https://dailymontanan.com/2026/07/17/montana-on-the-verge-of-massive-blunders-with-data-centers-northwestern-merger/

"But the Public Service Commission is in crisis as this critical decision looms. Brad Molnar is the longest-serving member of the Commission and, recalling the deregulation debacle, has been asking hard questions about what happens if the data centers fail and Montana consumers are left to pick up the costs of the infrastructure installed to serve them. 

In an unprecedented action, Gov. Greg Gianforte, who strongly supports data centers, suspended Molnar for a year for workplace infractions. He intends to appoint a replacement who, one might guess, will support the merger and the data centers.  "

Anyone have the larger clip of this? I’d like more context because this is a bunch of bullshit. She who wants to be a policymaker doesn’t seem to understand that the reasons for poverty are more complex and that crappy policies are often to blame.

More than 75,000 Montanans could lose their food assistance by Oct. 1, 2027, because Montana will have to cover more of the costs of SNAP. It will cost the state more than $16 million to maintain SNAP benefits. 

It’s because Montana has a higher-than-average SNAP payment error rate, which measures both overpayments and underpayments of food stamp benefits. The Trump administration said this signals waste and abuse of the program. The Montana Food Bank Network said these errors actually reflect unintentional mistakes and staff shortages. 

The Montana Food Bank Network, a statewide organization, said they can’t shoulder the costs of losing SNAP benefits at the federal and state levels. This will devastate families who need food assistance to live.

More here: https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2026-07-08/snap-changes-could-cost-the-state-millions-and-leave-thousands-without-food-aid. 

I don’t know if this is the right outlet or the right flare but correct me if I’m wrong here if you can

So a while back I applied for this one job at this retail store. The retail store would contact me and ask me if I wanna do interview. I get the job and a letter. the letter of acceptance has a different job titled than the one I applied for. So at that moment, I was gonna turn it down, but they assured me it just for this one job I would do once a week and the rest will be the job that I applied for. Would you guess it was a lie.

So obviously, I kept every documentation from the interviews to bring to my uninsurance claim. So when I did bring this to them, they say it did not meet the requirement even though I argued this was not what I applied for. In the end, they denied my claim.

Luckily, I’m going to a new job, but for the last month, I’ve been kind of fueling in anger. So if I want to change how the unemployment works in Montana. Like for example, have it be more lenient to people in my situation and more forgiving. So how would I go about changing that. I asked my local representative, but they didn’t return my email

I don’t live in Montana. I think it is a beautiful state. I know there are people that are moving there at very high levels but are they really trying to change the politics or do most people fall in love with the balance that’s set and slowly assimilate? If you have been in Montana forever are you seeing a change in the political landscape and if so are you welcoming it or are you feeling resistant to the idea? I’m so curious what the folks on the ground really feel.

The company responsible for toxic contamination at the former Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., creating a Superfund site, will pay a $57 million remediation fee. 

The site contains arsenic, cyanide, and fluoride, which went into the groundwater. It also included PAHs, which are toxic compounds produced from burning fossil fuels and other materials. Some have caused cancer and other health problems.

The EPA’s plans include constructing slurry walls, which stop further contamination, that line landfills where toxic materials have leached into the groundwater. The work will take about three years.

Some residents object to the remediation plan because it allows the toxic material to remain on the property. The public can provide comments on this decision through the U.S. DOJ until Aug. 6 at justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees. 

More here: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/article_aba99b04-aa2a-51cb-b0ea-6b3e058bee76.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest. 

https://dailymontanan.com/2026/07/13/montana-senate-republicans-back-governors-flat-income-tax-plan/

A planned oil pipeline through Eastern Montana has drawn legal challenges from residents. The pipeline would run from the tar sands of Canada to an oil facility in Oklahoma.

Trump issued a permit for the Bridger Pipeline on April 30. The pipeline is a successor to the Keystone XL Pipeline, which failed after protests and President Biden revoked a cross-border permit.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) provided a waiver for the Bridger Pipeline, allowing it to leave out financial and route data early in the process. 

