The graduation rate for the class of 2023 improved slightly over the previous class, the Great Falls Public Schools board learned during their April 9 meeting. Heather Hoyer, incoming superintendent, gave the board their annual report on graduation rates and dropouts. The dropout rates are calculated by the number of students in that class for the October count. The cohort

Four neighborhood councils meet next week April 8-11. Neighborhood Council 7 meets at 7 p.m. April 8 in the Civic Center Gibson Room. Agenda items Whittier Elementary School playground, Set Free, bylaw review, committee reports and neighborhood concerns. More information on NC7, including boundaries and contact information, is here. Neighborhood Council 1 meets at 7 p.m. April 9 in the

City Commissioners will consider during an Oct. 17 public hearing a request to rezone property for a 12-unti apartment building. The city planning board voted 4-0 in August to recommend approval of the rezone. The 0.34-acre property at 2505 8th Ave. N. is currently vacant and zoned R-3 single family high density. The property owner, Robert Tacke, is requesting to

Happy weekend Great Falls. In additional to the regular weekly reading list, I recently finished The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis and have started on The Invention of Russia: The Rise of Putin and the Age of Fake News by Arkady Ostrovsky. If you have any interest in nuclear issues, Russia and misinformation, as I do,

County and city officials are preparing to set their mill levies, but are awaiting details of an informal review of a major taxpayer. Calumet Montana Refining requested an informal review of their new appraisals, an option available to all taxpayers. The Montana Department of Review is currently conducing that review and are hoping to wrap that up by early next

Cascade County Commissioners voted unanimously during an Aug. 22 meeting to adopt a resolution related to the acquisition, transfer and management of county property. The 2017 Legislature passed a bill that revised several code provisions on the disposal of county property and also added a requirement for counties to hold a public hearing prior to adopting a resolution on the

The Great Falls Public Library received its invoice for the levy election on July 28. The library levy election was June 6. Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant sent the invoice by email at 4:34 p.m. July 28. The library’s fiscal year closed June 30. The invoice total was $41,314.54. Library considering options to address problems in Library Park The library

Filing for the Great Falls municipal election closed June 19. The election is scheduled for Nov. 7 and the city typically conducts a mail ballot election. The following seats are up for election this year: mayor two city commissioners two municipal court judges 45 neighborhood council representatives. The mayor and neighborhood council representatives serve two year terms. The candidates for

The Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission honored four projects and people on May 25 for their annual awards program. This year’s winners were: Burnette Batista was raised in Fort Shaw and has developed a passion for its history and that of the whole Sun River Valley. She was elected president of the Sun River Valley Historical Society in

Lawyers for the GK Holiday Village have filed a lawsuit against Ross Dress for Less over a proposed Texas Roadhouse restaurant. GK Holiday Village is a subsidiary of GK Real Estate, a national real estate investment firm, and has owned the mall since 2006. Ross has leased their current space since 2005, through a lease with GK’s predecessor, according to