Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has awarded the Montana Highway Patrol’s highest honor to two troopers who tracked down a wanted Nebraska fugitive near Big Timber last year and shot and killed him after he opened fire on them. MHP Sergeant Barry Kilpela and Trooper Justin Knapp each received the Award of Valor at a Read More…
A federal judge on Friday extended an emergency order keeping Nexstar Media Group and Tegna operating as separate companies for another week, as he weighs whether to issue a longer preliminary injunction that could halt the $6.2 billion merger while an antitrust lawsuit works its way through the courts. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley of Read More…
I’ve heard enough. “Dr. Al” Olszewski has spent the better part of a decade lying to Montana, dividing conservatives, and has used his post as county GOP chairman to pull good candidates down, rather than working to elevate all. He personally has lost three consecutive primaries for US Senate, governor, Congress, and now that he’s Read More…
he University of Montana’s signature artificial intelligence initiative, the Future Project, landed a prestigious 2026 CIO 100 Award, recognizing excellence in enterprise-scale technology leadership and innovation. “This recognition underscores the University of Montana’s thoughtful and forward-looking approach to AI,” said Zach Rossmiller, UM’s chief information officer. “The Future Project is about more than adopting new Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has filed two amicus briefs leading coalitions of state attorneys general in defense of American firearms manufacturers facing lawsuits in New York that seek to hold the companies liable for gun crimes committed in the state. Knudsen argues both cases circumvent federal protections established under the Protection of Lawful Commerce Read More…
A former Colstrip High School teacher was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison — with 15 years suspended — for sexually abusing a 15-year-old student, a case that unfolded largely on school grounds and through social media. William Schuman-Kline, 30, of Billings, was sentenced in Rosebud County District Court in Forsyth by Judge Rennie Read More…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed a memorandum directing military installation commanders to permit service members to carry privately owned firearms while off duty on Department of War property within the United States, marking a significant shift in how the Pentagon approaches personal firearms on military bases. Hegseth announced the policy change in a social Read More…
Montana’s financial and professional services sector has emerged as the leading driver of state economic production, according to a new analysis from the Department of Labor and Industry released as part of the Gianforte administration’s 406 JOBS workforce initiative. The report shows more than 66,000 Montanans — roughly 13 percent of the state’s total workforce Read More…
(The Center Square) – A student at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego was suspended after posting a pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement flyer reading, “We [heart] ICE – Real Americans,” following an anti-ICE walkout on campus, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Student-led anti-ICE walkouts have continued to rise nationwide. In Read More…
More than 150 faculty members and guests attended Montana State University’s Interdisciplinary Institute on Artificial Intelligence Faculty Symposium on March 26, an event designed to explore the possibilities and pitfalls of AI for higher education and research. John Paxton, director of MSU’s Gianforte School of Computing, presents during an afternoon session of the IIAI Artificial Read More…
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has released a draft programmatic environmental assessment covering the construction and operation of subsurface wastewater treatment systems and is accepting public comment through May 1, 2026. Subsurface wastewater treatment systems include a range of water treatment infrastructure, from conventional septic systems to advanced systems capable of meeting or exceeding Read More…
Hi-Country Snack Foods, a nearly 50-year-old Montana jerky maker and one of the largest employers in the small mountain community of Lincoln, has paused production — a development that raises new concerns about the company’s future and the economic health of the town it has long anchored. The production halt comes less than a year Read More…
A lawsuit filed by the American Prairie, a liberal nonprofit,is setting up what state officials say could be a defining legal battle over the future of Montana’s public lands — and who gets to decide how they are used. American Prairie sued the Montana State Land Board and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Read More…
(The Center Square) – The Colorado Senate Health and Human Services Committee is postponing consideration of a bill to allow Medicaid recipients to choose “direct primary” care. Members voted 4-3 Thursday to delay action indefinitely on the House Bill 26-1096, the CO Medicaid Access to Primary Care Services bill, after public speakers told the committee they Read More…
(The Center Square) – The White House proposes a dramatic increase in defense spending in fiscal 2027 while significantly reducing spending in other departments, according to its budget submission released Friday. The request comes as U.S. lawmakers still haven’t finished funding all federal agencies for the current fiscal year and are currently locked in a Read More…
A former Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer has admitted to sexually abusing a teenage girl while on duty on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Murrell Deela, who was 29 at the time of the assault, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor, according to the U.S. Department of Read More…
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at restoring what the White House described as order and stability to college athletics, directing federal agencies to use their oversight authority to enforce rules around player eligibility, transfers, and name, image and likeness compensation. The order instructs federal agencies to evaluate whether universities that violate Read More…
Shareholders of both NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp. have voted to approve a proposed all-stock merger that would combine the two regional utilities into a new company called Bright Horizon Energy Corporation, the companies announced Thursday. The votes were cast at special shareholder meetings held earlier in the day and mark a major step Read More…
A Montana Republican state representative, Llew Jones, received more than $4 million in low-interest federal loans through a program he helped create and sat on the commission formed to oversee — raising questions about conflicts of interest and possible violations of the program’s own lending caps, according to a report by Yellowstone County News. Rep. Read More…
(The Center Square) – U.S. LNG exports hit record-high 11.7 million metric tons in March as new plants in Texas ramped up production while supply disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East drove global gas prices sharply higher, according to preliminary LSEG data. Asian benchmark LNG prices spiked above $22 per million Btu Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell demanding she reverse a policy that refuses to recognize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a criminal justice agency entitled to receive confidential criminal justice information, giving her until Monday, April 6, to comply or face state action. The dispute Read More…
