It was a windy week in Casper, appropriate given the number of wind stories that ended up in the paper since last Monday. Each came from the same conference, a two-day forum about wind development at the University of Wyoming. It’d be overkill to lay out each of the topics from that conference for a newsletter. In Read More…
The state Legislature’s lawsuit against Gov. Doug Burgum over his vetoes does not cover Burgum’s veto of extra funding for township roads in non-oil producing counties. Nor does it seem likely that lawmakers will meet in special session to overturn the veto. That leaves 1,610 townships with $10,000 less in funding than they’ve had in Read More…
MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy has proposed splitting its utility operations in North Dakota and Minnesota, telling regulators that widening policy differences between the two states over clean energy have caused stresses that might best be resolved through a breakup. But a consultant for the North Dakota Public Service Commission is arguing against the separation, saying Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KGWN) – Representative Robert McKim of Afton has resigned from the Wyoming Legislature because of health reasons. McKim was chairman of the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee. He served about eight years in the House. House Speaker Steve Harshman announced Wednesday that Rep. Hans Hunt of Newcastle will Read More…
Washington (CNN)Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is expanding his efforts to unseat sitting Senate Republicans in primaries next year. In the two weeks since Bannon-backed former judge Roy Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama’s Republican primary, Bannon has expanded his map of targets in the 2018 midterms and ramped up his efforts Read More…
WASHINGTON — Erik Prince, the founder of the security contractor Blackwater, is seriously considering a Republican primary challenge for a Senate seat in Wyoming, potentially adding a high-profile contender to a fledgling drive to oust establishment lawmakers with insurgents in the mold of President Trump. Mr. Prince appears increasingly likely to challenge John Barrasso, a Read More…
Longtime Republican donor Foster S. Friess said Monday that he is exploring a 2018 bid for U.S. Senate in Wyoming, making him the latest conservative figure to consider challenging Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a low-key member of the leadership. “Normally, over the years, I’ve dismissed these urgings,” Friess said in an email to The Washington Read More…
As a fifth generation Montana farmer and rancher, Colter DeVries, was one of the first in his family to attend college. DeVries studied finance and business at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, Montana. It was here that he started working for a commodities trading platform and took an interest in marketing. “It’s always been Read More…
MISSOULA – Courtesy MT Chamber of Commerce Facebook, the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the University of Montana School of Business Administration, and the Montana High Tech Business Alliance will host a Boost Your Business seminar in Missoula, Montana. The seminar is free to the public and all businesses are welcome to attend. The seminar aims Read More…
A Canadian livestock production and animal nutrition corporation is seeking to build Montana’s largest slaughterhouse and meat processing facility near Great Falls. According to the Great Falls Tribune, Friesen Foods has filed a Special Use Permit (SUP) with the Cascade County Planning Division for the proposed “Madison Food Park” complex, which could employ 3,000 people. Read More…
Great Falls-area lawmakers offered a mixed bag of comments Friday on the prospect of a special session being called by the governor and on dealing with Montana’s budget crisis….Great Falls-area lawmakers offered a mixed bag of comments Friday on the prospect of a special session being called by the governor and on dealing with Montana’s budget crisis. “I’m not Read More…
The Albany County Genealogical Society is helping people who have taken a DNA test learn more about their family histories and use the test results to find family members they have been separated from, Genealogical Society President Dicksie May said. “Some of the people I have been involved with recently (were trying to find their) Read More…
Raise a beer this weekend to toast Wyoming’s status as Kiplinger’s Most Tax Friendly State. When you do, you’ll be paying the lowest tax on beer in the nation. When compared with South Dakota, the nearest neighboring ‘most tax friendly’ state, Wyoming’s average sales tax is 5.42, while South Dakota’s is 6.39 and includes many Read More…
The exterior shell of Nicole Harkin’s life exudes accomplishment. The 1993 Flathead High School graduate’s resume is stuffed with achievement — a law degree, Fulbright Fellow in Germany, a research associate for a federal project on government oversight, a long stint as an analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Harkin’s personal life seems right Read More…
MISSOULA – The Montana High Tech Jobs Summit hosted by and for tech companies to encourage the development of the tech sector within Montana is underway. The event at the University of Montana is being hosted by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) will wrap up on Monday in Missoula. “We have some of the leaders in Read More…
BILLINGS – The Veterans of Foreign Wars club in south Billings did not show the Patriots and the Buccaneers on Thursday night in response to protests by NFL players. Veterans at the club said they don’t like players kneeling during the National Anthem but understand their right to protest. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1634 has not been showing Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said Thursday in Billings that coal will be part of the energy future and technology needs to be used that will make coal less intensive on the environment. Bullock, a Democrat, spoke at the Montana Carbon Capture Forum at the Bighorn Resort in Billings on Thursday. The forum addressed Enhanced Oil Recovery and Carbon Capture, technology Read More…
The New York Times last week broke the story of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s long record of sexual harassment. Actresses including Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd came forward to detail Weinstein’s depredations, and so did former employees of the man who founded one of the most important independent film companies of the last 30 years, Read More…
RAWLINS — The Bureau of Land Management office in Rawlins decided to curb the number of wild horses at the Red Desert Complex. The BLM faced lawsuits from Sweetwater County ranchers and the state of Wyoming in opposition to the decision made by the BLM. The state of Wyoming filed suit against the BLM, claiming Read More…
The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded $18 million in funding to 44 State international trade agencies through SBA’s competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), to support export growth among U.S. small businesses. The Wyoming Business Council was awarded $221,431 to assist small businesses in Wyoming expand their market through exporting. STEP is designed to increase Read More…
