Montana
Transparency still one of Montana's cherished values • Daily Montanan
A few days ago, I was in Costco, and just as I rounded a corner, I passed a woman on the phone who said “Yeah, we was out digging, and when we come back in, there was Eric, dead in a mud puddle.”
That was the entirety of what I heard of the conversation, so I have as many questions as you do about what this single sentence meant in this woman’s life. From the lack of emotion in her voice, I had to assume that she was talking about a dog, but it’s entirely possible that it was one of her relatives, or someone who worked for them. Maybe even a vehicle?
This little incident made me think about the fact that you never really know what’s going on in someone’s life until you hear, as Paul Harvey used to say “the rest of the story.”
And as has been the case with so many of our most prominent politicians in recent years, the concerted effort to keep the rest of the story away from public view has become an art form, particularly in the Republican party. Greg Gianforte has somehow built a career in Montana without making himself available to public scrutiny. His “rallies” have generally been highly controlled gatherings, vetted to include only those who support him. After the way he handled a question he didn’t like in his first congressional race, it’s not hard to imagine why his handlers have taken this approach but it seems even more calculated than that.
It seems as if Gianforte and most of his contemporaries have come to realize that as long as they have an “R” next to their names, they don’t have to say much to garner support in Montana. So talking about anything publicly, or having any information released to the public, is actually risky.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen found this out the hard way recently when he gave the OK to the Colonel of the Highway Patrol, Steve Lavin, to conduct a survey among his staff, and the results of the survey were not flattering, especially toward Knudsen himself.
When the Daily Montanan published these results, Knudsen was so furious that he had his office issue a cease-and-desist order to the newspaper, trying to get them to retract the article. But of course this survey fell under the public information act because it was conducted by a government agency, so he didn’t have a leg to stand on, something you’d expect an attorney to understand. But Knudsen is not your ordinary attorney. He thinks nothing of bending the rules for his own benefit.
In fact, he went on to make the decision to force out Lavin, giving him no explanation, but considering it happened right after the survey, it’s pretty easy math. When Lavin did a little research and realized that firing him without cause was not legal, he filed a lawsuit, and this is just the latest in a series of charges against Knudsen, who is already being investigated for 41 instances of professional misconduct.
It has become increasingly clear, as Gianforte tried to avoid agreeing to a debate with Democratic challenger Ryan Busse, and Knudsen attempts to stifle the truth, that the Republican party in Montana is working hard to control the narrative, and only dole out a few morsels of information about what they’re up to. Because when the truth is damning, people generally do whatever they can to stifle it. Thankfully, we still have enough of a press in this country to bring these facts to light.
But please, Montanans, be aware of how hard these people are working to hide their truth from you. Although Gianforte eventually agreed to a debate, he still rarely makes public appearances that aren’t completely staged. Transparency has always been valuable to Montanans, and it should be even more so now.
BUTTE, Mont. — The Sentinel Spartans are the kings of Montana AA baseball.
In the inaugural season of AA baseball in the Treasure State, Sentinel took the title by winning three games in two days at the State AA Tournament, culminating with a 6-3 championship game victory over the Gallatin Raptors.
“It’s tough to find words right now,” said Sentinel head coach Brian Moser. “It was pretty emotional celebrating with the guys. Just really happy for them. What an opportunity. They took advantage of it. Very proud of them. Very appreciative of everything they’ve done for me and Sentinel High School and Sentinel baseball. It’s a great night to be a Spartan.”
Junior Stellan Ridley was stellar for Sentinel, with two triples, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Kaden Thennis added two hits, two runs, and an RBI while also drawing a hit by pitch. Owen Dale had a hit and a run batted in.
“We have a great mentality,” said Ridley. “I’m so proud of these young guys. As a junior and the seniors, leading us to this and showing how discipline works. We faced some chirpy people, and we just stayed with our level of the game and we performed, as you can see. We won the State Tournament!”
Each win for Sentinel in the tournament came in vastly different fashion.
The Spartans earned a nine-inning victory in their quarterfinal against Butte on Thursday, then came back from a 6-0 deficit after 4.5 innings in their Friday semifinal matinee against the Glacier Wolfpack. But on Friday night, in a game that started at 10 p.m. and ended at 12:08 a.m., Sentinel took an early lead and never trailed enroute to a victory over a Raptors team that had lost just one game all season.
“I had never played a game that late. Going from the early game, it was good that we had that little gap, we got to recuperate and take a solid power nap and come back out here with a lot of energy. Because if we came out flat, there was no way. But we came out with a lot of energy, and we stuck it to them. I mean, that team was good,” said Ridley of their hot start in the title game.
“Baseball is a funny game. There’s a lot of ways to win, there’s a lot of ways to lose. Just happy for the guys for sticking to it and never giving up.” said Moser. “Honestly, it takes a couple of lucky bounces here and there in a State Tournament, and we got those and took advantage. Beat a really, really good Gallatin team tonight. Just extremely proud.”
Gallatin managed to tie the game at 3 apiece in the fifth inning before the Spartans scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh, allowing freshman pitcher Lucas Johansson to earn the win and the save on the mound.
“It’s a big deal. 3 runs are way more than 1. It takes a lot of what the offense can do away. So those were huge, huge runs,” said Moser.
Johansson picked up two of the three wins in the tournament for Sentinel, while fellow freshman Paxson Onstot had the victory in the triumph over Glacier.
“I’m not going to say that’s how we drew it up, but that hopefully gives them confidence to come back next year ready to go,” said Moser. “We’ll have a target on our backs, but that’s okay. A lot of youth, it’s fun.”
Keaton Elliott tossed the first 4.1 innings of the title game for Sentinel, allowing just two hits, three earned runs, and five walks while striking out two.
The title marked the end of a remarkable turnaround for a Spartans team that started the season with a record of 5-7 before winning 10 of their last 11.
“(We got) absolutely shamed by our entire school (at assembly). It sat with me this whole time and I hated that. I just had so much drive,” said Ridley. “What are they going to say now?”
Wyatt Ford pitched a complete game for Gallatin, allowing three earned runs, five hits and a hit by pitch while striking out 10 on 103 pitches.
Ford and Louis Musial had the Raptors only two hits on the night, a triple and double, respectively, while Harvey Kimmel had two runs batted in.
Sentinel ends their season with a record of 15-8, while Gallatin concluded their campaign at 18-2.
“I think Gallatin came in here a little cocky. One loss the whole season, thinking they were going to probably roll us,” said Ridley. “No. We showed them up. Their eyes got big, and they realized we’re not a team to mess with.”
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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