By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – As part of his annual 56 county tour, Governor Greg Gianforte and First Lady Susan Gianforte visited Hill County on Thursday.
While in Havre, Gianforte visited Sunnyside Intermediate School, speaking with new teachers that have benefitted from the TEACH Act. He also spoke with building and district administrators.
Gianforte visited two classrooms and answered questions from fourth and fifth grade students. Although most of the questions were of the benign variety such as asking about family pets or what it’s like to be Governor, one student asked what can be done to alleviate homelessness in Montana communities.
Gianforte said there is no “one silver bullet” that will completely solve the issue, but said dealing with drug addiction and increasing the amount of high paying jobs are two ways to help.
“Having a good paying job is a great ticket to end homelessness. But the second thing is we have a lot of drugs in our communities, and that’s keeping people from being everything that they were created to be,” said Gianforte, who touted his administration allocating funds in the state budget for dealing with drug addiction.
School Board Trustees Cindy Erickson and Garrit Ophus also tagged along on the visit.
Also on Thursday, Gianforte marked the grand opening of IND Hemp in Fort Benton, presented a Spirit of Montana Award to Chinook High School Senior Halle Mitchell, and held a roundtable discussion with teachers and school administrators in Harlem.
