The election of Donald Trump may mean a new bridge over the Clark Fork River for Missoula. After all, the real estate mogul likes to build stuff, and Trump talked about the need for infrastructure during his raucous campaign. That infrastructure is vital to Montana’s economy and those nurturing growth in the business sector, said Read More…
At Archie Cochrane Ford, a safe culture for its 115 employees led to a big payday Monday. At the Billings auto dealership, officials from the Montana State Fund distributed about $43,000 in dividends from Archie Cochrane workers’ compensation premiums. Archie Cochrane was among the largest recipients in Yellowstone County, which received $4.6 million Read More…
Montana’s political enforcer said he plans to reach out to Gov. Steve Bullock late next week to discuss his replacement. Commissioner of Political Practices Jon Motl said he hasn’t spoken to the governor since his appointment in 2013. His term as commissioner expires Dec. 31, according to his letter of appointment. Motl told the Chronicle Read More…
Montana Republicans, who had a very good day at the polls Tuesday, have expanded their majority in the state Senate and held a 59-41 spread in the Montana House. “It was an electoral rout,” Montana GOP Chairman Jeff Essmann said of Tuesday’s results, noting that Republicans won all statewide offices except governor and didn’t lose Read More…
Senate Republicans on Monday elected a self-described “staunch fiscal conservative” in Sen. Scott Sales of Bozeman to be Senate president for the 2017 Legislature. Sales, 56, won what was described as a close race for the top job over Sen. Eric Moore of Miles City. The vote was by secret ballot, with the Read More…
For the fourth year in a row, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox and Montana’s U.S. Senator Steve Daines continue their ‘Brawl of the Wild’ wager for the University of Montana – Montana State University football game. The Cats and Grizzlies clash this Saturday in Missoula. The terms of this year’s bet: the winner will buy Read More…
The upcoming session of the Montana Legislature will focus on tightening the state budget, and there will not be much money available for new initiatives, the incoming leaders of Republican legislative majority said Monday. Republicans elected Sen. Scott Sales of Bozeman to be Senate president for the session that begins in January. Sales, a former Read More…
With just a few days left before Election Day, the battle for a pivotal seat on the Montana Supreme Court is heating up. But much of the spending in the last week isn’t coming from the candidates themselves – it’s coming from outside groups. One of those groups is Montanans for Liberty and Justice. It’s backing Read More…
As a part of the Wyoming Lottery’s goal to give back to Wyoming, WyoLotto made a third transfer of revenue to the state on Oct. 7. This revenue transfer, totaling $797,638, brings the lottery’s total revenue transfer amount to $2,832,638 since April of this year. WyoLotto looks forward to building on the success that has Read More…
Members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe are marking the return of buffalo to their reservation in central Wyoming more than a century after the animals were wiped out. The tribe is holding a ceremony Thursday marking the release of 10 genetically pure buffalo from a federal refuge in Iowa. The National Wildlife Federation and U.S. Read More…
State education officials are a step closer to revamping the delivery of education statewide. The Wyoming Department of Education recently released the 2017-2021 Digital Learning Plan. “This comprehensive five-year strategic plan was written around the importance of incorporating digital learning and education technology into the classroom and addresses the need for equitable access to educational Read More…
Joyce Kemph and Sue Miller have welcomed people into their Wyoming Home for many years. Now, the co-owners are ready to retire. They want to spend more time with their families and pursue other interests. The owners hope someone will buy the business. “Our dream is that a person or persons with an entrepreneurial spirit Read More…
Contested legislative districts in Laramie County have been flooded with mailed advertisements in recent weeks. But some of those mailers are drawing criticism that they are negative, inaccurate or both. One such case is in House District 11 in Cheyenne, where both candidates have criticized mailings distributed against their campaigns. This past week, a mailer Read More…
Governor Bullock announced $1.3 million funding for Montana businesses to expand apprenticeship programs on Thursday morning. Collision Pro Owner Barry Reddick told MTN News that his company has been using the apprenticeship program since 1997. “The program’s helped out business bringing up people from an apprenticeship to a journey level position. It’s helped us, and it’s helped them,” said Reddick. Read More…
The Montana Chamber of Commerce recently released its 10-year strategic plan, which includes goals to increase wages, encourage business growth and improve the state’s infrastructure. The plan, titled Envision 2026, outlines five central objectives that it hopes to tackle over the coming years, as well as specific strategies to achieve the goals and metrics to Read More…
A Montana lawmaker sued Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl on Friday for saying the legislator faces penalties for revealing a confidential ethics complaint he filed against Gov. Steve Bullock, a lawsuit Motl said was timed to sway voters in a close governor’s race. The attorney for Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, says in the federal Read More…
Stockman Asset Management (SAM), an independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and provider of integrated wealth management solutions based in Billings has acquired Peak Investment Management, Ltd. Peak is also an RIA firm based in Missoula. The two firms now offer their services on a larger scale with locations in Helena, Missoula, Conrad and Billings. Peak Read More…
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has donated $10,000 to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota to support its fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Cherokees say they presented a check last week in addition to providing three truckloads of firewood for those camping out to protest construction of Read More…
The State of Wyoming recently released its annual MACRO report detailing the state’s economy, and while the report paints a gloomy picture, there are signs of hope on the horizon. “I think there’s a couple of causes for optimism, the worst may be over for the state,” Jim Robinson, principal economist for the economic analysis Read More…
An entrepreneurship support center for Montana State University students, alumni and faculty has won a $50,000 award from the U.S. Small Business Administration to help enhance its business accelerator program, 406 Labs. The Blackstone LaunchPad at MSU was one of 68 programs selected nationwide as winners of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition on Aug. 31. Read More…
