County Commissioners from across Montana appreciate the widespread support that Senate Bill 442 enjoyed throughout its legislative process. Marijuana revenues are new to Montana, and the bill’s thoughtful distribution of this higher-than-expected new revenue stream included some funding for county roads.

Bipartisan and impactful legislation backed by such a wide variety of Montanans is a rarity, and we commend Senator Lang and the bill’s many proponents for their efforts. Even after Governor Gianforte exercised his right to veto, we were confident the Legislature would overturn it.

The Governor’s veto letter made clear his belief that State revenues should solely fund State projects. No Governor in the history of Montana has ever taken such a State-centric position that blatantly disregards the needs of Montanans.

Public infrastructure benefits Montana’s economy, the State’s revenue, and Montana’s citizens and visitors alike.

The veto letter stated that SB 442 would create a “slippery slope” by utilizing State funds for local infrastructure.

However, Montanans have always benefited from State resources provided to local governments for assisting with bridges, the secondary road system, and access roads to recreational sites, to name a few.

Given that the State relies almost exclusively on federal funding and gas taxes to maintain the State jurisdictional road system, the Governor’s position that “what’s ours is ours” is ill-informed and innacurate. It is not how our state has operated in the past and doesn’t recognize the fact that ALL Montanans benefit from infrastructure investments, no matter where the money comes from, even the State’s General Fund. SB 442 doesn’t create a “slippery slope.” It provides new dollars to help meet longstanding infrastructure needs.

Governor Gianforte didn’t just veto the bill. He tried to invent a new “pocket veto,” which was specifically rejected by the framers of our constitution. There is no scenario where a governor’s veto cannot be checked by the Legislature, and that check is an important part of Montana’s “separation of powers doctrine.” If a governor vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in session, the Legislature can override that veto. If the veto comes when the Legislature isn’t able to review that action, it is sent to the Secretary of State to poll members of the Legislature.

The procedural framework is simple and straightforward. Every governor in Montana has followed this constitutional process. Yet when asked to submit the bill to the Secretary of State for polling, this Governor refused.

The litigation surrounding SB 442 sought to protect the Legislature’s authority under the Montana Constitution, a right that was violated by the Executive Branch, which in turn required the Judicial Branch to intervene and mandate the Executive Branch into compliance. Any twisting or spinning of the case is pure political gamesmanship.

The Court Order is clear. Judge Menahan stated, “At the time the Senate voted to adjourn, few if any legislators were aware of the governor’s veto. Following adjournment and a request from the bill sponsor, Jacobsen refused to initiate the post session override procedure, claiming she had not received a copy of the governor’s veto and a statement explaining his reasons for doing so. The legislature was thus deprived of an opportunity to override the veto of Senate Bill 442 and draft the policy contained therein into law.”

We respect the right of the Governor to veto legislation. We respect the rules established by the Legislature on how they conduct their business. We respect any legislator’s vote on the poll being conducted on the veto of SB 442. But we do not respect the political spin that when a governor fails to allow the Legislature the opportunity to review his veto action—and the Court is required to compel him to allow the Legislature their constitutional duty—that it somehow justifies a legislator refusing to participate in the poll.

As local elected officials, we take our oaths seriously. We have jobs to do, serving our constituents and our communities. State Senators and Representatives take the same oath and serve the same constituents.

SB 442 was good policy when it passed by a supermajority in both the House and Senate. It was good policy when the Executive exercised his veto authority. It was good policy when the Court ordered the Secretary of State to poll the legislators. And if those legislators evaluate the merits of the bill and vote according to their constituent needs, it will become good policy for the State of Montana.

If legislators decide to play politics and cite claims about “separation of powers” as an excuse to sabotage SB 442, then it is clear that those legislators are more concerned with engaging in political games than they are working to represent you.

The Court ordered the Governor to abide by the separation of powers and respect the role of the Legislature by issuing the veto poll. And as legislators return their ballots on this critical issue, we would urge you to watch carefully to see how your local legislator votes—because a vote to support SB 442 is a vote in the best interests of Montanans, and a vote to let the Governor’s veto stand is proof your local legislator is ignoring you, and just playing politics.

