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05/08/2026
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected].
Nonprofit encourages participation in Stamp Out Hunger food drive Saturday
Missoula residents only have to go as far as their mailbox to donate to the Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday.
As part of the nationwide food drive, U.S. Postal Service letter carriers will pick up donations of nonperishable food left at mailboxes before regular delivery Saturday. All donations will go to the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center.
Jessy Lee, the food bank’s development director, told Montana Free Press that donations from the Stamp Out Hunger drive have waned since the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the drive brought in about 7,500 pounds of food, down from about 15,000 pounds in previous years, she said. The Stamp Out Hunger drive is important for the food bank because the spring is not a typical food drive season, Lee said.
“Food drives allow us to give more variety, so having donated food is important to us and to the folks we serve,” she said.
The food drive is also important as the food bank gears up to serve children out of school for the summer, Lee said. Families with children who receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch at school see their food budgets substantially strained during the summer, she said. While several sites around Missoula offer meals, they can be difficult for families to reach, Lee said.
Donors have historically given canned food, which is important, but Lee encouraged people to think more broadly about nutritional needs and to donate kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare items.
“I like to tell donors to put themselves in the shoes of the people who shop here,” she said. “Think about things that make meals — spices, condiments, breakfast cereal.”
While the number of clients has not changed significantly from April 2025 to April 2026, Lee said the food bank is hearing from clients that they are spending more on gas and medical care and have less money for food. About one-third of people who visit the food bank’s satellite locations in Bonner, Clinton and Lolo said they are running out of food and have no way to get more, she said.
Wages have not kept up with rising costs, and food bank clients typically earn below-average salaries, Lee said. New work requirements for SNAP, the federal food assistance program, and Medicaid will further strain many Missoulians, she said. However, the food bank is fortunate to have strong community support, Lee said.
“Missoula is a community that cares deeply and takes action,” said Amy Allison, the food bank’s executive director, in a press release. “We’re hearing directly from families who are being stretched thinner than ever as food and gas prices rise, and every donation helps ensure they have access to the nourishing food they need.”
Residents can leave donations in sturdy bags by their mailboxes before regular mail delivery, and letter carriers will collect them along their routes. Volunteers will also accept donations from noon to 4 p.m. at Rosauers, Pattee Creek Market and Albertsons locations on East Broadway and North Reserve Street.
Most-needed items include peanut butter and other nut butters, canned proteins such as tuna, chicken and beans, shelf-stable meals like macaroni and cheese and canned soup, condiments and kid-friendly snacks.
Frenchtown residents split on zoning proposal
Frenchtown residents last week made the case for and against citizen-proposed zoning in the area north of Interstate 90 near the interchange where Town Pump plans to build a travel plaza.
The zoning was proposed in part to block the proposed travel plaza, but it’s possible the project could go forward regardless, county officials said during the meeting April 30. Town Pump has submitted a permit application and requested that the county determine it has a vested right to continue the project if the zoning is approved.
The Missoula County Planning and Zoning Commission — which includes the county commissioners, the public works director, the county clerk/recorder and a citizen member — held a public hearing April 30 on the zoning proposal. The hearing will continue Tuesday, May 12.
In February, Keeping Frenchtown, a community nonprofit, submitted a zoning proposal encompassing about 400 acres. The group proposed that most of the land be zoned to allow one house per 5 acres, one house per acre on about 14 acres around existing development in the middle of the area and for light industrial use on 7 acres along Belker Lane and Frenchtown Frontage Road. Town Pump’s planned travel plaza just east of Frenchtown High School wouldn’t be allowed under the proposed zoning.
Jennie Dixon, a county planner, said the staff recommended approving Keeping Frenchtown’s initial proposal because it generally complies with the adopted comprehensive plan for the area and would prevent potential impacts to public health and safety from certain development.
Supporters said the zoning is necessary to guide appropriate development in the area and address health and safety concerns from a travel plaza in that location.
Frenchtown Schools Superintendent Les Meyer said traffic is already heavy in that area, especially in the morning, and additional development of any kind will likely cause more accidents.
Resident Sierra Futch said she helped start the zoning initiative because of concerns for her children’s safety if the Town Pump developed adjacent to their property. Futch said she would have similar concerns about a gravel pit or other large commercial development.
“Why is it fair for a community for big commercial to be able to force themselves in and endanger and alter the entire community?” she said. “Frenchtown is an amazing community filled with wonderful people, and it deserves to be protected.”