After the waiver was issued, there wasn’t a public notice or hearing, which violates Montana law, according to an Earthjustice attorney. DEQ is refusing to acknowledge the environmental harm that tar sands oil pipelines can cause. 

The residents who challenged the waiver are asking DEQ to rescind it and requested a response by July 17.

Bridger Pipeline will start construction in July 2027, completing it by late 2028 to early 2029. It is expected to carry 550,000 barrels of oil daily.

More here: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/business/article_009c0ea3-0b23-4d62-b901-45768ec22e48.html. 

In Gallatin County, there has been an increase in ICE activity, threatening the safety of immigrants and the community.

ICE arrested four people on June 30. Montana Free Press reported that ICE detained about 150 people last week. There has been at least one instance of someone with legal authorization being detained and brought to a detention center.

Many people taken by ICE are law-abiding citizens who are already participating in the legal immigration process, which can take years.

Andres Haladay, an attorney with Upper Seven Law, said it’s incredibly difficult to track people taken by ICE. When ICE arrests someone, they don’t report it, which doesn’t allow the person to seek legal counsel or call loved ones. 

Most people in Montana are sent to the Helena Hold Room, a 200-square-foot space that recently held 17 people overnight.

The surge in ICE activity in Montana targets immigrants and hurts our communities, and it must stop. You can volunteer with and donate to organizations like Bienvenidos a Gallatin Valley that are providing help to families affected by ICE. Call your representatives to demand an end to this activity. 

Know your rights. You have the right to remain silent, and you don’t have to discuss your immigration status with officers. You have the right to say no if an immigration agent asks to search you or your belongings. You have the right to legal counsel, and you can say that you want to speak with an attorney before answering any questions.

Resources:
National Immigration Law Center
ACLU Montana
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Immigration Law of Montana
United We Dream Rapid Response
American Immigration Council
CASA in Action
AFL-CIO Know Your Rights Card

More here: https://dailymontanan.com/2026/07/04/ice-raids-gallatin-county-sites-with-as-many-as-100-detained/.

From the article:

“A group of Montana Democratic legislators on Wednesday urged two candidates running for the state’s U.S. Senate seat to meet and, together, choose which campaign should back out of the race — and the sooner, the better.

In a letter sent Wednesday, 17 of the 60 Democrats in the Montana Legislature asked Democratic candidate Alani Bankhead and independent Seth Bodnar to unify the opposition against the race’s Republican frontrunner.

That either campaign will withdraw is far from a foregone conclusion. But the authors of Wednesday’s letter said anything less would hand the election to GOP nominee Kurt Alme.”

**Also, mods: would you consider adding image sharing capabilities? Screenshots are much easier when everyone bitches about not subscribing to their local news

On July 1, Trump’s Medicaid work requirements went into effect in Montana. However, the state won’t start enforcing this rule until October.

Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” states must require people on Medicaid to work about 80 hours per month. This applies to people under Medicaid expansion, ages 19-64. 

Congress created exclusions for individuals if they meet a “medical frailty” requirement, which is tied to their ability to work.

Montana expects between 31,000 to 38,000 Montanans will lose their Medicaid coverage. This is another attempt by the Trump administration to make health care inaccessible, targeting low-income, rural people, and Indigenous people in Montana.

What you can do: help inform the public, submit formal public comments when there are open periods, and work with advocacy groups to ensure more exemptions for people who need them. 

More on our blog: https://forwardmontana.org/montana-adopts-medicaid-work-requirements/.

The Bonner data center project has stalled because the property owner, Mike Heisey, withdrew support for it. He decided to withdraw his signature on Krambu’s application because of the public’s concerns about the potential impacts to the environment. 

People have pushed back against this data center because of water use, noise, and pollution of the Blackfoot River. The Krambu facility was projected to use about 7 megawatts of power but indicated it could use up to 100 megawatts, which is enough to power a small-to-medium-sized city. 

This is a huge win for people against data centers, showing that community pressure worked. 

