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5 Tips for Managing Multi-State Living Arrangements With a Pet

Candace Sigmon on August 15, 2022

Owning multiple homes in the United States is a dream for millions of young Americans. You can enjoy multiple climates, geographical diversity, and various lifestyle choices when you own homes in Florida and Great Falls, Montana. But what if you own a pet and live in different states? Read on for tips to manage both.

1. Have Vets in Montana and Florida

You must keep your pet healthy as you divide your time between Montana and Florida. After all, traveling between both states can be time-consuming and stressful. The best way to guarantee your pet remains healthy is to have vets in both states. You can reduce your vet costs by purchasing an excellent pet insurance policy. However, check pet insurance coverage and considerations and the reviews of insurance providers to search for the best deals before buying. Also, use pet sitters when you’re busy and check for fleas and ticks to guarantee your animal has no problems.

2. Ensure Your Pet Stays Comfortable in Both Homes

When you have homes in multiple states, your pet can become overwhelmed — and this could become detrimental to their overall well-being. Ensure your pet remains comfortable by buying items for both homes, such as a quality bed or crate, a cat tree, and a harness. Although customer ratings can be a valuable resource when evaluating products, look for websites with product reviews from veterinarians. That way, you can feel confident you’re buying the best products for your pet.

3. Save Money for Unexpected Costs

Continuously moving between Florida and Montana can be expensive over time. You’ll want to budget to ensure you have disposable income for any unexpected issues. Try cutting costs such as choosing streaming options over cable, purchasing deep freeze items to store away, and limiting unnecessary outings. If you spend half of your time in Florida and half in Montana, you can save money by finding affordable auto and health insurance in either state.

4. Give Your Pet Plenty of Exercise

Ensure your pet has ample exercise when moving between states. For example, there are many excellent hikes near Great Falls, and Florida has one of the most desirable climates in the United States. Take your dog for a walk in nearby national parks and on local beaches. That way, your pet will feel as normal as possible despite moving around.

5. Use Organization Apps

One of the best ways to stay organized when you have multi-state homes is by using organization apps. ClickUp is one of the most popular organization apps. It allows you to boost your productivity, plan daily tasks, and set goals. For example, you can set yourself a checklist before you travel between Montana and Florida to ensure you don’t forget anything.

Looking After Your Pet Doesn’t Need To Be Confusing

Living between Montana and Florida doesn’t need to be complicated when you have a pet. You can make the process seamless by following the tips in the article. Visit E-City Beat for information on life in Montana.

Great Falls Candidates Invited To Respond To ECB

ECB Staff on August 10, 2022

E-City Beat has invited local political candidates for legislature and county office to send us a profile and summary of their reasons for running. See email text below.

FRED ANDERSON (R) HD20 – anderson.for.legislature.hd20@gmail.com
SAMANTHA RISPENS (D) HD20 – srispens4mt@gmail.com

ED BUTTREY (R) HD21 – ed@buttrey4montana.com
LELA GRAHAM (D) HD21 – grahamhd21@gmail.com

NICK R. D. HENRY (D) HD22 – relativity98003@yahoo.com
TONY ROSALES (L) HD22 – trrosales@gmail.com
LOLA SHELDON-GALLOWAY (R) HD22 – Lola4Montana@yahoo.com

MELISSA SMITH (D) HD23 – MelissaSmith4HD23@gmail.com
SCOT KERNS (R) HD23 – ElectKerns@gmail.com

BARBARA BESSETTE (D) HD24 – bessette4montana@gmail.com
STEVEN GALLOWAY (R) HD24 – galloway4mt@yahoo.com

STEVE GIST (R) HD25 – Steve.Gist@mtleg.gov
JASMINE KROTKOV (D) HD25 – JasmineKrotkov4MT@gmail.com

GEORGE NIKOLAKAKOS (R) HD26 – george.niko@outlook.com
KARI ROSENLEAF (D) HD26 – rosenleaf4hd26@gmail.com

DANIEL EMRICH (R) SD11 – danielemrichforsenate@gmail.com
TOM JACOBSON (D) SD11 – tomjacobsonmt@gmail.com

JACOB BACHMEIER (D) SD12 – jdbrepresentsme@gmail.com
WENDY MCKAMEY (R) SD12 – WSGMCKAMEY@GMAIL.COM

CASEY SCHREINER (D) SD13 – casey@caseyformontana.com
JEREMY TREBAS (R) SD13 – trebasforsenate@gmail.com

DAVID GRUBICH – DISTRICT COURT JUDGE – judgegrubich@gmail.com
MICHELE R. LEVINE – DISTRICT COURT JUDGE – michelereinhart@gmail.com

RAE GRULKOWSKI (R) CASCADE COUNTY COMMISSION – raeforcascadecounty@3rivers.net
DON RYAN (D) CASCADE COUNTY COMMISSION – senatordonryan@icloud.com

CASCADE COUNTY CLERK AND RECORDER/AUDITOR/SURVEYOR
SANDRA MERCHANT (R) – smerchantforcountyclerk@protonmail.com
RINA FONTANA MOORE (D) – moorerinaf@msn.com

Greetings, Cascade County candidates.

