Legislation seeks to reduce violence and self-harm linked to content recommendation systems.

For months, the Trump administration has been accusing its political enemies of mortgage fraud for claiming more than one primary residence.President Donald Trump branded one foe who did so “deceitful and potentially criminal.” He called another “CROOKED” on Truth Social and pushed the attorney gene...

The New York Times aided the MAGA, anti-science FDA in its mission to undermine the public’s trust in life saving vaccines. Another example of editorial decisions undermining trust in the Grey Lady.

**Here for your decisions, there for accountability, everywhere for your neighbors.** You can help today to keep it **free to read and easy to share** for all. **Support quality journalism across the state with a special year-end gift today.** Plus, a generous match means your gift will be DOUBLED! Give today! **Stay up-to-date on the latest breaking news.** Get MTFP's in-depth, independent reporting sent directly to your inbox. Sign up Gov. Greg Gianforte has claimed a homestead tax exemption on his longtime house on the outskirts of Bozeman, a designation that requires the property be occupied as a “principal residence” under a tax law the governor signed earlier this year. That’s despite a constitutional requirement that the Montana governor “reside” at the state’s seat of government in Helena. Asked Thursday about that apparent contradiction, the governor’s office pointed to a pending Department of Revenue rule that makes an exception to the occupancy requirement for residents who are absent from their home for “work assignments.” MTFP learned about the homestead exemption, which wasn’t previously reported by media outlets, Thursday using an online lookup tool published by the revenue department. “Governor Gianforte and the First Lady reside in their private Helena residence, and also spend time at their home of more than 25 years in Bozeman,” Gianforte Press Secretary Kaitlin Price said in a statement to MTFP. “As with any Montanans claiming the homestead reduced tax rate, the governor has attested that he owns and lives in his Bozeman home for at least 7 months of the year.” The 1972 Montana Constitution requires that the governor and other executive branch officials — the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction and state auditor — each “reside at the seat of government,” which is defined as “in Helena” except “during periods of emergency resulting from disasters or enemy attack.” Gianforte’s decision to split his time between Helena and Bozeman, where he built a successful technology company before entering politics, has drawn occasional scrutiny from Democrats. As he was seeking re-election in 2024, for example, the Montana Democratic Party attacked him for voting as a Gallatin County resident, listing a Bozeman address on hunting licenses, and claiming a property tax rebate on the Bozeman home. That Democratic attack cited reporting by the Daily Montanan, which quoted several neighbors around what was then Gianforte’s main Helena residence saying they typically saw him there only on Mondays and Tuesdays. Residency questions have come up occasionally with Montana elected officials in recent years, but not in ways that have necessarily produced clear legal guidance on much time in Helena the constitutional residency requirement requires. Former Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, for example, was dinged by auditors in 2019 for putting more than 27,000 miles on a state vehicle to travel between Helena and Billings, where he had established his family home as a telework location. Additionally, in 2023, a legal challenge brought by a local newspaper publisher produced a series of court rulings that voided the 2022 election for Roosevelt County Attorney on the basis that the winning candidate, who had run unopposed, didn’t maintain a home in the county. * * * * * * The homestead exemption is a component of the second-home tax policy passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gianforte, a Republican, earlier this year in an effort to lower taxes on comparatively modest homes being used as long-term rentals and owner-occupied residences. The new tax approach functions by raising the state’s default residential tax rates, then offering a discount to properties that qualify for the exemption as owner-occupied “homesteads” or long-term rental properties. Most of the state’s homeowners were automatically qualified for a homestead exemption on their primary residence after receiving this year’s round of property tax rebates — which were technically available only to homes used as principal residences for at least seven months in 2024. Others have been able to qualify via an application that requires making a similar attestation. (That application and a similar one for long-term rental landlords are open through March 1, 2026.) The rules cited by the governor’s office are part of a broader package prepared by the revenue department to clarify various administrative details about the second-home tax that weren’t specified in the new law. The specific provision reads as follows: “Temporary absences that affect occupancy of a principal residence such as admission to a hospital, nursing home, or similar facility for short-term medical or non-medical reasons, military deployments, or work assignments, do not change an