Missoula Current

Jeff Mangan writes, "The Montana Plan is not complicated. Corporations cannot spend money to support or oppose candidates or ballot issues. Only individuals can. That's the whole measure."

New building permits filed with the city from this point forward will fall under the newly adopted Unified Development Code and zoning map, though city officials on Wednesday said the work will evolve as it faces real-world uses.

Payette National Forest Supervisor Matthew Davis has authorized chainsaw use in designated wilderness, which includes the northwestern part of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Mike Garrity writes, "The record is clear: these groups have supported reducing, not protecting Inventoried Roadless Areas in the past and are doing so now."

A large veteran-led organization on Wednesday placed its support behind a Montana ballot initiative that would end corporate and dark-money spending in the state's elections.

Missoula County joined the growing list of voices this week expressing concern over proposed changes to a federal grant program – one that could put local governments across the country at risk of losing federal funding, even after it's awarded.

Bob Bergren writes, "In recent years, American breweries have struggled to keep up with the flood of imported beer mostly coming from Mexico."

City officials on Monday praised the Missoula Fire Department for keeping an Independence Day house fire in the South Hills contained to a single structure and expressed condolences to the property owner.

Citing a surge of marijuana dispensaries across the city since legalization, the Missoula City Council on Monday enacted a prohibition on new business licenses for adult recreational use until it can enact regulations to address a range of concerns.

Dave Stalling writes, "Maybe the world has changed. Maybe people have become less patient. Less willing to see the human being standing in front of them. Maybe I'm becoming more crazy. I don't know. But something feels different."