In order to help fully inform Great Falls/Cascade County voters about the candidates and issues in the upcoming November election, E-City Beat is requesting a brief profile from each candidate.

We’re asking for you to provide our readers with a little personal bio (job, family, hobbies etc.), why you’re the best candidate for position, and your reasons for running.

We’d like you to also include the top one or two challenges you intend to tackle if you’re elected and how you would address those issues.

You may also include a profile picture (jpg or png) if you like.

Please keep your submission to 500 words or less and send it in MS Word format to ecitybeat@straymoose.com by Friday, August 26th. We will publish your submissions without edits or editorial comment.

Thank you and good luck in the upcoming election.

Philip Faccenda
Editor/Publisher E-City Beat

First United Methodist Church Parking Lot Encampment Vacated

Rick Tryon on August 1, 2022

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 of tents, porta-potties, RV’s and campers.

In an email sent to church leadership last week City Manager Greg Doyon reached out and offered the City’s assistance in helping those who need it during the transition.

“I have also asked United Way to provide me with contact information for the best community resource contact to assist homeless who are desirous of assistance when they vacate the property. Her name and contact information is:

Gina Black Street Outreach/Therapist 1123 Central Ave (Physical Address) Great Falls, MT 59401 Office: 406-216-2300 Cell: 406-836-1360 Fax: 406-216-2305

Again, this is the best primary point of contact to direct the homeless to needed services.“

In addition Mr. Doyon offered the following:

“Finally, I know a group of congregants are exploring the creation of a “low-barrier” shelter. As they explore options, please be aware that the City participates in the Community Development Block Grant Program. There may be resources to assist in this endeavor. I encourage you to contact the CDBG Administrator Tonya Shumaker at 406.455.8443. Additionally, the Department of Housing and Urban Development have resources that may be helpful. Additional information may be found here: https://www.hud.gov/topics/homelessness/assist/.“

Letter To The Editor: Great Falls Homeless Crime

ECB Staff on July 29, 2022

Editors note: the opinions expressed in “Letters to the Editor” do not necessarily reflect the opinions of E-City Beat, our volunteer staff or contributors. All letters to the editor are welcome and will be considered for publication. Please include your name and city of residence and email to ectitybeat@straymoose.com.

I had an old minister some time ago who always liked to preach that when you point a finger at someone, be very careful because you have three more pointing right back at you, on your own hand. There seems to be a whole lot of finger pointing going on concerning the brouhaha over the homeless camp at the United Methodist Church (UMC) downtown as well as the homeless population, drug use, and crime in general. A well liked City Commissioner has appropriated it as his cause célèbre on social media. Well meaning people on both sides of the issue have lobbed Bible Verse Grenades at what is seen as the “other side”. There are several who aren’t so well meaning either. The downtown homeless population have been blamed for drug use, assaults, prostitution, indecent exposure, littering, jay-walking, sleeping in doorways, being dirty and unkempt, and an unsightly mess. I’m surprised they haven’t been accused of shooting JFK, being Jack the Ripper, hiding Jimmy Hoffa’s body, or impersonating Lizzy Borden. According to some, it’s this unkempt ragtag group of useless ne’er-do-wells who are single handedly preventing unbridled development and investment into our downtown simply due to their inconvenient presence.

Much chest-beating hyperbole has gone into looking into causes and fixes. However it all boils down to blame the homeless. Get them out. Out of sight, out of downtown, out of Great Falls, out of mind. They are subhuman, not suitable for human interaction with our superior Great Falls “normals”. After all it’s easy to place the blame on the defenceless and castigate those (UMC) who are actually trying to make a difference while others just cry the blame game and point fingers.

