All posts by Big Sky Headlines

Treasury Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting for U.S. Businesses

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department has permanently eliminated beneficial ownership reporting requirements for U.S. companies and individuals, cementing a major rollback of the Corporate Transparency Act that the Trump administration says will reduce regulatory costs for millions of businesses. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, issued a final rule Friday removing U.S. companies and Read More…

Treasury Opens Door for Employers to Help Fund Trump Accounts

WASHINGTON — American companies will have a new way to help employees build savings for their children under Treasury Department guidance that allows employers to make tax-free contributions to Trump Accounts. The Treasury Department this week outlined rules for employer-sponsored Trump Account programs, providing a framework for companies to contribute as much as $2,500 annually Read More…

Berkshire’s Abel Era Takes Shape

For years, one of the biggest questions surrounding Berkshire Hathaway was what would happen to its enormous cash pile once Warren Buffett was no longer running the company. Investors may be starting to get an answer. In his second full quarter as chief executive, Greg Abel is putting Berkshire’s capital to work at a pace Read More…

Naval War College Welcomes 477 Students at Annual Convocation

The U.S. Naval War College held its annual Convocation ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 4, welcoming 477 students to the academic year, including 292 new students from all six branches of the U.S. armed forces and federal government agencies, 81 U.S. students continuing from previous fall and spring enrollments, and 104 international students from partner and allied Read More…

North Dakota Joins $15.5M Settlement With Mortgage Servicer Over Force-Placed Insurance

The North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions joined financial regulators from 48 agencies across 47 states in reaching a $15.5 million settlement with NewRez LLC, one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, over the company’s improper use of force-placed insurance on borrowers who already had active homeowners insurance policies. The settlement, announced Wednesday and coordinated Read More…

Gianforte’s 56 County Tour Makes Stops Across Western Montana

HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte traveled across western Montana this week, visiting agricultural producers and manufacturers, opening a new manufacturing facility in Kalispell and recognizing a dozen veterans for their military and community service. The stops were part of Gianforte’s ongoing 56 County Tour, an annual swing through Montana aimed at highlighting local businesses, Read More…

Study: Scams Cost Americans $68 Billion

An estimated 15 million U.S. adults, or 6% of the population, were victims of financial scams in 2025, with total losses reaching approximately $68 billion, according to a study released by Stop Scams Alliance and Gallup. The nationally representative survey of more than 5,100 U.S. adults found that scams affected Americans across demographic groups, with Read More…

Risch Holds Commanding Lead in Idaho Senate Race

BOISE, Idaho — Republican Sen. Jim Risch remains the clear favorite to win another term in one of the nation’s most reliably Republican states, but independent Todd Achilles is trying to turn Idaho’s Senate contest into a more competitive race by appealing to voters dissatisfied with both political parties. The contest has attracted unusual attention Read More…

Governor Gordon Appoints Jeremy Kisling to Wyoming’s Fourth Judicial District Circuit Court

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Gov. Mark Gordon has appointed Jeremy Kent Kisling to serve as a circuit court judge in Wyoming’s Fourth Judicial District, filling a vacancy on the bench serving Johnson and Sheridan counties. Gordon announced the appointment Aug. 6 following Wyoming’s judicial selection process. Kisling was among the nominees submitted to the governor by Read More…

Daines Leads Push for DOJ to Apply NFA Ruling Nationwide

Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Andrew Clyde led a coalition of 47 Republican lawmakers urging the Justice Department to apply a landmark federal court ruling striking down National Firearms Act registration requirements nationwide — and the Trump administration has since confirmed the DOJ will not appeal the decision. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of Read More…

Greg Hertz

Knudsen Was Right to Restore Montana’s Term Limits

Attorney General Austin Knudsen has withdrawn the 2012 opinion of then-Attorney General Steve Bullock and reaffirmed the reading of Montana’s term-limit provision set out in 1997 by Attorney General Joe Mazurek. He was right to do it. The charge that will follow—that Knudsen invented a new rule for a particular election—has the history backwards. Mazurek, Read More…

State’s Top Arts Honor Goes to Six Montanans This Year

Six Montanans working across music, painting, ceramics, glasswork, engraving and violin will receive the state’s highest arts honor this year, the Montana Arts Council announced. The 2026 Governor’s Arts Award recipients are Missoula musician Jeff Ament, Bozeman landscape painter Clyde Aspevig, Bozeman stained glass artist David Fjeld, Helena ceramicist Sarah Jaeger, Bozeman violinist Carrie Krause, Read More…