HELENA – A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden stopped a driver pulling a ski boat after he drove past an aquatic invasive species (AIS) inspection station near Anaconda last week. The warden noticed some mussels on the boat and had the driver return to the inspection station where many more mussels were detected. A full decontamination was performed at the station and the boat was locked to the trailer. 

This is a good reminder that it’s the law that anyone transporting watercraft (motorized and non-motorized) must stop at all open inspection stations they encounter. Watercraft includes paddle boards, kayaks, canoes, rafts and pack rafts. Nonresidents and residents returning home must have their watercraft inspected before launching in Montana. Watercraft must also be drained of all water before transporting.  

 “Although it might be tempting to drive past an inspection station, boaters need to be aware that it’s up to them to prevent AIS from coming into our state,” said Tom Woolf, FWP’s AIS bureau chief. “An inspection typically takes less than 10 minutes.” 

The driver was transporting the boat from Michigan to British Columbia. It was the fourth mussel-fouled watercraft intercepted in Montana this season. Boats with mussels have also been detected at the inspection station near Dillon, where a fifth boat was found to have mussels on Monday.  

Watercraft inspection stations are Montana’s first line of defense to prevent the movement of AIS, which can have devastating impacts on Montana waterways. AIS are plants, animals, or pathogens that are not native to Montana and can cause harm to our environment and economy.  

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to help stop the spread of AIS to Montana waters,” Woolf said. 

Learn more at fwp.mt.gov/conservation/aquatic-invasive-species or call the FWP Aquatic Invasive Species Bureau at 406-444-2440.  

BOZEMAN — Tricia Seifert, professor and interim dean of the Montana State University College of Education, Health and Human Development, has been selected as the college’s new dean after a national search. She will begin her new position April 4.

“I am delighted to announce Tricia Seifert as the new dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development,” said Robert Mokwa, MSU’s executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Her extensive leadership experience, combined with her dedication to student success and innovative research, make her an exceptional choice for this important leadership role.”

Seifert has been at MSU since 2014, when she joined the faculty in the College of Education, Health and Human Development. Since then, she has served as a program leader in adult and higher education, as interim director of the Science Math Resource Center, as head of the Department of Education and, since Aug. 2022, as interim dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development.

“I am honored to serve and lead the College of Education, Health and Human Development,” Seifert said. “Whether EHHD students, faculty and staff are working with world-class athletes, beginning readers or families saving for their future, we learn by doing to realize MSU’s vision to transform lives and communities.”

Seifert was one of three finalists who interviewed on campus in March. The interview process included meetings with faculty, administrators and students. Members of the public were invited to participate in an open forum and submit comments online.

In addition to her work as a professor and administrator, Seifert researches the experiences students have while attending college, along with the role the college environment plays in students’ learning, growth, development and success. Seifert is co-author of the widely cited book “How College Affects Students” and has published many articles in a wide variety of scholarly journals.

She has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the College of Education, Health and Human Development’s Most Valuable Professor Award and its Outstanding Research Award, both in 2016. She also received the 2015 Award of Honor from the Canadian Association for College and University Student Services and the 2010 Emerging Scholar Award from ACPA College Student Educators International. In 2017, she was chosen to deliver a lecture as part of MSU’s annual Provost’s Distinguished Lecturer Series.

Before MSU, Seifert was an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

She has a doctorate in student affairs administration and research from the University of Iowa, a master’s in college student services administration from Oregon State University and bachelor’s degrees in sociology and political science from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Seifert replaces former Dean Alison Harmon, who became MSU’s vice president for research and economic development in 2022.

“I extend my deepest appreciation to the search committee, chaired by Brett Gunnink, dean of the MSU Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, for their diligent and thoughtful work throughout the search process,” Mokwa said. “Their commitment to finding the best candidate has resulted in an outstanding choice for the college and the university.”

