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Weak Mayor–Council — Where Small Groups Take Over
This system spreads power across the council, with a mayor who has limited authority. In theory, that sounds balanced. In reality, in a town like Eureka, it often leads to exactly the problems people complain about. With only 8 to 24 people showing up, a small group of council members can: The mayor cannot do much to stop it. This is where you see: And the biggest problem: No one is clearly responsible. Everyone shares power, so everyone can avoid blame. This is the system where “good old boy” politics thrives the most, because control is spread across a small,…
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by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily YonderNovember 20, 2025 As rural areas across the country face worsening provider shortages and reductions in health care services, one community hospital in Billings, Montana, is celebrating the success of two new residency programs training the next generation of rural physicians. Roughly 65% of rural counties face a shortage…
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Renata ran across a reference to Montana’s “Boxcar Library.” It existed from 1921 to bring library services in Missoula county to lumber camps – and now continues as a display at Fort Missoula. I’ve found these three photos, plus an article on it at https://buildings.fortmissoulamuseum.org/library-car/ (note the bedframe in the first photo, showing where the…
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This is one of the most common systems used today. The council makes decisions, and a manager runs the town. In a place like Eureka, this is where things can get tricky. With only 8 to 24 people attending meetings, the council can operate with very little public pressure. If a few council members agree…
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by Sarah Melotte, The Daily YonderJanuary 7, 2026 Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox. Last August fellow Daily Yonder reporter Ilana Newman and I visited a 1,500 square-mile…
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When I went to get some repair work done, the person I was consulting advised fixing the structural issues and then putting the same ancient dilapidated siding back on the building. The rational? Property taxes. Last summer, we joked about how much the nice flowers my mother had on their porch raised their taxes. They…
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I spent most of a year away from the school after I finished my term. I attended a couple of board meetings because I was asked – on one hand, there was, at the least, the appearance of an unlawful board meeting . . . unlawful because it appeared to violate Montana’s open meeting law.…
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Historically, independent voters, and voters for minor third parties, do not get a large percentage of votes. Often, they’re considered “spoiler” candidates, who lose the election for someone by dra4wing critical support away during a close race. Or their thought of as simply “protest candidates” with no chance of winning. In Montana, for the presidential…
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Not many years ago, if you were faced with a cluster of unacceptable clowns on your ballot, you could write a name in and cast a protest vote. Hell, I guess you still can – the thing is, your write-in protest vote won’t be counted or reported. With the elimination of subsection 7 last year,…
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I’m having trouble summarizing this one, not least because I lost my notes. In short: The meeting did discuss prayer, but did not discuss a four day week. About prayer: The discussion was specifically with regards to having prayer on the agenda as a part of each school board meeting. The result- no. Community presence…
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The proposed library district has me looking at taxation again. One of the great things about Lincoln County is that, with three high school districts, it’s easy to figure out which communities provide the funds that keep our county going. Market Value Taxable Value Percentage Libby $1,687,186,708 $21,911,499 36.42% Troy $831,354,553 $10,966,329 18.23% Eureka $1,974,407,031…
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Now it takes a single click to get the data. So what does it mean? I measured the record lows back in 1977 – this chart, from the Grave Creek site, shows how the critical snowfall that brings us up to normal or above occurs between the February measurements and April 1. I don’t know…
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The USDA has updated plant hardiness zones, and despite last winter’s impressive cold, we’ve jumped up a zone (to 5a from 4b in 2012; the average low went up by 6 degrees) Hardiness zones are a (partial) climate description that’s been in existence for a bit over a century, though the government didn’t get involved…