Montana
US tech groups back TikTok in challenge to Montana state ban
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Two tech groups on Monday backed TikTok in its lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of a Montana state ban on use of the short video sharing app before it takes effect on Jan. 1.
NetChoice, a national trade association that includes major tech platforms, and Chamber of Progress, a tech-industry coalition, said in a joint court filing that “Montana’s effort to cut Montanans off from the global network of TikTok users ignores and undermines the structure, design, and purpose of the internet.”
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, filed a suit in May seeking to block the first-of-its-kind U.S. state ban, arguing it violates the First Amendment free speech rights of the company and users.
A hearing on TikTok’s request for a preliminary injunction is set for Oct. 12.
TikTok, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, has faced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns about possible Chinese government influence.
TikTok says it “has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users.”
The tech groups said “if allowed to take effect, the ban will usher in a balkanized internet where information
available to users becomes regionally divided based on local politicians’ whims or preferences.” They added “the internet,
as a whole, will become fragmented and its value to humanity diminished.”
Montana could impose fines of $10,000 for each violation by TikTok. The law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users.
TikTok estimates 380,000 people in Montana use the video service, or more than a third of the state’s 1.1 million people.
Former President Donald Trump in 2020 sought to bar new downloads of TikTok but a series of court decisions blocked the ban from taking effect.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Montana
Power outages impacting Central Montana communities
GREAT FALLS — The spring storm that whipped across Montana this week brought heavy rain, snow, and powerful winds and disrupted utility service to several communities.
NorthWestern Energy crews are working to repair broken power poles, downed power lines, and other damage from the storms and restore service to customers affected by outages.
The utility company said in a news release that some areas will have extended outages.
Service restoration is estimated to be Thursday, May 9, for the rural White Sulphur Springs area.
Power outages in the Monarch and Neihart area are expected to extend at least through the weekend.
Additional personnel and equipment are in these areas to assist with work to restore service as quickly and safely as possible.
You can check NorthWestern Energy’s Outage Map for the most up-to-date information on outages.
Montana
Montana's unending search for solutions in need of problems • Daily Montanan
How many times in the past, oh say, year or so have you found yourself saying: I wish there was more politics in my life?
For months now, we have been hearing parents call for politics to be taken out of the schools, whether that’s in school library book bans or conversations about who can use what bathrooms when. Politics has permeated churches, schools and even family gatherings — once considered off-limits for politics.
It’s grown to be such a toxic subject that family holiday meetings have turned from awkward to open warfare in some households, and both Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If they don’t get your vote this election cycle, democracy is a goner.
That’s why it’s hard to imagine a more tone-deaf call than the cadre of Montana Freedom Caucus members who have triggered a poll to call state legislators back into session.
They want to bring all 150 lawmakers back together so that judges running for the state’s nonpartisan judiciary can declare their political parties, meaning that virtually no segment of the Treasure State government will be operating without the color of partisanship.
Not to be outdone, another dozen Republicans on Tuesday — the day after — called for a different special session, this time to deal with immigration and marijuana revenue.
It made us positively dread Wednesday to see what laughable scenario required the urgent attention of a legislative special session.
What Republicans risk, of course, is a painful and frustrating reminder of what isn’t getting done.
No one wants more politics in their life, and especially not at the state court level, which, despite temper tantrums by the Republican leadership in the legislature, continues to demonstrate itself as the adult in state government.
Keep in mind: A second legislative investigative committee, formed to come to the pre-determined conclusion that something is wrong in Montana courts, had to have what amounted to a day-long remedial civics lesson for some state Republican senators who seemed particularly aggrieved that the courts exist, let alone that they have been given power to review laws. Something about a whole system of checks and balances.
It’s telling that lawmakers who pride themselves on invoking the constitution, wearing flag pins and talking about the Founding Fathers seem to know so little about what those same founders created, including an independent, separate and co-equal judiciary.
At least I credit Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, for trying to provide a basis for the legislative committee’s inquisition.
Now, lawmakers want to convene to also take what amounts to a third pass at divvying up the proceeds from marijuana tax revenue, with the excuse that the reason they didn’t override Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto previously was out of deep concern about the separation of powers and judicial overreach.
Leaders expect us to believe that? This was the same group that seemed surprised by the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison, which established the concept of judicial review three years before Lewis and Clark came to Montana, 61 years before it became a territory and 86 years before statehood.
Lawmakers have also tucked the scare tactic of immigration into a call for the special session, after a single homeless immigrant family landed on the doorstep of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department.
