Defendants Respond to Water District Suit
by Evelyn Pyburn Both defendants of the suit filed by the County Water District of Billings Heights — the County Commissioners and Pam Ellis — have responded to the complaint and both essentially deny the basic charges made and continue their contention that Pam Ellis remains a member of the board.
Candidates Line Up for General Election
by Evelyn Pyburn Mark Morse running for County Commissioner is the only challenged Yellowstone County candidate in the coming election, on November 8. Candidates for all other open elected county offices are Republicans standing unchallenged by any Democrat contenders. And, even Morse is being challenged by another Republican who failed to defeat him in the […]
Six Applications Received for Elections Administrator
by Evelyn Pyburn Yellowstone County Commissioners have received six applications for the open position of County Elections Administrator, a vacancy created with the resignation of Bret Rutherford who has served in the position for over 16 years. Several of the applicants were from out of state.
Temporary Marijuana
Regulations Extended by Evelyn Pyburn The marijuana business in Yellowstone County is operating under temporary zoning regulations put into place prior to the election last spring in which voters gave approval to make legal the growing, production and sale of marijuana in the county. Last week, the county commissioners said that they would extend those […]
ICE Agents Build New Facility; Construction Activity Stirs Rumors
by Evelyn Pyburn Rumors have been rampant around Billings the last couple of weeks about the federal government building a processing center in Billings to deal with illegal aliens. Some aspects of the rumors began almost two years ago, and nailing the rumors down has been a challenge, but indeed ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) […]
Statewide Commissioners, Governor Wrangle Issues
A wide range of issues were discussed and debated by several hundred county commissioners from throughout Montana who were in Billings this week for the annual conference of the Montana Association of Counties (MACO). On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Gianforte spoke to the commissioners, who he recognized as being those most fundamentally involved in government. Having […]
Heights Water District Chlorination Plant Completed
by Evelyn Pyburn The Heights Water District’s new chlorination plant will be completed by the end of the week, announced District Manager Peyton Brookshire, and staff will begin training on how to operate it.
Suit Filed Against County After Proposals Opened to Manage MetraPark
by Evelyn Pyburn Two proposals to serve as the company that would manage MetraPark in the future were opened and recognized by Yellowstone County Commissioners at their regular weekly meeting on Tuesday. Shortly after, Gene Jarussi, a noted attorney in Billings, filed suit against the county commissioners for the process that has been pursued in […]
County Gets Summons in Heights Water District Case
Since its last board meeting, notice of a lawsuit filed by the Heights County Water District Board against Board Member Pam Ellis and Yellowstone County has been served to both Ellis and the County.
County Agrees to Preserve 2020 Ballots; A Look at the Zuckbucks Funding Controversy
Concerned about an approaching deadline that would allow the county to destroy ballots from the 2020 Election, a group of citizens asked Yellowstone County Commissioners to store the ballots beyond that deadline in order to allow the group time to go through a process that would allow them to essentially do their own audit of […]