owner’s principal residence for purposes of the homestead rate.” Gianforte, who took office in early 2021, concludes his second and final term as governor at the end of 2028. Public records including a 2025 tax bill indicate that the Bozeman-area property, off Manley Road, is owned through a family trust in the name of Gianforte and his wife, Susan. As MTFP has reported previously, the land under the Manley Road home and surrounding parcels also owned by the Gianfortes are classified as agricultural property, which qualifies them for highly favorable tax treatment under longtime provisions of the state’s property tax code. As such, the homestead exemption will apply only to the home structure, valued separately from the underlying land at $1.5 million by the Montana Department of Revenue. According to MTFP calculations, the home structure’s taxable value would be about 39% higher next year without the homestead exemption. At the level of taxation applied to the property by local governments this year, that translates into about $2,600 in savings. The governor owns at least three other Montana properties, including the historic Hauser Mansion in Helena, which the Gianfortes purchased in early 2024 with the intent to ultimately donate it to the state. At the time, the governor said in a statement that his family had purchased the nine-bedroom 1885 mansion for $4 million “to call our home here in Helena.” Gov. Greg Gianforte and First Lady Susan Gianforte purchased the Samuel T. Hauser House in Helena for $4 million. Credit: Arren Kimbel-Sannit / Montana Free Press Property records indicate that a limited liability company associated with the Gianfortes still owns another $1.3 million home in Helena’s mansion district that they occupied earlier in his term as an alternative to the state’s official-but-long-neglected governor’s residence a few blocks east of the state Capitol. The Gianfortes also own a fourth residence on Georgetown Lake between Philipsburg and Anaconda. It is valued by the state at approximately $4 million. The revenue department’s lookup tool indicates that none of the three non-Bozeman properties owned by the Gianfortes have been qualified for a homestead exemption, meaning they’ll presumably pay taxes on those properties under the higher second-home tax rates next year. ## latest stories ### How Libby-area flooding could affect historic Superfund site Since asbestos fibers are typically a risk when airborne, flooding isn’t likely to result in immediate, acute health risks for local residents, state environmental experts said. However, the flooding could unearth vermiculite that previously wasn’t visible. by Mara Silvers and Amanda Eggert 12.12.202512.12.2025 ### After heavy rains flood Libby and wash out bridges and roads, more moisture is on the way After rain caused flooding in northwest Montana’s Libby, the roughly 2,700-person town is expecting another push of Pacific moisture. The arrival of a cold front after that should reduce flooding as it freezes water. by Zeke Lloyd 12.12.202512.12.2025 ### Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana Warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” of precipitation that flowed into northwestern Montana have generated a state of emergency in Montana’s northwesternmost county, Lincoln, as local waterways run unseasonably high. by Amanda Eggert 12.11.202512.12.2025 Whether it’s covering the shutdown’s effect on SNAP benefits, tracking health insurance costs, putting politicians on the record or shedding light on state contractors and out-of-state corporations, Montana Free Press is holding truth to power everywhere you need us. You can keep this critical reporting free to read and easy to share by supporting MTFP today. 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_Brian Noble preaches at Valley Assembly where he was the lead pastor for several years before working for Family Policy Institute of Washington. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)_ _This story was written in partnership between RANGE and_ _FāVS News,__a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work_ _here_ _._ The Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) — a conservative evangelical Christian nonprofit that champions conservative legislation and works as a network for Christian activists — wants to raise up biblically “healthy families” and to promote their flourishing in the state. For its research fellow, Travis Pardo, who has a PhD in Religion from Baylor University, that means in part dramatically curtailing immigration from countries that are not majority-white, establishing English as the official language and “a re-Christianizing of the United States.” This signifies a marked foray into American identity politics. Pardo’s articles include two recent series arguing for a more established sense of American identity and worrying that Islam has too much influence in Washington. “We were told for decades that ‘diversity is our strength’ justifying mass immigration,” FPIW researcher Pardo wrote in the latest article, “The Rise of Islam: Its Power in Washington State,” the first in a series that claims to chronicle the rise of Islam in Washington. He argues, “In practical terms, such immigration rates undermined Christianity, i.e., British-American culture. Islam is a key example.” Critics interviewed for this story said such rhetoric perpetuates a Christian