HELENA, Mont.—The Montana Department of Labor and Industry has secured $4.8 million in federal funding to expand workforce training programs led by employers in high-demand industries, including advanced manufacturing, technology and construction. The funding comes through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund. Montana is one of seven states receiving a share of Read More…
HELENA, Mont.—Gov. Greg Gianforte has joined 21 other governors in signing Vice President JD Vance’s Pledge to Protect Americans from Fraud, an initiative aimed at reducing fraud and improper payments in taxpayer-funded government programs. The pledge calls for stronger oversight of public assistance programs, improved fraud prevention measures and increased accountability for individuals who improperly Read More…
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Treasury Department announced enforcement actions against Bank of America for violations of federal anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, including failures to report more than $5 billion in suspicious financial transactions. The actions involve three federal regulators and include the third-largest penalty in Treasury history and the largest penalty ever assessed by the Office Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont.—The University of Montana College of Business ranks among the top 15% of public undergraduate business programs nationwide, according to the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings. The college tied for No. 89 among undergraduate business programs at public universities and No. 149 among all public and private institutions. The ranking Read More…
HELENA, Mont.—Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of misleading consumers about the safety of ChatGPT and exposing children and teenagers to harmful advice and inadequate privacy protections. The lawsuit, filed Oct. 14 in Lewis and Clark County District Court, alleges OpenAI violated the Montana Consumer Read More…
If you think your energy costs are high now, the situation may be about to get a whole lot worse. With traffic in the Strait of Hormuz – normally the primary route for oil leaving the Middle East – hovering below 15% of prewar levels, oil prices have increased from US$65 a barrel before the Read More…
Americans are crazy about sports. But whether that passion requires taxpayers to subsidize new facilities every time leagues and franchises ask for them needs rigorous scrutiny. A lot of money is at stake. For 2025, the NFL reported some US$14.5 billion in revenue, while the MLB collected an estimated $12.2 billion and the NBA earned Read More…
People often joke that their favorite snack is “like crack” or call themselves “chocoholics” in jest. But can someone really be addicted to food in the same way they could be hooked on substances such as alcohol or nicotine? As an addiction psychiatrist and researcher with experience in treating eating disorders and obesity, I have Read More…
RIVERTON, Wyo.—Candidates for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat discussed federal spending, Social Security and immigration enforcement during a Wyoming PBS debate, while Republican nominee Chuck Gray declined an invitation to participate. Democrat Lisa Kinney, Libertarian Shawn Johnson and Constitution Party candidate Jeff Haggit participated in the forum, outlining their priorities for Congress and discussing how Read More…
(The Center Square) – Inflation ranks among the top three issues for 46% of registered voters, a nine-point climb since March, while the national debt and government spending sit near the bottom at 13%. Voters put the debt near the bottom in a year the federal government ran a $2 trillion deficit, $218 billion more Read More…
MISSOULA – The Montana Grizzlies traded blows with the Idaho Vandals throughout the afternoon but came up short in a 42-35 loss at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday. Despite five touchdown passes from quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, the Griz were unable to complete the comeback as Idaho scored touchdowns on six of its nine possessions to Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont.—Erwin Chemerinsky, a nationally recognized constitutional law scholar and expert on free speech, will deliver a public lecture at Montana State University on Thursday, Oct. 22, examining First Amendment rights and the challenges facing American universities. The lecture, titled “The First Amendment and the Modern University: A Conversation with Erwin Chemerinsky,” will begin at Read More…
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Treasury Department is stepping up scrutiny of religious charity networks that it says the Iranian government uses to divert donations, enrich regime officials and finance terrorist organizations. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, issued an alert under Operation Economic Outcast urging financial institutions to identify and report suspicious transactions Read More…
PIERRE, S.D.—Voters in four South Dakota counties will decide in November whether to impose new local sales taxes intended to reduce property taxes on owner-occupied homes. Brown and Codington counties will vote on half-percent county sales taxes during the Nov. 3 general election, while Clay and Charles Mix counties are scheduled to hold special elections Read More…
