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‘Don’t put a cap on yourself’: Patrick O’Connell giving encore performance in final run with Montana Grizzlies

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‘Don’t put a cap on yourself’: Patrick O’Connell giving encore performance in final run with Montana Grizzlies


MISSOULA — Patrick O’Connell’s journey by school soccer has been well-documented as taking the lengthy street to success.

However now a senior with the Montana Grizzlies, the time has flown by for O’Connell, who simply retains getting higher, and higher.

“It has been a protracted however superior journey, and I am tremendous proud to be right here at Montana and enjoying the place I’m,” O’Connell stated. “It is tremendous humbling to know the place I got here from and know the place I am at now. I really like enjoying with the entire guys that I am with. Received an excellent staff, nice coaches, so there’s not a greater place that I might wish to be personally.”

O’Connell — a Kalispell native and former two-sport athlete at a NCAA Division II college in North Dakota in baseball and soccer — walked on at Montana, cracked the rotation in 2019, and in 2021 was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as one of many prime defensive gamers within the FCS.

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The trail was winding, however O’Connell made probably the most of it.

“I believe that is what makes it so particular is taking the street much less traveled,” O’Connell stated. “I believe that is why it is so particular trying again at it, figuring out the place I got here from and the place I am at now, it is simply tremendous particular to me and to my household and to the entire folks round me as a result of they know what I’ve put in and what I’ve achieved so it is superior.”

There’s been no drop-off for O’Connell in 2022.

He leads the Massive Sky Convention with 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, has racked up 50 whole tackles, and has grabbed his first two interceptions of his profession, all stats which might be on par along with his numbers a yr in the past. Final yr by six video games, O’Connell had 52 whole tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and seven.5 sacks as effectively.

Every year he is improved, however O’Connell stated that development is all the time the objective.

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“I used to be making an attempt to drown the final season as a result of personally I wish to get higher each single day, and the following day I wish to concentrate on getting higher and higher and higher,” O’Connell stated. “It is cliché to say you wish to get 1% higher however that is what I attempt to concentrate on, and I attempt to get my teammates higher as effectively. However to drown the final season and concentrate on every day going ahead and getting higher, that is crucial factor going ahead, and that is all you are able to do.”

That success additionally led to O’Connell being voted a staff captain earlier than the season started.

“It was an honor for me as a result of I am with these guys each single day and to be voted a captain implies that they know the entire work that I put in and it makes me proud to be a captain on this staff due to the place I am from, the place I got here from, particularly, and the journey that I’ve taken to get right here,” O’Connell stated. “So it is fairly particular to be named a captain, particularly for the Montana Grizzlies as a result of rising up that is all I needed to do.”

The street to success in sports activities is not straightforward, or one with a common blueprint, and O’Connell’s message to these dealing with adversity is one in every of perception and laborious work.

“I might simply say do not put a cap on your self,” O’Connell stated. “Do not let different folks let you know who you’re, and in the event that they do let you know, then show them incorrect. Exit and work as laborious as you may each single day, push your self in addition to pushing others too, and get higher and higher each single day.”

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However for now, his senior season will march on, with life off the sector additionally treating O’Connell effectively because the Griz linebacker grew to become engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Madison Rauthe, again in August.

O’Connell lengthy knew he needed to suggest, however timing, was the important thing.

“I had the ring for fairly some time, really, and I might convey it with me to those locations so we might go to the lake, we might keep on the lake, and I might be like alright I will do it, after which we might go all through the week and I would not do it as a result of I received too scared,” O’Connell stated. “It simply lastly got here to the time the place I used to be like, ‘oh my gosh, the season is beginning, I’ve to get it achieved.’

“So it was the final day of fall camp, and after that we have been happening a stroll after dinner one evening and I took her as much as the highest of the stadium so you may see the L and the M (on the mountains) with the river in between, and he or she knew I had a birthday current for her however she did not know what it was so I used to be like, ‘I am simply going to provide you your birthday current right here,’ and I dropped down on a knee and I requested her so it was fairly particular.”

On the sector as a pacesetter on top-of-the-line defenses within the nation, O’Connell is all about having fun with the second, and persevering with to enhance, because the Griz dive into the second half of the common season.