nationalism that is unhealthy for American democracy. In an email to FāVS News, Pardo defended his writing. “We have love and compassion toward all people (as people), but not toward all ideologies, nor all political agendas, nor all laws,” he wrote in the email. The broadest and most widely agreed upon definition of Christian nationalism by experts across various fields of study is that it’s a political-religious creed that fuses a particular brand of Christianity with civic life. This is according to Andrew Whitehead, author of “American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church.” “It demands our government, at all levels, vigorously defend this ideology as central to our national identity, public policy, and social belonging,” Whitehead wrote. The Rev. Terry Kyllo, a Lutheran pastor and interfaith expert in Washington State who has worked to counter anti-Muslim bigotry, finds the syncretization of Christianity and the state dangerous. Specifically, he noted that Pardo’s writing about Muslims and Islam is dehumanizing. Kyllo added it is “an attempt to weaponize people’s desire to protect themselves — their own love of their own community — with slander about another group.” “They may not intend for anyone to be harmed, [but] they are actually creating it,” said Kyllo, who is the executive director of Paths to Understanding, an interfaith community that works for the common good. Kyllo pointed to a white supremacist who in 2017 murdered two men and injured another after trying to assault two women, one of whom wore a hijab. “They’re adding to a permission structure for violence against against people,” Kyllo said. Pardo, who started at FPIW in 2023, sees Muslims active in the public square, mass immigration and multiculturalism as threats to America’s future broadly and to Christianity’s influence specifically. He argues that because Washington is the first state to formally recognize Eid al‑Fitr and Eid al‑Adha as state holidays and the state is home to 100,000 Muslims and 79 mosques or Islamic centers in 36 cities, Chrisitianity is under threat. “Islam seeks to influence our society, shape the story of our state and thus determine our course,” Pardo wrote in his article. “As Christians who seek to defend and advance biblical values, we have good reasons to be concerned about Islam’s impact upon our families.” Only about 2% of Washingtonians are Muslim. More than half identify as Christian. Kyllo sees Pardo’s words as Christian nationalist rhetoric and a way to keep Christians in power and as tearing down America’s democratic principles, he said. “They’re trying to say that it’s OK that I steal your TV, because I’m sure you’re going to steal mine,” Kyllo explained. “So this is part of a gaslighting process where they’re trying to justify their desire to create a status-keeping system in the United States where only conservative Christians are on top.” The vast bulk of literature produced by FPIW touches on common Republican themes around the values on life, marriage, religious liberty and parental rights. The last five articles sound alarms about America losing her identity and express an “us-or-them” fear-driven approach to maintaining political power, which mark a different focus. Prior pieces have focused on such things as “Biblical principles to ground your conservative philosophy,” praying for elected officials and how important it is for Christians to vote. This is one of at least a couple of shifts FPIW CEO and President Brian Noble has seen working with the organization over the years. He started as a consultant. As the former CEO of Peacemaker Ministries, he’d been hired to provide FPIW’s human resources departments’ conflict resolution training, which led to contracts working with all Family Policy Councils across the nation. FPIW liked what they saw, Noble said, and asked him to be their CEO — five times. He said that, initially, he didn’t like their “activist” and “negative” approach to engaging in politics, including the name-calling aimed at political enemies, the power and controlling of people to get them to do what they wanted and the intimidation. But on the sixth ask, FPIW decided to change that culture and Noble has led the organization since 2023. “First and foremost, I see every opportunity … as an opportunity to minister to people and to be salt and light in the public square,” said Noble, who approved Pardo’s articles for publication, though Noble said he doesn’t agree with everything Pardo writes. Those changes were not meant to be Christian nationalist ones, he said. He also said in his biblical worldview, it’s impossible for him to be a Christian nationalist. “So this is where I do take offense when people call me a Christian nationalist, because, I’m like, ‘No, that’s everything opposite of me,’” said Noble. “I’m a Christian who lives in a nation,” he clarified, saying he does believe that America is a Christian nation in the sense the government is established on biblical principles. For example, he said the three branches of government came from Isaiah 33:22, where the passage calls God judge, lawgiver and king. Whether Noble is a Christian nationalist or not, FPIW has advocated for laws that follow Christian doctrine. The idea that the US was founded as a Christian nation has been deeply challenged by scholars like Andrew Seidel, a lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He has written