This Independence Day weekend, visitors to the Helena Independent Record will have free access to our journalism.

We are pleased to open our work to everyone in the community during a weekend that brings people together to celebrate, reflect and connect. We hope you'll use this opportunity to explore the reporting, storytelling and service journalism our newsroom produces every day.

At its best, local journalism helps a community understand itself. It informs residents about important decisions being made by public officials. It shines a light on problems that need attention. It celebrates accomplishments, captures milestones and tells the stories of the people who make our community unique.

Our journalists are in the community attending public meetings, covering local events, following high school sports, reporting on government, businesses and nonprofits, documenting change and growth and providing the information residents need to stay informed and engaged.

This holiday weekend, we invite you to explore that work.

Whether you're looking for breaking news, local features, sports coverage, photo galleries, opinion content, community calendars or guides to Fourth of July events, you'll find it on the Helena Independent Record.

We also encourage you to spend some time exploring some of the journalism that has defined our coverage over the past year, including the Helena City Commission’s efforts to address immigration, the Montana State News Bureau’s ongoing coverage of splits within the state’s political parties and our coverage of the Helena Public Schools school bond package and subsequent design and construction efforts.

As America marks its 250th anniversary, you'll also find coverage that explores our shared history and the people and events that helped shape our community and our nation.

Strong communities depend on informed residents. We believe local journalism remains an essential part of that mission, and we're proud to serve this community every day.

We hope you'll spend some time with us this weekend. If you find value in our journalism, we hope you'll consider subscribing after the free-access period ends. Subscriber support makes it possible for us to continue providing the local reporting, storytelling and accountability journalism our community deserves. Learn more about becoming a subscriber at helenair.com.

Thank you for reading.

Blair Miller

Editor

Blair Miller is the managing editor of the Helena Independent Record and Montana Standard. Prior to that, he was the editor of the Montana State News Bureau, a reporter at the Daily Montanan and reporter, editor and photojournalist at news outlets in Denver, Albuquerque and mid-Missouri.