Welcome to November! There are several topics for today’s column, so get a fresh cup of coffee:

• Food Donations
• Municipal Elections
• Public Service Commission
• Great Falls Property Taxes
• Montana Millionaire
• World Series
• One More Thing

FOOD DONATIONS:

With SNAP benefits stopped because of the government shutdown, please donate to your local food banks.  

For more information, click HERE. 

Also, Meadow Gold Dairy is hosting a FREE MILK Giveaway in Great Falls!

Meadow Gold Dairy is proud to announce a FREE MILK GIVEAWAY to support our local community during these challenging times. Join us on Wednesday, November 5th at the North 40 parking lot on 10th Ave South. The time for the event is 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM (or until all milk is distributed) (Source)

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS:

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday) is the Municipal General Election (November 4, 2025). This is an all-mail election. Information about the election in Great Falls can be found HERE. 

I mentioned in earlier columns that I will support Jasmine Taylor for Mayor, Casey Schreiner for City Commission, and Matt Pipinich for City Commission. I hope you will join me. 

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION:

I received an interesting mailer from District 5 Public Service Commissioner Dr. Annie Bukacek about presentations she has to offer to enlighten taxpayers. 

Here is the mailer (Click on image to enlarge):

On the back of the mailer, Bukacek writes, “As your Public Service Commissioner…”

I live in District #1, which is not her district.  

I’m sure these presentations are must-see in the energy world. It does not appear that the mailer was sent at taxpayer expense, unless I missed something. 

I call the five member PSC the “Five Clowns” because it is a circus. It is the most worthless state agency.

Recently, former PSC president Commissioner Brad Molnar filed an ethics complaint, accusing Commissioner Annie Bukacek of improperly using public resources to work on her private business. (Source)

GREAT FALLS PROPERTY TAXES:

My property taxes for 2025 went down about $580 from those in 2024. I guess they have not discovered my underground bunker that is twice the size of my home!

Nonetheless, is this a great country or what? 

MONTANA MILLIONAIRE:

Yes, I was one of the people braving the early morning hours to grab a few Montana Millionaire lottery tickets. I arrived at my local Town Pump around 4:40 a.m. and was #12 in line. By the time they started selling tickets statewide at 5:30 a.m., there were probably 100 or more in line at that store. 

The parking lots for the convenience stores down 10th Avenue South in Great Falls were all full. The Albertson grocery store’s parking lot was packed as was the Super 1 grocery store. It was hard to find a parking spot at Super 1, which, by the way, has a great deal on a dozen donuts made fresh early in the morning!  

MTN News reported that although not a record breaker, all 620,000 Montana Millionaire tickets were sold out in just over six hours.

I imagine the Trump shutdown with all the people not being paid was part of the reason it was not a record-breaking year. 

WORLD SERIES:

In case you missed it, the LA Dodgers won the 2025 World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays four games to three. The seventh game went 11 innings. 

This may go down as one of the best World Series ever. Game three went 18 innings. 

I was worried that if the Canadian team (Toronto) won, that President Trump would get mad and try to send the National Guard to Toronto to take the trophy. 

ONE MORE THING:

I’ve always been interested in people, but I’ve never liked them. – Henry James

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##