Other landowners opposed to the zoning proposal said that while they don’t want the travel plaza in that area and are not against the idea of zoning, the proposal would take away their ability to develop as they planned.
John West said he owns two lots with duplexes off Belker Lane that his family purchased with the intent of eventually developing them into professional offices.
“I don’t want the gas station, I don’t want it at all,” he said. “But on the other hand, this zoning takes money, future money from my children and possibly my children’s children.”
Dan Manson, chief legal counsel for Town Pump, said he’s concerned the signatures for the zoning petition weren’t counted properly because joint owners of a property, like a husband and wife, each got one vote, while the owner of multiple properties only had one vote.
Manson said commercial zoning is appropriate for Town Pump’s property, which is adjacent to the I-90 interchange. While the company is not opposed to zoning under a normal process, citizen-initiated zoning that would block commercial use on a wide swath of properties where it would be appropriate “doesn’t seem like a fair way to try and stop a project,” he said.
The hearing will continue during the commissioner’s meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, in the Sophie Moiese Room of the Missoula County Courthouse. The public can also join the meeting online.
Tuesday’s election produces mixed results for school, fire levies
Voters Tuesday approved Missoula County Public Schools’ two operational levies, with outlying districts’ levy requests seeing mixed success.
Missoula County Public Schools’ $1.35 million elementary levy received 58% votes in favor and 41% votes against, according to unofficial results. The district’s $1.13 million high school levy passed with 50.7% in favor and 48% against.
The Bonner School District’s general fund levy passed by seven votes after failing last year, but the $56,887 safety levy failed, with about 55% of voters opposed and 45% in favor. Seeley Lake School District’s $88,305 general fund levy also passed, with 52% in favor and 46% opposed.
The general fund levies of the Frenchtown, Lolo and Potomac school districts failed. The Lolo School District’s $99,312 levy failed by the widest margin, with nearly 67% of voters opposed and 33% in favor.
Voters approved East Missoula Rural Fire’s request for a permanent levy increase of $222,000 to help pay for training, equipment and operations of the all-volunteer department. The levy passed with 54% of voters in favor and 46% opposed after a similar measure narrowly failed last year.
“This support will have a meaningful impact on our department — helping strengthen our ability to respond, maintain equipment, and support the volunteers and personnel who serve this community every day,” department officials wrote in a statement on Facebook. “Most importantly, it helps ensure we can continue providing reliable service to the people who live, work, and travel through East Missoula.”
Voters also decided on various school trustee and special district board races. No Missoula County Public Schools trustees appeared on the ballot because four of the five open positions were elected by acclamation in March after no challengers filed. Lisa Davey, who represents high school district D — Seeley Swan, Potomac, Clinton and Sunset areas — didn’t file for reelection. On May 26, her seat will be declared vacant. Davey previously told MTFP she hopes to be appointed for another year. More results are available on the elections office website.
Voter turnout for the mail-only election was 36.37%, up slightly from last year. Results are unofficial until the canvass on May 19.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
The Missoula County Elections Office is mailing out primary election ballots Friday. The June 2 primary will determine which candidates advance to the general election in November. Voters will receive ballots for each party running a primary election and choose one ballot to vote on. Ballots will be mailed to absentee voters, and polling places will be open on June 2. Voters can view sample ballots and check the status of their ballot on myvoterpagemt.com. Residents can register to vote in person at the elections center through May 30. Under a new state law, Election Day registration opens at 7 a.m. and closes at noon. More information about candidates is available in the Montana Free Press Election Guide.
The Missoula County commissioners Tuesday approved a development agreement with Grant Creek Crossing Missoula LLC outlining how the county will reimburse the developer for infrastructure improvements at the site with tax increment financing. The county commissioners in February approved the developer’s request for a $7.9 million TIF reimbursement for eligible projects on the 84-acre site south of I-90 and West of Reserve Street. Those projects include traffic signal and roadway improvements at the intersection of Reserve Street and Schramm Street, extending utilities to the site and constructing a road through the property. The agreement lasts for seven years and gives developers four years to complete improvements, said Flanna McLarty, a county land and economic development specialist. The county assumes little risk under the agreement because the developer is taking on private financing to pay for the projects up front, and the county will reimburse them only when it has enough TIF revenue to do so, McLarty said. Once all the improvements are completed, the county may issue a bond if it has enough revenue to cover operational costs and the debt, she said. Last year, the district brought in about $56,000 in TIF revenue, but it needs about $100,000 to cover operational costs, McLarty said. The developer plans to build a 200-unit apartment building on the site along with other to-be-determined developments on the south side of the property, she said. The apartment building alone will not generate enough TIF revenue to cover the reimbursement, McLarty said.
