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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
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.
(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…
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, 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.
LIVINGSTON – Livingston’s Printing For Less (PFL) held a ceremonial groundbreaking event Friday for its new 55,000-square-foot digital printing and fulfillment center. The company plans to add 100 new employees once the new center is complete. Just this past year it added 80 new positions at its Livingston location. “We’re obviously optimistic about our own Read More…
This week, high school girls from around Montana have come to Helena for an opportunity to learn more about how their government works. On Sunday, about 130 high school girls from around Montana met at Carroll College’s Guadalupe Hall to check in for the annual American Legion Auxiliary Montana Girls State program. During the weeklong Read More…
In the book, “Montana Women From the Ground Up, Passionate Voices in Agriculture and Land Conservation,” you will find the stories of women who are strong, independent farmers and ranchers. The book was written by Kristine Ellis and was released this year. The book is a compilation of women across the state and their stories Read More…
Tired of scalpers reselling tickets at inflated prices, longtime concertgoers Joel Martin and Henry Vinson decided to develop a better system. The Montana State University graduates created a web app, Sellout, to eliminate what the pair see as the biggest issues with modern-day ticketing. After buying a ticket, the app obscures its barcode until the Read More…
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana was already facing a tough re-election battle in a state that Donald Trump won by a landslide — and then the Green Party made the Democrat’s job that much tougher by qualifying for the ballot. Now the Montana Democratic Party is scrambling to oust the Greens. It has asked a Read More…
Millions of dollars are flowing into Montana’s US Senate race before voters go to the polls on Tuesday — and that’s just for the Republican primary. GOP candidates and conservative outside groups have already poured about $5.7 million into the primary for Montana’s US Senate race on Tuesday. That’s about $5.60 per resident and about Read More…
A U-S Supreme court decision expected in the coming weeks could deal a big blow to Montana’s public sector unions. The decision could make Montana a so-called ‘Right-to-Work’ state in the public sector, costing the state’s biggest union membership, revenue, and bargaining power. “A union only works or only works well when the majority, if Read More…
Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines kicked off the 2018 Montana Energy Summit saying energy production is the catalyst to winning in the global economy. “Energy production can be either an opportunity or a threat to the U.S. economy,” Daines said. He said China will become the largest importer of oil and Montana can help the Read More…
At least two advertisers say they’re suspending ads from comedian Samantha Bee’s television show. The backlash follows the latest episode of TBS’s “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” in which Bee called first daughter Ivanka Trump a vulgar name. Autotrader said in its statement that Bee’s comments were “offensive and unacceptable.” “As a result, Autotrader has Read More…
Judge Nic Madge said ordinary kitchen knives were causing a “soaring loss of life”, rather than more heavily regulated large-bladed weapons. He was speaking at Luton Crown Court at a ceremony to mark his retirement. Knife crime rose by 22% in England and Wales in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. “Kitchens contain Read More…
In Montana’s crowded U.S. House Democratic primary, former land-trust director Grant Kier of Missoula and Billings attorney John Heenan are raising the most money – but their fundraising profiles are much different. Through mid-May, Kier had raised the most money from donors, at almost $760,000, with nearly two-thirds of that amount from Montanans. But he Read More…
The next big Republican Senate primary is in Montana, where voters will choose Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s opponent on Tuesday. The GOP contest in Big Sky Country was a sleepy affair for much of this year, lacking the verbal ax throwing that animated similar contests in Indiana and West Virginia this spring. “It kinda starts Read More…
HELENA – One of the most hotly contested local races in the June 5 primary election will be for the Democratic nomination in Montana House District 81, covering parts of Helena and the Helena Valley. State Sen. Mary Caferro and Helena city commissioner Rob Farris-Olsen are running for the open seat. The primary will likely Read More…
Manhattan gun holster and tactical accessory maker Blackhawk! was named the state’s Manufacturer of the Year by the Montana Chamber of Commerce. “Our team is deeply honored and very excited to receive this recognition,” said Blackhawk Factory Operations Manager Lamont Kotter in a release. “This is a testament to the great work our employees do Read More…