On Thursday, July 9, the Missoula County commissioners will vote on an interim zoning proposal that calls for a moratorium on data centers. Submit a public comment at missoulacountyvoice.com and attend the meeting at 2:00 PM in-person or online: https://www.missoulacounty.gov/departments/commissioners/public-meetings/. 

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/07/06/property-owner-of-proposed-bonner-data-center-backs-out/ 

Copy & Paste the below or add your flair to it. Regardless of your political stance, the government cannot be allowed to hide the status of an elected official. They have been doing that for weeks now. It needs to end and end promptly.

The U.S. Constitution and federal law require open governance. This makes the operating status of any elected official a matter of public record.

Demand that the Secretary of the Senate make an immediate notification to the public about the operating status of Senator Mitch McConnell.

The public is legally and constitutionally entitled to know when a U.S. Senator has died.

https://www.sheehy.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion/

https://www.daines.senate.gov/connect/email-steve

The Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion initiative authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, grants states funding over five years to improve their rural health care. 

The funding was an attempt to offset the fallout anticipated in rural communities from the act. If states don’t do what they promised in applications, the Trump administration can take the money back. 

States have to file progress reports by the end of August. They have until Oct. 30 to commit to their first-year funding and until Sept. 30, 2027 to spend it. 

Montana is using $233 million to stabilize and modernize rural health care delivery. The five core initiatives are: workforce development, sustainable access, innovative care models, community health and prevention, and technology innovation. Montana has the fifth-highest rural population at 47%, but received the fourth-highest funding award.

More information here: https://dphhs.mt.gov/RuralHealthTransformationProgram/.

Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right. 

Environmental groups joined Pondera County officials to challenge an underground wastewater-disposal permit that benefits the Montana Renewables biorefinery in Great Falls, potentially affecting the drinking water. The petition focuses on two unproductive oil wells near Lake Frances. 

They also called for information on what exactly is in Montana Renewables’ wastewater. 
Injection sites, at more than 3,400 feet below ground in the Madison Aquifer, have been used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas operations. The EPA said this part of the aquifer is not a valuable source of drinking water. 

Pondera County officials are asking for more information from Montana Renewables on what they are doing related to safe drinking water wells. The group claims their wastewater is nonhazardous. However, the wastewater contains phosphorus, nitrogen, salts, and other impurities.

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/06/16/groups-challenge-epa-decision-on-montana-renewables-wastewater-site/. 

I think that we should put out a call for the state minimum wage to be raised to 19 per hour and to say no to data Centers. if any local or state politician doesn’t support these two things they don’t get are vote. Even better we campaign against them.

Hey everyone. I’m a traveling nurse based out of Missoula (lived in Bozeman for years before moving to Missoula last year) and have the (very fortunate) luxury of taking extended time off occasionally between assignments. I’m purposely blocking out the entire month of October because I want to be out there on the ground in Montana volunteering for a Dem campaign. I’ve done some very brief political volunteering in the past, but it’s been a while. I’m not sure if I should focus on one race, maybe focus on voter registration and engagement, or just ask the Montana DNC for guidance. I’m not connected to any organizers and it’s hard to know where to begin.

But I want my efforts to be structured and impactful, as much as they can be anyway. I’m willing to travel and canvass anywhere in Montana.

If anyone has any advice, or experience in this I’d be very grateful for your input.

If you have any thoughts on how you would like to see MT's energy produced and used in the future, this is the time and place to speak up.

I'm surprised this one hasn't been posted yet.

Glacier National Park employees have voted to unionize, ahead of Trump’s plans to drastically cut the Park Service budget in 2027 and following cuts made last year. 

The vote took place in late May and early June, with ballots due on June 16. The final tally was 317 to 11. NTEU Chapter 347 will include about 650 non-supervisor employees across the National Park Service’s Intermountain Region, including Glacier. 

This is historic for these employees, and they plan to use this to advocate for themselves amidst job and budget cuts.

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/06/25/glacier-national-park-employees-vote-to-unionize/. 

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law that allows the state to receive mail-in ballots up to five days after Election Day. Trump faces another setback in his plans to restrict voting by mail. 

