Sign up for the free Great Falls This Week newsletter and stay in the loop on Great Falls city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up 4/27/2026 New parking policies aimed at incentivizing downtown garages The Great Falls City Commission last week approved new parking policies, including a two-hour free parking window in the two downtown garages and a standardized $1.50 rate for surface lots. Other recent policies have begun to chip away at the parking budget’s monthly deficit, but Deputy City Manager Jeremy Jones said it’s unclear whether the latest changes will generate enough revenue to put the program back in the black.  The most recent adjustments will take effect May 1, about two months after the commission increased the rate on Central Avenue from $1 to $1.50. A few months before that, the commission voted to increase parking rates and ticket fines.  Financially, the city’s efforts seem to be working. Comparing March 2025 against March 2026, revenue from fines increased by 300%, or about $11,000. The city booted more cars last month than it did all of last year. Jones told the commission that the new policies would reduce the monthly loss, but it’s not clear whether they would end the monthly deficit, which had been about $20,000. But Gary Hackett, a local developer, doesn’t think the policy is fair to downtown residents. “I am really opposed to you pushing the price onto the homeowner or the building owner there, because not all of us make a good deal of money,” Hackett told the commission. But Andy Ferrin, a local business owner, celebrated the new policy. “I’ve been involved in downtown for 20 years. This was the first time we’ve actually taken a real good stab at the parking issue,” Ferrin told the commission.  The commission unanimously approved the new policies, but Commissioners Casey Schreiner and Rick Tryon both asked Jones about the feasibility of a special district, like the Business Improvement District, in which some downtown property owners would bear the cost of parking directly.  “Yes, it’s more responsibility on a smaller group of people who I know shoulder a burden, but they also reap the largest benefit from it because it’s allowing their businesses to flourish and have that turnover that benefits them,” Schreiner said.  Schreiner said that a special district warranted more conversation, and that if it wasn’t discussed during a future debate about the deficit, he would vote against further fee increases.  “Hopefully this plan’s good, and so I assume it’ll work,” Schreiner said. “But if it doesn’t, I just want to put that on the record.” Great Falls Tribune will no longer publish Prairie Ponderings The Great Falls Tribune will no longer publish Prairie Ponderings, a 17-year-old column written by Conrad rancher Lisa Schmidt. Her column will continue on other sites, including her blog, the Western Ag Reporter, the Independent Ag Network and the Cut Bank Pioneer Press. Schmidt also reads each edition for broadcast on KGPR, Great Falls’ public radio station.  Prairie Ponderings was born out of an angry email Schmidt sent to the Tribune’s business editor in 2009. Schmidt complained about the paper’s lack of agriculture coverage. As Schmidt tells it, the editor asked Schmidt to fill the gap by writing about her ranch.  But over time, the business column transformed into something more intimate. “Everything in ranching is business, and everything is personal,” Schmidt told MTFP last week. Schmidt wrote about her husband, two children and their lifestyle on the Graham Ranch near Conrad, a Hi-Line community north of Great Falls.  Over her nearly two decades of writing, Schmidt’s tone ranged from satirical to sad, but it never softened the edges of her rural experience. She titled a 2025 piece about properly preparing meat “How To Avoid Killing Anyone.” An issue from 2024 explores the highs, lows and everyday moments of her life through the perspective of an old shirt. “I rarely speak for all ranchers — we all are independent cusses who have our own opinions. Instead, I offer a glimpse of my experience, hoping readers and listeners will find commonality,” Schmidt wrote in her most recent column. Schmidt told MTFP that she also wanted her writing to help other ranchers empathize in a challenging, solitary profession, because “it’s easier for other people if they know Lisa is making a mistake too.”  “If I share things that go wrong, then other people don’t have to be ashamed. Because ag is kind of like that. We all figure that our neighbors are perfect and doing everything great,” Schmidt said. She relied on her readers, too. In her most recent piece, she wrote that the condolences she received in 2017 after the death of her husband, Steve Hutton, “felt like hugs.”  “Often, I write about rainy days and drought. I want people who don’t feel the direct impacts of drought to remember that some of us do. Rainy days bring more than an interrupted golf game,” Schmidt wrote. “And I hope people who do feel the impacts every single day know they aren’t alone.” Snapshot From left to right, Mayor Cory Reeves, Rep. Russ Miner, R-Stockett, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce Rep. Marta Bertoglio, R-Clancy, Gov. Greg Gianforte, President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Transmission Edward Rihn, and Rep. Melissa Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, cut the ribbon on a new office for Berkshire Hathaway Energy Montana April 23, 2026. The new office “will support customer service, operations, and regional engagement as the company expands across the state,” according to a press release from the governor’s office. Rihn told Montana Free Press the new office currently employs about half a dozen people, but that the number will increase to 25 or 30 over the next five years. Credit: Zeke Lloyd/MTFP City declares property a nuisance The Great Falls City Commission voted unanimously last week to declare the property at 1915 6th Ave N. a nuisance. The order gives the owner 30 days to remove debris, old vehicles and miscellaneous structures. Otherwise, the city will clear the property. Police have been to the address about 380 times since 1997, according to the Great Falls Police Department. The city commission first declared it a nuisance in 2021 and cleared the property in 2022.   “Since then, the property has again become a nuisance,” Brock Cherry, director of planning and community development, told the commission last week. Violations include camping in vehicles, uncleared debris and illegal structures. Neighbors have also complained. Dakota Wyatt, who lives three houses down from the property, told the commission that he has called the police about his neighbors on 20 occasions.   “This property has become such a problem in our neighborhood,” Wyatt said. “And it is an eyesore. It is a safety concern. It is a legal concern.”  City staff found debris and inoperable vehicles at 1915 6th Ave N., during an inspection in February, 2026. Credit: Courtesy Great Falls City Commission  Emily Moore, the property’s owner, and her son, Shannon Kelley, pushed back at the public meeting.  “These neighbors, they should mind their own business, in fact, because we have a fence,” Moore said. Kelley said the treatment felt unfair. “They want to treat us like we’re criminals, which we ain’t. I do mind the law,” Kelley said. He asked for a month to clean the property. Before the vote, Commissioner Shannon Wilson said she sympathized with the property owners but still supported declaring the property a nuisance. “Here’s the month to get it done, because how horrific for your neighbors to go through this,” Wilson said.  5 Things to Know in Great Falls Malmstrom Air Force Base is slated to construct a nuclear microreactor, a small reactor that generates fewer than 50 megawatts, but the timeline remains fuzzy. The U.S. Air Force also selected two other bases for a new microreactor, but it did not commit to a timeline for any of the projects. Instead, a press release said the Air Force was working “to explore opportunities to deploy a microreactor at one or more DAF installations by 2030.” Conrad librarian Tiffany Christensen won Montana’s Sheila Cates Librarian of the Year Award, which “recognizes outstanding leadership and accomplishment in library service,” according to a Montana Library Association press release.  Paris Gibson Education Center senior Alex Coler received the Zach Culliton Merit of Distinction. The award is named for Great Falls artist Zach Culliton, who died at age 19 from Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy in 2008. The award is given each year to a student who has distinguished themself “in a meaningful manner in the face of difficult challenges.” Great Falls is looking for citizens to serve on six boards and commissions, including the Housing Authority Board, Library Board, Audit Committee, Police Commission, Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and Mansfield Center for the Performing Arts Advisory Board. Applications can be found online or in the city manager’s office in the Civic Center. Montana ExpoPark announced the lineup for the Montana State Fair’s evening concerts, including Third Eye Blind, Kansas, Ian Munsick and comedian John Crist. The state fair runs from July 24 to Aug. 1.  Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected]. The post Great Falls approves parking policies appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less