HELENA—Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has joined two multistate coalitions pressing federal officials on separate national-security and terrorism-related issues, including scrutiny of TP-Link’s ties to China and access to frozen Taliban funds for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. In one effort, Knudsen joined 20 other state attorneys general in asking the Federal Communications Commission Read More…
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Soldiers with the 30th Medical Brigade are rethinking how surgical care moves on the battlefield, using a prototype M1087 expandable van to turn a traditionally static medical setup into a faster, more mobile and more survivable surgical platform for large-scale combat operations. The prototype gives the 67th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment a Read More…
Before enrolling at Missoula College this fall, Kaycee Eubanks already earned a healthcare degree from the University of Montana. Eubanks, who graduated from Corvallis High School in the Bitterroot Valley this past spring, took dual enrollment classes to complete UM’s Rural Healthcare Career Pathways Program. She is one of six Corvallis students to complete the Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D.—North Dakota has joined 33 other state financial regulators in a $2.5 million settlement with Seattle-based cryptocurrency kiosk operator Coinme over alleged violations of federal Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering requirements. Under the agreement, Coinme must end its virtual-currency kiosk operations by Jan. 1, 2027, or face an additional $4 million penalty. North Dakota Read More…
Montana U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar appears to have a substantially higher net worth than Republican rival Kurt Alme, according to financial disclosure reports filed with the U.S. Senate. An analysis of the candidates’ disclosures estimates Bodnar and his wife have a net worth ranging from approximately $4.9 million to $13 million, compared with roughly Read More…
HELENA—More than 14,000 Montanans are set to receive a combined $7 million in refunds tied to overcharges on Obamacare health plans, according to Montana State Auditor James Brown. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services identified 14,093 Montana residents who are eligible for $500 refund checks, representing a total of $7,046,500. The refunds stem from Read More…
BOISE, Idaho—Idaho General Fund revenue exceeded the state’s forecast by $90.3 million during the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, finishing 6.8% above projections. September revenue alone came in $39 million above forecast, with individual income tax collections accounting for much of the strength. Individual income tax revenue is running 18.3% above forecast year to Read More…
WASHINGTON—The Defense Department is expanding its investment in quantum computing with roughly $350 million in new initiatives, including a conditional $150 million loan commitment to PsiQuantum aimed at strengthening advanced manufacturing and prototyping in the United States. The effort is designed to accelerate development of quantum systems that could eventually support national-security missions in areas Read More…
GREAT FALLS—Janicki Industries has named retired Air Force Col. Daniel J. Voorhies senior director of operations for its new Great Falls manufacturing campus as the aerospace and defense company prepares to expand production in Montana. Voorhies retired earlier this year after 25 years in the U.S. Air Force. He most recently commanded the 341st Missile Read More…
NAVI MUMBAI, India—CoreWeave is expanding into India with plans for a 240-megawatt data center project in Navi Mumbai, adding capacity in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The company is partnering with AdaniConneX to build three 80-megawatt facilities at the Taloja campus, with the first phase expected to come online by mid-2028. Read More…
GREENWICH, Conn.—Interactive Brokers Group is scheduled to report third-quarter results after the market closes Thursday, giving investors a fresh look at one of the fastest-growing major U.S. brokerage platforms. The company plans to release results at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern time, followed by a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Analysts are looking for earnings of Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Wyoming voters will decide Proposition 1, a citizen-initiated property-tax measure that would exempt 50% of the assessed value of a qualifying primary residence’s dwelling from property taxes. The proposal would apply to the home itself, but not the land. Eligibility generally requires that the homeowner be a Wyoming resident and use the property as Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D.—Two major pipeline disputes moved forward in North Dakota this week, with a state judge ruling that local zoning rules are not automatically overridden by state pipeline-siting authority and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filing a new federal lawsuit seeking to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the first case, South Central District Court Read More…
