Briefs for July 18, 2018
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Locals graduate from MSU
News from Montana State University
BOZEMAN – Students from the following local hometowns were among the 1,561 Montana State University undergraduates who received diplomas during MSU’s 2018 spring commencement ceremony held May 5 in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Students with two asterisks after their name (**) graduated with highest honors. To graduate with highest honors, undergraduate students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.70. Undergraduate students graduating with honors have a single asterisk (*) after their name. To qualify for graduation with honors, students must possess a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 to 3.69.
Arlee: Alexis Shick*
Hot Springs: Jarod White
Lakeside: Tailyr Dyrdahl, Katie Goodnough*
Moiese: Mackenzie Foust**
Plains: Andrew Baker**, Daniel Damschen**, Sara Nestor*
Polson: Samuel Kinzle, Isak Petersen**, Zachary Schmidt
Proctor: Joshua Vun Kannon*
Ronan: Daniel Aylesworth, Michaela Blevins, Tyler Sassaman*
Organization seeks families to host exchange students
ASSE International Student Exchange Programs, in cooperation with your community high school, is looking for local families to host boys and girls between the ages of 15-18 from a variety of countries: Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Japan, to name a few.
ASSE students come with an enthusiasm to practice their English and experience American culture - food, sports, shopping and more. They also love to share their own culture and language with their host families. Host families welcome these students into their family, not as a guest, but as a family member, giving both the students and families a rich cultural experience.
In addition, ASSE students have pocket money for personal expenses and full health, accident and liability insurance. ASSE students are academically selected into the program, and host families can choose their student from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries and personal interests.
To become a host family or to find out how to become involved with ASSE in your community, please call us at the ASSE Western Regional Office at 1-800-733-2773 or go to: www.host.asse.com to choose your student and begin your host family application.
There are many students to choose from, so begin the process of welcoming your new son or daughter into your family today.
AIS state funding options reviewed
News from the Upper Columbia Conservation Commission
POLSON — The Upper Columbia Conservation Commission (UC3) met on June 13 at the Flathead Lake Biological Station on Flathead Lake where they learned about and discussed potential funding options for Montana’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Program.
Hope Stockwell, a research analyst for the Legislative Services Division, presented the Environmental Quality Council’s (EQC) current proposal to continue funding the state’s AIS program. Currently, the $6.5 million program is funded by a mixture of hydroelectric fees and an angler prevention pass, which is being reevaluated for the 2019 Legislative session.
The EQC is currently proposing to take the hydroelectric fee out of the budget, make slight adjustments to the angler prevention pass (decrease non-resident fees by half, bringing it down to $7.50 per license), adding a watercraft decal user fee ($25 resident motorized; $60 non-resident motorized; $10 all non-motorized) and an annual general fund appropriation. Under this new proposal, the breakdown to reach $6.5 million includes: angler prevention pass, $2,079,120; watercraft fee (resident motorized) $1,734,250; general fund (statutory appropriation) $1,160,000; watercraft fee (non-motorized) $640,350; motorized watercraft generated gas tax, $500,000; watercraft fee (non-resident motorized), $386,280; and commercial watercraft fee ($100/year).
The EQC will review public comments at its July 25-26 meeting in Helena as it considers whether to move this concept forward for consideration by the full legislature in 2019.
The UC3 is a title 2 agency created in the 2017 Legislative session to assist with AIS prevention and management in the Upper Columbia basin. All UC3 meetings are open to the public. The next meeting will be held in August 2018.
