In the last week I have received several communications and comments concerning the current situation at the First United Methodist Church. Folks are concerned that the increasing number of transients and ‘unhoused’ individuals once again congregating on the FUMC property will result in the return of the tent/camper encampment, which was recently vacated from the…
Author: Rick Tryon
Great Falls Fantasy Football League For Local Charity
The NFL 2022 season is almost here! Here’s your official invite to join the Great Falls Charity Fantasy Football League. We need 8 more players for this charity league. Click here to join… …or contact me on Facebook for more info. This is super fun and super easy. Good clean competition for a good cause….
First United Methodist Church Parking Lot Encampment Vacated
Over the past couple of weeks the First United Methodist Church has been notifying those camped out in their parking lot that they would have to leave the premises because of potential zoning violations raised by the City of Great Falls. On Monday morning that process was completed and the FUMC parking lot was cleared…
GF Planning/Zoning Board Unanimously Recommends Denial Of FUMC Conditional Use Permit
At Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Great Falls Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission the members voted unanimously to recommend the denial of a conditional use permit submitted by the First United Methodist Church to operate an outdoor emergency homeless shelter on their property in downtown Great Falls. The Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission is comprised of Great…
FUMC Tent Emergency Shelter CUP On Planning Board Agenda Tuesday – Public Invited To Comment
The City of Great Falls Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission will take up a conditional use permit request by the First United Methodist Church in downtown Great Falls to operate an Emergency Shelter on its property. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 at 3:00 PM in the commission chambers at the Civic Center. The…
Slaughter Crushes Groskreutz: Three Reasons
I’ve been asked to put on my amateur political analyst hat here for a little minute to talk about Tuesday’s primary election results in the Cascade County Sheriff’s race between incumbent Republican Jesse Slaughter and challenger Jay Groskreutz. This race wasn’t even close. Groskreutz got ‘slaughtered’ in a 70% to 30% landslide. That’s 9,248 votes…
City Press Release And Court Filing Against FUMC Great Falls ‘Homeless Camp’
In the interest of full transparency and in response to the dozens of complaints, comments and expressions of concern I’ve received over the past couple of months I am taking this opportunity to share the information made publicly available concerning the action recently taken by the City of Great Falls related to the ‘homeless encampment’…
What Is The City Of Great Falls Doing About The FUMC “Homeless Camp”?
In recent weeks I’ve received numerous complaints and questions about the situation at the so-called “homeless camp” in the parking lot and property of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Great Falls. The situation has caused a lot of controversy due to it’s location and the fact that the “camp” is growing, in the…
Redefining ‘Handout’: Calumet Gets Tax Abatement
At last weeks Great Falls city commission meeting we voted unanimously to approve a tax abatement, worth about $2.8 million over 10 years, for the Calumet refinery here. The abatement is an incentive for Calumet’s bio-fuel expansion project which is creating more high-paying jobs in Great Falls, is environmentally friendly, and will help to boost…
Tribune Misreports That ‘Anti-Trans’ Flyer Was Distributed In Great Falls
Because I’ve been asked about it several times, I felt it necessary at last night’s Great Falls city commission meeting to publicly correct a piece of incorrect reporting by the Great Falls Tribune last week. The front page of the Tribune’s Thursday, March 31 print addition carried the following headline, “‘Not in my neighborhood’ Anti-Semitic,…