On 4/2/2024 at 6 PM, Gallatin County Dispatch received a call from a concerned party whose family member, with cognitive disabilities, had gone for a walk and not returned home as scheduled. Due to falling darkness and concern for the individual’s wellbeing, Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue (GCSAR) was requested to assist with an urban search.

GCSAR volunteers from the Valley section, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, and Bozeman Police Department Officers responded to search the area. After about two hours of searching, the individual was found safely.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer would like to thank the public for exercising diligence after receiving the reverse 911 if they were in the area. Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office received multiple tips from the public which proved instrumental in locating the missing individual.

Of note, this rescue operation was run concurrently with a rescue effort for a lost and cold hiker in the Baldy Mountain area beyond the “M”. A big thank you to the GCSSAR Command Team, Communications Team, and all our Volunteers for securing positive outcomes in both instances.

BOZEMAN, Montana (April 3, 2024) – Beginning this week, the City of Bozeman is kicking off an analysis of housing and community development challenges facing Bozeman residents. This effort will identify the greatest needs related to housing affordability, neighborhood and community livability, and economic development opportunities in Bozeman and will develop priorities and goals to address these issues throughout the city.

One of the ways the City is collecting input is through a survey open to all residents. The survey is available in English and Spanish, and respondents will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card. The survey is open at https://www.research.net/r/BozemanConsolidatedPlanSurvey2024 until May 10, 2024.

“Once Bozeman crossed the 50,000-person threshold, we became eligible for federal funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program,” Renata Munfrada, Community Housing Program Coordinator at the City of Bozeman, explained. “It’s critical that residents weigh in on this effort so we can access that funding and make a plan that accurately reflects the housing needs of our community.”

This effort is part of the City’s 2024-2028 Consolidated Housing Plan and Fair Housing Plan, which will ensure that the City receives valuable funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Information on both plans is available at https://engage.bozeman.net/consolidatedplan.

The City of Bozeman is working with Root Policy Research, a woman-owned housing policy consulting firm based in Denver, CO, to prepare both plans. Those interested in learning more about both efforts can contact Renata Munfrada at rmunfrada@bozeman.net.

On 4/2/2024 at approximately 8:17 PM, Gallatin County Dispatch received a call from a lost hiker who was on the Bridger Ridge trail just below Baldy Mountain. The hiker had become lost after leaving marked trail and did not have appropriate clothing, supplies, or equipment to safely remain on the mountain given falling darkness and dwindling temperatures.

GCSSAR volunteers from the Valley section, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, and the Two Bear Air rescue helicopter responded to search the area. Thankfully, the hiker was quickly located; exhausted and very cold, but otherwise unharmed. Based on the steep and snowy terrain and the subject’s deteriorating health, the decision was made to transport the patient off the mountain via Two Bear Air’s hoist to awaiting paramedics with Central Valley Fire Department.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer would like to remind outdoor enthusiasts that despite ideal weather at the trail-head, conditions can shift drastically at higher elevations. Whether it be by injury, becoming lost, or other circumstances, the possibility always exists that you may end up spending the night so it is advisable to be prepared by bringing plenty of food, water, and warm clothing to keep yourself safe if your plan fails.

Of note, this rescue operation was run concurrently with a large scale search for a missing person with cognitive disabilities in the Valley West area of Bozeman. A big thank you to the GCSSAR Command Team, Communications Team, and all our Volunteers for securing positive outcomes in both instances.

In our increasingly diverse and globalized world, cultural competence has become an essential skill. Cultural competence refers to having an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for different cultures. It enables us in Building Cultural Diversity and Effective Communication with people from various cultural backgrounds. Developing cultural competence leads to reduced prejudice, more inclusion, and greater collaboration in our personal and professional spheres.

What Does It Mean to Be Culturally Competent?
Cultural competence is all about seeing culture as central to human identity. When we make the effort to understand different cultural perspectives and worldviews, we can connect better with others. Cultural competence involves:

• Seeking to understand different cultures - their histories, traditions, communication styles, values, beliefs, and practices. This includes an understanding of intersectionality and the diversity within cultures.

