Missoula Montana

Contractors have been working six days per week since late November to clear Missoula's trees of dangerous loose branches. They're about a third of the way done, according to city officials.

Missoula City Council voted Monday to ban camping in city parks. The decision will tighten restrictions passed six months ago on where unhoused Missoulians can stay overnight.

An entrepreneur with ties to a proposed $100-million retail and condo project in Missoula has been charged with federal wire fraud.

Planners project Missoula has to build as many as 27,000 new homes by 2045 to meet affordable housing needs for a growing population. To do that, the city’s new land use plan proposes a significant boost to the number of dwelling units allowed on many types of residential property across the city.

It took more than two months for city workers to comb every street in Missoula inspecting trees for damage caused by the late July windstorm that pummeled western Montana. Now, Missoula officials say they’re about to embark on the city’s largest-ever urban forestry project.

Missoula’s Urban Forestry Division says it’s examined roughly a quarter of the city’s trees for damage following the storm. So far, it estimates a loss of 600 to 1,000 trees on city land alone. More than 450 have been marked for removal.

Missoula County officials this week removed a local infrastructure mill levy request from November’s ballot. Commissioners based the decision on ongoing concerns about Montana’s property tax sticker shock.

One of the state’s largest health networks plans to open a new health care facility next year in Missoula.

Piles of tree debris still litter yards in almost every Missoula neighborhood. Hurricane force winds the evening of July 24th toppled power lines and flattened or damaged trees that stood for generations. The City of Missoula is now offering to pick up residential tree debris.

More than two years after recreational marijuana sales began in Montana, state and local officials are exploring ways to halt the opening of new dispensaries.