The Helena City Commission announced Monday the three finalists to fill its city manager position.

After nearly two months of a turbulent recruitment process that included an ongoing lawsuit, the commission selected Janet Hawkinson, the town manager from Palisade, Colorado; Douglas Schulze, most recently the city manager of Banning, California; and Helena’s Alana Lake, the current executive director of the Montana Public Service Commission.

The Helena City Commission will begin public interviews of the candidates on Monday, Dec. 8, at the City-County Building, 316 N. Park Ave. Schulze will be the first interview from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., followed by Hawkinson’s interview from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 

Later that day, the public will have the opportunity to ask questions of the two out-of-town finalists during town hall meetings on the second floor of the Montana Club, 24 W. Sixth Ave. Schulze’s town hall will be from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by Hawkinson from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the commission will hold its public interview of Lake from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Her town hall will be in the City-County Building’s commission chambers from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The city has provided online meeting links for each interview and town hall meeting, which can be accessed on the city commission’s Zoom hub.  

The commission will hold its final deliberation on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the commission chambers from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Hawkinson has been the town manager of Palisade, a town with a population of 2,600 as of 2024, since 2018. According to the city press release, she previously served as the director of community development for Minturn, Colorado. She holds a master’s degree in landscape architecture and urban planning from the University of Colorado, Denver, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fort Lewis College.

Schulze has more than 36 years of experience in municipal leadership, according to the city release, and has led city governments in Sandstone, Minnesota, and the communities of Medina, Normandy Park and Bainbridge Island, all in Washington state. Most recently, he served as city manager of Banning, California, a city of approximately 32,000 people, although he was placed on indefinite paid leave from that position last February, according to the Riverside Record. It’s unclear if that paid leave is ongoing. The mayor of Banning told the local newspaper that Schulze was not under an investigation but that it was ” … a matter of looking at some concerns.”

Schulze holds a master’s degree in urban studies and a bachelor’s degree in public administration, although the city release doesn’t specify where he earned those degrees. 

Lake joined the Montana Public Service Commission, the state board that regulates shareholder-owned utilities, as its executive director this past March. According to the city release, she has more than 10 years of experience in military and federal law enforcement, including work with the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. She has led teams across the globe that involved criminal investigation, security, and counterintelligence operations, gaining experience with interagency coordination and planning. 

Lake previously served as a counterintelligence officer at the Idaho National Laboratory, advising senior officials on national security risks, guarding infrastructure and expanding intelligence programs, the release stated.

Lake graduated from Montana State University and earned her master’s degree in business administration from Boise State University. The release stated that she is currently attending the Command and Staff College through the Marine Corps University. 

The release comes after current City Manager Tim Burton announced in September that he planned to retire at the end of this year, jumpstarting the commission’s process in finding his replacement. 

That search sparked a lawsuit brought against the city by a former commissioner, who alleged that a commission subcommittee had violated Montana’s open meeting laws when initiating the recruitment process. The city responded to the lawsuit in November, claiming that the subcommittee, comprising City Mayor Wilmott Collins and Commissioner Sean Logan, had not violated any open meeting laws because the committee is not a “governmental body” or agency.

Additionally, the city also maintains that the lawsuit is void since the city revised its process to include all members of the commission in further meetings regarding the recruitment and hiring of the new city manager.

In a recent court filing, lawyers for the plaintiff have argued that the city’s change to involve all commission members does not resolve their original request for a preliminary injunction. They’ve also asked the court to disband the subcommittee.

MONTANA Brown has been forced to call in pest control after thousands of “disgusting”, unidentified bugs infested her home.

The former Love Island star initially took to social media to ask her followers if any of them knew what the bugs were – and how to get rid of them.

“Can someone tell me what these pests are?” Montana wrote over the top of the video.

“I have cleaned all my cupboards and they will not go away!”

“It’s making me sick,” she added in the video caption.

And people in the comments were divided as to what the bugs could actually be.

HELLHOLE

We’re trapped in UK’s towers of TERROR where RATS, cockroaches & bed bugs run rife

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HOUSE THAT

People say my post-holiday cleaning routine freaks them out but I never get dust

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“We had an infestation of book lice, could it be these??” one wrote.

