ARTICLES

In 2014, Superintendent Wendy Johnson and the Kuna School District board of trustees decided that by 2023, 80% of students who graduate from the school district will graduate “future ready.” To help with this goal, in October 2018, they redefined what exactly that means.

Whereas the school district once counted only students going to college in its “go-on rates,” it now includes a number of other paths, such as enlisting in the military, enrolling in a service program — such as a religious mission — or joining the workforce right after high school. The original definition, according to Johnson, failed to tell the stories of students who choose not to pursue college after high school.

Widening the definition, she said, conveys to students that success after high school doesn’t always look like a college degree.

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Every weekday at noon, a group of volunteers assembles under an awning in Melba’s City Park. Some days they come bearing crock pots full of macaroni and cheese; other days, they wield tubs of corn dogs or come armed with enough sandwiches to feed the rush of kids that will soon arrive.

The team of volunteers is stepping up to the plate after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer lunch program, which serves free meals to kids during the summer, was removed from Melba after 2017.

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BOISE — After four failed searches for a permanent Title IX coordinator, Boise State University is in the final stages of a fifth search for someone to fill the position. The decision committee, made up of nine Boise State faculty and staff and three students, will be deliberating in the weeks to come and aims to fill the position before the start of the fall semester.

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Each year, the Student Involvement and Leadership Center (SILC) releases statistics surrounding Boise State’s fraternities and sororities. Among the statistics are chapters’ GPAs, service hours and code of conduct violations for both individuals and the chapter as a whole.

Conduct violations are any actions that violate Boise State’s student code of conduct, a document that each student agrees to when they join the university. The code covers a wide array of actions, from academic integrity, to alcohol and drug violations, to discrimination and sexual assault.

While the numbers are the SILC’s way of being transparent and holding members of Greek life accountable, questions have been raised by Greek leaders regarding the conduct violations themselves and other students’ right to know.

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Martin Schimpf, the interim president of Boise State University, paid his own way through college. Years later, he now sits in his office in the administration building, a Boise State pin positioned proudly on his chest, reflecting on the times when he struggled to buy groceries and pay tuition.

Schimpf, once a Pell Grant-eligible college student himself, recognizes the need to help increase student success for those who require financial assistance. He also recognizes the increasingly difficult path to a college education.

His experience—one that many students know first hand—has helped fuel his passion project for his tenure as interim president: striking a balance between need-based funding and merit-based funding, and closing the gap in success between students who fall into each group.

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In its unique ephemeral way, the Freak Alley Gallery spent the past week evolving into this year’s set of murals, which will be officially revealed on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Saturday’s event will display the new artwork that took the place of last year’s art in the ever-evolving gallery.

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With the wind whipping across their backs, a team of volunteers steadily dug away at the side of Lewis and Clark Pass northeast of Lincoln. Behind them was 200 yards of freshly carved trail — the product of their work from the day before. Ahead of them was a path of tiny blue flags that outlined how much trail they had left to cut.

The volunteers were fighting against the wind to retread part of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) that was destroyed in the 2017 Alice Creek fire. The fire, which tore through about 30,000 acres last year, destroyed trail infrastructure and scorched a sign that denoted the significance of Lewis and Clark Pass. From June 25 through June 29, the group helped restore the trail and installed a new sign.

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The smell of sunscreen and chlorine hung thick in the air at Last Chance Splash Waterpark and Pool Wednesday. After being delayed two days, the water park finally opened for its 2018 summer season.

“It’s fun,” said 8-year-old Sophia D’Ambrosio. “We get to go swimming!”

D’Ambrosio was among the crowds of energetic kids playing without even the slightest worry; to stop would be to interrupt the fun. As she stood talking, she dropped her arms to her sides and shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes begging the eternal question of a busy kid: “Can I go now?”

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In front of historical locations across the state sit small aluminum signs, engraved with 250 words worth of history. The plaques tell stories of the places that lie beyond the signs and the people who occupied them, digging into Montana’s past in a way compelling enough to attract even those most aloof to history.

Behind each of these signs is another story, that of Ellen Baumler, an interpretive historian at the Montana Historical Society. At the end of next week, Baumler will retire after working for 26 years and securing the title “Rockstar of History,” as well as a special place in the memories of Montanans. 

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Early in the morning of Feb. 14, with the rising sun casting gray light into the streets, Daniel Bingham was riding his bicycle down a path in Sydney, Australia. It was a route the former dean of Helena College had taken many times before, but a split-second overcorrection drove him into a chain-link fence. In an instant, the routine bike ride turned into a broken neck, a 101-day hospitalization and a long road to recovery.

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"Falsettos,” a play that demonstrates the complexity of human relationships and challenges the traditional family dynamic, will be taking the stage at Grandstreet Theatre for two weeks starting Friday.

The play centers on a gay man named Marvin, his wife Trina, and his child Jason, whom he leaves to be with his lover, Whizzer. Set in the 1980s, the musical is an unconventional way of addressing the early stages of the devastating AIDS crisis.

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The polls closed in Montana's primary election at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and early results were posted shortly afterward. Here are the latest available results for the legislative and Public Service Commissioner elections in the Helena area. These results are not final. 

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Despite the flooding that devastated parts of the Helena Valley in recent weeks, a local hemp farmer is facing the opposite problem: accessing water. 

Kim Phillips is continuing her fight for irrigation this year after being denied water access in 2017. Though the state of Montana has authorized her to grow the crops, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation prohibits the use of federally controlled water to irrigate controlled substances such as hemp, which is closely related to marijuana. 

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