Montana

May 6, 2025 Western Montana election results (unofficial)

Published

10 months ago

May 7, 2025

May 6, 2025 Western Montana election results (unofficial)

MISSOULA — The polls have closed for the Tuesday, May 6, 2025, election and the results for races are being tallied.

Several districts from Kalispell to Hamilton to Missoula had levies on the ballot, asking voters to fund everything from staff salaries to safety improvements.

Missoula County

Missoula County Public Schools is seeking an elementary general fund levy that would pay for things like the art and music programs along with utilities and staff salaries. The levy was set at just under $385,000. MCPS also put a high school general fund levy to the voters at just over $164,000 to help pay for things like supplies and curriculum.

Bonner is seeking an elementary school general fund levy for just under $25,000. The district is also asking voters for a safety levy amounting to just under $25,000.

Frenchtown voters were asked to decide on a $539,000 operations mill levy, which the superintendent told MTN that rising costs are outpacing the school’s budget.

Building safety was also on the ballot for Target Range, where officials were asking for $250,000 from taxpayers to pay for improvements to the school.

The Hellgate Elementary School District is asking for a $200,000 general fund levy from voters, which would be used for general operations such as salaries and utilities. The district is also asking for a nearly $272,000 safety and security levy.

DeSmet School asked taxpayers for $31,000 to address inflationary costs and utility issues, like heating.

Lolo School was asking for $97,000 for their general fund mill levy to improve academic opportunities for students.

The East Missoula Rural Fire District was asking for $300,000 to increase its operating budget.

Flathead County

Residents in Kalispell were asked to vote for a$2.9 million high school district general fund levy. A high school district levy hasn’t passed in Kalispell since 2007. The levy would fund instruction and operations of Flathead and Glacier high schools. Kalispell School District Superintendent Matt Jensen told KPAX that 21 full-time positions will be eliminated if the levy fails, along with major cuts to popular programs including the Ag Center, sports, music and theater, speech and debate and more.

Whitefish Schools are also facing a budget deficit, which is why they turned to the voters this year. School officials proposed a levy of up to $100,000.

As we reported just a few weeks ago, Deer Park School in the Flathead was asking voters for $4 million. The money would replace some buildings as the school runs out of space.

West Valley Fire is asking for an almost $263,000 levy. The money would help pay for more staff and better equipment.

Ravalli County

The Hamilton School District has a $49 million bond before residents. Voters recently approved selling the middle school property. If approved, the bond creates a fourth to eighth grade campus at the current Westview property. Fourth and fifth grade students will be located in a remodeled version of the current Westview building, and sixth through eighth grades will be located in a newly constructed building. School officials say these two buildings will be connected by shared services spaces that reduce the cost of the project but still keep the age groups separate during the school day. The bond term will be 25 years.

Lake County

The Arlee School District is asking for technology levies for both the high school and elementary school. $35,000 is on the ballot for the high school district. The Arlee Elementary District had the same request at $35,000.

Source link

Click to comment

Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

3 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

Source link

Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

16 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

State

Zip Code

Country

Source link

Montana

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

Source link