• Being aware of our own cultural lens - how it shapes perceptions, judgments, and behaviors. Reflecting on our biases helps us check assumptions.

• Developing cross-cultural communication skills - using culturally sensitive language, adapting our communication style, and listening actively.

• Standing against stereotyping or discrimination - calling out biases, racism, prejudice when we see it.

Why Cultural Competence Matters More Than Ever
With globalization and migration, our workplaces and communities have become melting pots of cultures. As per statistics:

• Over 250 million migrants crossed borders in 2022.
• 1 in 7 marriages in Western nations is now intercultural.
• The purchasing power of minority groups is growing rapidly.

This diversity brings richness but also complex challenges - conflicts due to misunderstandings, exclusion of minority groups, and implicit biases.
Developing cultural competence is key to facing these challenges. It enables more effective cross-cultural communication, bringing people together across differences.

Benefits at the Individual Level
On a personal level, cultural competence can open our minds, reduce prejudices, enhance creativity, and lead to more fulfilling relationships.

•We are able to connect meaningfully with people from diverse backgrounds - making new friends and networks.
• It allows us to communicate clearly and prevent misunderstandings.
• We can manage conflicts better - exploring different perspectives before reacting.
• Our critical thinking sharpens as we challenge stereotypical assumptions.
• We can appreciate and enjoy the arts, food, traditions of more cultures.

Benefits for Organizations and Businesses
With culturally competent employees, companies reap significant advantages:

• Increased innovation & better solutions with diversity of thought.
• Improved team collaboration due to intercultural sensitivity and inclusion.
• Higher employee engagement & retention as needs of minorities are addressed.
• Expanded customer base by marketing appropriately to diverse segments.

As per research by McKinsey, culturally diverse companies perform better financially. Cultural competence is vital for global business competitiveness.

How Individuals Can Build Cultural Competence
Building cultural competence is an ongoing process but here are key strategies individuals can use:

1. Acknowledge your biases: We all have unconscious biases - recognizing them is the first step to countering them. Take bias tests to uncover blindspots.
2. Immerse yourself in other cultures: Read books, watch movies, eat cuisine from different cultures to expand your perspectives. Local cultural festivals are great too.
3. Improve cross-cultural communication skills: Learn best practices for communicating across cultures - active listening, cultural references, sensitivity.
4. Expand your diverse network: Connect with people from different backgrounds. Follow minority voices on social media.
5. Speak up against stereotyping: Call out biases and racism around you. Stand up for inclusion.

How Organizations Can Cultivate Cultural Competence
For intercultural competence at an organizational level, strategic initiatives are vital:

1. Offer cultural competence training: Conduct seminars addressing biases, diversity, cross-cultural communication for employees.
2. Make leadership commitment visible: Leaders should vocally advocate for inclusion, model cultural competence.
3. Recruit more diversely: Seek talent from minority backgrounds - have internships/scholarships for them.
4. Make employee policies more inclusive: Offer religious accommodations, celebrate more cultural events at work.
5. Seek community partnerships: Collaborate with cultural non-profits for perspective.

Global Citizenship Calls for Cultural Competence
With societies around the world becoming intricately interwoven, cultural competence has become integral for cooperative coexistence. Our economies rely on trade partnerships with other nations. Supply chains meander across borders. Digital workspaces bring together remote collaborators from several time zones.

In this global village, we need to see human commonalities over differences. We have to consciously overcome ethnocentric worldviews passed down through generations. With compassion and cultural competence, we can counter prejudice with empathy. We can have challenging conversations. We can accord equal respect and dignity to all human beings regardless of cultural identity.

The alternative of sticking to siloed identities is turmoil, conflict and chaos. By making the effort to walk in another’s shoes, cultural competence paves the path to solidarity and harmony.

Conclusion
The need of the hour is recognizing that beneath surface variations all humans share fundamental similarities - in our aspirations to care for our families and better our prospects. Cultural competence awakens our humanity. It paves the righteous path ahead to an equitable, just and peaceful global community.

