, Billings West, 131-04; 2. Rylee Bigelow, Glacier, 125-08; 3. Laktynn Johnson, Billings West, 123-08; 4. Lowe LeFeber, Bozeman High, 121-10; 5. Brooklyn Kopp, Hellgate, 121-08.
Javelin (113’)
1. Elsa Johnson, Billings West, 137-08; 2. Kate Breeding, Gallatin, 132-08; 3. Remi Osler, Glacier, 124-02; 4. Kaelyn Saari, Helena Capital, 119-01; 5. Lucy Holloway, Glacier, 118-05.
-Aila Wood, GFH: The senior is ranked seventh in the event this season and has qualified for state (114-09).
High jump (5’2”)
1. Elly Reed, Hellgate, 5-06; 2. Kate Lindsay, Gallatin, 5-04; T3. (All 5-02) Tayah Osier, CMR; Hayden Wiening, Belgrade; Ruby Roscoe, Hellgate, Brooklyn Metcalf, Billings West; Paisley Johnson, Hellgate.
-Osier, CMR: The junior, also a volleyball star for the Rustlers, was a state-qualifier in the event last year and was eighth.
Pole vault (10’)
1. Addison Smith, Great Falls High, 12-00; 2. Naomi Lee, Sentinel, 11-06; T3. Nevaeh Varner, Billings West; Knoelle Ferguson, Helena Capital, 11-00; T5. Madison Armeding, Big Sky; Clara Randall, Billings West, 10-00.
-Smith, GFH: The senior was second at state last season at 11-03 when competing for CMR and has cleared 12-00 twice this season.
Long jump (16’6”)
1. Calla Sprecher, Bozeman High, 18-04; 2. Kate Lindsay, Gallatin, 17-06.5; 3. Zeila Wagner, Glacier, 17-03; Aizalyn Flaten, Gallatin, 17-02; 5. Tayah Osier, CMR, 17-01.5
Harris and Osier: Harris was All-State in the long last year in sixth at 16-11.25 and has a personal best of 17-04.5. She is ranked ninth this spring at 16-11.5 and has qualified for state. Osier was a state qualifier in the event as a sophomore.
Triple jump (34’)
1. Calla Sprecher, Bozeman High, 36-07.5; 2. Gabby Alec-Rebolledo, Big Sky, 36-06; 3. Aizalyn Flaten, Gallatin, 36-05; 4. Teagan Hegdal, CMR, 34-09.5; 5. Rachel Brannan, Glacier, 34-08.25.
Hegdal, CMR: The sophomore is coming off a freshman year in which she qualified for state in both the long and triple jumps.
The Bridger project is a massive oil pipeline project that would come in from Alberta, Canada, into Montana at Phillips County, then go through nine counties before getting to Wyoming.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are reviewing the project, and it could cut across private, state, and federal land.
Watch Bridger pipeline story here:
Proposed Bridger pipeline would bring crude from Canada through Montana to Wyoming
The 647-mile-long Bridger pipeline would move up to 550,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
“It’s a win for Montana. It’s a win for America,” said Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse.
Morse and the Yellowstone County commissioners are among the many Montana leaders supporting the project.
Just this week, they drafted a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing that support.
“The energy security is again, it’s going to be on the North American continent and transporting oil via a pipeline is safer than rail or truck,” Morse said.
Commissioners also say the pipeline would be an economic boost for Yellowstone County, bringing construction jobs, supply contracts, and local spending.
“We’ll be a hub for their construction activities,” Morse said. “Supplying parts and pieces, labor.”
But there are plenty of opponents.
They say the risks are simply too high, pointing to past oil spills, including the 2015 Poplar pipeline rupture that sent 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive and a diesel spill of 45,000 gallons near Sussex, Wyoming.
“If that crossing has spilled into the Missouri River, it eventually would make it to that intake,” said Lance Fourstar, co-director of the American Indian Movement Montana. “Highly carcinogenic tar sand bitumen, so we already know it’s highly carcinogenic.”
Fourstar also has concerns about sacred tribal lands.
“The key point of concern is the sovereignty and treaty rights,” Fourstar said. “This project crosses lands, that with treaty reserved rights, hunting, fishing, and gathering.”
The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) says the pipeline would originate in Alberta with what it calls environmentally destructive fuel sources.
“It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen in a state that gets a lot of revenue from fishing and agriculture. A majority of the route crosses through Montana, putting land and water at risk,” MEIC spokesperson Shannon James said in a telephone interview with MTN News.
But for Yellowstone County leaders like Morse, it’s a win-win, not just for Yellowstone County, but also the country.
“I just see energy independence for America,” Morse said.
MTN News contacted True Companies in Casper, which proposed the Bridger pipeline.
True and BLM were not available for interviews.
KALISPELL, Mont. — Country music star Walker Hayes will headline the 2026 Northwest Montana Fair concert, opening the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo in Kalispell.
Hayes is scheduled to perform Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. The 2026 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo runs Aug. 12-16.
Hayes is known for hit songs including “Fancy Like,” “AA,” and “You Broke Up With Me.”
“We are thrilled to bring Walker Hayes to the Northwest Montana Fair,” said Sam Nunnally, Manager of the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo. “Our goal each year is to create unforgettable experiences for our community and visitors, and this concert will be a highlight of the 2026 Fair.”
Tickets for the Walker Hayes concert will be available through the Northwest Montana Fair website at nwmtfair.com.
The Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo welcomes more than 80,000 guests annually and is one of the largest summer events in the region, featuring concerts, PRCA ProRodeo action, carnival rides, exhibits, food vendors, and family entertainment.
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