Donald Trump Jr. headlines Montana Republican convention
Donald Trump Jr. is set to headline Friday’s GOP convention in Montana, where he will seek to boost state auditor Matt Rosendale (R), who is running for Senate. READ THE FULL STORY.
All posts by Big Sky Headlines
Illicit drone flights surge along US-Mexico border as smugglers hunt for soft spots
Smugglers are using video cameras and small drones to spot vulnerabilities along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the Department of Homeland Security is struggling to stop them. Reports of unmanned aircraft flying along the Southwest border have spiked in recent months, with more than three dozen sightings since October, when the current fiscal year began. That Read More…
Majority of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy for the first time: CNBC survey
For the first time since President Donald Trump took office, the CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows more than half the public approving his handling of the economy, and it appears to be having some impact on his overall job approval rating. The president’s economic approval rating surged 6 points to 51 percent with just 36 Read More…
The most valuable venture-backed startups in all 50 states
Venture capital-backed companies based out of California are usually recognizable. But what can get lost in the mix are the companies based throughout the rest of the country. VC research firm Pitchbook compiled every state’s most valuable VC-backed startup into an interactive graphic. READ THE FULL STORY.
Tax automation company soars after Supreme Court decision on taxing online sales
Tax preparation company Avalara soared as much as 33 percent Thursday after a historic Supreme Court decision on collecting sales tax from e-commerce. The stock later pared its gains, but still ended the session 13 percent higher at $51.04. READ THE FULL STORY.
Former Stevensville Resource Officer Faces Child Sex Charges
37 year-old Samuel Fawcett, a former school resource officer in Stevensville, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with sex crimes involving a minor child. Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright said the investigation began in April. The charges came to light when the minor child was interviewed by First Step in Missoula, where it was revealed Read More…
Two injured in Montana after swerving to avoid a kangaroo or wallaby
DODSON – UPDATE: Sources now indicate that the animal may actually have been an escaped wallaby from a petting zoo on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Two people were injured in Montana Wednesday morning after swerving to avoid a kangaroo on the road. Trooper Matt Finley with the Montana Highway Patrol said he thought it was Read More…
High Waters Create High Worries Near Ethete
Weather conditions caused a highway near Ethete to flood and may lead to future road closures. News 13 spoke with a few residents in the area about how this could impact their daily routine. Walter Tidzump says he was just following his regular morning routine when, “I usually get up about five to let my Read More…
Bozeman’s second high school is within budget at $78 million
Bozeman’s second high school hit another milestone Wednesday when the School Board approved $37 million worth of bids for the project’s interior, bringing the final cost of construction to $78.7 million. School trustees voted 8-0 at a special meeting to approve three dozen bids, for everything from carpentry and cabinets to paint and plumbing, gym Read More…
The muscle behind the punch: Local National Guard unit readies for Afghanistan
Montana Army National Guard soldiers based in Kalispell are one step closer to setting foot in Afghanistan. Sixty-eight members of the 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion deployed in mid-May, bound for a mobilization station at Fort Hood, Texas. According to Maj. Christopher Lende, chief of public affairs for the Montana National Guard, they are expected Read More…
Montana Justice Department launches new website for sexual assault survivors
HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice announced Tuesday they have developed a new website and hotline for survivors of sexual assault. The site features a video message from Montana Attorney General Tim Fox and is at www.dojmt.gov/SAKI. It includes: Links to survivor resources, including an interactive map to locate nearby services Crisis phone numbers Read More…
Montana’s environmental lobby teams with governor to kill 600 jobs
Montana governor Steve Bullock is the latest Democrat to demonstrate just how out of touch he is with the lives and values of hardworking, everyday Americans. Taking a page from the playbook of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, Bullock has scoffed at the higher take-home pay, bonuses, benefit improvements and lower utility bills resulting from Read More…
Cardinal removed from public ministry after sex abuse allegation
(CNN)Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who led the Archdiocese of Washington and was a political force in the nation’s capital, said on Wednesday that he has been removed from public ministry by the Vatican because of a decades-old allegation of sexual abuse. The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, “at the direction of Pope Francis,” told Read More…
Trump officials roll out new rule for small business health insurance plans
NEW YORK (CNN) — The Trump administration took the final step Tuesday in its plan aimed at making health insurance policies cheaper for some small businesses. The administration released its final rule governing association health plans, which allow small businesses and the self-employed to band together based on their industry or location and buy health Read More…