On Tuesday, the Missoula County commissioners approved a letter responding to concerns from environmental groups about a Seeley Lake Trails project. The commissioners in March approved using $250,000 of 2014 trail bond funding to help pay for Scenic Montana Trails’ $1.5 million project on Lolo National Forest Land east of Highway 83. Connie Poten, board president of the wildlife advocacy organization Footloose Montana, submitted a letter to the commissioners on April 8 on behalf of 73 signers, calling for the county to rescind the funds. The letter said the Forest Service included the trail project within a larger Highway 83 project that includes wildfire mitigation and road maintenance, but that it should go through its own environmental review and public involvement process. The writers also raised concerns about building trails in a grizzly bear habitat. In the county’s response, the commissioners wrote that they have no indication that the Forest Service’s existing decision is not in good standing, but their decision to move forward should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the agency’s environmental review process or analysis. The project fits within the purposes of the trail bond as approved by voters, the commissioners wrote. The forthcoming grant agreement with Scenic Montana Trails will define requirements and expectations for the trail project, the letter said.
The University of Montana is holding a listening session next week on a proposal to establish a Waterfowl and Wetlands Center and name it after James C. Kennedy. The center will elevate UM as a leader in waterfowl and wetland research and support and expand its programs, said Libby Metcalf, dean of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, in a press release. Kennedy, a billionaire and chairman of media and automotive conglomerate Cox Enterprises, is a noted philanthropist and conservationist of waterfowl and other wildlife habitats. Kennedy has supported UM’s wildlife biology program for years and committed enough funding to endow support for the new center in perpetuity, according to the press release. The listening session will run from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesday in the President’s Room in Brantley Hall at UM. Public comments may be submitted via email to [email protected].
The city’s sale of the 8-acre Midtown Commons property to Miramonte Companies is set to be finalized this month. Last summer, the city selected Miramonte to purchase and develop the site. The project will include between 200 and 300 housing units, including townhomes, condos, rental apartments and single-family homes and possibly some commercial development. The site will also include a new 1.3-acre public park, connections to the Bitterroot Trail, and new streets and sidewalks. On Friday, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency Board will vote on whether to use $10.9 million in tax increment financing for the site’s infrastructure and the park. Under the agreement, the developer would pay back $5 million as residences are sold, meaning the city would ultimately spend about $5.9 million in TIF on the project, according to the meeting documents. The Missoula Parks and Recreation board will consider the plan for the park Tuesday. The City Council is set to consider the purchase and sale agreement and the development agreement Wednesday and vote on it the following Monday, May 18.
On Campus
The University of Montana will celebrate more than 2,000 degree candidates during its graduation ceremony Saturday.
The university will host two on-campus ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Adams Center. The 9 a.m. ceremony will include graduates from the Department of Public Administration and Policy, the College of Arts and Media, Missoula College, the College of Health and the College of Business. The 2 p.m. ceremony will include graduates from the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education, the W.A. Franke College of Forestry, the College of Science and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
During the ceremonies, UM will present honorary doctorates to commencement speakers Debra Magpie Earling and Joe Whittinghill. Earling is the author of “The Lost Journals of Sacajawea” and “Perma Red.” She taught creative writing and Native American Studies at UM for more than 30 years. Whittinghill graduated from UM in 1989 and had a long career at Microsoft, including as corporate vice president, managing director of mergers and acquisitions and chief talent and learning officer.
The graduation ceremonies are free and open to the public. The public can also livestream the event online. UM will provide additional ADA parking spaces and seating areas for the ceremony. Attendees in need of other accessibility accommodations can email Brandon Kress at [email protected] or call 406-243-5357.
Might be Fun
The inaugural Missoula Moonlight Market takes place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at Caras Park. The free Asian-collaborative night market features food, vendors, entertainment, activities and a community celebration of Asian culture and history in Missoula and Montana.
Missoula Parks and Recreation is holding the Bill Phelps Kids’ Fishing Day Saturday at McCormick Park. Kids can compete for a variety of prizes at the free event honoring the memory of Phelps. Parks and Recreation will provide bait and fishing poles on a first-come, first-served basis. Kids ages 6 and younger will fish from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., followed by those 7 to 14 years old from 11:30 to 12:30. Children 11 and younger don’t need a fishing license, but those 12 to 14 need a Fish, Wildlife and Parks conservation license.