Montana’s crisis isn’t too much water or hurricanes — it’s fire. It’s smoke filling Big Sky Country and filling our lungs, communities being evacuated, structures lost and tons of fuels just lying on the forest floor waiting for a spark to ignite. In this year alone, over 1,600 fires have burned over 1 million acres in Read More…
CASPER – Wyoming lawmakers plan to consider two bills that would help communities pay for infrastructure improvements and make an economic development program more efficient. The Wyoming Legislature Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committee tasked its Legislative Service Office with drafting two bills during its meeting in Casper on Thursday that lawmakers will Read More…
Local municipal leaders need authority to generate revenue and more sources of dependable funding, according to Rick Kaysen, the executive director for the Wyoming Association of Municipalities. Wyoming is one of the few states that does not give cities or counties independent taxing authority, meaning municipalities are largely reliant on appropriations from the Legislature to Read More…
HELENA – A legislative committee Monday continued to block more than $20 million in proposed cuts to medical services for the poor and disabled in Montana – although it’s unclear whether the action will ultimately stave off the cuts. The Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee voted 7-1 to continue until at least Read More…
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kufm/audio/2017/09/MN-Piikani-money-09-11-17.mp3 When the Blackfeet Tribe learned its tribal members were about to start receiving payouts from a massive federal court settlement, the tribe wanted to get ahead of some of the problems that can arise when a lot of money floods a cash-based society. “There was about 150 some million dollars that was injected into Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – MSUB City College honors 9/11 by holding a remembrance in front of a memorial that now stands in memory of those who lost their lives. The college is home to a piece of metal that means so much to Americans across the nation. For many people, 9/11 is an event that happened Read More…
These are good times for AI entrepreneurs. Recent analysis of venture data shows that funding for artificial intelligence startups continues its upward trend in 2017, with investment hitting new highs. (For deep dives into aggregate Q2 venture performance, head here for the world, and here for just the U.S.) Venture, corporate and seed investors have put an estimated $3.6 Read More…
Playground Ventures — the VC fund co-founded by Android inventor and former Google exec Andy Rubin that sits alongside an eponymous incubator/startup studio and is making some big bets in areas like artificial intelligence and new generations of hardware– is raising more money. A Form D filed with the SEC notes that Playground Ventures is Read More…
An aide to Tim Kaine enters a diner in Charlottesville and informs the host that the Virginia senator is about to walk in. The host smiles and cracks a joke: “You mean the guy who lost to Trump?” Ten months after the presidential election, Kaine is still trying to shed the stigma of being the Read More…
President Donald Trump plans an aggressive travel schedule, taking him to as many as 13 states over the next seven weeks, to sell the idea of a tax overhaul as the administration tries to avoid repeating the communications failures of its attempt to repeal Obamacare. With a make-or-break legislative battle looming on taxes, the White Read More…
More than 6,500 people registered to vote in New Hampshire on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses, and since then the vast majority have neither obtained an in-state license nor registered a motor vehicle. Conservatives say the state’s same-day registration is an invitation for fraud because of loose proof-of-residence rules. New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Read More…
About two months after China lifted its 14 year ban on American beef imports, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines hosted Cui TianKai, China ambassador to the U.S., on Friday at the Morgan Ranch House to discuss future opportunities for economic growth and trade for Montana farmers and ranchers. The meeting included about a dozen Chinese officials, Read More…
If the state of Montana ends up cutting state budgets by as much as 10 percent, that could result in the Board of Regents raising tuition next fall even more than already planned. Tyler Trevor, deputy commissioner of higher education, said Friday that the University System won’t know until the end of September how big Read More…
It didn’t take long for a company founded by a UW graduate student in 2011 to grow big enough to have an international reach and reputation. Bright Agrotech’s six-year growth surge was capped off this week by being featured in a cover story for Bloomberg Businessweek. Bright Agrotech and its founder, Nate Storey have been Read More…
Miss North Dakota 2017 Cara Mund has been crowned Miss America. Mund is the first North Dakotan ever to win the Miss America crown. She was asked during her interview question what is on her bucket list. She said it was to make it past the Top 10 on Miss America because only 3 other Miss North Read More…
As the fire season has ravaged parts of western Montana, it has also affected the real estate market, in that some insurance companies are refusing to offer policies in some zones affected by wildfires. Kyle Schmautz, spokesman for Montana’s Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale, said he has received questions from Missoula area realtors about the practice. Read More…
(CNN)Hillary Clinton casts Bernie Sanders as an unrealistic over-promiser in her new book, according to excerpts posted by a group of Clinton supporters. She said that his attacks against her during the primary caused “lasting damage” and paved the way for “(Donald) Trump’s ‘Crooked Hillary’ campaign.” Clinton, in a book that will be released September Read More…
Sean Spicer is cashing in on “candor.” President Donald Trump’s first press secretary — who ceded his high-profile post to Sarah Huckabee Sanders in July but celebrated his official last day in the West Wing on Aug. 31 — has signed with Worldwide Speakers Group, the company confirmed to POLITICO. “Audiences around the world will Read More…
CHEYENNE – A Cheyenne filmmaker is preparing to travel to a Louisiana film festival, where his latest project will be up for an enormous cash prize. Paul Petersen is an actor, screenwriter and producer. His new film, “An Aria for Albrights,” is set to compete in the It is the third time he and his Read More…
It’s still a little over a year away, but Wyoming’s gubernatorial race is starting to pick up steam. While only two candidates have officially announced their campaigns thus far — businessman Bill Dahlin and former Rep. Mary Throne, D-Laramie — with Gov. Matt Mead approaching his term limit the race is wide open. Throne’s tossing Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Steve Bullock is putting the investigation that he misused the state plane while campaigning for re-election behind him. The Governor has agreed to settle the case after an investigation by the Commissioner of Political Practices found the Governor was in violation of Montana’s Campaign Practices Act. The June 28th report found Read More…
It’s the million-dollar question in disaster planning: Do you order a city to evacuate before a hurricane hits land, or do you tell residents to shelter in place? The question has been before big-city leaders several times in recent years, and it was the question Houston faced as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the fourth largest Read More…
Connecticut may be too rich for its own good. Long blessed with a disproportionate number of high-income residents, the state has entertained lavish spending habits for decades. Lawmakers have acted as if they were on a shopping spree at Christmas, confident that the money to pay off the credit cards would somehow be found in Read More…
The United States’ ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was “begging for war” with his continued defiance of international sanctions barring his country from nuclear and missile tests. Ambassador Nikki Haley told an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council that “enough is enough” from North Korea, Read More…
When NFL teams trimmed down rosters to 53 players over the weekend, only four former Montana Griz players held a job. By Monday morning, that number was down to three. Here’s a look at how former Griz played this preseason, and who remains on an NFL roster to begin the season. READ THE FULL STORY.
