CASPER, Wyo. — Under current Wyoming law, people can get married or enter civil unions if they are at least 16 years of age. The Wyoming Legislature will consider a “child marriage restriction” bill that would raise the minimum age to 18. Both parties entering into marriages or unions would need to be 18. The proposal would Read More…
Spirits were high even as the beer ran low on a recent evening at the Great Northern Brewing Co., the Flathead Valley’s oldest craft beer establishment slated to close its doors in Whitefish’s downtown corridor next month. The iconic brewery at 2 Central Ave. has punctuated the north end of Whitefish since opening along the Read More…
BOZEMAN- What is the Dolly Parton challenge? It’s four photos of what could be your profile photos for social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tinder. Montana Senator Jon Tester got in on the fun but added a twist. Instead of using a “Tinder,” photo he used a “Farmersonly,” photo. READ FULL STORY
U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Montana, announced Thursday he will be introducing bipartisan legislation to protect the civil liberties and privacy of Montanans from government spying programs. Daines’ bipartisan bill reforms Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the National Security Agency has used to create a secret mass surveillance program that swept up millions of Read More…
Berkadia secured $30.3 million in financing for Talus Apartments, a 288-unit garden-style multifamily community in Great Falls, MT. Seattle-based Investors Capital Group, LLC, was the borrower. The 10-year Freddie Mac loan features a full-leverage loan with partial-term interest-only. Located at 2100 26th St. S, the community was constructed in two phases from 2015 to 2018. Read More…
Two decades ago, four Montana hospitals tried something new. They bankrolled a company to compete with the most powerful insurer in the state. The hospitals wanted to challenge what they described as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana’s “dominating presence.” So they founded insurer New West Health Services in 1998 to cover hospital employees and Read More…
SHELBY, Mont., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Port of Northern Montana has recently confirmed that it has a significant amount of low-cost renewable electrical power available at its Data Center Development Park in Shelby. In particular, as a result of a cooperative arrangement with NaturEner USA, there is approximately 10 megawatts (MW) of renewable electrical power currently available at the Shelby Data Center Read More…
Hunter Biden must appear Jan. 29 in a Batesville courtroom and explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for violating court orders to provide financial information in his Arkansas paternity case. Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer signed an “Order to Appear and Show Cause” on Monday, a day when Arkansas courts were closed Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration on Wednesday approved a right-of-way allowing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across U.S. land, federal officials told The Associated Press, pushing the controversial $8 billion project closer to construction though court challenges still loom. The approval signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt covers 46 miles Read More…
There were no arrests or confrontations with heavily armed police at Monday’s gun-rights rally in Richmond. This caused Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to wonder aloud why that was … and blame racism. The New York Democrat and avowed socialist said in an interview for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that was posted on social media Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — If a South Dakota Senator has his way, the Board of Regents will combine the administration of Spearfish-based Black Hills State University and Rapid City-based South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ryan Maher (R-Isabel) would require the Board of Regents to develop a plan Read More…
Today in Pierre, S.D., lawmakers are holding the very first state hearing on whether to ban surgical and chemical sex-change treatments for minors. The Vulnerable Child Protection Act would prohibit medical sex-change treatments for children under the age of 16 and make those directly involved guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. It would not prevent Read More…
Training sessions on new electronic pollbooks are planned throughout the next week and a half for North Dakota election officials. The new devices — 990 of them — will be distributed to North Dakota’s 53 counties for use at polling locations after being delivered to the state in February. Pollbooks are records of voters Read More…
TC Energy is moving ahead with plans to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, and it’s getting ready to make a few Montana moves. Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TC Energy, told the Herald on Tuesday that Keystone XL has reached several key milestones. That prompted the company to file a status report with the Read More…
BUTTE – United Airlines estimates it would need $1 million in guaranteed revenue over two years from Butte before it would consider adding a second flight from Bert-Mooney Airport to Denver. This more than the $380,000 Butte’s Tourism Business Improvement District, or TBID, was asked to raise. TBID officials are planning to send a survey Read More…
Democrat Reilly Neill has withdrawn from the 2020 governor’s race, saying she will work instead through “the media to educate, inform and report on issues of climate change and human rights.” The Livingston resident and former state representative posted her decision on her votereilly.com website Jan. 12. “At every event for Democratic candidates I’ve attended in the Read More…
The American Red Cross is issuing a call for donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets. The organization notes in a news release that since influenza has been escalating across the country, it’s preventing some donors from giving. The Red Cross also reports that during winter weather has been threatening to cancel Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s all-time winningest quarterback is headed to the National Football League. DeNarius McGhee will join the Houston Texans staff, sources tell MTN Sports on Tuesday. The former Montana State quarterback has been on Jeff Choate’s coaching staff in Bozeman for the past three seasons. “DeNarius did very good work in a number Read More…
USDA says eight percent of corn and two percent of soybeans still need to be harvested in the country. The weather does not help and continues to be a focus in the Northern Plains. Farmers in North Dakota saw dangerously low temperatures over the weekend. It’s one problem after the next as the state’s farmers Read More…
REPUBLICAN GOV. MARK Gordon, who took his seat as Wyoming’s 33rd governor in 2019, is the most popular governor in America, according to Morning Consult’s latest survey. The global technology company releases a survey identifying the country’s most and least popular governors every three months, with the most recent survey taken from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2019. Read More…
