Happy Monday! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:

• Good Old Boys Club
• Voter Confirmation Card
• Montana RoboCaller
• NAIA Women’s Basketball

GOOD OLD BOYS CLUB:

Great Falls owes a debt of gratitude to The Electric for informing us about city and county government issues.

The Electric reported last week:

The City of Great Falls settled with McKenzie Lyons, a former Great Falls Police Department officer, in a wrongful termination suit she filed in federal court in December 2021.
The city and Lyons settled for $180,000 in November 2023.
The settlement is paid by Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, the city’s insurance provider.
In the settlement, the city and Lyons agreed that, “it is understood that the above-mentioned sum is accepted as the sole consideration for full satisfaction and accord to compromise a disputed claim, and that neither the payment of the sum by the releasees nor the negotiations for settlement shall be considered as an admission of liability.”
Under the settlement and in the judge’s Dec. 1 order dismissing the case with prejudice, each party will pay their own costs and attorney’s fees.
Lyons filed her federal case against GFPD Chief Jeff Newton, Officer Travis Palmer and the city.

I think all you need to know is that The Electric reported that as of March 22, 2024, Palmer is still employed at GFPD with the rank of senior police officer, according to the city attorney’s office. Palmer and Lyons became friends and in August 2020 began dating, according to court documents. The relationship between Lyons and Palmer became toxic, according to court documents, and Lyons alleged that Palmer was physically and emotionally abusive and used GFPD resources to stalk her.

Please read the complete report from The Electric HERE. I think that the GFPD has an employee who is “physically and emotionally abusive and used GFPD resources” to stalk his girlfriend. He should not be employed by the city of Great Falls.

Shame on Chief Jeff Newton and the city of Great Falls.

VOTER CONFIRMATION CARD:

I received my “Voter Confirmation Card” in the mail this weekend.

That begs the question, “Is this a great country or what?”

MONTANA ROBOCALLER:

On Tues, March 22, a Montana federal court entered a $9.9 million penalty against a man from Libby, MT who had been found responsible for causing thousands of unlawful and malicious robocalls to consumers nationwide. The court also imposed an injunction that prohibits any future violations of the Truth in Caller ID Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (Source)

In addition to the fine, he should have to answer robocalls for a year, like the vehicle warranty call…

Read the report from ABC/Fox Montana HERE.

NAIA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:

On Saturday, the University of Providence (Great Falls) women’s basketball program defeated #1 Marian 78-68 to advance to the program’s first NAIA semifinal.

The Carroll College (Helena) Women’s Basketball team continued their pursuit of the program’s first Red Banner, toppling (6) Dakota State 71-56 in an NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship Quarterfinal game at the Tyson Events Center on Saturday afternoon.

That means Providence and Carroll face off Monday night at 5 p.m. (MDT) with a spot in the NAIA National Championship game on the line. The game will be played in Sioux City, Iowa.

Congratulations to Providence and Carroll.

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##