Montana
Montana's Transplant Debate: Are Newcomers Really Ruining Our State?
We hear a lot about how transplants are ruining the great state of Montana.
Over the last few years, thousands of people have moved to The Treasure State and for many Montanans, that’s been a hard pill to swallow. If you were to spend any time on social media sites that are Montana-related, chances are you will most certainly read lots of comments from disgruntled “locals”.
Of course, the strange part of that is that only about half of the state’s residents are actually from here and while it’s true, many have moved to Montana recently, according to new data, just as many people are moving away.
In my opinion, it’s not the transplants that are the problem, it’s the fact that we live in this environment of “if you don’t agree with me and my belief system, then you’re wrong, and screw you”.
Over the next several months we will be indoctrinated with political ads on TV, Radio, and Social Media and if history repeats itself, the majority of those ads won’t talk about the accomplishments of the candidate running, but everything wrong with the candidate that is going against them.
Somewhere along the way, many Montanans have simply refused to listen to anyone who has a different opinion than them.
Instead of focusing on things that benefit everyone and the state, we instead focus on who is “liberal” and who is “conservative”. While many Montanans are under the impression that liberalism is new to the state, the truth is, that two of the biggest cities in Montana have leaned liberal for decades. Both Bozeman and Missoula are “college towns” and like most college towns across the United States, tend to be a little more left.
On the other hand, Montana is filled with small towns and like most small towns across the country, tends to lean a little more conservative. In other words, it’s kind of always been this way, and this isn’t anything new. The difference is that we have multiple platforms to share our opinions and viewpoints and while technology is a wonderful thing, it has also caused quite a riff in our society and how we treat each other.
Like many Montanans, I’m conservative on some issues and a little more liberal on others. I find myself somewhere in the category of “I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone.”
The truth is, this country and this state are big enough to have all kinds of opinions and just because someone doesn’t share mine, certainly doesn’t make them better or worse than me. Until we can compromise and meet somewhere in the middle, Montana will continue to suffer, no matter how many “transplants” move here.
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HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.
County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.
The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”
The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.
The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.
Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate
- 13,327 required
- 18,772 accepted
- 7,812 rejected
Kimberly Persico, MT-01
- 6,742 required
- 563 accepted
- 156 rejected
Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02
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- 7,274 required
- 7,754 accepted
- 4,720 rejected
Severe storms moved through parts of Montana on Thursday, prompting a total of 5 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. Reports included strong wind gusts and hail in several communities, including Augusta, Choteau, Sunburst, Bigfork, Kalispell and Evergreen.
The strongest reported wind gust was 60 mph near Augusta, while hail up to 1 inch was reported near Evergreen and Kalispell.
STORM REPORTS:
12 SE Grant — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
7 NNE Augusta — 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Sunburst — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Ennis — 59 mph thunderstorm wind gust
3 SSW Ennis — 52 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 E Helena — 54 mph thunderstorm wind gust
19 E Swan Lake — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
2 NNW Yaak — thunderstorm wind damage – Multiple downed trees reported along Highway 2 between MM 3 and 8
3 WSW Blacktail — 53 mph thunderstorm wind gust
1 NNW Troy — 49 mph thunderstorm wind gust
5 ENE Choteau — 56 mph thunderstorm wind gust
Turah — 0.88″ hail
1 NNW Bigfork — 0.75″ hail
3 SW La Salle — 0.50″ hail
2 N Evergreen — 1.00″ hail
1 W Kalispell — 1.00″ hail
3 WNW Kalispell — 0.75″ hail
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Have a storm photo to share, UPLOAD it at NBCMontana.com/chimein
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A man from Las Vegas has been sentenced after stealing coins and precious metals from a Helena shop in Montana.
This comes after Bishop Lott, 47, pleaded guilty in January to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.
A judge sentenced Lott on Thursday to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $276,153.08 in restitution to the Helena business as well as five other theft victims.
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The government alleged in court documents that Lott, along with Ricky Rynell Rose, broke into Wayne Miller Coins in Helena and stole nearly $59,000 in coins and precious metals from a Helena business.
Rose pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 39 months in prison.
The Helena Police Department received a call on March 3, 2024, reporting that Wayne Miller Coins had been burglarized earlier that day.
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As part of their investigation, Helena police officers reviewed surveillance footage from multiple businesses. They analyzed email account data, which led them to Lott and Rose, who had taken the stolen material to Nevada.
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