I get it: When Republican governors in other states like Florida and Texas send immigrant families to perceived liberal areas, it’s giving these snowflakes a taste of their own medicine. But when the immigrants arrive here, it’s the impetus for the entire legislature to meet.
Again, who are the snowflakes?
Maybe the most vexing thing is just how horribly out of touch these lawmakers are with what is actually happening in Montana. Few Montanans who aren’t in the Legislature are concerned with the possible partisan leanings of judges. And one homeless family, sadly, is just one more family in need of affordable housing in the Treasure State, regardless of where they came from.
The purpose of a special session isn’t property tax relief. It isn’t the unchecked housing problems run amok. It’s not even to discuss what could be a potentially dangerous fire season.
Yet, despite the Republican supermajority’s penchant for solving problems that don’t rate very high on a burgeoning list of Montanan concerns, maybe we should nonetheless thank our GOP leaders for reminding us of the large gulf that seems to separate the politicians from the people of Montana.
On Tuesday, school levies, including one for safety in the state’s largest district, largely failed at the ballot box — and failed spectacularly. Erwin Garcia-Velasquez, the superintendent of Billings Public Schools, told The Billings Gazette that it was property-tax fatigue.
Meanwhile, Republicans are worried about political leanings of judicial candidates?
Maybe come back when you have a plan to fix real problems, rather than shadow punching at the judiciary or explaining why counties, most of them Republican, can’t fix roads.
Montana
State, federal & local leaders meet for annual Montana wildfire season briefing
HELENA — Despite a strong storm that brought snow to Helena Wednesday, Montana’s wildfire season isn’t far away. State, federal and local administrators met in Helena to talk about their preparations, in Gov. Greg Gianforte’s annual fire season briefing.
“It’s a great day to have a fire briefing, given the weather outside,” Gianforte joked.
Leaders met at the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s fire aviation support hangar at the Helena Regional Airport. There, DNRC maintains firefighting helicopters before they’re sent into the field ahead of the start of the season.
Matt Hall, chief of DNRC’s Fire Protection Bureau, said the department plans to hire just over 100 seasonal firefighters this year. He said they’ll be able to offer an entry-level wage of $19.05 – higher than previous years – because of the new state employee pay plan.
“I know we have a number of open fire jobs still posted today, but anticipate over the course of the next few weeks filling those positions fully with all of our seasonal staffing,” he said.
DNRC also cooperates closely with local firefighters. Hall said they’ve built 14 new wildfire engines this year, and they’re distributing them to agencies in Beaverhead, Blaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Fergus, Gallatin, Golden Valley, Meagher, Musselshell, Phillips, Powder River, Sweet Grass and Stillwater Counties.
In addition, Hall said DNRC is planning to contract for another “Type 1” helicopter – a heavy helicopter that can carry around 2,000 gallons of water.
“Today we are on track to have firefighting resources ready and available for the 2024 fire year, and we look forward to working with our partners across Montana to increase wildfire readiness, to better serve the citizens of Montana,” he said.
“Partnership” was a key word for all the agencies in attendance Wednesday. Tim Garcia, deputy regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Region, talked about their close cooperation with the state on work like Good Neighbor Authority forest management projects.
“That foundationally is based on and built on the trust and the relationships that we have with our state DNRC partners,” he said. “We encourage and direct our line officers to really make sure that we’re having those people – having everyone – at the table as we go into fire season so that, again, we have that early and often communication.”
Garcia said the USFS is also optimistic they’ll get close to their goals for firefighter staffing this year, despite challenges like the cost of housing.
Leaders said it’s still early to know what kind of fire season Montana could see this year, but they’re prepared.
“People always say, ‘Well, what’s the fire season going to look like?’ And we oftentimes say, ‘Well, we’ll tell you in October,’” said Adriane Beck, director of Missoula County’s Office of Emergency Management and representative for the Montana County Fire Wardens Association. “I say that with some confidence, in that, whatever this fire season brings, know that your counties are ready. Your county fire wardens are working year-round in coordination with the state.”
Since taking office, Gianforte has repeated two main priorities for the state’s wildfire response: aggressively attacking fires from the early stages to keep them small, and expanding the scale of active forest management work. He reiterated both points Wednesday.
“Together, we can continue to build healthier, more resilient forests, but it will take all of us,” he said.
May is also Wildfire Awareness Month. State leaders encourage residents to take steps to get themselves “fire-ready.” You can find more information at mtfireinfo.org.
“We can’t stop every wildfire from starting, but we can control our actions and our preparedness,” Gianforte said.
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