Following a conference call on Tuesday afternoon, the Montana Board of Regents offered the position of UM President to Seth Bodnar, and he accepted. Bodnar becomes the 18th president of the university. Associate Commissioner of Higher Education Kevin McRae said late Tuesday afternoon that the decision did come more quickly than was anticipated. “Last week, Read More…
The Democrats Take Their Political Problems to Court The Democrats have a political problem and a geographic problem. This problem goes beyond the number of seats Democrats must gain to control the U.S. House or many statehouses, and surpasses the unfavorable map Democrats face in the Senate. The problem facing the Democrats nationally is that Read More…
The frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was hospitalized after suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu. He could not be revived. Tom Petty, the iconic rocker who gained worldwide fame as the lead singer and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died Monday after suffering cardiac arrest at his home, his Read More…
Tesla reported Monday that it produced 260 of its new Model 3 electric cars in the third quarter, of which it has delivered 220, dramatically missing CEO Elon Musk’s prediction that it would produce more than 1,600 cars by September. In July, Musk tweeted a production update for the Model 3 vehicles, saying the car Read More…
The Trump administration will order nearly two-thirds of Cuba’s diplomatic personnel to leave the United States after months of mysterious “attacks” that have damaged the health of U.S. embassy staff in Havana, according to a congressional source and a person familiar with the plan. The U.S. State Department is expected to announce the expulsions as Read More…
Washington (CNN)A full-strength Supreme Court will take the bench Monday for what could be the most consequential term in decades, as the ideologically split justices consider cases as diverse as religious liberty, immigration, cell phone privacy, voting rights and possibly the legality of President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban. “There is only one prediction that Read More…
General Electric announced Monday that Jeffrey Immelt retired as director and chairman of the company’s board of directors, about two months earlier than expected. In June, GE said Immelt would retire from the board at the end of December. The board elected John L. Flannery, who became CEO of the company in June, to the Read More…
BILLINGS – Officials at MSU Billings announced last week they will begin a search for a permanent chancellor. On Monday, Montana State University President Waded Cruzado was in Billings, hosting a community forum for the public to discuss the search. Many of those in attendance expressed their support for the universities interim chancellor, Dr. Ron Larsen. Larsen has been at Read More…
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock Monday said some state spending must be cut to balance the state budget, in the face of a revenue shortage – but that the Legislature could help mitigate those cuts by approving some form of tax increase. “If legislators will work with me, there is a better way to do Read More…
LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has announced a number of initiatives to help after the mass shooting on the Strip. Allegiant will arrange for family members of victims for free travel to Las Vegas. If you or your family members need to fly to or from Las Vegas, please write the airline at communications@allegiantair.com. Read More…
Substance abuse and drug-related criminal offenses have skyrocketed in Montana according to a new report from the Montana Department of Justice. The report includes data showing that drug-related criminal offenses are up 559 percent since 1980. The report also notes that more than a decade after a methamphetamine epidemic spurred the Montana Meth Project, the Read More…
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s leaked report on President Trump’s ordered review of 27 national monument designations or expansions of the last 21 years was trebly disappointing. He failed to recommend revocation of any Clinton and Obama decrees, despite finding that many failed to satisfy the requirements of the Antiquities Act of 1906. He Read More…
Montana’s two Republican Congressmen in Washington, D.C. urged the Trump administration this week to approve two massive mining projects in Northwest Montana. On Sept. 28, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to green light Hecla Mining Company’s Rock Creek and Montanore Read More…
Sen. Steve Daines said Tuesday that coordination with the Chinese is essential to taming North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. “We need the cooperation and the help from the Chinese. They play a very important role in additional sanctions, the banking sanctions, stopping oil imports in North Korea. Those are some important levers that we can throw Read More…
Cyber-crimes are being committed all across the United States and Montana is no exception. On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the recent cyber threats in the Flathead Valley. “Cyber-terrorism is an emerging threat that has become all too real in Montana,” said Daines. “Two weeks ago, the Read More…
MISSOULA – Neptune Aviation’s venerable P-2-V tankers have flown missions over thousands of wildfires, providing safety not only in the Northern Rockies but all over North America for the past quarter of a century. The distinctive workhorses are now being retired at the end of this long and volatile fire season. When Neptune Aviation was founded Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – More than 1,600 racers braved the rain, hail and cold temperatures for The Fifth Annual Pink Me Up race in Kalispell to support survivors and remember those lost. “Cancer runs in my family and my aunt died from cancer and we figured we’d be out in beautiful Montana enjoying the rain and Read More…
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is leaving in place a 70-year prison sentence for a Montana man convicted of shooting a German exchange student who was trespassing in his garage. The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Markus Kaarma. Kaarma was convicted of the 2014 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede, who had Read More…
Gun companies are suffering a sales slump under the Trump administration. But a regulatory change could give them a boost overseas. The administration is considering shifting oversight of gun exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The proposed change would treat handguns more like commodities and less like military weapons, and loosen the Read More…
Brown University has initiated a $120 million campaign to drop all loans from financial aid packages awarded to their undergraduates. Student debt is at an all-time high — the average outstanding balance is $34,144, up 62 percent over the last 10 years — and Brown will become the sixteenth U.S. institution, and the sixth in Read More…