Editor’s Note: In an effort to celebrate and highlight some of the best journalism happening in Montana, in environmental and science journalism as well as the good work being produced by our UM J-School alumni, each week, the School of Journalism is compiling these stories in this new feature: Good Work Wednesday. Look for it every week and if you have suggestions of journalism works we should highlight, email Good Work Wednesday curator and grad student Jocelyn Harris at jocelyn.harris@umconnect.umt.edu.
Bolton tells the story of increasing homelessness among people over 60 through an intimate look at the trouble facing one pair of seniors in Columbia Falls. When their rent was nearly doubled, the couple lost their home and their relationship.
“Red Medicine get-out-the-vote organizers Joyce Tatsey Spoonhunter, left, and Joleen DeRoche, right, register Heart Butte resident Carl Cree Medicine sitting in his white pickup parked on the driveway outside his home on the Blackfeet Nation on Sept. 20. Red Medicine is a group that focuses on empowering Native communities in local, state and federal politics.” Photo by Antonio Ibarra, ’22, and used with permission.
Mabie, an indigenous communities reporter, dives into the reasons behind low Native turnout in Montana’s midterm elections. She spoke with Ta’jin Perez, Western Native Voice Deputy Director, who said, “People didn’t know there was an election happening. It’s an indictment of how poorly counties are getting the word out.”
In an effort to celebrate and highlight some of the best journalism happening in Montana, in environmental and science journalism as well as the good work being produced by our UM J-School alumni, each week, the School of Journalism is compiling these stories in this new feature: Good Work Wednesday. Look for it every week and if you have suggestions of journalism works we should highlight, email Good Work Wednesday curator and grad student Jocelyn Harris at jocelyn.harris@umconnect.umt.edu.
Scott writes about wildlife biology master’s student Landon Magee. Magee grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and his research focuses on the important task of monitoring the elusive moose population there. Magee is quoted saying, “the Fish and Wildlife Department has always been limited in its capacity to fill these biologist positions to do the scientific work that’s needed, and it’s been especially difficult to recruit native biologists.” Magee plans to use his grant money to hire two young Indigenous field technicians, providing them an opportunity he never had in high school.
Lundquist reports on long-term lynx and wolverine monitoring efforts by Swan Valley Connections biologists. Population counts for the entire Southwest Crown area were sometimes as low as 7 and 13 for lynx and wolverines respectively, which speaks to the difficulty of the task at hand. Lundquist notes that the information gathered is important when it comes to logging projects that could harm critical habitat for these critters.
Heston reports that a bull elk was found decapitated and “disrespectfully dumped in the canal” on the Bison Range. She includes that officials are checking to confirm if this was the elk known as “Harold,” a large and popular bull among Bison Range visitors.
Miller writes about the new friendship between two centenarians who spend their evenings reciting poetry to each other. The story is sweet, sentimental and sprinkled with wholesome quotes from the elderly poetry fanatics.
Begert’s story looks at the lack of funding for adaptation to climate change and how that “adaptation gap” stands to widen if financing goals continue to go unmet and climate change impacts worsen. Begert emphasizes that communities least responsible for contributing to climate change are most vulnerable to its effects. She quotes U.N. Secretary General António Guterres in a press statement that said, “The world is failing to protect people from the here-and-now impacts of the climate crisis.”
Keeping the story fun and succinct, Overbye writes about a new and intriguing cosmic discovery: the closest known black hole to Earth. Astronomers are taking special interest in this “shell of yawning emptiness,” not just because of its relative nearness to Earth, but because it isn’t behaving like a typical black hole.
Several UM J-School alumni are behind Montana Public Radio’s series, “The Big Why,” including Austin Amestoy, Corin Cates-Carney, John Hooks, Freddy Monares, and Shaylee Ragar. In each episode, the podcast seeks to answer a question from the community about “anything under the Big Sky.” Check out their latest stories about Montana water rights, knapweed infestation, and the lack of salmon in the Clark Fork.
Editor’s Note: In an effort to celebrate and highlight some of the best journalism happening in Montana, in environmental and science journalism as well as the good work being produced by our UM J-School alumni, each week, the School of Journalism is compiling these stories in this new feature: Good Work Wednesday. Look for it every week and if you have suggestions of journalism works we should highlight, email Good Work Wednesday curator and grad student Jocelyn Harris at jocelyn.harris@umconnect.umt.edu.
Thornton dusts off several spooky stories from Butte’s past and share them in honor of Halloween. The tales are grim, especially the one about an abused baby, but Thornton’s wit helps take the edge off.
Rispens’s story about UM’s “Carcass Club” makes hanging around dead things sound like a good time. The students help prepare specimens for the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum, which is home to 22,000 animal specimens including a Desman, the planet’s largest mole species, which can only be found in two other museums around the world. The museum is hosting a public open house this November and Angela Hornsby, the Wright’s curator, is quoted saying, “We can show you cool stuff all day long.”
McConnaha writes about Montana wildlife artist Amber Sampson, whose work will be featured in Art Focus Gallery and Framing on Friday, Nov. 4. Sampson’s realistic paintings capture the personalities of her animal subjects, and she adds some creative flare. McConnaha quotes Sampson as saying, “The splattering process is exhilarating and nerve-wracking at the same time. I hope everyone feels the strong essence of each animal’s spirit projected from the painting.”
Peterson ‘12, updates readers that the 17 abandoned huskies from the Hungry Horse Reservoir have all been adopted and that the woman who shot and killed the 18th husky pup has been cited for animal cruelty. The bad news is that the Flathead County Animal Shelter is still nearly overflowing with surrendered dogs that could be euthanized if adopters aren’t found soon. Peterson includes shelter director Cliff Bennet attributing the excess surrenders to fewer Flathead County landlords accepting pets.
In this story about the pandemic’s toll on Flathead County students, Sagner reports that disruptions in learning patterns and mental health issues contributed to declines in student performance. She spoke with Columbia Falls Public Schools Superintendent Dave Wick, who is optimistic about future learning and said, “Kids are resilient, I think we’re going to recover.”
In his piece about human embalming practices, Whang starts by following experienced embalmer Shawn’te Harvell into his lab. It quickly becomes clear that preserving the dead is as much an art as it is a science, albeit a dying one due Americans’ rising interest in green burials. The topic takes a philosophical turn when Whang speaks with Ed Bixby, president of the Green Burial Council, who said, “We need death in order to live happy lives, making space in order for more life to emerge.”
Noack takes his readers on a journey to the valley of a melting Swiss glacier where archaeologists are racing to collect ancient artifacts emerging from the ice. With climate change accelerating glacier melt, researchers are concerned that ice-preserved artifacts and the history they represent will be lost once exposed. One of the archaeologists Noack spoke with, Nicholas Jarman, said, “For every patch we find, there are probably dozens that go unnoticed and quietly melt away — and the cultural heritage embedded in them is out there under the August sun, rotting.”
A scene from the filming of “The Story of Us: The Women Who Shaped Montana.”Courtesy Photo
Hogberg earned her Master’s in broadcast journalism from UM in 2008 and works as a producer and editor for North by Northwest. Her newest documentary examines the struggles and accomplishments of four women in Montana’s history: Sarah Bickford, Rose Hum Lee, Maggie Smith Hathaway, and Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail. A screening and Q&A will be held in Missoula Wednesday, November 2 at 6 p.m. in the University Center Theater.
The documentary has already screened in Helena and Bozeman. At the Bozeman screening in September, Hogberg said: “There’s so many incredible historical stories that are just untold and we should really try to seek them out, and I think that was really the idea was trying to bring some of these stories to life,” according to reporting from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle’s Nora Shelly.
