The Montana Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in the state’s appeal of the youth-led climate case Held versus Montana. On July 10 the court will hear from state officials and lawyers for the 16 youth plaintiffs who sued the state. They argue the state is failing to act on climate change.

A lower court ruled in favor of the young people last August, saying Montana’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment includes addressing climate change. The Supreme Court’s decision will be the final outcome of this case since it is predicated on the state constitution.

This decision will have implications both within Montana and the state’s Environmental Policy Act but also nationally as this is the first constitutional-climate litigation to have gone to trial in the U.S.

Similar youth-led cases are being pursued in other states and Montana’s ruling may contribute to the legal precedent for those cases.

Let’s be honest, when most people think about Montana, they think of mountains, lakes, and National Parks. I mean, it’s called The Last Best Place for a reason, right? While Montana has all of that and more, according to some recent data, we also have some serious crime across the state.

Over the years, Montana has become a hub for illegal activity, especially when it comes to drugs. No, I’m not talking about our friendly hippies baking “special brownies”, we’re talking about the hard stuff.

A recent national article talked about how Montana has become a destination for fentanyl and how drug dealers are making millions of dollars by selling these illegal drugs at a premium price and killing Montanans in the process.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Montana has a crime problem, and according to data, a lot of that is happening in one Montana city.

Which Montana city is one of “the most dangerous” in America?

The website Neighborhood Scout searches cities and towns across the nation and grades them according to their safety and one Montana town didn’t get a very good report card.

The state’s biggest city is also the most dangerous. That makes sense based on population, but according to the facts and figures, it’s a little more alarming than that. As far as the crime index (100 being the safest) Billings scored a 2. What does that mean? Well, according to the website, that means that Billings, Montana is safer than 2 percent of U.S. Cities.

This makes the crime rate in Billings one of the highest in America. In fact, according to the data the average person has a 1 in 19 chance of being a victim of either a violent or property crime.

The good news? There are several neighborhoods in Billings considered safe. Here’s a look at the Top 5 according to Neighborhood Scout:

• West Shiloh
• Lockwood East
• Baseline/Hesper
• Broadview/Acton
• Blue Creek

It’s good information to know, especially if you’re thinking of moving to the state’s largest city. Either way, be safe.

May 27—High-elevation snowpack in the Swan Range has remained near or above historical averages for most of May thanks to a series of cold storms that dumped snow and rain across the region.

The snow-water equivalent measurement registered at 39.1 inches for Noisy Basin on May 26, according to data collected at a SNOTEL weather station located at 6,040 feet. The median for that date is 31.6 inches. The snow-water equivalent is the amount of water held in the snowpack.

Likewise, about 83 inches of settled snowpack remains at Noisy Basin, considerably more than the median of 65.5 inches for May 26.

While a dry winter fueled by an El Nino weather pattern kept Northwest Montana’s mountain snowpack below average through the beginning of May, late-season snow storms have maintained and even added to the snow depth in some areas.

The Noisy Basin snowpack actually peaked for the season on May 9 at 108 inches. The peak depth normally occurs in mid April before completely melting out by late June.

It’s a similar situation for Northwest Montana’s other mountain ranges.

A weather station on Flattop Mountain in Glacier National Park showed a snow depth of 72 inches on May 26, slightly below the median of 80.5 inches. Snow depth at Stryker Basin in the Whitefish Range was 50 inches, while Big Mountain’s upper reaches still held 53 inches of snow.

Overall, the Flathead Basin snowpack was 85% of normal on May 26, and 79% in the Kootenai Basin.

In the valley, Kalispell has seen measurable precipitation on 15 days so far this month. Between May 22-25, about 1.13 inches of rain was measured at Glacier Park International Airport. Precipitation month-to-date for Kalispell is 1.89 inches, slightly higher than the average of 1.42.

The Flathead River at Columbia Falls crested at 8 feet during the recent rainy spell and was expected to rise to 10 feet by mid week. Flood stage is 13 feet.

Potent and potentially dangerous thunderstorms could affect the Flathead Valley on Tuesday. Heavy rainfall of half an inch in 30 minutes is possible. Urban areas could see ponding of water in poor drainage areas if they take a direct hit from a storm, according to the National Weather Service in Missoula.

Temperatures will run 5-10 degrees below normal, with overnight lows dipping into the 30s Wednesday night through Friday.

High pressure returns by the weekend with pleasant temperatures in the 70s.