Holly Michels

Helena

City Editor at Billings Gazette

Statewide Reporter at Lee Enterprises

State Editor at Montana Free Press

State editor at Montana Free Press. Superfan of all dogs. Must be fed regularly, or else. [email protected]

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Articles

Capitol Talk: Taking stock of the 2025 session

1 week ago | mtpr.org | Sally Mauk |Lee Banville |Holly Michels

The 2025 session has adjourned and delivered on its promises of tax relief — but will taxpayers think they did enough? Republican leaders vow retribution for those in their ranks they felt betrayed the party. And the Capitol Talk team gives their biggest takeaways from this session. Capitol Talk is MTPR's weekly legislative news and analysis program.
Capitol Talk: Budget work continues, lawmakers call out sexism

2 weeks ago | mtpr.org | Sally Mauk |Lee Banville |Holly Michels

The "bathroom" law remains stalled in the courts. Lawmakers appear poised to pass the state budget. Sen. Daines gets a presidential endorsement. And female senators call out sexism in the chamber. Capitol Talk is MTPR's weekly legislative news and analysis program. MTPR's Sally Mauk is joined by Montana Free Press State Editor Holly Michels and Lee Banville, Director of the University of Montana School of Journalism and Professor of Political Reporting.
Capitol Talk: People power, due process and property taxes

3 weeks ago | mtpr.org | Sally Mauk |Lee Banville |Holly Michels

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring their "Fight Oligarchy" tour to Missoula, and their populist message has a familiar ring. Republican leaders criticize the tour as being out of touch with Americans' real concerns. Lawmakers continue to grapple with how best to keep a campaign promise to lower your property taxes. Capitol Talk is MTPR's weekly legislative news and analysis program.
Capitol Talk: Protests, partisan judges and party loyalty

1 month ago | mtpr.org | Sally Mauk |Lee Banville |Holly Michels

Opposition to Trump Administration policies draws thousands of Montanans to protests. The state Republican party tries to excommunicate nine legislators from the party. Bills aimed at making judicial races overtly partisan appear to be failing. And members of the Blackfeet Nation sue over Canadian tariffs. Capitol Talk is MTPR's weekly legislative news and analysis program.
Censure in the Senate; Pain in your pocketbook; Public lands in whose hands?

1 month ago | mtpr.org | Sally Mauk |Lee Banville |Holly Michels

Sen. Ellsworth gets his punishment. Montana's congressional delegation stands behind the Trump tariffs. Humanities Montana becomes a victim of the DOGE cuts. And, the old fight over who should own public lands resurfaces. Capitol Talk is MTPR's weekly legislative news and analysis program. MTPR's Sally Mauk is joined by Montana Free Press State Editor Holly Michels and Lee Banville, Director of the University of Montana School of Journalism and Professor of Political Reporting.
Clean Power Plan not the only -- or even most urgent -- issue facing Colstrip

2 months ago | helenair.com | Holly Michels

Though the buzz in Colstrip last week was over the uncertainty facing the town’s coal-fired power plant posed by a federal mandate that Montana cut its carbon dioxide emissions almost in half by 2030, other forces that could shutter two of the plant’s units loom much larger in the near future.
Forensic mental health facility opening soon in Galen

2 months ago | helenair.com | Holly Michels

Criminal patients at the overcrowded Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs will soon be housed at the former Reintegrating Youth Offenders facility in nearby Galen. The state of Montana's lease for a new forensic, meaning criminal, mental health facility begins Feb. 1 and runs through 2035. It will house people committed to the state hospital through the criminal justice system.
Leaky skylight threatening artwork at Capitol to be repaired this year

2 months ago | helenair.com | Holly Michels

Tom O’Connell, administrator of the state's Architecture and Engineering Division, uses a laser pointer to highlight maroon paint peeling away to reveal the white plaster below around the dome of the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol building. “See that whole section, that’s water coming through and causing damage and you see how close it is to the artwork,” O’Connell said last week on a tour of the Capitol. The artwork is seven paintings by the Cincinnati firm F.
21 at Montana Developmental Center heading to AWARE group homes

2 months ago | helenair.com | Holly Michels

On Monday, Gov. Steve Bullock announced plans to move 21 people from the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder to group homes around the state run by the nonprofit AWARE. MDC treats people with serious intellectual disabilities who have been determined by a court to pose an imminent risk of serious harm to self or others. The 2015 Legislature passed Senate Bill 411, which requires the DPHHS to develop a plan to close the center by June 30, 2017.
Iconic 600 Cafe in Miles City closes

2 months ago | helenair.com | Holly Michels

MILES CITY — The 600 Cafe, a mainstay of eastern Montana dining, has closed. Gloria Grenz, who owns the cafe with her husband Chris, who goes by his nickname Butch, said they closed the restaurant on Dec. 20, their wedding anniversary. “We didn’t have enough help,” said Gloria Grenz. “Whether that’s our fault or theirs, I don’t know.”Grenz said she and Butch aren’t sure if the closure is for good. “We’re both getting up there,” she said of her and her husband, both 68.