Chief White House economic advisor Gary Cohn rejected arguments that the administration’s tax plan will benefit the wealthy most. In fact, Cohn told CNBC that simplifying the tax code actually could mean higher earners would pay more. “Simplification does not mean tax cuts for the higher end of the bracket. We can simplify and we Read More…
WASHINGTON — In the hours after European antitrust regulators levied a record $2.7 billion fine against Google in late June, an influential Washington think tank learned what can happen when a wealthy tech giant is criticized. The New America Foundation has received more than $21 million from Google; its parent company’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt; Read More…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he is not going to tolerate criminals taking advantage of people in the community during such a devastating time. NOTE: The city of Houston has announced a curfew from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew remains in effect until further notice and exempts those Read More…
The latest actions by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are forcing the U.S. and its allies to consider a more combative strategy, retired Gen. Wesley Clark said Wednesday on CNBC, including going after test-launch pads and naval assets. “We’re walking up to that and actually Kim is forcing us to walk up to considerations Read More…
Apple is getting closer to the $1 trillion mark. Shares of the iPhone maker hit another all-time high Wednesday. At $163.89, they are just $30 a share away from making Apple the first U.S. company to cross the $1 trillion threshold in terms of market capitalization. That would put Apple’s size slightly less than the Read More…
Expedia’s chief financial officer will be promoted to CEO, the company said on Wednesday. Mark Okerstrom will take over for Dara Khosrowshahi as president and CEO of the travel tech conglomerate. Khosrowshahi was recently named CEO of Uber. His job begins on Tuesday but Khosrowshahi will remain on Expedia’s board. (Expedia owns CarRentals.com.) READ THE Read More…
A restless base, along with Trump’s low approval ratings, has Democrats starting presidential bids earlier than usual. MANCHESTER, N.H. — Just like that, the 2020 retail campaigning for president began right here in a strip-mall campaign headquarters Monday, when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti showed up for what he called “the most important race in Read More…
The reporter assaulted by Greg Gianforte on the eve before a special election is saying Montana’s newest congressman is not fulfilling a promise to meet with him for an on-the-record interview. Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs tweeted Tuesday night that Gianforte, a Bozeman Republican who won the May 25 special election to fill the state’s lone Read More…
A former Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. electrical planner has published a comprehensive online history of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant. From the geology, chemistry, and history of Earth’s aluminum, to the aluminum boom from the 1960s to the 1990s, Richard Hanners’ history tells the whole story, including the rise and fall of Anaconda Aluminum Read More…
Advocates see great potential in Montana’s growing solar power industry, but a Public Service Commission decision has changed the landscape. Up the North Fork of the Flathead — one of the wildest valleys remaining in the lower 48 states — the Polebridge Mercantile acts as a tiny haven of modernity, offering visitors baked goods, cold Read More…
HELENA – The Bullock administration Wednesday said it needs to cut the state budget by as much as $230 million, to put it back in balance, and asked state agencies to submit plans for 10 percent cuts by next week. Dan Villa, the governor’s budget director, said the administration isn’t looking forward to making the Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Cheyenne Regional Medical Center officials say the hospital has regained its standing with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after losing its deemed status over a complaint. The hospital had an important federal certification taken away after the Wyoming Department of Health found problems with the way the hospital discharged Read More…
RACINE, Wis. — For all its power and prestige, the speaker of the House is one of the most thankless jobs in Washington — just ask John Boehner. Now, with Congress barreling toward major fiscal fights this fall, Paul Ryan is about to get a taste of the Boehner treatment — and then some. Consider Read More…
HELENA – The state Public Service Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to approve the license of Lyft Inc., making it the second app-based ride-sharing company in Montana. A similar license was granted to Uber in December 2015 after changes to state law earlier that year paved the way for such companies to operate in Montana. “The Read More…
The Montana National Guard arrived at the Meyers Fire in southwest Montana on Wednesday, which has burned more than 16,000 acres and is only at five percent containment. The soldiers will be deployed for 15 days aiding the more than 400 personnel already fighting the fire. Sergeant Paul Benhart said the Guard’s job is to Read More…