Nearly 50 people learn tools of investigative trade at blogger event

By   /  July 15, 2012  /  Montana, Montana Watchdog, WatchBlog  /  No Comments

By PHIL DRAKE | Montana Watchdog
HELENA –Nearly 50 people attended Saturday’s citizen journalist blogger event in Helena, soaking in information on how to keep a more watchful eye on government.
The event was sponsored by the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, in conjunction with Montana Watchdog.
The eight-hour event at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel [...]

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Outside groups get dirty in Montana race

By   /  May 23, 2012  /  2012 General Election, Elections, Issues, Montana, News, Politics & Elections  /  No Comments

Patriot Majority USA, a front for unions like the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union, is airing television ads in Montana.

By Dustin Hurst | Watchdog.org

HELENA — Several outside groups are trashing Republican U.S. House Rep. Denny Rehberg, while Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester continues to cultivate his “Farmer Jon” image.

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Poll suggests Schweitzer could unseat Baucus in ’14

By   /  May 16, 2012  /  Elections, Montana, News, Politics & Elections  /  No Comments

Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Montana

By Dustin Hurst | Watchdog.org

HELENA — Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus wants Montanans to know he’s planning a 2014 U.S. Senate run, but only one person may need the message: fellow Democrat Brian Schweitzer, Montana’s governor.

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State Digital Academy’s success prompts projected funding shortfall

By   /  March 12, 2012  /  Montana, Montana Watchdog, News  /  No Comments

By PHIL DRAKE
HELENA – The Montana Digital Academy is  apparently a victim of its own success as a state committee recently learned it would need an additional $420,000 next fiscal year as it has already spent nearly 85 percent of its $1.168 million program allocation for FY 2012 and has enrollment nearly three times of what was [...]

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Bill to revise funding for Montana’s schools fails on third reading

By   /  March 22, 2011  /  Montana, Montana Watchdog, News  /  No Comments

By PHIL DRAKE
HELENA – The Senate on Wednesday defeated a bill that would have changed the way in school funding is allocated.
 SB 403 by Llew Jones, R-Conrad, would have revised the way in which oil and natural gas tax funds are determined for schools, limit a school’s ending fund balance, create a Pathway to Excellence Program [...]

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