Republican Corey Stapleton’s goals, if elected Montana secretary of state, are to: Improve business services. Protect the integrity of the elections process. Be a great steward on the State Land Board. That’s what Montanans want in their state elections and information chief. To Stapleton, a financial planner in Billings, “election security is a big deal.” Read More…
A state district judge in Montana is facing a call for his impeachment after sentencing a man who admitted to raping his 12-year-old daughter to 60 days in jail, of which he will serve 43. A petition posted on the website Change.org calling for the impeachment of the Valley County, Mont., district court judge, Read More…
The dominant fact emerging this year is that whatever faith in government voters once had has been pretty well destroyed both by self-serving politicians willing to disingenuously promise anything for their votes and the failure of government at all levels to deliver on those promises. Establishment politicos of both party’s couldn’t believe the appeal of Read More…
I support Kristen Juras for the Montana Supreme Court for a number of reasons. One of them is her opponent’s record on sentencing defendants convicted in criminal cases involving possession of child pornography and other offenses with children as intended victims. During my term as United States attorney (for Montana) from 2001 to 2009, Read More…
I have known Kristen Juras for a long time. Born and raised in Montana, Juras practiced law for many years and has a broad range of legal experience. She taught extensively at the Law School, has a keen intellect, and would bring to the Court new expertise in multiple areas of the law, including family Read More…
As your sitting district judge in Stillwater, Carbon, and Big Horn Counties, I wanted to let you know that I am endorsing Kristen Juras in the contested race for the Montana Supreme Court. I believe that she has the right temperament, experience, and ability to make an excellent Supreme Court Justice. Not only is Kristen Read More…
Sunday night’s presidential debate was fueled by the crude Access Hollywood tape released Friday afternoon. That vulgar tape is hurting the GOP nominee. In a new NBC News Wall Street Journal National Poll taken just before the debate, Clinton’s lead widened to 11 points, 46 to Trump’s 35 percent. Republican leaders held a conference call Read More…
Three are vying for the office of Republican incumbent Adam Hamm, who chose not to seek another term. The North Dakota Insurance Department has a 2015-17 budget of more than $11.5 million and nearly 50 staff. Jon Godfread, Republican Jon Godfread, 33, aims to create an environment in the Insurance Commissioner’s office to work with Read More…
Gov. Jack Dalrymple is bestowing North Dakota’s top honor on the late entrepreneur and business leader Eugene Dahl. The Gwinner native is the 43rd recipient of the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, the state’s highest commendation for citizens. Dahl is credited with leading the growth of several equipment manufacturing businesses in North Dakota, Read More…
Instructor Matt Dunlevy probably didn’t have to remind his University of North Dakota students that they’d be sharing the airspace as they stood in a field preparing their drones for flight as the sun set one recent afternoon. “Welcome to the drone business, where you will be eaten alive by bugs,” Dunlevy said, as the Read More…
Vail Resorts, Inc. has announced that the company’s CEO Rob Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, founder of Elana’s Pantry, made personal contributions totaling $2 million to 12 local non-profit organizations in the communities where the company operates. Each of the contributions will be directed toward programs that support the welfare and education of children Read More…
When Landis Benson, president of the Wyoming Association of Realtors was asked if he thought there a Wyoming real estate bubble — when market prices rise rapidly due to high demand (as they did in the state during the energy boom in the early part of the decade) until they reach unsustainable levels, prompting a Read More…
Following the advice of legal counsel, the Rosebud School District #12 Board of Trustees voted 3-1 Monday to secure the services of an outside investigator to look into a policy 5015 complaint filed against Rosebud School Superintendent Mike Silverman. Rosebud School District Personnel policy 5015 covers bullying, harassment and intimidation between employees or by third Read More…
For the first time since March of 2014, oil production in the state of North Dakota has slipped below the one million barrel a day mark. The latest production figures out this week show that in August, North Dakota production slipped to 981 thousand, 39 barrels per day. That represents a drop of some 49 thousand barrels per day, compared to July’s Read More…
Last month, several individuals and businesses in the Gallatin Valley won the lottery. Out of more than 600 applicants in Bozeman and Belgrade, four names were chosen by the Montana Department of Revenue as the winners of the state’s annual liquor lottery. The lottery is part of Montana’s population-based alcohol license quota system, which permits Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is joining 20 other states that have filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to represent three victims of human trafficking. Those victims are all minors and they’re filing suit against Backpage.com, a website Fox says is one of the worst purveyors of criminal activity, including human trafficking of Read More…
It’s been more than 30 years since a Republican won election as Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. The party’s current nominee, Elsie Arntzen of Billings, is hoping her 23 years’ experience as a teacher and 12 years as a state legislator — and support for local control of schools — will change that. Read More…
Since taking office in January 2013, Attorney General Tim Fox has worked to: Streamline voter registration with driver’s licensing. Raise awareness of the number of untested rape evidence kits stored by Montana law enforcement agencies. He obtained a federal grant for testing that could lead to prosecution of rapists. Reduce the wait for chemical testing Read More…
General Electric Co. plans to buy a maker of wind-turbine blades for $1.65 billion, bolstering the renewable-energy business amid growing demand for clean power. The deal for Denmark-based LM Wind Power will enhance GE’s ability to serve customers in the onshore and offshore wind markets, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. LM Wind Read More…
In the battle for control of Montana’s next Legislature, the most important race may be the one for governor. Republicans have controlled the Legislature since 2007. In 2015, they had 59 representatives and 29 senators — making up slightly over half of each chamber. The outcome of the governor’s race will surely influence the Read More…