As we move into 2025 I want to take the opportunity to highlight a few of the changes, improvements, and opportunities coming to Great Falls in the coming year and on the near horizon. Thanks in large part to COVID relief and ARPA funding, both of which were one-time funding sources, the City of Great…
I saw an interesting comment on ‘X’ recently referring back to a 2023 article in Forbes citing research showing that ChatGPT has a left leaning bias. I use ChatGPT sometimes but never really paid much attention to its political/ideological tilt, but I think the following personal example of how AI can be skewed to one…
On October 10th I posted my predications for Election Day 2024 on my personal Facebook page, which you can read here. Here is a summary of those predictions with some added after-the-fact comments: “Montana remains ruby red with all statewide offices being won by the GOP, including Gianforte winning by a lot over Busse.” Both…
The further we allow our country to drift towards the far left, the more apparent the hypocrisy of the American Neo Socialist movement becomes as it relates to basic economic realities. Even right here in Great Falls it’s surprising how many times I hear and read local progressives implying, or just coming right out and…
Lat week the Great Falls City Commission passed the City’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget. You can view the budget details here. This year’s budget included a marginal tax increase for local property owners – $2.25 per month for a $300,000 home. I’ve received several general questions about how our budget works and so I’d like…
In light of some of the recent chatter around town I thought this would be a good time to offer my own opinion on the character of my hometown. I grew up in Great Falls in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I raised my own two daughters here and helped to get a couple of my…
I posted this today on my personal Facebook page regarding a picture making the rounds on social media: “I’ve had several folks bring this to my attention today. A couple of dumpsters full of books behind a public library is a head scratcher for sure.”I’ve had several folks bring this to my attention today. A…
“Oh no! Another new casino in Great Falls!”. Sorry, but that complaint is kind of misleading, because gaming licenses are tied to liquor/alcohol licenses which are controlled by the state and apportioned to communities according to population. Think Whack-a-Mole. One has to close before another pops up. We haven’t had any “new” additional casinos here…
It’s time to update our Growth Policy, Great Falls. It may come as a surprise to some folks but there are a significant number of Great Fallsians who don’t want our city to grow at all, they’re happy with things exactly as they are here in the Electric City. I get it. Take a look…
On January 16 at the Great Falls City Commission meeting I proposed an initiative to meet a process deadline which would have then given the City Commission, the library board, and the public three months time (90 days) to review and have a discussion about a 30-year-old agreement between the City and the Great Falls…