MISSOULA — Travelers flying to Montana for a taste of the outdoors has been one of the real bright spots in recent years, helping the state’s tourism sector generate a record $3.7 billion last year. But the COVID-19 pandemic has parked most of those planes. “The airline industry is going to be the one that Read More…
Some of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ top campaign surrogates spoke to the New York Times about what it means that their former candidate, the leader of a massive grassroots movement, has endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Why it matters: Convincing progressives to support Biden is viewed as key to building the coalition needed to defeat President Trump Read More…
Critics are blasting Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for staging a “photo op” Tuesday in the US ZIP code hardest hit by the coronavirus. A small group gathered in the virally blighted neighborhood of Corona, Queens, in AOC’s district, to hear a pitch for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer funeral assistance. Read More…
**Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article implied the business is in Wyoming, Michigan. It’s actually in the state of Wyoming. LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has warned a business in Wyoming state to stop falsely marketing the types of face masks it sells, also sending it a cease-and-desist letter for Read More…
HELENA — Montana Department of Labor & Industry Acting Commissioner Brenda Nordlund announced Tuesday that Montana has begun paying the additional $600 Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit established with the passage of the recent federal stimulus package, or CARES Act. DLI began paying the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefit on the evening of Monday, April Read More…
MISSOULA — The University of Montana on Monday placed 63 employees on temporary furlough, saying the financial strain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic necessitated the decision. The university reached out to the individuals on Monday and issued a campus-wide memo later in the day announcing the decision. The workers will remain on furlough through Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock says he doesn’t have a timeline for things to return to normal in Montana after the coronavirus outbreak. He spoke to residents in a telephone town hall on Monday, saying he’ll continue issuing his stay-at-home orders in two-week intervals based on advice from medical professionals. Bullock says indicators such Read More…
HELENA — In the past three months, investment funds owned by U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte have bought stock in several pharmaceutical and consulting firms doing work related to the coronavirus outbreak. Yet those purchases are a tiny fraction of the more than 200 transactions that Gianforte’s investment funds publicly reported since Jan. 1, as they Read More…
HELENA — A political action committee filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Montana law a week after a state Republican lawmaker lodged a complaint about them alleging they are using a name that fails to identify the special interests of contributors, some of whom are fellow GOP legislators. Doctors for a Healthy Montana filed Read More…
Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president on Monday during a livestream with the two men, telling Biden “we need you in the White House.” “I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I Read More…
The Public Service Commission is holding two hearings on proposed projects this week, one Tuesday for a natural gas pipeline in Mountrail and Williams counties and another Friday for a wind farm in Burke County. Liberty Midstream Solutions is proposing a 4.7-mile steel transport to carry 80 million cubic feet per day of residue gas, Read More…
President Donald Trump on Saturday granted state leaders’ request for Wyoming to be declared a major disaster area because of the effects of the coronavirus. The declaration means state, local and tribal governments in Wyoming will be eligible for federal aid to help recovery efforts. As of Friday, Wyoming had recorded over 300 confirmed and Read More…
A Johnson County man who was infected with the novel coronavirus has died, the first such death in Wyoming, the Department of Health confirmed Monday. There has now been a death in every U.S. state. “This is a sad development we hoped we wouldn’t see in Wyoming and we want this person’s family to Read More…
Senator Steve Daines (R., Mont.) asked President Trump to use “executive powers and existing authorities” as part of an effort to reinforce domestic pharmaceutical supply chains in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus. “Moving forward, it is important that we incentivize innovation and the development of essential medical supplies and equipment in the U.S. in Read More…
Financial concerns also continue to mount during this pandemic. Scams aimed at seniors can always be a problem and even more now. State Auditor and Securities and Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale, a Republican, is warning Montanans about fraud exploitation. His office, along with the Montana attorney general, the U.S. Attorney and several other agencies formed Read More…
HELENA — Jim Murphy, Montana’s chief epidemiologist, has heard the same stories most everyone in the state has heard about residents who’ve made unsuccessful attempts to get themselves tested for COVID-19. But even as national headlines worry over testing backlogs in some parts of the country, he says testing constraints haven’t hampered Montana’s coronavirus response. Read More…
BILLINGS – Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW) are sending cookie donations to hospitals throughout Montana and Wyoming during the pandemic, they announced Monday. GSMW are giving a total of 8,000 boxes of cookies as a thank you to healthcare employees at 13 hospitals in Montana and Wyoming. READ FULL STORY
KALISPELL — A seventh COVID-19 related death is being reported in Montana. The Flathead City-County Health Department confirmed Monday the first death related to COVID-19 in Flathead County. The individual was over the age of 65 and was a resident of Flathead County who had had underlying health conditions, according to a news release. “We Read More…
A special committee of WeWork’s board is suing SoftBank after SoftBank withdrew its $3 billion tender offer, the company announced Tuesday. WeWork is claiming that SoftBank breached its obligations under their agreement. SoftBank originally made the tender offer to buy shares of WeWork at an agreed upon price last year as part of a package to bail out Read More…
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes to approve further funding Thursday to buoy small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. “I will work with Secretary Mnuchin and Leader Schumer and hope to approve further funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by unanimous consent or voice vote during the next scheduled Senate session on Thursday,” he Read More…