Former bank CEO to take over business college at Montana State University Billings
BILLINGS – Montana State University Billings has named Ed Garding as the Interim Dean of the College of Business. Garding served as the president and CEO of First Interstate BancSystem from 2012 to 2015. He is still involved at First Interstate as the corporate and government relations officer. He began his career with First Interstate Read More…
Bias Brewing Opens in Downtown Kalispell
Bias Brewing officially opened and features six beers brewed in house, cold brew coffee, and food from Food For The Soul 2. The brewery’s first beer menu features a variety of types of brews from stouts to pale ales. It offers 4-ounce taster sizes all the way up to small and large growlers. Bias also Read More…
AMC Theatres unveils $20-a-month rival to MoviePass
MONTANA – AMC Theatres, the world’s largest movie theater chain, has unveiled a $20-a-month subscription service as a rival the flagging MoviePass. The theater chain on Wednesday unveiled a new service to its loyalty program, AMC Stubs, allowing subscribers to see up to three movies a week for a monthly fee of $19.95. That’s more Read More…
White House reports Peter Fonda tweet on Barron Trump to Secret Service
The White House on Wednesday notified the Secret Service of a threat after the actor Peter Fonda tweeted that President Donald Trump’s preteen son should be torn from his mother’s arms and caged. Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump told POLITICO that the notification came in response to Fonda’s tweet, which suggested Read More…
Schiff invites Strzok to appear before House Intelligence Committee
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee has invited FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok to appear before the panel. Strzok has faced a barrage of attacks from President Trump and conservatives after an internal investigation revealed he had been sending messages critical of the then-Republican candidate during the 2016 presidential race to FBI lawyer Read More…
Two Montana groups to share $100K to fight drug abuse
The Substance Abuse Prevention Alliance in Great Falls and the Lincoln County Unite for Youth Coalition will each get $50,000 for communities’ efforts to combat local drug use, especially among youth. “Montana’s meth and drug epidemic has taken lives and destroyed families,” Daines, R-Mont., said. “These critical funds will help Montana combat drug use and Read More…
MT congressional delegation differs on border-crackdown controversy
The two Republicans in Montana’s congressional delegation – Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte – told MTN News this week they were mostly standing behind President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border. “He announced a zero-tolerance policy; it’s taking a strong stance to secure our borders,” Daines told MTN News Tuesday. Read More…
Hulu CEO heckles Netflix on content spending: ‘It’s how you spend that is really important’
Hulu CEO Randy Freer weighed in on Tuesday on consolidation in the media industry — and subtly heckled rival Netflix for its content spending. “I think money is a relative term. I think it’s how you spend that is really important. We are not going to make 800 shows next year, we’ll probably make 20 Read More…
Bullock requests federal disaster declaration for flooding in Montana
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock on Monday requested a major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide more resources to the state from the federal government for cleanup and recovery from widespread spring flooding. “Montanans have come together to help our friends, neighbors and communities respond to the devastating impacts of Read More…
Montana Insurance Commissioner Warns Homeowners To Prepare For Fire Season
Despite recent rains, fire season is coming soon and is predicted to be worse than average. Montana Insurance commissioner Matt Rosendale is pleading with Montanans to prepare for the worst by cataloging valuable possessions, a process that is especially important for those that live in the Wildland Urban interface. “Thorough inventories should include photos and/or Read More…
Ex Miles City teacher in jail on suspicion of sex with underage student
MILES CITY – A former Custer County High School science teacher was booked into jail Tuesday on suspicion of multiple sexual encounters with a 15-year-old female student over a month’s time in December 2016 and attempting to conceal evidence. Morgan Pett, 38, was charged with six counts of sexual intercourse without consent, one count of Read More…
Warren: ‘Not Enough of My Senate Democrats’ Taking on Billionaire Class
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said in an interview last week that not enough of her fellow Senate Democrats were willing to “take on the billionaire class.” Warren has been critical of Senate Democrats for their support of the Dodd-Frank rollback, which President Donald Trump signed in May. The new legislation scaled back regulations imposed Read More…
Claire McCaskill used private plane during RV tour
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., used a private plane to travel between some stops on a three-day RV tour of her state, McCaskill confirmed Tuesday. “I added some stops with the use of the plane, but I was on the RV so much that the broken door drove me crazy,” McCaskill said Tuesday, according to Politico. Read More…
Neil Gorsuch was the lone dissenter in an 8-1 Supreme Court decision. Here’s why he was right.
