Dave Stalling

Dylan Helms has a rare disease called Friedreich’s ataxia that affects his nervous system and keeps him from walking. But it didn’t keep him from flying through the clear, blue skies over Missoula Sunday afternoon.

For those headed to Milltown State Park east of Missoula, the ride’s about to get a bit smoother and easier thanks to a new agreement between the county and state. 

The Missoula Board of County Commissioners voted Thursday to establish Missoula County Justice Court as a “court of record” beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

Missoula County commissioners on Thursday expressed their interest in restoring passenger rail service to Missoula, saying the costs could be recovered in economic and other public benefits.

Missoula County commissioners voted Wednesday to pay more than $307,000 to the state and nearly $150,000 to the county superintendent of schools to correct errors made by the Montana Department of Revenue between 2009 and 2017.

Three years ago, Missoula County voters expressed support for a new public library. Today, the building is rising rapidly and on schedule to open by mid-2020.

More than two-thirds of the glass we use ends up in landfills, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Now a Missoula-based nonprofit is working to change that, and is getting a boost with a new glass recycling transfer station set to open in mid-October.

Liquid Planet is moving from its current location, at 223 N. Higgins Ave., around the corner to 121 W. Broadway, the former site of Zootown Brew. And what will become of the Higgins Avenue location? Billadeau, Morgan and Sisco are planning to open not one, but two restaurants and bars, one upstairs and one in the basement, while honoring the history of the building in the process. 

Although the two candidates running to represent Ward 2 on the Missoula City Council agreed that growth and related traffic issues are the biggest challenges facing their neighborhood, they disagreed on issues related to the city budget, affordable housing, tax increment financing, addressing climate change, helping the homeless and firearms restrictions. 

Residents from across Missoula on Friday disposed of hazardous and toxic materials from around the household at the Missoula Valley Water Quality District during its annual waste collection days.