By Sage Sutcliffe

Top Montana News Stories

1. The remarkable life, death and tombstone of Manhattan’s Sammy Williams (Darrell Ehrlick / Daily Montanan)

Trans rights stories have been at the top of my newsfeed all week following the censorship of representative Zooey Zephyr of Missoula. This one, written by Darrell Ehrlick, shares an incredibly neat story of a trans figure from Montana history.

2. ‘Pushed out’: Two-Spirit student leaves St. Labre Indian School (Nora Mabie / Missoulian)

Reported by Nora Mabie, another important story profiles a Two-Sprit student, Sully Montoya. Montoya feels he has a both a masculine and feminine spirit, but he was unable to express himself freely at St. Labre Indian School in southeastern Montana.

3. Photo essay: 54th Annual Kyiyo Pow Wow (John Stember / Montana Free Press)

Check out Stember’s photo essay from the 54th annual Kyiyo Pow Wow at UM. Stember’s lede explains what the event is all about: “The celebration, organized by the Kyiyo Native American Student Association, was an opportunity to honor movement, family and culture, connect generations, and show off dance styles and regalia from different tribes.”

4. ICT opens news bureau in Montana (ICT Staff / ICT)

ICT (formerly Indian Country Today), a subset of IndiJ Public Media, is expanding its reach with a new news bureau in the J-School. “IndiJ Public Media and the University of Montana’s journalism school hope the partnership will increase and improve coverage of Indigenous issues throughout Montana as well as in neighboring states and southern Canada,” ICT wrote.

Top Environment and Science News Stories

1. Climate Change Is Walloping US Farms. Can This Farm Bill Create Real Solutions? (Lisa Held / Civil Eats)

After an info-packed lede, Held poses two questions in her nut graf:

“So, as negotiations around the 2023 Farm Bill, the country’s most important piece of food and farm legislation, heat up, the question is: will it play a meaningful role in addressing and responding to the climate crisis? Furthermore, can an unwieldy government bill, shaped by a bureaucratic system heavily influenced by the powerful agriculture lobby, really shift the food system toward a lower-emission, climate-resilient future?”

From there, Held reports on what the bill is intended to do for U.S. farmers, merging important environmental and economic concerns.

2. Dwindling sea ice and rising Arctic ship traffic may bring unwelcome visitors to King Island, Alaska (Emily Schwing / High Country News)

Schwing reports on King Island, Alaska, and the anticipated threats to “food security and cultural resources” on the island as climate change worsens. A short news piece, Schwing interviews descendants and residents of King Island to hear about their worries first-hand.

Top Student/Alumni Story

1. Bill requiring license to use state fishing access sites passes Legislature (Tom Kuglin / Missoulan)

J-School grad Tom Kuglin (’14) is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau covering the “outdoors, recreation and natural resources” beat. His concise news story for the Missoulian offers all the pertinent details that Montanans should know thus far about House Bill 521, “a bill that will require anyone using state trust lands, fishing access sites or wildlife management areas to first purchase a license has passed the Legislature.”

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