More than 800 FFA members from 27 eastern South Dakota schools gathered in Huron recently for the annual Heartland Classic Career Development Event at the DEX, with NorthWestern Energy among the community partners supporting the day’s competitions and activities. Hosted by the Wolsey-Wessington FFA Chapter, the event gave students the chance to compete in a Read More…
The White House on Friday celebrated a stronger-than-expected March jobs report, saying the numbers validated President Trump’s economic agenda and signaled accelerating momentum heading into the second quarter of 2026. The economy added 178,000 jobs in March, nearly triple what economists had forecast, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% while Read More…
SpaceX, the private rocket and satellite company founded by Elon Musk, has filed confidentially for an initial public offering that could value the company at approximately $1.75 trillion — a figure that would make it the largest IPO in U.S. history if it moves forward at that valuation. The filing, which allows companies to submit Read More…
(The Center Square) – Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia announced Friday they’re suing to block President Donald Trump’s recent executive order regulating mail-in and absentee ballots. The suit was slated to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. A copy of the lawsuit wasn’t available as Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced Thursday that fentanyl seizures in the state dropped sharply in 2025, falling 70 percent from the prior year and nearly 80 percent from the all-time high recorded in 2023 — though the decline in seized supply came alongside a troubling rise in fentanyl-linked deaths. Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Read More…
The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, a figure that surpassed expectations and came in roughly triple some earlier forecasts, signaling continued resilience in the nation’s labor market as geopolitical tensions mount abroad. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%, while wage growth moderated slightly from previous months — a Read More…
(The Center Square) – Advocates are calling for justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify federal laws regarding climate change lawsuits. The Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a lawsuit from Baltimore, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County seeking large damages from fossil fuel companies. The government entities claimed the companies misled the public in Read More…
For most of my career in public education, school choice was treated as a partisan issue. I served more than two decades as a public school teacher and school leader. During that time, I sat across the table from dozens of families whose children were struggling in the traditional school environment. Sometimes the issue was Read More…
The White House on Thursday pointed to new Census Bureau estimates showing a sharp slowdown in international migration across the country, casting the data as evidence that President Donald Trump’s border and immigration policies are having a major impact. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, every metropolitan area in the country recorded lower immigration rates Read More…
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden has signed five bills into law aimed at supporting agriculture and rural communities, including a measure to expand broadband infrastructure in underserved areas. Among the bills signed was House Bill 1048, which provides an appropriation for the expansion of broadband access, a priority Rhoden said is critical to strengthening opportunities Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen praised the Helena City Commission after it voted Thursday night to rescind its immigration resolution, calling the move the right step to keep the community safe. “The commissioners made the right decision voting to keep the Helena community safe,” Knudsen said in a statement. “This resolution should never have been passed Read More…
The president on Thursday signed into law three measures authorizing the awarding of the Medal of Honor to U.S. service members for acts of valor in combat. Among the bills signed was H.R. 3377, which authorizes the president to award the Medal of Honor to James Capers Jr. for his actions while serving in the Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is urging swift confirmation of Katie Lane to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, calling her a principled, Montana-rooted attorney who would bring integrity and constitutional focus to the federal bench. Lane, a Bozeman native and nominee of Donald Trump, appeared this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee Read More…
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has joined a coalition of 24 states in urging a federal appeals court to block a lower court order that could expand access to gender transition surgeries for prison inmates. The coalition, led alongside Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Court of Read More…
U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding access to cutting-edge medical treatments for veterans, particularly those suffering from mental health conditions such as PTSD and depression. The proposal, known as the Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act, seeks to ensure the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is equipped to evaluate Read More…
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte toured two Flathead Valley firearms manufacturers this week, promoting the state’s growing role as a hub for firearms and ammunition production and emphasizing support for Second Amendment-related businesses. During stops in Kalispell, Gianforte visited Invader Concepts and FALKOR Defense, two Montana-based companies producing firearm accessories and precision weapons systems, respectively. “Across Read More…
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has decided not to move forward with the removal of Hot Springs County Commissioners Paul Galovich and Robert Aguiar after reviewing a complaint filed by county electors and information gathered through investigations by both the governor’s office and the Wyoming Attorney General. The complaint, filed Sept. 10, 2025, by six qualified Read More…
“What is conservatism?” asked President Abraham Lincoln. “Is it not adherence to the old and the tried, against the new and the untried?” Defining conservatism is not an easy task. Even before the election of President Donald Trump, fierce debates existed within the conservative movement. President Trump’s rise has intensified those debates over what it Read More…
America’s small business owners pulled back slightly on their optimism in February, according to the latest data from the National Federation of Independent Business, with the group’s Small Business Optimism Index dipping to 98.8 — a modest retreat that nonetheless offered some encouraging signs beneath the headline number. The reading, which fell below the index’s Read More…