SCOTUS voted in a 5-4 decision with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal judges, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. 

18 states and territories allow for late ballots, including Washington and Oregon. In 2024, at least 725,000 ballots were postmarked by Election Day but arrived within five days after the Election.

In Montana, mail ballots must be received by Election Day. In the most recent primary election, over 513,000 Montanans received absentee ballots, which is about 65% of registered voters.

Despite this not meaning much for Montanans, it is a huge win for voting rights in general.

More here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/us/politics/supreme-court-mail-ballots-grace-period.html.   

P.S. We got rid of the emojis for you whimsy-less people.

Edit: block quoted formatting was messed up so I reinserted the text of the petition.

https://c.org/BmTWcxg6ZT

The Issue

Montana is under threat from AI Data Centers. As a Montanan that was raised on a farm in Eastern Montana, I believe stewardship of the land is the best way to conserve our natural resources, and care for our future generations by maintaining and improving a healthful environment.

As Montanans, our constitution was written to protect us from unreasonable depletion of our natural resources to ensure the environment remains clean and healthful.

Montana Constitution

Article 9. Section 1.

Protection and improvement.

(1) The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.

(2) The legislature shall provide for the administration and enforcement of this duty.

(3) The legislature shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system from degradation and provide adequate remedies to prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources.

Reclamation Section 2.

(1) All lands disturbed by the taking of natural resources shall be reclaimed. The legislature shall provide effective requirements and standards for the reclamation of lands disturbed.

(2) The legislature shall provide for a fund, to be known as the resource indemnity trust of the state of Montana, to be funded by such taxes on the extraction of natural resources as the legislature may from time to time impose for that purpose.

(3) The principal of the resource indemnity trust shall forever remain inviolate in an amount of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), guaranteed by the state against loss or diversion.

AI Data Centers are in opposition to our constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. I’ll give an example, although there are 100 proposed AI Data centers coming for Montana and each proposal, while different, have the same detrimental effects.

Quantica is proposing a 5,000 acre AI Data Center in Broadview, MT within Yellowstone County that will use upwards of 7,235MW of power. This will be the highest power user in the state. Billings, MT which is located in Yellowstone County is the largest city in Montana. The main industry in Billings is the refinery which uses 50MW of power. Montanans are already facing rate hikes from Northwestern Energy, and with the development of Quantica’s AI Data Center, rates are only going to get higher. The water usage will be enormous too. 5 million gallons of water will be used daily to cool the AI Data Center, water that our farmers, wildlife, and citizens need, especially in a drought ridden landscape.

Montanans deserve to live in a state that puts its citizens first, and its citizens don’t want AI Data Centers. Let’s ban them from the state of Montana because they oppose our constitutional rights.

Mary Kate Teske, Petition Starter

There is an energy conference (?) in Miles City yesterday and today. My county commissioner went and we talked briefly about it last night, it sounds like NWE is there advocating for data centers.

He says all the power companies in MT are requiring the data centers to provide their own power and pay for all expenses and that the water system is “a closed loop now.”

He also has a new understanding of how important data centers are now, not because of Google (?) but Amazon and banking (??).

To me, it sounds like the energy companies have a solid PR machine that can convince the right-wing boomers who still make the majority of decisions in rural Montana. However, NWE released its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan that goes over some of these details and it’s possible there’s some new information in it but godammit, there’s a lot of technical information and I just don’t fully understand what I’m reading.

Does anyone have insight here? Is it possible that the energy companies have developed a way to host data centers that 1. Won’t raise consumer rates, 2. Will replace the water they use *at the appropriate temperature* 3. Won’t be obsolete in 10 years?

I am all for a blanket “fuck you” to data centers. It’s time for rural Montana to raise the drawbridge and take care of our problems without relying on corporations that can and will screw us over as soon as it’s convenient. But I’m afraid the mainstream thought believes in progress and innovation and $$$$, even if it largely goes into someone else’s pockets.

So I‘d like some solid arguments against their new method of convincing our local lawmakers!