Don’t misunderstand me here either. I know that some of those homeless/vagrants/destitute/wretched, whatever you tag them with, are committing crimes. Others are just homeless who have fallen on hard times, many so long they see no light at the end of the tunnel. Many have been so downtrodden their human dignity is something that they may not have lost, but our “normals” certainly don’t recognize it in them. Others are suffering from various mental illnesses and have been left to their own devices on the street, unable to comprehend reality. We shelter homeless animals better than we shelter our mentally ill. As William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army said in the mid-1800’s, the work horses get better treatment than those who are down and out. I can see nothing has changed in people’s minds since that time.

Yet we have the power to effect positive change if we would just quit finger pointing and blaming, hoping we can get someone to make the problem “disappear”. The first major step should be to effectively deal with the crime with real consequences. Real crime deserves real justice and not just punitive justice alone. That rests not on the backs of those committing the crime but on those who are prosecuting and judging that crime. The City & County prosecutors and judges need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for legal and judicial actions that return criminals to the streets instead of incarceration and rehabilitation. Much of this problem falls squarely on their lap. It doesn’t matter how many times our law enforcement arrests someone if the prosecutors and judges don’t hold up their ends. They have many tools available that they choose not to use. Treatment Court is one. Sentencing to the Great Falls Pre-Release Center (GFPRC) instead of jail is another. Work release can even be a part of the solution. The GFPRC has many programs available to help people transition into a self-sustaining community member. Judges can give stiff sentences but suspend any amount of the sentence which could then be automatically enacted should a person reoffend. Our City Commissioners could institute a “vagrancy enhancement” through city ordinances for drug and violent crimes that homeless commit. This, if established correctly, could give judges more leeway or authority in stronger sentencing. Anyone who absconds while on parole or probation would not be extradited back to Montana, but would serve their maximum sentence if caught in Montana.

Yet I doubt any of this will ever be done. It’s far easier to roust the destitute than it is to change “the establishment”. The “Crime Task Force”, baby of that City Commissioner mentioned earlier that just sat spinning its wheels is proof of that.

Jesse Oldham
Great Falls, Montana

Dunk Sheriff Slaughter To Benefit Toby’s House Crisis Nursery

ECB Staff on July 26, 2022

Toby’s House Crisis Nursery is committed to the prevention of child abuse and neglect by providing refuge and safety for children.

You’re invited to a fundraiser to help raise money for Toby’s House.

Where: MT Pints patio, 215 3rd St. NW, Great Falls

When: Friday, August 5th 3-7 PM

What: Your chance to dunk Sheriff Slaughter for a good cause. 50-50 tickets, animal balloons, prizes, and live music by Rick Tryon

Letter To The Editor: Supports Rosendale

ECB Staff on July 18, 2022

I am writing today to express my strong support for Congressman Matt Rosendale and his campaign for re-election to Montana’s new, second congressional district.

One of the many reasons I will be casting my vote for Rosendale this election is that he’s not afraid to vote against bad legislation. One of these pieces of bad legislation being Biden’s outrageous $1.5 Trillion spending package.

This spending package was another attempt by the far left to expand the size of the federal government while ignoring the basic needs of American citizens. Instead of addressing real needs, this bill actually included billions of dollars for the Green New Deal, vaccine mandates, and other Democrat pet-projects.

While other elected officials prefer to test which way the political winds are blowing before casting their vote, Matt can be relied on to stand his ground and make the right choices.

I applaud Congressman Rosendale for taking these tough votes and for voting against Joe Biden’s out-of-control spending. We need more people in Congress like Matt Rosendale who understand that more government spending means higher inflation, higher fuel prices, and a higher overall cost of living for all Montanans.

On a different note, I would also like to thank Congressman Rosendale for his support of Red Lodge after the flooding that occurred last month. I am grateful to have a Congressman who steps up to support local communities in times of need.

Please join me in supporting Congressman Matt Rosendale for re-election in Montana’s eastern congressional district!

Edwin Halland
Bridger, MT

Downtown Zip Trip Manager: FUMC Encampment Is ‘Dangerous’

Philip M. Faccenda on July 12, 2022

At the June 14th Great Falls Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission 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.

At the meeting several local owners and managers representing downtown businesses in the FUMC neighborhood provided public comment on the impact of the ‘encampment’ on their businesses.

E-City Beat will be publishing some of their comments and thoughts, directly quoted, continuing today with Wes Bentley, manager of the downtown Zip Trip. The entirety of Mr. Bentley’s public comments can seen here, his remarks start at 00:48:00 of the video.

“Our parking lot is right across from where this is going down and I’m just gonna touch on a few things.

Our employees can’t even park in our lot anymore because of the people in the encampment over there vandalizing the cars, they’re spitting on the windows, they’re taking off license plates off of vehicles, I can’t send my employees over there without sending two at a time.