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the United States as a “brutal, barbarian society” for the “vast majority of working-class Americans.” As Ocasio-Cortez was discussing certain policies she wishes Congress would adopt to combat the coronavirus, including canceling rent payment and reforming healthcare, she blasted the U.S. as a “barbarian Read More…
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman expects the novel coronavirus outbreak to wipe out nearly a quarter of US economic output this year. “We have a GDP of somewhere around $21 trillion and we’re probably going to miss $5 trillion of it,” the chief of the private equity titan told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The pandemic is temporarily “putting Read More…
North Dakota’s per capita rate of testing remains among the top 10 in the nation, while its rate of positives is hovering around 3.2 percent or so. State traffic statistics in some areas are down 53 percent as well. Meanwhile, eight states have both high testing rates and a low rate of positives, North Dakota Read More…
North Dakota’s Democratic-NPL Party has set its ticket for governor and lieutenant governor. Hours before the candidate filing deadline on Monday, Dickinson/Killdeer veterinarian and former Killdeer School Board member Shelley Lenz — who has been campaigning for governor the past two months — announced former state Rep. Ben Vig as her running mate. Read More…
State officials now believe the coronavirus outbreak in the state will peak sometime in May and restrictions on social interactions should be relaxed a little later that month, Governor Mark Gordon said Friday. “What we’re looking at is our peak coming sometime in early May and our behaviors, we will look at on a regular Read More…
CHEYENNE — In a video message to Wyoming students, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow told students they may finish the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year at home. The YouTube video was posted on the Wyoming Department of Education’s Facebook page on Monday, April 6. “With school closures in Wyoming extended, it’s possible that you Read More…
Appearing on the KGVO Talk Back program on Monday, Montana GOP Chairman Don Kaltschmidt (Don K) made a bold statement that he believed that Democrat Governor Steve Bullock would not defeat Republican Steve Daines for the U.S. Senate. “It’s not going to happen, and let me tell you why,” said Kaltschmidt. “First of all, we Read More…
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has seen about a sharp drop in reports of child abuse and neglect since the Governor directed schools to close to slow the spread of COVID-19. From Mar. 8-14, which was the week prior to the closures, 765 calls a week were made on average Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — There’s some promising news coming out of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that shows all the work we’re doing staying home is actually making a big difference. We first showed you this site on March 30. On that date, the site predicted Montana would reach its COVID-19 peak in cases at the very Read More…
Bozeman, Montana has a population of 48,532, but just like big cities in New York and California, this small city in the southern part of the state has seen the demand for medical masks skyrocket. Located in Gallatin County, Bozeman is home to more than one third of Montana’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, and is by far the hardest hit county in Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — A Canadian company said Monday that it’s started construction on the long-stalled Keystone XL oil sands pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border despite calls from tribal leaders and environmentalists to delay the $8 billion project amid the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesman for TC Energy said work began over the weekend at the border crossing Read More…
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council will meet at 7:30 a.m. April 16 to consider interim topics for joint interim committees. This meeting will include discussion of potential legislative responses to the current public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including consideration of the need for a special session. A meeting notice and Read More…
MILWAUKEE — The 2020 Democratic National Convention has officially been postponed until August due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic Party announced Thursday. The convention was originally scheduled for July 13-17. It will now be held the week of August 17. “In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take Read More…
The UK plans to roll out “immunity passports” to Brits who have already contracted the COVID-19 disease in order to allow them to return to “normal life,” the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday. “We are looking at an immunity certificate,” Hancock told a Downing Street press conference. “How people who have had the Read More…
The FDA announced Thursday that it is relaxing some of the recommendations regarding blood donations to address “a dramatic reduction in donations” amid the COVID-19 pandemic — but the department still recommends that sexually active gay men should not give blood. According to a press release from the department, it is now recommending that male donors can Read More…
WASHINGTON — Montana’s delegates in Congress are urging President Donald Trump to approve federal funding that would allow the Montana National Guard to assist in efforts against the coronavirus. The following is a press release from the offices of Rep. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Steve Daines and Sen. Jon Tester: Congressman Greg Gianforte and U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Read More…
Glacier National Park has awarded its labor services contract for the 2020 Visitor Transportation Service to LC Staffing of Kalispell. The contract with the company is valid for up to two years and provides drivers, dispatchers and supervisors for the park’s 35-bus fleet that provides shuttle service along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Jim Foster, chief of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Red Ants Pants Music Festival, that is usually held in July outside White Sulphur Springs has been canceled due the COVID-19 pandemic. This would have been the 10th year for the music festival. “It is with heavy hearts we have made a difficult, but we feel the most responsible, decision to cancel Read More…
LIVINGSTON – Popular musician John Mayer approached a Livingston nonprofit to help combat COVID-19 in Park County. The Livingston Enterprise reported Mayer made a financial contribution to the Livingston HealthCare Foundation to provide Park County residents with more ventilators. Livingston HealthCare hospital spokesperson Whitney Harris told The Enterprise Mayer got in contact with the nonprofit to Read More…
Violators of Yellowstone County and Montana state orders to limit group gatherings and maintain social distance could face up to 90 days in jail and fines, county officials said during a news conference Wednesday in Billings. Law enforcement officers said they will not be stopping drivers on the road for no reason or putting up Read More…