Keith Schubert, Daily Montanan

Controversial Sidney Pastor Jordan Hall has pleaded not guilty to DUI and weapons charges arising from a May 11 traffic stop.

Hall, 40, was arrested in Sidney around 11 p.m. on May 11, and, according to a complaint, he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs, carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence of drugs, and multiple traffic violations — all misdemeanors. He was issued a $585 fine.

The Sidney Herald first reported the news of Hall’s arrest....

“There had been times earlier in the ’90s when he would come by the house, and my parents weren’t there, and I would feel scared enough to hide in the closet until he was gone,” she said.

But the day at the rock quarry was the first time Gehring said she was “truly terrified” of him.

“I said ‘hello,’ he said ‘hello,’ and I turned around to leave, and I walked at first, and as soon I thought I was out of eyesight, I just ran,” she said....

The leader of a small but highly-visible white supremacist group has touted Montana’s laws in an effort to recruit other extremists in the state.

The introduction of White Lives Matter in Montana is another reminder of the state’s turbulent history with white supremacy and white nationalist groups as well as the efforts of local activists to push back. In Montana, White Lives Matter started organizing in April 2021 and has put on small-scale demonstrations across the state in the last couple of months — including on Feb. 12 at the state Capitol building in Helena.

Sebastian Campbell, known as “Cleetus” online, is the leader of the White Lives Matter Montana chapter. On a Dec. 21, 2021, episode of the “AMERIKANER” podcast from North Dakota, he talked about recruitment efforts, the framework of the group, and his affinity for Montana’s laws....

Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Safety published an emergency rule asking local school boards to follow state guidance when issuing mask mandates, calling into question the benefits of wearing masks to ward off COVID-19 in a school setting.

This article was originally published at Daily Montanan

While the rule does not mandate anything, it encourages school boards to let parents have the final say over whether their child should be required to wear a mask. In a statement, Gianforte, a Republican, said there is “inconclusive research" surrounding masking in schools and asserted there are “adverse impacts of masking on a child's health, wellbeing, and development."...