He’s a one-man stimulus package! Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending so much money on television spots across the country that it’s causing ad rates to soar, a new analysis shows. “The typical [TV] market increased their rates by 22 percent as the political spending poured in,” an Advertising Analytics analysis found. “Houston was Read More…
As the Senate embarks on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump — only the third such trial in U.S. history — there’s intense speculation over how senators will vote in the case. And while there is virtually no chance that 67 senators will vote to remove Trump from office, inside both parties are key Read More…
Online advertising is saving entrepreneurs and small business owners significant time and money, creating more efficiencies and effective uses for the limited capital they have on hand, and playing a positive role in driving new sales growth and revenues. These are the findings of a new survey conducted by TechnoMetrica for SBE Council in “The Read More…
JCPenney announced Friday that the retailer is planning to close its location at Southgate Mall. The department store is expected to close in April 2020. In a press release sent Friday afternoon, Washington Prime Group, the owner of Southgate Mall said prior to the JCPenney closing announcement they executed an agreement to gain control of Read More…
BELGRADE, Mont. – Montanans are ready for takeoff to the country music capital Nashville, Tenn. for the state’s first direct flight to Music City, USA. Montana’s busiest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, is getting ready for a new direct flight to Nashville through Allegiant Airlines. You can start booking flights now for nonstop service, with Read More…
HELENA – Lawmakers are heading home after wrapping up their first Legislative Week. Throughout the five days, lawmakers were busy bouncing around from meetings, to training sessions to committee hearings. They also looked into moving to annual sessions. Montana is only one of four states who meets every other year for 90 days. The week was Read More…
BILLINGS — The Montana High School Association executive board passed proposals for the MSHA to add girls wrestling and boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports during the MHSA’s annual meeting on Monday in Billings. The sports will be offered to member schools beginning with the 2020-21 school year. It was announced in late November that the Read More…
Even though our statewide radio show is called “Montana Talks,” we cover a lot of issues important to folks in the Rocky Mountain West. We also get a lot of great listeners in Wyoming thanks to the big signal from our Billings radio station: Newstalk 95.5 and AM970 KBUL. That being said, the news that Read More…
HELENA — Montana’s top Democratic state officeholder – U.S. Sen. Jon Tester – on Friday endorsed Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney in the contested Democratic primary for governor. “I can tell you that Mike will make a great leader for this state,” Tester said at a news conference in front of the state Capitol, with Cooney Read More…
On Friday, Roosevelt County Attorney and former Montana Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen will officially file to run as a Republican for the office of Montana Attorney General. KGVO spoke with Knudsen as he was taking a break on the road driving from his home in Wolf Point to Helena to file with the Read More…
More than 100 years ago, Montana and many states erected legal walls against spending public money on private religious schools, but today school choice activists are seeking to bring down those barriers using a case from Montana. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Kendra Espinoza Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Governor Steve Bullock and the U.S.D.A Rural Development State Director Charles Robinson will help celebrate the completion of Montana Craft Malt, a facility that will produce thousands of tons of malt from Montana-grown barley. The facility, inspired by a market analysis report and a variety of grant and technical assistance programs through the Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — An investment group from Billings has filed a lawsuit against the Montana Lottery over rules that require businesses wishing to offer sports gambling to have specific alcohol licenses. The lawsuit filed by Arete Group argues the legislation that authorized sports wagering did not include the alcohol license rule. The lawsuit seeks an injunction Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State University will host robotics competitions for Montana youth on Jan. 17-18, drawing nearly 120 teams from across the state and region. FIRST Lego League teams, composed of students in grades 4-8, have spent months building and programming robots made from Lego kits and will compete by performing “missions” on pool table-sized playing fields. Read More…
A statewide campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana submitted two proposed 2020 ballot initiatives for state review Monday. According to the initiative backers, The first ballot proposal would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults. In a press release, backers say it would also establish a regulatory framework for pot cultivation and sales, including Read More…
FARGO —A father and daughter who serve in the North Dakota Legislature announced on Tuesday, Jan. 7, that they are both running for reelection in November. Jim Roers, who holds the District 46 Senate seat, and his daughter, Shannon Roers Jones, who holds the District 46 House of Representatives seat, were both first elected Read More…
Wyoming lawmakers are the least conservative they’ve been in five years, a new report from a top conservative group in Washington says. However, a close review of the survey shows some oversights in the compilation of the numbers, including key differences in how the group evaluated members of the House and Senate. Numbers released Read More…
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Friday that it had placed one of its tenured professors on paid administrative leave after finding that he “purposefully failed to inform MIT” that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was source of two donations in 2012 to support the professor’s research, and that the professor got a $60,000 personal gift from Epstein. Read More…
Taco Bell is looking for new ways to win over employees in the war for talent. On Thursday, the fast-food chain announced it would test a $100,000 salary for the general managers of certain company-owned locations later this year. Taco Bell also said that all employees at company-owned stores are eligible for at least 24 Read More…
HELENA – A new bill was announced addressing the Firearm Owners Protection Act, with a focus on protecting travelers who bring firearms across state lines. The bill will clarify the term transport to include staying in temporary lodging overnight, stopping for food, fuel, and vehicle maintenance to name a few. It will also ensure that law-abiding gun Read More…