HELENA – A political group that wants to elect more scientists is making the first major outside-money buy in Montana’s crowded Democratic U.S. House primary, supporting former land-trust director Grant Kier. The 314 Action Fund reported spending $52,000 in the past two weeks on direct mailers supporting Kier, one of five candidates competing for the Read More…
Matt Bell, a Democrat challenging three-term Montana House incumbent Kimberly Dudik is apologizing for making false statements in a mailer voters received last week. “I’m really sorry, I’m really embarrassed that I let this happen,” Matt Bell says. Matt Bell’s mailer claimed endorsements from Montana Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood and the state’s largest labor union. Read More…
The Pentagon is working behind-the-scenes on a plan to get NATO allies to play a far more significant, boots-on-the-ground role in maintaining security in Iraq as the U.S. military revamps its anti-Islamic State mission into a longer-term stabilization campaign. Pentagon sources have told The Washington Times that Defense Secretary James N. Mattis intends to present Read More…
The White House is aggressively stepping up its fight for tighter border enforcement, blaming former President Obama’s “catch-and-release” policies and legal loopholes promoted by congressional Democrats for the surge in fraudulent asylum claims and youth smuggling into the U.S. “When you want to talk about what’s cruel and what’s inhumane, we should talk about the Read More…
(CBS News/CBSNewYork) – The wireless industry is in a race to roll out 5G service. The network is supposed to be up to 100 times faster than current data speeds, but it requires cellphone tower equipment to be closer to users than before. Wireless companies in the U.S. say they’ll have to install about 300,000 Read More…
When a small group of alarmed White House aides caught wind that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp — one of the most endangered Democrats up for reelection in 2018 — would be attending President Donald Trump’s bill signing last week, they raced to stop it. Word eventually reached Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made unseating Read More…
On May 26th, 2018, law enforcement was advised to be on the lookout for a suicidal subject driving a 2002 Ford F-150 pickup in Albany County Wyoming. The subject and vehicle were located on Vedauwoo Road (Forest Service Road 700) in the Medicine Bow National Forest approximately 12 miles east of Laramie, Wyoming by a Read More…
The big primary election day for Montana this year is June 5th, but with a week to go, turnout in Missoula looks sparse. According to Missoula County Elections administrator Dayna Causby, Missoula County usually has around a 60 percent turnout, but that is not the way this election is trending. “So far, out of the Read More…
California’s primary elections on June 5 will be one of the most consequential — and bizarre — contests of the entire primary season. The Golden State is crucial to Democrats’ effort to retake the House — Republicans currently hold a whopping seven districts Hillary Clinton won, and Democrats are eager to pry them away. The Read More…
WHITEFISH – From the outside, the house looks like a modern addition to the farmland, a modest, two-storied building with a slanted roof; the wood and metal visible give it a clean feel, but nothing too different from other homes in the valley. Then you get closer – inside-the-walls closer. The walls that are at Read More…
HELENA – Democratic U.S. House candidate John Heenan has been touting his record as a “consumer lawyer,” representing people wronged by banks, insurers and other corporate bad actors. “I have the privilege of representing widows when insurance companies deny their claims, people suffering from cancer when insurance companies deny their claims,” he told MTN News Read More…
When a local radio host asked Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale what differentiated him from the other GOP candidates earlier this year, he had a quick response. “Piece of cake. Rancher,” he told radio host Aaron Flint in January. “I’m a businessman. I’m a former legislator, and I’m an executive. And I’ve been very effective Read More…
BUTTE – A bipartisan group of state lawmakers are in Butte this week to tour the Mining City and address a policy issue in the Legislature: the development of a clear sexual harassment policy. “It’s kind of a tough issue because it’s all about sex. So nobody wants to talk about it or deal with Read More…
Families heading to Yellowstone National Park this weekend can expect to see an increase at the gate. “Yellowstone, like other parks in the national parks in the system is having a slight entrance fee increase,” said YNP Public Information Officer Jody Lyle. “Starting June 1, it will be $35 per vehicle to enter Yellowstone National Read More…
Democrats are quietly fighting their biggest political battle in a decade for state legislative races as they aim to flip control of up to a dozen chambers. The effort could position the party to play a bigger role in redrawing U.S. House districts after the 2020 census and could help boost turnout for candidates running Read More…
Video footage from a Texas state trooper’s body camera refuted sexual-assault claims a woman made against the trooper after she was pulled over for allegedly driving while intoxicated, CBS Dallas station KTVT reports. Sherita Dixon-Cole, 37, accused the trooper of raping her during the traffic stop south of Dallas over the weekend. The Texas Department Read More…