“Dust mites?” another mused.

“We had something similar had to have someone out to gas out the kitchen, had to throw away loads of appliances etc because they live and lay thousands of eggs.

“Get an exterminator ASAP – they breed like mad.”

“Flour mites, you need to throw everything out in your storage cupboards that is not sealed,” a third insisted.

“Then clean everything with hot soapy water.

“They come from if you have a packet open that is not sealed properly like flour, tortilla chips or any grain – the worst.”

However, in another video, Montana went on to explain that she’s cleaned out the cupboards “probably about 10 to 15 times”, and has cling film over “all the dried goods”.

“So I have got someone from pest control coming tomorrow and they will identify this little bug,” she explained.

Montana also joked the person who got the bug species right would win “£2 million from me”.

“Because a lot of you have come out with some pretty crazy insects that I have never heard of in my entire life,” she laughed.

“And I’m going to be impressed with whoever wins the competition.

Common garden pests

Common pests in the garden don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work on getting rid of them and preventing them from returning.

Aphids (Greenfly, Blackfly)

Aphids are extremely common and can impact plant growth. They have tiny soft pear-shaped bodies, and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stem of soft shoots – look under leaves in particular – or may find a sticky substance on your plants that gives away aphids have been there sucking at the sap.

Whitefly

These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, at just 1 or 2 mm in length, and look very much like white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when you disturb them. Their lifecycle is only three weeks long, which means an infestation can occur very rapidly.

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Slugs

An unmissable, squashy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs move along on one muscular foot. They range in scale from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; limax cinereoniger species can grow comfortably beyond 20 cm in length.

Cabbage Moth Caterpillar

Cabbage moth caterpillars happily make their way into the heart of the vegetables, The caterpillars are distinguished in shades of yellow or browny green with no hair.

Mealy Bug

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Mealybugs are tiny oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what looks like legs coming from their sides and back end. In their earliest stage of life, it’s entirely possible to mistake them for fungus and not recognise them as insects at all.

“So, stay tuned!”

“Can’t wait for my £2m hehe!” one person commented on that video.

“You have to throw away all the dried goods sadly, the cling film won’t do it.

“We literally threw out every single thing out of cupboards and had to rebuy it all.”

“Good luck! I hope they go – they made my life hellll!” another said, adding that they think they’re “book lice” aka plaster beetles.

BOULDER, Colo. — Taylee Chirrick’s driving layup with 1.7 seconds left lifted Montana State to a 71-70 women’s basketball victory on the road over Colorado of the Big 12 on Sunday.

With seconds ticking away and MSU trailing 70-69, Chirrick beat two defenders along the near sideline and broke toward the basket to lay in the go-ahead points. A last-ditch heave by the Buffaloes missed, and the Bobcats improved to 5-1 overall.

“This team showed championship toughness and grittiness in the second half,” MSU coach Tricia Binford stated in a press release. “They fought and clawed their way back against a very good team. I’m very proud of everyone’s effort.”

Colorado’s Desiree Wooten gave her team the lead with nine seconds left with a driving three-point play. But Chirrick and Montana State were able to complete a comeback that saw the Bobcats erase a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter.

A layup by CU’s Anaelle Dutat had the Bobcats down 61-49 with 9:24 remaining; the Cats closed the game on a 22-9 run.

Chirrick, a sophomore from Roberts, finished with a game-high 21 points. She made 6 of 15 from the floor and went 7 for 7 from the foul line. Addison Harris added 19 points, and Heidi Smith scored eight of her 10 in the fourth quarter to boost the Bobcats’ rally.

Harris and Chirrick led MSU with six rebounds apiece. Chirrick also had three assists and four steals. The Bobcats scored 20 points off 23 Colorado turnovers.

Jade Masogayo led the Buffaloes with 16 points while Wooten had 14. Dutat finished with 10 points and a game-best nine rebounds.

Montana State will next travel to Fargo, N.D., to face North Dakota State on Wednesday as part of the Big Sky/Summit League Challenge. The Bobcats will host North Dakota on Saturday.