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has appointed economist Judy Shelton as a counselor in the Office of the Secretary, giving her a senior advisory role focused on currency policy and global financial conditions. Shelton will advise Bessent on currency issues, with particular emphasis on evaluating financial conditions in China. She has spent much of her career Read More…
HELENA—Montana Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Sarah Swanson has been elected chair-elect of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, giving Montana a leadership role in a national organization representing workforce agencies across the country. Swanson assumed the position Sept. 17 during NASWA’s annual membership meeting at the 2026 NASWA Summit. The chair-elect serves Read More…
A record 15,908 students are attending UND this fall, marking the University’s second consecutive all-time enrollment high and seventh straight year of growth. Behind that number are gains in undergraduate enrollment, strong retention and several of the largest freshman classes in UND history. Here’s a closer look at what is driving UND’s record enrollment. More Read More…
HELENA—Montana’s formally nonpartisan Supreme Court race is developing a clear ideological divide, with liberal advocacy groups, liberal-leaning current and former Montana Supreme Court justices and district judges lining up behind District Judge Amy Eddy, while conservative organizations, Republican officials and GOP committees are supporting District Judge Dan Wilson. Eddy and Wilson, both judges in Montana’s Read More…
PIERRE, S.D.—South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a multistate effort seeking court approval of settlements with three generic drug manufacturers accused of conspiring to inflate prices and restrict competition. The settlements involve Ascend Laboratories, Citron Pharma and Mayne Pharma and are part of a broader antitrust case being pursued by 45 states and Read More…
MISSOULA—The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has committed $1.89 million in low-interest financing to the Wildflower Apartments in Missoula, marking the first loan issued through the state’s Multifamily Energy Retrofit Loan program. The financing will support energy-efficiency upgrades at the affordable housing complex near Missoula’s south hills, with a focus on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning Read More…
HELENA—Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a 20-state coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case challenging workplace diversity, equity and inclusion training at the Colorado Department of Corrections. The coalition filed an amicus brief in Joshua Young v. Colorado Department of Corrections, asking the court to review a Tenth Circuit Read More…
MINNEAPOLIS—A Minnesota woman has been convicted on federal health-care fraud charges for orchestrating a $3.6 million scheme targeting the state’s now-defunct Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program. A federal jury found Sharmaine Meadows, 45, of Lake Elmo, guilty of three counts of health care fraud after prosecutors said her company billed Medicaid for housing services that Read More…
MISSOULA – University of Montana journalism student Casandra Evans had photographed Lady Griz Basketball Head Coach Nate Harris before, but never like this. Early on a recent Friday morning, she traded gymnasium hardwood for bedroom carpet, capturing Harris as he woke his daughters and got them ready for school. At the UM School of Journalism’s Read More…
HELENA—The race for Montana’s open U.S. Senate seat is giving voters four distinct choices, with Republican Kurt Alme, independent Seth Bodnar, Democrat Alani Bankhead and Libertarian Kyle Austin competing to replace retiring Sen. Steve Daines. Alme, 59, has made his Montana roots and long record in state and federal public service central to his campaign. Read More…
COLUMBUS, Mont.—A strike involving hundreds of workers at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Stillwater Mine and Columbus metallurgical facilities has ended after union employees approved a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. The strike began Sept. 3 and lasted more than a month. Employees are expected to return to work Oct. 9. The agreement provides a 4.5% wage increase in Read More…
BOZEMAN – A Montana State University graduate student planning a career in cancer research is the first recipient of a newly established fellowship for emerging MSU scholars working to address and expand scientific understanding to advance human health. Chloe Rifai, a second-year doctoral student in biochemistry, said the $30,000, two-year award from the Kathryn Follis Read More…
BOZEMAN—Republican Aaron Flint and Democrat Sam Forstag traded attacks and outlined sharply different approaches to affordability, energy and economic development during their first televised debate in Montana’s Western Congressional District race. The two candidates met Thursday in Bozeman for a 30-minute forum hosted by the Montana Television Network and moderated by senior political reporter Jonathon Read More…