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12/19/2025
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to kfairbanks@montanafreepress.org.
Festive activities continue in Missoula this weekend and through New Year’s Eve, as the winter holiday season nears its peak.
This weekend kicks off winter break for Missoula schools, and kids have at least one opportunity to see Santa on Saturday before he heads back to the North Pole.
The Missoula Public Library is holding a Santa story time at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Imaginarium. Children can talk to Santa, and parents are welcome to take pictures.
This weekend is the final chance to catch a free horse-drawn carriage ride downtown. Old West Wagon Rides will pick up people on a first-come, first-served basis between noon and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on East Pine Street and North Pattee Street near the Missoula Art Museum Park.
Need to run off some holiday stress? Sign up for the Light the Way 5k Saturday at Fort Missoula Regional Park. A free half-mile kids’ fun run starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the festive 5k at 6 p.m. There will be lights along the course and cookies and cocoa at the finish. Runners can wear their “most hideous” holiday sweater during the race to join the ugly sweater contest. More information and the registration link are available online.
For a cozier winter activity, the Roxy Theater’s month-long holiday movie marathon continues through the end of December. Screenings include “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” on Friday and Saturday, “Die Hard” on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and “The Holdovers” on Sunday, Dec. 28. The Christmas classic “Meet Me in St. Louis” will be screened at the theater’s annex next door Dec. 19 through Dec. 21. Movie times and ticket information is available on the Roxy’s website.
Those looking for community on Christmas Day can stop by the Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center. Volunteers will be there from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with coffee, cocoa and cookies.
Residents and visitors can ring in the new year with the annual Missoula on Main arts and culture festival on Dec. 30 and 31. The Arts Missoula festival includes 32 performances, concerts, workshops and other free and ticketed events throughout the city. Free, family-friendly events will be held from noon to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Missoula Public Library. The festival ends with a Midnight Ball from 9 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 31 at the Hellgate Elk’s Lodge. A full schedule and ticket information are available online.
Public (Parking) Notice
Steeper parking fines downtown and increased enforcement in the Hip Strip take effect Jan. 1.
The Missoula City Council approved the new parking ticket fees in June to discourage repeat parking violations. The downtown meter violations currently increase by $5 from $0 for the first ticket to $20 for the fifth. The new scale will increase by $10 from $0 to $40. The count resets after 180 days of no violations. Most tickets issued are for first meter violations, and most drivers only receive that one warning ticket, Jodi Pilgrim, the city’s parking commission director, told the council in June.
Improper parking violations, such as blocking a fire hydrant or bike lane, will start at $20 and increase by $20 up to $100 and reset after one year of no violations. Parking violations in the University District residential parking permit area will follow the same scale.
Earlier this fall, the city council increased fines for disabled parking violations to comply with a new state law that took effect Oct. 1. The fine increased from $100 to $150 for the first violation, $250 for the second violation and $500 for the third violation.
In November, the city council increased the Missoula Parking Commission’s jurisdiction to include the Hip Strip area around Higgins Avenue south of the Clark Fork River. Starting Jan. 1, the commission will enforce safety and accessible parking violations, as well as the existing two-hour time-limited spots that have not been previously enforced. That will include twice-daily patrols between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The parking commission will also work on a parking permit program for the area.
Following Up
The developer proposing a gravel pit on a property near Bonner recently responded to Missoula County’s request for more information about the project.
Riverside Contracting, Inc. applied for the county permit in September and described the project as “opencut, sand and gravel operations to include use of a portable crusher and portable hot mix asphalt plant.” The 66-acre forested property is located at 14815 Highway 200 E., across the highway from the Blackfoot River. The property is unzoned, allowing for a variety of uses, including the proposed gravel mine, subject to state approval.
Earlier this month, the Missoula County commissioners paused the permit review and sent the developer a letter, requesting project details including the specific location of the mine, the size and scale of the operation and plans for mitigation and community outreach.
Riverside Contracting wrote in its Dec. 12 response that the commissioners’ inquiries are “pertinent” but that the company is in the early stages of planning and evaluating potential uses for the property.
“We are working with environmental professionals and subject-matter experts to gather site-specific data that will inform our planning efforts and help us identify potential impacts to the surrounding environment,” the letter said. “This effort will require many months of data collection and analysis before any decisions can be made regarding what operations may or may not occur at this site. Once we have definitively identified any proposed operations and their potential impacts, we will be able to fully address your questions.”
The developer needs the county permit as part of its application to the state Department of Environmental Quality, which would ultimately approve or deny a gravel mine operation.
In November, the Blackfoot River Community group of area residents requested that the county commission enact emergency zoning and halt the project. Caroline Krenn, the group’s founder, told Montana Free Press that Riverside Contracting’s letter does not change the community’s concerns.
“No amount of study changes the fundamental reality that this is a terrible place for a gravel pit,” she said.
The group has requested that the county hold a public hearing on the emergency zoning request early next year, Krenn said.
Missoula school board chair resigns, position added to 2026 ballot
Wilena Old Person, the Missoula County Public Schools board’s first Native American chair, resigned early this month. She is the fourth trustee to resign this year.
Old Person, who was elected to her third three-year term last year, told Montana Free Press her family recently moved from Missoula to Pryor, Montana, after facing housing insecurity. Old Person said it was a difficult decision to leave her home of more than 25 years.
“I do eventually see our family moving back to Missoula,” she said. “This is somewhere we had to go for the time being.”
In her letter of resignation, Old Person, who was first elected in 2019, wrote that she was sad to leave the board and felt she was making an impact in the school district. Old Person also wrote that she has “felt institutional racism from the beginning of our time in MCPS to the last day,” and it was her goal to impact the “good ole [sic] boys club” in the district.
