A former Laramie County commissioner is making a bid to return to the board more than a decade after leaving office, positioning himself as a voice for residents over government and a check on long-term incumbents. M. Lee Hasenauer, a Republican who served a two-year term on the Laramie County Board of County Commissioners from Read More…
Montana State University has named Michael Becker as its permanent vice president of university communications. Becker has served as interim vice president for the past year. He previously worked as director of the MSU News Service and university spokesman since 2017. In the role, Becker will lead MSU’s communications, marketing and branding teams, which include Read More…
Montana ranked ninth in the nation for year-over-year job growth, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, citing a new report placing the state among the country’s strongest job markets. According to a report by Stat Ranker, which compared all 50 states on year-over-year growth in total nonfarm payroll employment between February 2025 and February 2026, Montana added Read More…
The Montana Department of Labor and Industry has been awarded more than $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor to expand the state’s Registered Apprenticeship system over the next three years, with a targeted focus on AI infrastructure and related industries. The award, running from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, comes through the Read More…
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador announced his Consumer Protection Division returned a record amount to Idaho consumers through voluntary dispute resolution in the first half of 2026, with more than $956,000 recovered without the need for lawsuits or court orders through the end of June. After Labrador reorganized the division in mid-2025 to strengthen investigations Read More…
The University of Montana recently earned an A+ grade for its undergraduate and graduate elementary teacher preparation programs for excellence in preparing future classroom leaders to teach reading. The recognition for UM’s Phyllis J. Washington College of Education comes from the National Council on Teacher Quality, a nonpartisan education policy organization. The achievement comes at Read More…
Costco Wholesale reported June net sales of $29.24 billion, a 10.6% year-over-year increase for the five-week retail period ending July 5, offering fresh evidence that the warehouse retailer’s distinctive business model continues to hold up well in a choppy consumer environment. Comparable sales rose 8.8% for the month, with the U.S. segment leading the way Read More…
The Montana Department of Justice awarded nearly $150,000 in grants to four Children’s Advocacy Centers across the state to help improve care for child survivors of crime and abuse, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced. The funding comes from a Johnson & Johnson settlement resolving allegations the company manufactured, marketed and knowingly sold baby powder tainted Read More…
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong appointed Minot entrepreneur Kevin Black and Grand Forks physician and healthcare administrator Dr. Joshua Deere to four-year terms on the State Board of Higher Education, along with Mayville State University student Kelby Azure to a one-year term as the board’s student member. Black, who has served on the board since Read More…
The Trump administration allowed a national emergency declaration over Hong Kong to expire Friday, lifting some sanctions on current and former city officials — but Washington moved quickly to clarify that the underlying executive order stripping Hong Kong of its preferential trade treatment remains fully in place. The move set off a brief wave of Read More…
Nvidia has built its dominant position in the artificial intelligence chip market by consistently delivering on promises that once seemed impossibly ambitious. Now, with expectations running at record highs and rivals closing in, the company faces a different kind of challenge — convincing investors that what comes next will be as good as what came Read More…
A federal judge on Friday blocked South Dakota from enforcing a new state law restricting advertising for abortion pills against a New York-based reproductive health nonprofit, dealing a temporary setback to the state’s effort to crack down on abortion pill information campaigns. U.S. District Judge Camela Theeler issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of House Read More…
Sen. Tim Sheehy rejoined the U.S. Navy Reserve in a ceremony at the Oval Office on Tuesday, where President Donald Trump administered the oath of enlistment to the Montana Republican and former Navy SEAL. Sheehy, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2008 and completed SEAL training before serving as a Navy SEAL Officer Read More…
Independent candidates have officially qualified for Montana’s U.S. Senate race and the state’s eastern congressional district, deepening a strategic divide among Democrats over whether the nonpartisan campaigns help or hurt their chances of winning seats away from Republicans. The Montana Secretary of State’s Office confirmed this week that former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar Read More…
Sen. Steve Daines used a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday to press two Treasury Department nominees on the need for a comprehensive federal tax framework for digital assets, arguing that outdated tax rules are pushing American entrepreneurs and innovation overseas. Daines questioned Francis Brooke, nominated to be deputy secretary of the Treasury, and Sriprakash Read More…
Cocaine and methamphetamine seizures in Montana increased sharply during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, while fentanyl seizures continued a downward trend, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced. “Fentanyl and other dangerous drugs continue to threaten communities, and the battle against the cartels that are bringing them into our state Read More…
On June 4, UND’s newest space-research project rose into view above campus as cranes lifted two antennas onto the rooftops of the Collaborative Energy Complex and Odegard Hall. That morning, workers installed the most visible pieces yet of UND’s new bistatic radar system, with “bistatic” referring to the physical separation between the radar’s transmitter and Read More…
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Maryland and Attorney General Anthony Brown on Thursday over the state’s sanctuary policies, arguing they unlawfully obstruct federal immigration enforcement. The complaint, filed July 9 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, targets Maryland’s Community Trust Act, a 2026 law that broadly prohibits state and local Read More…
First Interstate BancSystem has been named to TIME magazine’s inaugural America’s Best Companies 2026 list, a recognition the Billings-based regional bank’s leadership credited to its people and its approach to community banking across the West. The list, produced in partnership with Statista and announced July 9, ranks 1,000 U.S. companies based on three equally weighted Read More…