When you stand alone, people can ascribe to you a range of qualities — brave, perceptive, crazy, or ignorant, among others. In the case of Sveen v. Melin, Justice Neil Gorsuch took on that role, acting as the lone dissenter in the 8-1 Supreme Court decision. In his lonely stand, Gorsuch sought to breathe life Read More…
Rose McGowan indicted on cocaine charges in Virginia
According to police, cocaine was found in a wallet that McGowan left behind on a plane last year on a United flight arriving at the Washington Dulles International Airport in January 2017 on her way to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., according to The New Yorker. A felony warrant was issued for her arrest. Read More…
Southwest Flight 1380 pilot Tammie Jo Shults says life hasn’t been the same since landing damaged plane Filed under Southwest Airlines
After landing a plane with a failed engine, Southwest pilot Tammie Jo Shults has returned to the skies again. But, she said, very little of her life since that flight in April has been routine. She has visited President Donald Trump at the White House. She has been interviewed on 20/20. And now, passengers stop Read More…
Texas Teacher Sentenced for Sex with Her 15-Year-Old Student While Pregnant
A Texas middle school teacher has been sentenced to prison for having sex with her 15-year-old student — including when she was pregnant, PEOPLE confirms. Katherine Harper had a months-long sexual relationship last year with a student she met at Tidwell Middle School in Roanoke, where she’d been an English teacher, cheerleading coach and tennis Read More…
AT&T wins: Judge clears $85 billion bid for Time Warner with no conditions
A federal judge said Tuesday that AT&T’s $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner is legal, clearing the path for a deal that gives the pay-TV provider ownership of cable channels such as HBO and CNN as well as film studio Warner Bros. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon did not impose conditions on the merger’s Read More…
Judge orders Mueller to identify unnamed figures in Manafort indictment
A federal judge has ordered special counsel Robert Mueller to identify by Friday all the individuals and organizations involved in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s alleged scheme to lobby on behalf of Ukraine without registering as a foreign agent under U.S. law. Among the people Mueller will be required to identify to the defense Read More…
Park Service Awards $4M Contract to Rebuild Sperry Chalet
The National Park Service on Tuesday announced the award of a $4.08 million dollar contract to Dick Anderson Construction out of Great Falls to begin rebuilding the historic Sperry Chalet Dormitory in Glacier National Park. The chalet was badly burned in August 2017 during the Sprague Fire that burned thousands of acres in the park. Read More…
Joe Brenneman, Former Flathead County Commissioner, Dies
Former Flathead County Commissioner and Creston farmer Joe Brenneman died on Sunday in Kalispell. Brenneman, who was 60, died at the Health Center Northwest on June 10. Brenneman was elected to the Flathead County Commission in a 2004 vote that was so close it garnered a recount, which Brenneman won. READ THE FULL STORY.
Feral pigs on agenda of Montana Invasive Species Council
Flights were conducted over northeastern Montana this winter in search of feral pigs after sightings were reported, but none were found. Feral pigs are a destructive invasive species with a bristly attitude and hide and sharp tusks that have expanded in number to 6 million in 35 states. READ THE FULL STORY.
Montana U.S. Senate candidates trade barbs over debate plans
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s GOP nominee for U.S. Senate is turning down a debate with incumbent Sen. Jon Tester. The planned debate between Matt Rosendale and Tester would have been hosted this Sunday in Whitefish by the Montana Broadcasters Association. Monday morning the association told us Rosendale declined to appear. READ THE FULL STORY.
Ryan Zinke cleared of Hatch Act allegation for speech
(CNN) – A government watchdog has cleared Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from improper political activity when he spoke to a professional hockey team owned by one of his campaign donors. The Office of Special Counsel found “no evidence or allegation” that Zinke “gave a political speech or otherwise engaged in political activity during this event” Read More…
College coaches excited to scout Montana golfers at AJGA tournament
BOZEMAN – The 40-year-old rule barring spectators from golf courses in Montana has been a hot-button topic in the sports scene with a lot of outcry from parents. But now one of the biggest golf organizations in the country has thrown its weight into the issue. The American Junior Golf Association, one of the biggest Read More…
Missoula police investigate body found on train tracks
MISSOULA, Mont. — Missoula police say at approximately 7:14 a.m. Sunday a body was discovered on the tracks at the Montana Rail Link facility between Orange and Van Buren streets. No word yet on the victim. READ THE FULL STORY.