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“It is simply plenty of laborious work and dedication,” O’Connell stated. “Quite a lot of assist for positive from my household, my fiancé now, her household, the neighborhood of Missoula and Kalispell, after which simply the brotherhood that we’ve got right here. Everybody’s protecting me up and supporting me however I could not do it with out the staff and my coaches particularly.”





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Judge strikes down Montana law defining sex as only male or female for procedural reasons – Times of India

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Judge strikes down Montana law defining sex as only male or female for procedural reasons – Times of India


MISSOULA: A judge on Tuesday struck down a Montana law that defined “sex” in state law as only male or female, finding that it was unconstitutional.
District court judge Shane Vannatta in Missoula ruled the law, passed last year, violated the state constitution because the description of the legislation did not clearly state its purpose.
Transgender, nonbinary, intersex and other plaintiffs challenged the law, similar to ones passed in Kansas and Tennessee, because they said it denies legal recognition and protections to people who are gender-nonconforming.
Vannatta did not address that argument, simply finding that the bill’s title did not explain whether the word “sex” referred to sexual intercourse or gender, and did not indicate that the words “female” and “male” would be defined in the body of the bill.
“The title does not give general notice of the character of the legislation in a way that guards against deceptive or misleading titles,” Vannatta wrote.
The bill was approved during a legislative session that also passed a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and saw transgender lawmaker democratic rep Zooey Zephyr expelled from the house floor, following a protest against republican lawmakers who had silenced her.
The law that was struck down by Vannatta was sponsored by republican senator Carl Glimm, who said the legislation was necessary after a 2022 court ruling in which a state judge said transgender residents could change the gender markers on their birth certificates.
A spokesperson for republican governer Greg Gianforte, who signed the bill into law, did not immediately return an after-hours email seeking comment on the ruling.
The American civil liberties union of Montana praised it.
“Today’s ruling is an important vindication of the safeguards that the Montana constitution places on legislative enactments,” the group’s legal director, Alex Rate, said.





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Organizations request Montana health department investment following Medicaid redetermination • Idaho Capital Sun

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Organizations request Montana health department investment following Medicaid redetermination • Idaho Capital Sun


Thousands of Montanans lost Medicaid coverage, not because they weren’t eligible, but due to “unapproachable and unmanageable” administrative barriers at the state health department.

That’s according to a letter signed by 66 national and state organizations sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte last week asking him to include money to add additional staff to the Department of Public Health and Human Services and update outdated software, among other requests, in his budget proposal for the 2027 biennium.

The Medicaid redetermination process took place following a freeze on disenrollments during the Covid-19 pandemic, and took a total 135,000 enrollees off of Medicaid. The state’s redetermination dashboard cites the most frequent reason for disenrolling as a lack of correspondence with the department. Many former enrollees who may still be eligible now have to apply for Medicaid again for health coverage, with longer-than-usual wait times and Medicaid providers struggling to make ends meet as applications are processed.

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Health department in preliminary budget planning

The letter suggested consumer advisory groups, focus groups, surveys, and end-user testing to improve the state’s communication with clients – and said health department staffers should use plain language with clients to help reduce delays.

The state health department previously told the Daily Montanan it meets all federal standards for processing both redeterminations and new applications. Spokesperson for the department Jon Ebelt said Monday it is taking the requests in the letter under consideration in its budget planning.

“The letter makes specific budget requests, and at this time, DPHHS is in the preliminary stages of the executive budget planning process for the upcoming legislative session,” Ebelt said in a statement. “DPHHS appreciates the feedback and suggestions included in the letter and will consider them.”

The letter was addressed to Gianforte, but the Governor’s Office on Monday deferred to DPHHS in response to questions. DPHHS Director Charlie Brereton, as well as Human Services Executive Director Jessie Counts, Medicaid Chief Financial Manager Gene Hermanson and Director of Budget and Program Planning Ryan Osmundson were copied on the letter as well.

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Jackie Semmens with the Montana Budget and Policy Center, told legislators Thursday the organizations who signed onto the letter included food pantries, healthcare providers and faith organizations – places people turn to when they “can’t get the benefits they qualify for in a timely manner.”

“These organizations see people coming to food pantries when they are forced to choose between paying out of pocket for prescription or feeding their family because their Medicaid determination is delayed,” Semmens said. “These 60 plus organizations have seen firsthand how strapped the department has been during the past year, which is why they have joined together to ask the governor to improve access to public assistance.”