Old Person told MTFP she and her children experienced racism within the schools, including microaggressions, such as someone at a PTA meeting calling for a “powwow,” or being the last to be served while waiting in a school’s front office.
“Little things like that happen all the time to me in the school district as a Native American mother,” she said. “Little things, but they add up.”
Old Person said she first decided to run for the school board after helping start a PTA at Russell Elementary, where her younger sons attended at the time and taking part in the district’s elementary district boundary study in 2018. It stood out to Old Person that she was the only person of color at those public meetings and open houses, and she felt she could make an impact on the school board, she said. The district has great schools but could always do better, Old Person said.
Old Person said she is proud of her work on the IVALUE (Inclusion, Validation, Action, Learning, Understanding, Equity) initiative that encouraged inclusivity in the district.
“Something I really worked on was trying to make Missoula a better place not only for my children, but for other children,” she said.
Old Person said she would like to see the district closely adhere to the Indian Education for All Act, which requires K-12 public schools to teach Native American history and culture. While the district has allocated more funding for the Native American Student Services Department, Old Person said she wishes the district could provide more support and opportunities for other students of color. She said she is positive the board will “keep doing that good work.”
The school board Tuesday declared the position vacant. Trustee Meg Whicher thanked Old Person for her dedication during her time on the board.
“She was an incredible leader for this district, and she will be incredibly missed,” Whicher said.
Applications for the position are open until Jan. 5, and instructions are available on the school district’s website. The board is set to interview applicants on Jan. 13 and appoint an individual to fill the seats until the May 2026 election. The appointee must file to run for the seat by Feb. 9 if they want to potentially continue on the board. The board also voted to add the position to the May 2026 ballot. The winner will serve the remainder of Old Person’s term, which expires in 2028. More candidate filing information is available on the county elections website.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
The Missoula County commissioners Tuesday approved a settlement agreement with Rhinoceros Inc. for a lawsuit over the alcohol sales contract for the Zootown Music Festival. The company, which owns The Rhino bar downtown, sued the county and Always On, LLC, in June 2025 after it was not chosen as the alcohol vendor for the festival. The county’s contract with Always On, signed in December 2023, allowed the company, under certain circumstances, to retain and contract its own alcohol vendor for the Zootown Festival, said John Hart, a county civil attorney. The county’s May 2024 contract with The Rhinoceros identified the bar as the exclusive alcohol provider for all events at the fairgrounds, leaving the county unable to perform under both contracts, Hart said. As part of the settlement agreement reached Dec. 9, the county agreed to pay The Rhinoceros $90,000 and amend the bar’s contract, he said. The commissioners also approved the amendment to The Rhinoceros’ contract to promote the bar as the exclusive alcohol caterer for the Western Montana Fair and the preferred vendor for all other events at the fairgrounds, excluding any involving Always On, LLC or its manager Scott Osburn. The Rhinoceros’ contract with the county expires Aug. 31, 2026. Always On is set to hold the Zootown Festival at the fairgrounds through 2029.
On Tuesday, the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees voted to join a new statewide public school health insurance trust. In 2023, lawmakers passed House Bill 332, which dedicated $40 million to establish the trust, provided that a minimum of 150 school districts with a total of 12,000 employees joined. The bill aimed to reduce the cost of health benefits for teachers, administrators and other school employees. Missoula County Public Schools is self-insured and covers approximately 1,100 employees, as well as their dependents. The district’s insurance committee, which is primarily employees, recommended that MCPS hold off on joining the state trust, Bridged Health Alliance. Greg Imhoff, a seventh-grade teacher and the committee chair, said MCPS has a proven, stable insurance trust fund and competitive rates and does not need to assume the risk of joining a new model. Superintendent Micah Hill said the district would benefit from the size of the larger trust while maintaining autonomy to run its insurance plan as it sees fit. The projected savings from switching could help the district in what is likely to be another tight budget year, Hill said. Hill also outlined several contingencies in the agreement that would allow the district to back out, including receiving written confirmation of network and reimbursement levels, all governing documents, and the right to decline if the terms diverge from what has been represented. The board approved joining with contingencies in a 7-3 vote, with trustees Lisa Davey, Tina Hayes and Jenny Walsh opposed.
The Missoula City Council will hold a public hearing Jan. 5 on a proposed radio tower in the South Hills neighborhood. The Lighthouse Baptist Church is requesting a permit to construct a wireless communication tower on its property at 5425 Gharrett St. The 80-foot tower would provide an FM radio station airing “educational, religious and public service programming,” according to the staff report. Several neighbors submitted written comments opposing the tower because of its height and noise. Applicant Frank Bodiker Jr. said the equipment shed around the tower will be insulated to help block noise from an air conditioner regulating the tower’s heat. Pastor Tom Lemmons said they changed the tower’s original location so it wouldn’t block neighbors’ views of the valley.
The city of Missoula, Poverello Center, Hope Rescue Mission and other partners will hold a memorial service for people who died in 2025 while unhoused. The memorial begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Caras Park. The service will include speakers from the Poverello Center, an honor song performed by Benji Headswift and his son and a reading of 24 names. Cookies and hot chocolate will be served. The public is invited to attend and reflect on the lives lost and demonstrate solidarity with vulnerable members of the community.
The city of Missoula is seeking feedback on its website, which is slated for a redesign next year. The city wants to know what improvements would make the website more helpful and easier to use. The online survey takes about four minutes to complete and is open through Dec. 30. The city’s fiscal year 2026 budget includes $75,000 for website modernization.