BOZEMAN — Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will travel to 65 communities in five states this summer to perform two classic Shakespeare plays.

For its 52nd season, the traveling theatre group, which is an outreach program of Montana State University’s College of Arts and Architecture, announced the playbill will feature “Hamlet” and “The Winter’s Tale.”

The season kicks off June 12 with a four-night run of “Hamlet” at the MSU Grove, located immediately east of the Duck Pond along South 11th Avenue, followed by “The Winter’s Tale” June 19-22 at the same location. All eight performances begin at 8 p.m. and — like all the troupe’s summer tour stops — are free and open to the public.

“Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, tells the story of the young prince of Denmark who returns home after his father’s murder and must grapple with the weight of his responsibility to avenge that death, to outmaneuver his scheming uncle and “to be or not to be.”

“I believe that all of Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, but ‘Hamlet’ has a point of view that everybody can identify with,” said Kevin Asselin, MSIP executive artistic director and “Hamlet” director. “I think we are all individually a version of Hamlet and can relate to the character on some level.”

A bit lighter, with more comedy and an abundance of magic, “The Winter’s Tale” spans 16 years during which a jealous king accuses his wife of infidelity and exiles his daughter to Bohemia, where she is raised by shepherds and falls in love with the Bohemian king’s son. It also features Shakespeare’s stage direction “exit, pursued by a bear,” which the MSIP staff thought was fun and relevant to communities in the Northern Rocky Mountains .

“The play is one of Shakespeare’s last, and as such is blessed with a writer who really understood how to manipulate the form to achieve new heights of storytelling,” said Eva Breneman, director of “The Winter’s Tale.”

After the opening shows in Bozeman, the group will hit the road, traveling across Montana with stops in Idaho, North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. They will perform 78 shows in 65 communities, making this MSIP’s largest tour to date.

More than 80% of MSIP’s funding is donation based or comes from grants and sponsorships. Actors and staff, a total of about 50 people, will start rehearsing, building the set and designing costumes next month. Nine of the 11 actors who will perform the two plays this year have performed with MSIP in the past.

To view a complete tour schedule, visit MSIP’s website, www.shakespeareintheparks.org/shakespeare-in-the-parks/.

The Downtown Bozeman Association, Visit Bozeman and additional sponsors, and participating downtown restaurants, pubs, and cafes are excited to bring you the 4th Annual Downtown Bozeman Restaurant Week from April 22-28th! This 7-day event will be filled with good eats and drinks, off-menu specials, exclusive dining experiences, plus chances to win some fabulous prizes from our local sponsors!

Start planning your date night, birthday dinner, employee appreciation brunch, or whatever excuse you need to dine in Downtown Bozeman because our amazing businesses are ready to serve you! We will be raffling off incredible prizes via multiple-visit punch cards and social media contests; details to come.

A list of participating establishments for the 4th Annual Downtown Bozeman Restaurant Week as well as all the specials and fun to be found will be available online at https://downtownbozeman.org/restaurantweek soon - please stay tuned! Please note, event hours and specials will vary depending on the business.

Restaurant Week will be the week of April 24-30th, rain or shine, and is free and open to the public! Whether you're a breakfast fanatic or someone who never skips dessert, we're sure you'll find something to tickle your taste buds at Restaurant Week.

Thank you to our generous Sponsors!

Foodie: PRIME Incorporated, US Foods, Visit Bozeman, 94.7 The Moose, XL Country 100.7

Side-of-Fries: AC Hotel, Bozeman Spirits Distillery, Bozeman Magazine, Element Bozeman, KBZK, The LARK, Lewis & Clark Motel, Nicholas and Company, The Sapphire Motel

Cherry on Top: Allegra Marketing, Print, & Mail, Lockhorn Cider House

For more information, please visit https://downtownbozeman.org/restaurantweek and https://visitbozeman.com/2024-restaurant-week or contact the Downtown Bozeman Partnership office at 406-586-4008.