UW Contributes to New Study on North America Bison History

Genetic material from bison bones collected at Wyoming archaeological sites — and housed at the University of Wyoming — played a key role in a sweeping new study about the history of the iconic species in North America. The study — which involved researchers from more than 30 institutions and organizations, including Wyoming State Archaeologist Read More…

Applied Materials Report Seen as Bellwether for AI Capital Spending

Applied Materials is set to report fiscal third-quarter earnings Thursday after the market closes, with investors looking for signs that booming investment in artificial intelligence continues to drive demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The company reports Thursday, Aug. 13, and Wall Street is expecting another strong quarter. Analysts expect Applied Materials to report revenue of Read More…

Pentagon Announces $80 Million for Mining, Metallurgy Schools

The Department of War announced more than $80 million in proposed investments in university mining and metallurgy programs, including at the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines and Johns Hopkins University, unveiled at a roundtable with mining industry executives. The funding would flow through the department’s Office of the Under Secretary Read More…

Sheehy Bill Targets Foreign Drug Price Controls

Sen. Tim Sheehy introduced legislation that would create a dedicated pharmaceutical trade negotiator within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and expand federal oversight of foreign drug pricing policies. The Use Sovereignty to Reduce Rx Act, or USTRx Act, targets what its sponsors describe as price control regimes in wealthy countries that suppress payments Read More…

Treasury issues guidance for employer-sponsored contributions to Trump Accounts

Employers now have guidance from the Treasury Department on how to contribute to ‘Trump Accounts’ for their employees’ children, and the department says more than 50 companies have already committed to offering such contributions. The new guidance provides a framework for employers to contribute up to $2,500 annually to employees’ ‘Trump Accounts’ for their children. Read More…

Thick smoke rises from an industrial chimney. Photo: Kelly / Pexels

Financial officers applaud climate rule rescission

A coalition of state financial officers applauded the Securities and Exchange Commission for moving to rescind its 2024 climate disclosure rules that is estimated to save public businesses more than $7.9 billion. In March 2024, the SEC approved amendments to its rules that would mandate all public companies disclose greenhouse gas emissions, how it managed climate-related risks, Read More…

The Montana Democratic Party published a statement praising Democrat Alani Bankhead for suspending her Senate campaign before she had actually done so

Dems Announce Bankhead Dropped Out — She Didn’t

The Montana Democratic Party published a statement praising Democrat Alani Bankhead for suspending her Senate campaign before she had actually done so — a stunning blunder that laid bare how certain party leaders had become that their own nominee would step aside. The statement, first surfaced by Semafor’s Burgess Everett on X, reads: “The Montana Democratic Read More…

FBI Secretly Opened Probe Alleging Trump Fired Comey Because He Was a Russian Asset, Declassified Memos Show

The FBI opened a criminal probe specifically targeting Donald Trump in May 2017, alleging the newly elected president may have been acting as a Russian asset when he fired then-Director James Comey even though the bureau’s own evidence overwhelmingly showed at the time there was no collusion with the Kremlin. Internal FBI memos newly declassified Read More…

OPI Launches Redesigned School Report Card Platform

Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen has launched a new online platform intended to make state and district education data easier for the public to search and understand. The Community Engagement platform, built on software from PowerSchool, provides access to Montana’s annual report cards required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act at the Read More…

Friedberg Says Starlink Could Become a $1 Trillion Business

Elon Musk said this week that Starlink’s long-term revenue potential could be far larger than a bullish estimate offered by former Alphabet executive and venture capitalist David Friedberg, as the satellite internet business continues rapid subscriber and revenue growth. Speaking on the All-In podcast, Friedberg cited Starlink’s performance in making a bullish case for the Read More…

Treasury Releases CFIUS Annual Report for 2025

The Treasury Department released its annual report on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, showing the panel reviewed 347 covered transactions in 2025 even as repeated lapses in federal funding slowed its work. CFIUS, the interagency body that screens foreign investment for national security risks, is chaired by Treasury and includes the Read More…

Nevada Doctor Charged With $95 Million Medicare Wound Care Fraud

A federal grand jury in Nevada indicted a Henderson, Nev., physician on charges he orchestrated a $95 million scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary amniotic wound treatments applied to elderly patients, the Justice Department announced. Stephen Dubin, 74, sole owner of Dubin Medical Consultants, doing business as Wound MD, is charged with Read More…

Gianforte Seeks Comment on PSC Applicants

Gov. Greg Gianforte is accepting public comment on five applicants for a temporary appointment to the Montana Public Service Commission, with a deadline of 5 p.m. Mountain time on Thursday, Aug. 20. The applicants are Kirk A. Bushman, Nicholas R. Fitzmaurice, Nicholas A. Loos, John E. Prinkki and David E. Wanzenried. Their applications are posted Read More…