Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Great Falls Public Library
• Great Falls Clinic Legacy Foundation
• Happiest States in America
• One More Thing

GREAT FALLS PUBLIC LIBRARY:

Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon is once again attacking the Great Falls Public Library, this time because the Library Board of Trustees gave Library Director Susie McIntyre a salary raise even though she is leaving. The raise was approved in July. Tryon is complaining in September. 

McIntyre resigned in July but offered to stay on during the transition period until December 27. 

Tryon says the public deserves to know the reasons or justifications for increasing a public employee’s salary by nearly $12,000 a year after that employee has resigned. 

The minutes from the meeting answer Tryon’s questions. I know they are written at a higher reading level than Tryon is used to.  

Tryon and other commissioners recently approved a pay raise for the Great Falls City Manager, bringing his salary to $207,756.88. (Source)

The Board approved the salary raise for McIntyre by a 4-1 vote. 

It seems to me that many MAGA men, like Tryon, have a hard time accepting highly educated and strong women in our society. McIntyre has been a valuable asset to the Library and to the Great Falls Community. She will be missed.

GREAT FALLS CLINIC LEGACY FOUNDATION: 

The Montana Free Press (MTFP) is reporting that a man (Adrian Swensen) accused of orchestrating a fake fundraiser has been hired as the fundraising administrator at the Great Falls Clinic Legacy Foundation, which is based in the Harold and Carmen Poulsen Legacy housing building. The foundation manages the housing, which serves medical patients who are in town for medical treatment but don’t live in the area.

The MTFP also reports:

Swensen has been involved in Democratic politics for years, and a description of his job history from the Great Falls Clinic Legacy Foundation said that he worked in the offices of Congresswomen Maxine Waters of California and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, which is Swensen’s home state.

The MTFP also checked on his degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. University spokesperson Todd Hollingshead told Montana Free Press Monday that BYU has no record of anyone named Adrian Swensen or Adrian Noe, another name he has reportedly used in the past, attending the school or earning a degree there.

There’s more, so check out the full report from the MTFP HERE. 

HAPPIEST STATES IN AMERICA:

From my friends at WalletHub.

With only 44% of Americans saying they are “very satisfied” with the way their personal life is going, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on 2025’s Happiest States in America, as well as expert commentary.

To determine where Americans have the highest satisfaction with life, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 30 key indicators of happiness. The data set ranges from the depression rate and the share of adults feeling productive to income growth and the unemployment rate.

The top five happiest states are:

1. Hawaii

2. Maryland

3. Nebraska

4. New Jersey

5. Connecticut

Montana comes in ranked #32. 

It seems to me that the happiest states (top 5) are mostly blue states, and the least happiest states (bottom 5) are mostly red states (Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and West Virginia). 

Check out the full report HERE. 

ONE MORE THING:

Did we ever find out what the knights in white sat in? 

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