The state, long known for its challenges with child wellbeing, is now a leader in early childhood education.
Susan Shain
Susan Shain reports for High Country News through The New York Times’ Headway Initiative, which is funded through grants from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors serving as fiscal sponsor. All editorial decisions are made independently. She was a member of the 2022-’23 New York Times Fellowship class and reports from Montana. @susan_shain
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What being a rural election official is like
And what’s worrying one expert this November.
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This Montana school solved its teacher shortage by opening a day care
On-site day cares are being used as a recruitment tool. Turns out, they help more than just the teachers.
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Cancer is killing firefighters. So this city is going PFAS-free.
San Francisco is the first major American city to ban the substance from protective gear.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
When school lunch is free
New programs that provide free meals to all students are gaining popularity.
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These Washington nurses want their hospital to be more like Oregon
Nurses at PeaceHealth Southwest, in Vancouver, Washington, protest unsafe staffing and pay.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
The untold history of Japanese American bird pins
They were one of the most ubiquitous crafts to come out of Japanese incarceration camps. But few knew their back story — until now.
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Fighting climate change by fighting racism
Hop Hopkins, the new executive director of WildEarth Guardians, explains how the two movements are connected.
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What rural homelessness looks like
The lessons learned after spending months embedded with unhoused communities in Oregon.
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Could building on public land address the housing crisis?
The West has a plethora of land and a shortage of houses. Some are wondering if a solution lies within.
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See how bad your community’s air will be in 30 years
New data forecasts the nation’s future air quality, all the way down to individual addresses.
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What happened to the Great American Outdoors Act?
A historic public lands act passed in 2020. Here’s what it’s done so far.
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What this winter’s snowfall says about the future of skiing
A snow-obsessed meteorologist dishes on this year’s precipitation — and what it means for winters to come.
Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst
A day inside a one-room school in Montana
An old model of schooling still has promise in modern education.
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Stories that made us green with envy in 2023
A roundup of the articles we wish we’d written ourselves this past year.
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Bozeman’s next mayor on housing, tattoos and the West
The 28-year-old mayor-elect, Joey Morrison, shares his plans for boosting community engagement and building neighborhoods for all Montanans.
Posted inDecember 1, 2023: December 2023
Has Montana solved its housing crisis?
A spate of new state laws will spur housing development. Will anyone be able to afford what’s getting built?
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023
What Montana’s independent ranchers need to survive: customers
Small-scale processing is on the rise, but ranchers still need buyers’ buy-in.
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Medicaid’s big paperwork problem
After a federal rule expired this spring, millions of people have been disenrolled from Medicaid. Many of them may still be eligible.
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Why you should care about the farm bill
The legislation affects hunger, food security and climate — and it begins expiring next month.