that the founding fathers wanted a public square where everyone has the opportunity to practice their religion, but no one religion dictates how that works — an inherently secular idea, according to Seidel. Noble’s defines Christian nationalism as the belief that Christians must “clean up” America for Jesus to return and the belief that the power of government should be used to coerce an individual to become a Christian. Noble said he doesn’t believe either of those things.. But some of Pardo’s views, articulated in an earlier four-part series titled “Renewing America’s Identity,” are adjacent to forcing Christianity on people, not so they convert, as Noble discusses, but so the society must adhere to Christian principles, FPIW critic Cornell Clayton, director of Washington State University’s Foley Institute. Since the country’s inception, legal systems protected Americans from just this, Clayton said. He noted there is a “whole history of jurisprudence” around “what constitutes an establishment of religion.” He stated that the court had moved substantially toward a “high wall of separation of church and state,” citing Establishment Clause jurisprudence from the 1950s through the 1990s. However, he also noted that the wall has since “started to break down” allowing “a lot more mixture of church and state.” Pardo’s mixture includes legally establishing a specific Anglo-Protestant Christian morality and culture as the main one, prioritizing Christianity in the public square, which could move from non-compulsory religious practice to government-endorsed practice. This could make non-Christian and other believing Christian Americans feel less American or like second-class citizens, Clayton said. “What they’re really saying is to be an American, you need to be a Christian,” Clayton said. Noble does not see it that way. He sees legislating his moral beliefs, which he gets from the Bible and believes are “written on every human heart,” as not trying to preserve a Christian nation or elevate Christianity above all other religions through government power, but as one of loving his neighbors. “Why do I create good policy?” Noble said. “It’s not to control my neighbor. It’s because I want to have more opportunity for them to hear the good news of Jesus.” These policies, though, tend to cross into areas that conservative evangelical Christians, like Noble, see as policy issues in need of moral guardrails, where other citizens do not. One noteworthy example is gender-affirming care and do parents have the right to allow (or not allow) their children to receive such care. Noble said he classifies gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse, and he would legislate against that. And while he wouldn’t usurp a parent’s current authority to allow this for their child, he said he does think that parental right is an unjust law. “It’s silly, because we’ve had decades of laws that put some parameter around what a parent can do,” Noble said, referring to child abuse laws. Not everyone agrees. And not every conservative evangelical Christian approaches their civic involvement in the manner reflected by FPIW. One such person is Paul Miller, professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and author of “The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism.” In an article on Christian nationalism for Christianity Today, he wrote there are differences between “normal Christian political engagement” and Christian nationalism. Conventional Christian engagement works to “advance Christian principles” like justice, not for “Christian power or Christian culture,” which Miller writes is what Christian nationalism does. “Normal Christian political engagement is humble, loving, and sacrificial,” he wrote. “It rejects the idea that Christians are entitled to primacy of place in the public square or that Christians have a presumptive right to continue their historical predominance in American culture.” Pardo agreed, rejecting the notion that his views exclude people. Instead, he seeks to diminish ideologies that don’t support a nation’s way of life. “Every nation has a right to protect its common core culture, often by immigration policy, and often by encouraging assimilation — which many immigrants are choosing not to do here in the United States,” he said. He explained the primary concern in his articles revolved around “values and ideas, or what some call ‘culture,’ i.e., ‘what people have, do, and think.’” He hopes to publish Part 2 of “The Rise of Islam” in January. This time he will explore less political themes but more theological and philosophical ideas comparing Christianity and Islam, he said, “in a spirit of charity and fairness toward all Muslims and Islam itself.” Brad Payne, FPIW Action’s chief lobbyist, said he would work with Muslim groups to establish policy if those groups found common political ground with FPIW. Noble said that means it would need to be “a biblical principle that promotes the common good.” “I’d work with anyone who wants to get someone across the street,” Noble said.

Movie viewers have a similar response when it comes to the 1961 film "Ring of Fire," much of it filmed in Mason County. The first hour of this MGM suspense thriller about a trio of teenage hoodlums who take a Mason County Sheriff's deputy hostage as they try to evade his fellow lawman is described as slow, dated and cheesy. E v e r y - one seems to...