I have people that walk home walk to the job and walk home I now have to go provide them rides by one of my employees because we do not feel safe at 12 o’clock in the morning with one single employee walking by there because we’ve had to kick every single one of those people on that encampment off of our property for stealing or drinking, causing problems, harassing my employees, spitting in their faces…

This isn’t a houseless problem as he calls it. I’ve managed that downtown location since 2017 now and I would say that 75% of the people that he’s allowing on that property have been a problem downtown for five years.

They were recently kicked out of the Mission because of drinking and doing drugs which is what they now continue to do on that property.

They make it dangerous, they’ve attacked other workers from a business right behind us and I’m afraid they’re going to do that to me or one of my employees when we go down to work every day.

I have a family of four… I don’t wanna not go home to my family because of something that’s going on in this encampment that he’s (FUMC’s Rev.Wakeley) trying to allow.

I think that he has the right idea, but downtown isn’t the place for it and the way he’s handling it, it’s not appropriate.

There’s nothing being done about the drug use, the alcohol, the violence, prostitution, masturbating, urinating, I mean we can’t allow for that, we gotta do something about it.

It’s got to be somewhere else. We’re trying to make downtown a better place for businesses and really bring business to downtown, and this is not the right direction.”

Video: Great Falls Dems Turn 4th of July Parade Into Political Pro-Abortion March

Philip M. Faccenda on July 6, 2022

At this years Great Falls Independence Day parade the Cascade County Democratic Central Committee decided it would be a good idea to use the opportunity to push their pro-abortion political agenda.

Following behind their float, which was decorated with local Democrat campaign signs, came a dozen or so slogan chanting marchers with signs declaring “Abortion is Healthcare”, “Bans off My Body” etc.

Here’s a link to the video which was posted on the Montana March For Reproductive Rights public FB page: Montana March for Reproductive Rights | I will never forget this moment #greatfalls | Facebook

Regardless of whether you’re pro-choice, pro-life, or somewhere in-between, you should be able to discern when and where it’s appropriate and respectful to play partisan politics with an extremely controversial hot button issue like abortion.

But apparently common sense and discernment are in very short supply with local Democrats. That lack of respect and decency is one of the reasons Cascade County has gone from solid blue to deep red in recent election cycles.

There have been and will continue to be abundant opportunities to march and chant for whatever issue happens to be important to whatever political organization one may identify with, but the 4th of July parade in Great Falls is a local tradition meant to bring us all together for a fun time, not to further divide us for selfish partisan political gain.

Too bad that the local Democrat party has been hijacked by extremists who chose to turn our non-partisan, non-political celebration into a pro-abortion spectacle for parade goers, including a great many children.

Shame on them. Remember come November.

Perkins Restaurant Owner: Customer Watches FUMC Encampment ‘Lady…Defecate Into The Street’

Philip M. Faccenda on June 29, 2022

At the meeting several local owners and managers representing downtown businesses in the FUMC neighborhood provided public comment on the impact of the ‘encampment’ on their businesses.

E-City Beat will be publishing some of their comments and thoughts, directly quoted, continuing today with Darrell Becker, owner of Perkins restaurant and the Midtown Motel. The entirety of Mr. Becker’s public comments can seen here, his remarks start at 00:36:20 of the video.

“My name is Darrell Becker, my wife and I own the Perkins and Midtown restaurant, or Midtown motel, across the street (editors note: ‘across the street’ from the encampment at First United Methodist Church) and you’re absolutely right our Sunday morning you look out our windows and we have a little old lady who’s there for her breakfast and that’s her day out and she gets to watch the lady drop her pants and defecate into the street.

We have found more needles within a block of this homeless, excuse me, your houseless encampment, and let’s face it they’re not all diabetics, I’m not stupid.

You know when you walk down the street and you see the orange tabs every 2 feet and that was not like that last year that was not like that anywhere close to it two years ago.“

“…he (Pastor Wakely) has allowed this, he has not only had them, not him personally, making them come into our building, we have to watch our front door 24 hours a day because they come in they want to sleep in our hallway they want to go use our restrooms which we used to allow, we can’t allow it now.

It is a safety issue – you don’t know what these people are going to do, and I don’t mean any disrespect by referring to anybody as ‘these people’, I don’t know their names, it’s the people from across the street at his houseless encampment.

And I’ve tried to talk to the pastor. I’m sorry, I don’t see where what he is doing is helping in fact I don’t even I don’t know what he’s truly trying to accomplish except to make himself feel better I believe.”