June 28-30 Rodeo Still a Go, Barring More High Waters Feature photo by Tia Troy. Main Street Augusta Sunday night, May 26, 2019 (left). Main Street Augusta Wednesday afternoon, May 29, 2019 (right). Updates: Last updated June 3, 2019 at...

Stanford, Sheridan, Circle, Cascade, Hot Springs -- One Year Later Updated on May 13, 2019: On Friday, May 10, the governor signed HB 11 into law. This bill provides funding for the 14 rural communities that lost their state money...

Montana’s 66th Legislature starts January 7 Every two years, Montana’s 100-member House of Representatives and 50-member Senate gather in Helena for 90 days of budget negotiations, lawmaking and shenanigans. During the Legislative Session, Prairie Populist will share updates on the...

The Ruby Valley Realizes Importance of Critical Access Hospitals Disaster struck for me at the tail end of August, at the age of 16. The encounter left me in deep shock, so some of the details are fuzzy. But I...

Here’s one story we hope we never have to cross Two weeks ago, a bridge collapsed in Genoa, Italy. Many of us saw the headlines, alerts popped up on our phones, and the evening news dedicated a brief 90 seconds...

Folks living in rural Montana know how to roll with the punches. They deal with changing weather, fluctuating commodity prices, predators and disease. All the while, they're producing the food that sustains us, bringing millions of dollars into our state, and stewarding...

Dear Mr. or Mrs. Montana Legislator, Have you been to Circle? It’s lovely. You should go sometime. It’s a small, safe, quiet town at the intersection of Highway 13 and Highway 200. Home to 600 folks and the regional hub...

What’s a town need to do to get a little help around here? Hot Springs, Montana is a small town with a lot of different kind of folks -- ranchers, hippies, businessmen, and probably one or two celebrities-in-hiding. What do...

Montana Legislature’s cuts leave 1,000 folks in Harlo out to dry East of the Divide, every drop of water is precious. So, if your town’s water pipes are breaking an average of twenty times each year, you give those pipes...

Budget cuts leave a stink in rural Cascade County As the old adage goes: What goes up, must come down.  What goes in, must come out.  And what comes out, must be disposed of properly so it doesn’t contaminate my...