Should Missoula’s Schools Be Smartphone Free? Please take the Survey

Come Home Montana

• She’s Fighting to Save America’s ‘Last Best Place’ From Suicide – The New York Times

  Montana’s suicide rate has been the highest in the U.S. for the past three years. Most of the deaths involved firearms. But suicide rarely registers in the national debate over guns.

• The ‘silver tsunami’ is here. Is government ready?

  About 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day. As the nation’s aging population continues to climb, states and the federal government are working to get plans in place to care for older adults.

• Rural Universities Experiment with ‘Innovation Hubs’

  What if rural communities could create hubs that bring together such ideas, and potentially lead to building new local businesses as well?

• ‘Montana’s Great Wide Open’ markets Eastern Montana to those from out of state

  The “Montana’s Great Wide Open” is being promoted through advertising and news releases, out on social media, as well as “email blasts.” With these, Visit Southeast Montana is giving people reasons to come to parts of Montana they might not normally visit, Maas said.

• Montana Career Opportunities – Tourism Partner Coordinator, Marketing Director – Montana Department of Commerce

  Commerce Job Openings Tourism Partner Coordinator The Tourism Partner Coordinator leads the administration of the Regional Assistance Program grants and the Tourism Development and Enhancement Revolving Loan Fund Grant Program under the Destination MT Division team at the Montana Department of Commerce.

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

• Federal railroad officials in Missoula boost hopes of Hiawatha line – Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

  According to the analysis, the route would span more than 2,300 miles and take roughly 50 hours between Chicago and Seattle. It would serve 44 stations, including 11 stations in small communities, and add service to 19 existing Amtrak stations.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

• Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes 4 Missoula Dorsey Lawyers and Practices

  In addition to the practices ranked at the state level, the Firm’s Cannabis Law, Corporate/M&A, ERISA Litigation, International Trade: Export Controls & Economics Sanctions, Energy: Mining & Metals, and Native American Law practices were ranked on the national level.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Follow in the Footsteps of Communities Planning Solar Deployment That Works for Them

  Apply to the Solar Community Assistance for Local Equity (Innovation at SCALE) Initiative To Receive Technical Assistance for Communities and Organizations Across the Country

• TED Talk – A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow

  What would a sustainable, universally beneficial economy look like? “Like a doughnut,” says Oxford economist Kate Raworth. In a stellar, eye-opening talk, she explains how we can move countries out of the hole — where people are falling short on life’s essentials — and create regenerative, distributive economies that work within the planet’s ecological limits.

SweepLift

• Optimize Your Incentivized Campaigns With Sweeplift

  SweepLift integrates ad platforms, qualification surveys, demo videos, and CRM marketing automation.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Fifteen for 6-9-24

  GFDA closed two loans this week to high mission businesses.

Montana’s Headwaters Tech Hub

• Montana’s Headwaters Hub

  The Headwaters Hub will capitalize on the region’s existing commitment to market-driven innovation—and status as home to dozens of photonics companies—to overcome barriers to the advancement and broad adoption of autonomous technologies in critical use areas that are vital to the United States’ economic and national security.

Montana Business

• Bosses Are Introducing RTO Mandates to Increase Turnover. Does It Work?

  Some executives are trying to encourage voluntary departures with their return-to-office policies. But they could risk losing valuable talent in the process.

• Just 4% of plastic in the U.S. is recycled. – Creating a throw-away culture: How companies ingrained plastics in modern life

  Now, faced with spiraling plastic pollution, the U.N has set out to write a legally-binding agreement to deal with the problem. But the negotiations are fraught.

• Agrivoltaic Solar Arrays Will Win The Rural Solar War, With Insects

  The war against solar power is erupting in rural counties across the US, but the solar industry has a new weapon in hand. A mounting pile of evidence has emerged to support agrivoltaic solar arrays as an effective way to benefit crops and preserve insect populations, too.

Montana Ambassadors

• CBS Sunday Morning – Getting older aint for amateurs –  Use it or Lose It. Roctogenarians by Mo Rocca

  “Retirement isn’t for me.  I believe a person will rust out before they wear out.”  Colonel Harlan Sanders – Kentucky Fried Chicken

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Aging without isolation: S.F. surprise parties seek to ‘bring older folks out into the world’

  “The health effect of isolation is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”

Come Home Wyoming

• As families struggle, lawmakers review Wyoming’s child care crunch

  Since Dubois’ only daycare for kids 0-5 closed this spring, families have scrambled to find care. The situation comes as lawmakers tackle child care access and early childhood education, and is emblematic of shortages straining communities around the state.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• Should Missoula’s Schools Be Smartphone Free? Please take the Survey

  Maybe they’re not learning to regulate their phone use. But they are learning that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to have someone else take it out of your hands.

• Want to go back in time? Visit a school where cellphones are banned.

  Maybe they’re not learning to regulate their phone use. But they are learning that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to have someone else take it out of your hands.

Government News & Events

• The Valley – Searching for the future in the most American city

  Phoenix makes you keenly aware of human artifice—its ingenuity and its fragility. The American lust for new things and new ideas, good and bad ones, is most palpable here in the West.

• Missoula’s Downtown Safety–Access–Mobility Project – SAM
  The City of Missoula is excited to move forward with a $25 million dollar Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for the Downtown Safety, Access, and Mobility (SAM) project.

Careers

• TED Talk – There’s more to life than being happy

  Learn more about the difference between being happy and having meaning as Smith offers four pillars of a meaningful life.

Come Home Washington

• Washington state wants to hear rural communities’ thoughts on renewable energy

  Washington officials want to know what rural residents think about renewable energy development. At an online public meeting Wednesday, people from across the state raised questions about tax rates, farm and forest land use, and views they said could be obstructed by wind and solar farms.

Transportation

• Argonne Assembles Electric Vehicle Experts to Create Better Experiences at Charging Stations

  A task force at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has brought together scientists, software developers, vehicle manufacturers, other national labs and industry partners to address a priority for electric vehicle (EV) drivers: making sure the charging technology works.

Energy and Climate Change

• HotTwist water-based thermal system cuts heating bills by 75%

  Water can hold a huge amount of thermal energy, and a new system to tap into this resource is being trialed in Scotland. A startup called SeaWarm uses heat stored in bodies of water for buildings, pulling four times more heat out than electricity used.

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