Organizations include the Montana Food Bank Network, the Fort Peck Tribal Health Department, Montana Head Start Association and the American Heart Association.

The letter, sent June 17, said the health department cuts made in 2017 led to 19 public assistance offices across the state to close and resulted in pressure on the staff that was left.

Medicaid unwinding exacerbated these existing issues, the letter said, and “highlighted the ways in which Montana’s safety net is outdated, inaccessible, and cumbersome for those most in need.” The organizations asked that as the governor’s administration develops its 2027 biennial budget, they invest and modernize access to Montana’s safety net services.

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Prior to each legislative session, the governor releases a budget with proposals for spending for the upcoming two fiscal years. The legislature ultimately has the power to appropriate funds, but the budget is a public statement of the investments the executive office wishes to make and approve. The legislature will meet again in January 2025.

Letter: state website is hard to navigate, more in-person assistance options needed

The organizations want to see more options for in-person assistance, which could include the reopening of rural public assistance offices. Applications completed in person are less likely to contain errors, the letter said, and would reduce procedural delays.

“In-person assistance is an essential lifeline for elderly, disabled, and rural individuals,” the organizations said.

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The state health department’s website to apply for safety net services like Medicaid or food assistance is hard to navigate, the letter said, and during the unwinding process, phone lines were jammed with people having to wait hours to speak to someone. The organizations believe the solution to the problems is better staffing at the department, although their letter did not specify how many more employees they believe are needed.

“With rural Montanans relying on these means of application, Montana should make significant investments to improve their functionality,” the letter read.

The letter said understaffing was what led to procedural delays during the Medicaid unwinding. Ebelt previously listed limited staff as one reason for Medicaid delays, along with prioritization for individuals with current inactive coverage as well as verifying previously unreported resources. He said the state meets the federal standard of paying 90 percent of “clean claims” (claims not needing additional verification) within 30 days, and 99 percent of “clean claims” in 90 days.

About 9% of cases are still pending eligibility, Counts told legislators, translating to a little under 20,000 cases.

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: [email protected]. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.

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Briefs: Going to the Sun Road; Glacier Park death; Browning tax relief

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Briefs: Going to the Sun Road; Glacier Park death; Browning tax relief


GNP’s Going to the Sun Road opens for the season

Aaron Bolton | Montana Public Radio

Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park has fully opened for the season. Park officials opened the road Saturday.

The visitor center at Logan Pass is open, but drinking water isn’t yet available.

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The road is opening with some changes to the vehicle reservation system. A reservation is required from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. for cars entering through West Glacier. Reservations aren’t required at the St. Mary entrance on the east side of the park.

Shuttle services along the road will begin July 1.

Woman dies after falling into St. Mary Falls in GNP

Edward O’Brien | Montana Public Radio

A Pennsylvania woman died yesterday Sunday afternoon after falling into the water in Glacier National Park.

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Park officials say the 26-year-old woman fell into the water above St. Mary Falls on the park’s east side.

According to witnesses, the woman was washed over the falls and trapped under the very cold and fast water for several minutes.

A park news release says bystanders pulled her from the water and administered CPR until emergency responders arrived.

Park rangers and an ambulance team from Babb took over CPR upon arrival.

An ALERT helicopter crew also assisted with resuscitation efforts, but the victim never regained consciousness.

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The victim’s name has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.

The death is under investigation. It is Glacier’s first fatality of the summer season.

Browning residents to see relief after being overcharged on tax bills 

Shaylee Ragar | Montana Public Radio

State officials are working to get refunds to Browning residents who were overcharged on their property tax bills.

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Lee Montana first reported homeowners in Browning received unusually high appraisal values and property tax bills last fall — some four times the amount they paid last year.

That led the state Department of Revenue to re-evaluate the homeowners’ properties. The agency says a computing error miscalculated the values of 385 properties in town.

Bryce Kaatz with the department told lawmakers on Monday that all affected residents should receive letters with their updated appraisals this week. He said the department is working with Glacier County to issue refunds to homeowners as quickly as possible.

Kaatz says the agency is looking at safeguards to prevent the error from happening again.

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