Occurring annually on April 1^st, April Fools’ Day has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, though its exact origins are unknown. April Fools’ Day traditions include playing hoaxes or practical jokes on others, often yelling “April Fools!” at the end to clue in the subject of the prank. While its exact history is shrouded in mystery, the embrace of April Fools’ Day jokes by the media and other outlets has ensured the unofficial holiday’s long life. April Fools’ Day has provided lots of fun humor throughout various nations.

April Fools’ Day is all about getting someone to fall for a prank or made-up tale. In modern times people around the world, including we Montanans, have gone to great lengths to create elaborate hoaxes. Newspapers, radio, TV stations and websites have participated in the April 1^st tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.

A Sampling Of April Fools’ Day Hoaxes

•   The Montana news media in past years reported the following: “A petition in Montana seeks return of the Yellowstone Jackalope (a jackrabbit sporting deer horns) to public lands around Parks. Parks wildlife managers say they are in the early phases of reviewing a petition that seeks to reinstate jackalopes to the greater Yellowstone area, but they have not set a deadline for acting on the filing… .”

]Today, the town of Douglas, WY is the Jackalope Capital of the world. You can buy everything from Jackalope souvenirs to postcards with Jackalope deer horns, and even a Jackalope hunting license, which allows hunting Jackalopes in Wyoming only from midnight to 2 a.m. one night a year. It does not mention bag limits.

• In 1997, the BBC aired a story on how Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop, and showed video footage of people harvesting noodles from trees.
• In 1998, Burger King took out a full-page ad in USA Today announcing its development of the Left Handed Whopper. The burger had the usual toppings, but they were turned 180 degrees so they wouldn’t drip on left-handed customers.
• In 1985, Sports Illustrated published a fictitious story by George Plimpton about a never-before-heard-of pitching prospect by the name of Sid Finch, who could throw a baseball 168 miles per hour. Wow!
• On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell announced it had purchased the Liberty Bell and would rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.
• In 1962, a TV station in Sweden announced that viewers could convert their existing black and white sets to display color by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen.
• In 2002, the British supermarket chain Tesco published an ad stating that a genetically modified ‘whistling carrot’ had been developed. The carrots were said to be grown with tapered air holes, and, when fully cooked, would produce a whistling sound.
• In the spring of 1908, Missoulians woke up to some exciting news. The report stated that during the construction of the St. Paul Railroad bed in Hell Creek Canyon, rock blasting had opened a cavern in a rocky bluff, revealing encrusted stalagmites and stalactites with swarming pools of blind fish. A second chamber revealed gigantic fossils of dinosaurs of the late Jurassic period. As reported by the news media, a couple of blind fish were caught and taken to the Shapard Hotel for display. Visitors who showed up to see the live specimens were shown a mackerel fish instead. A classic GOTCHA! Visitors, undoubtedly, left the hotel with lobster-red faces. Ah, to be so suckered on April Fools’ Day.

April Fools’ Day can include some humorous household pranks which you may have experienced including:

• Emptying the salt from the kitchen shaker and replacing it with sugar.
• Placing a whoopie cushion under the couch cushions.
• Changing the time on every clock in the house by one hour.
• Placing bubble wrap under an area rug for an instant reaction.
• Removing the batteries from the TV remote, driving a TV watcher crazy.
• Calling a tobacco store and asking if they sold Sir Walter Raleigh tobacco in a can? If they said, “Yes, we do,” you would say: “Well, Sir Walter really would like to be let out of the can!” Their salty reply was usually a little ear warming, but a gotcha win for the caller.
• April Fools’ Day is the one date on the calendar when jokes and mischief are expected. Keep in mind that there are some ingenuous trick artists out there waiting to say, gotcha! It was Stephen King who wrote, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” If the same person deceives you again? Well, you might as well have a big sign pinned on your back that says gullible. It’s your fault for letting it happen a second time.
• If you do get pranked, take in good stride. People who get hoaxed are chosen for their good humor, and the likelihood they’ll be a good sport.