Most financial advice from billionaires sounds something like this: diversify your portfolio, buy index funds, think long-term, let compound interest do the heavy lifting. Mark Cuban’s advice on what to do with a sudden $100,000 windfall sounds nothing like that. It starts in the grocery store. When asked by Forbes how he’d handle a fresh Read More…
Wall Street posted weekly losses across the board as a sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks outweighed a string of solid earnings reports, snapping what had been a period of broad market strength. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% for the week, ending Friday at 7,457.69. The Nasdaq Composite fared worse, falling 2.9% as chipmakers came Read More…
A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge this week narrowed the scope of a temporary restraining order against the Montana Republican Party’s newly adopted bylaws, partially lifting a block placed on the rules after a group of party members sued to invalidate them. Judge Michael McMahon issued the original restraining order on July 9, Read More…
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Idaho Gov. Brad Little in Big Sky on Tuesday to announce a proposed federal rule that would give Western states significantly more flexibility to manage grizzly bears — the first major management reform since the species was listed as threatened under Read More…
The University of Montana Alumni Association recently honored four exceptional alumni with a 2026 Grizzly of the Last Decade selection. The recognition highlights graduates whose work is making a mark in business, public service, entrepreneurship and innovation. Each honoree has taken a distinct path, but all have turned their UM education into work that creates Read More…
The Department of War awarded two Other Transaction Authority agreements totaling $86 million to nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight to develop high-energy laser weapons capable of defeating drone swarms and cruise missiles, with a total program ceiling of $847 million. The agreements, announced July 9, are being executed by the department’s Scaled Directed Energy Read More…
Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus issued a decision finding campaign finance violations by three political committees — Big Sky Fiscal Guardians, Treasure State Stewards and Montana Business Advocates for Sensible Elections — ordering two to reclassify and referring the third to the county attorney for potential prosecution. The decision, dated July 8, stems Read More…
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general in calling on the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen rules that would cut off scammers’ access to legitimate telephone numbers, the latest step in a years-long multistate effort to combat illegal robocalls. “Idahoans are tired of scammers swindling their families and flooding Read More…
A former general in Afghanistan’s Border Force and first deputy speaker of the Afghan National Assembly’s House of the People has been extradited to the United States and charged with conspiring to import hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine and provide an arsenal of military-grade weapons to a drug trafficking organization. Abdul Zahir Qadeer, Read More…
Gov. Mark Gordon voted last week to support communities across Wyoming using Mineral Royalty Grants during a special virtual meeting of the State Loan and Investment Board, approving $3,673,931 in funding for 11 towns and districts. The meeting, held July 2, was called to review earlier 2026 projects for potential additional funds from grant reserves. Read More…
By: Frankie Beer, MSU News Service
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is requesting public comment on revised water quality goals for Belt Creek, following the completion of a $13 million water treatment plant that has begun removing acid mine drainage from the creek for the first time in more than a century. DEQ has drafted a revised Missouri-Cascade and Belt Read More…
Canada has suspended several animal exports from Texas due to concerns about the New World screwworm, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is immediately suspending the export of horses, pigs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, deer, elk, moose, llamas and more. Imports from other states are permitted, provided the Read More…
Utah Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Tony Graf has delayed his ruling on whether there’s enough evidence to bring Tyler Robinson to trial on charges of killing Arizona conservative leader Charlie Kirk. Following a five-day preliminary hearing, Graf on Friday said he would make his decision after having prosecution and defense lawyers present oral arguments Read More…
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett made a rare appearance before lawmakers on Tuesday to defend the high court’s $225.1 million budget request, which included increased provisions for security. The U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government heard testimony from the two justices of the court’s fiscal year Read More…
A bipartisan coalition of Gulf Coast lawmakers is pushing to change a 73-year-old law that limits their states’ maritime boundaries to 3 miles offshore, potentially reshaping the regulation of local fisheries and generating billions of dollars in tax revenues from offshore energy and minerals leases. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., and a group Read More…
Gov. Larry Rhoden marked the completion of South Dakota’s new Women’s Correctional Facility in Rapid City Friday, cutting a strand of razor wire in place of a traditional ribbon to signal the $87 million facility is ready for inmates. The 102,750-square-foot facility on Rapid City’s north side includes three 96-bed housing units along with a Read More…
Soldiers and airmen assigned to the Alaska National Guard executed four missions to save four people in the Alaska wilderness before the July Fourth holiday weekend. Air Force Maj. Kody Schmidt, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center senior controller, said the first mission started following a request July 2 from the Alaska State Troopers for a hoist-capable Read More…
Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown saved Montanans more than $18 million in fiscal year 2025-2026 by denying unjustified insurance rate increases, the agency announced. Brown’s actions saved 127,855 Montana insurance consumers a combined $18,459,920 from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. During that period, the agency reviewed 3,937 rate filings. “Increasing Read More…
A first-of-its-kind study published by University of North Dakota researchers recently in JAMA Network Open reveals a significant association between residential radon gas—a common, modifiable environmental hazard—and an increased risk of ovarian cancer incidence and mortality among postmenopausal women. The prospective cohort study, led by researchers at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences Read More…
Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced several new appointments across state government, headlined by the naming of Alberto Gonzalez as director of the Idaho Transportation Department following the retirement of longtime director Scott Stokes. Gonzalez, who most recently served as Idaho’s chief information officer and administrator of the Office of Information Technology Services, officially assumed the Read More…