When the Missoula Current launched three-and-a-half years ago this month, it was a micro operation with an oversized vision and no budget. Not even a bank account. I paid $12 to secure a domain and another $500 to have the bare bones of a website developed. I bought a camera and got Internet. I already had a computer. I paid the state fee to register the assumed business … [Read more...] about Reporter’s Notebook: Someone once said and what the last three years have taught me

Need and creativity have always been interwoven. Our ancestors learned to create wearable protection and temperature control from the skin and hair of animals and the fibers of plants. While meeting the specific needs of their climates, they developed designs which identified who a person was, where they lived, and what they did. Many fiber arts such as embroidery and quilting … [Read more...] about Sustainable Missoula: Repurposing textiles requires creativity, thrift and ethics

On June 7, Senator Jon Tester reintroduced the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act. As members of the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project, we sincerely thank our senior senator for his leadership, and for continuing to champion this bipartisan bill that 73 percent of Montanans support. The reason for the bill’s popularity is simple: It offers something for just … [Read more...] about Voices: Advocates call on Daines, Gianforte to back Blackfoot-Clearwater bill

Ideological purity and consistency of opinion over time are two standards to which many Americans want to hold their political candidates. People want to elect candidates who think about things the way they do. Sometimes it’s just about one or two issues, like abortion or gun control (whether pro or con). Other times, people want their candidates to believe in everything … [Read more...] about Montana Viewpoint: Chasing political purity may fail Democratic voters

Recently, the Missoula City Council was handed a slate of housing policy recommendations to review, and they have work to do before the June 24 vote. The policy recommendations are skewed in the direction of developer incentives. These types of incentives largely failed when Bozeman and Whitefish tried them. Both cities have now switched over to mandatory inclusionary zoning … [Read more...] about Community Voices: Missoula’s proposed housing policy is skewed toward developer incentives