Your Community Builder

Articles written by Shaylee Ragar


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 3 of 3

  • Montana Legislature adjourns, passing public works bills, the state budget and continuing Medicaid expansion

    Shaylee Ragar, UM Legislative News Service, University of Montana School of Journalism|Updated May 2, 2019

    HELENA - Montana's 66th Legislature adjourned Thursday, three days early and after a jam-packed final several days. Lawmakers introduced a total of 1,309 bills this session, ranging from "cleanup bills" that remove unnecessary language in Montana code to bills that deal with issues like infrastructure funding, which will touch every corner of the state and cost tens of millions of dollars. Of those introduced, 426 bills cleared both the House and Senate and were sent to...

  • Lawmakers push legislation to address Montana's mental health crisis

    Shaylee Ragar, Legislative News Service University of Montana School of Journalism|Updated Jan 31, 2019

    When Brandi King finished a 14-month deployment with the United States Army, she returned home to Montana’s Fort Belknap Indian Reservation to heal. King carried with her the trauma she experienced during combat in Mosul, Iraq. She began to feel anxious, hypervigilant and she couldn’t sleep at night. In rural Montana, mental healthcare resources can be scarce. King wasn’t able to see a counselor or support specialist, and her post-traumatic stress progressed. She became suicidal and attempted to take her own life more than...

  • Election 2018 – Matt Rosendale profile

    Shaylee Ragar, Community News Service UM School of Journalism|Updated Nov 1, 2018

    In a small room at the back of a historic hotel in Whitehall, Mont., Republican Matt Rosendale told a crowd of about 30 people he's not worried about a Democratic groundswell this election cycle. "I keep telling folks, the only blue wave I think is going to blow ashore is going to be in Hawaii somewhere," Rosendale said. "We got a red wave coming through here." Dressed in an MSU Bobcat polo, the U.S. Senate hopeful and current State Auditor made his way around a large...