The focus groups with Virginia voters are already underway, as Democrats try to make sense of a dismal off-year election that set off panic alarms across the party. The center-left group Third Way is among those conducting the sessions, which are suddenly so abundant that the local company they use to recruit participants and facilitate Read More…
More Minneapolis voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election than any other municipal election in recent history. The election drew a 54% turnout of eligible voters — the most for a city-only election in more than four decades, smashing the 1997 record of 46.5%. “Every voter felt like their vote counted, and indeed it did,” said Jeanne Read More…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk faces a tax bill of more than $15 billion in the coming months on stock options, making a sale of his Tesla stock this year likely regardless of the Twitter vote. Musk asked his 62.7 million Twitter followers over the weekend whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla holdings. “Much is made lately of Read More…
Within hours of the Biden administration unveiling a Jan. 4 deadline for 100 million workers to get vaccinated, a small business advocacy group announced it is filing a lawsuit seeking to block the measure. “The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate is clearly illegal and will have a devastating impact on our small business community and our entire economy,” Read More…
The leading members of the “Squad” have remained noticeably silent regarding the election of Winsome Sears in Virginia. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar expressed their support for several liberal candidates from minority racial backgrounds who won their elections on Tuesday. The collection of liberal congresswomen refrained from mentioning Read More…
After education issues proved crucial to Republicans’ upset victories in Virginia, GOP lawmakers are turning their attention to Democratic plans to put the federal government in charge of education. Buried in the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act is a plan to nationalize preschool programs and place them under the direction of the Education Department. The bill Read More…
Two illegal immigrants who were previously deported for sexually assaulting children were arrested within two hours of each other in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday. Customs and Border Protection disclosed that one of the illegal immigrant sex offenders originally hails from Guatemala and was found with a group of other migrants trying to enter Read More…
Republicans are eyeing Glenn Youngkin’s successful campaign for the Virginia governor’s mansion as a roadmap for the 2022 midterm elections. For the GOP, the victory is more valuable than simply gaining another governorship. Youngkin’s campaign, Republicans argue, offers a blueprint for dealing with some of their biggest challenges of the upcoming midterm elections, including how Read More…
As the South Dakota Legislature prepares to undertake impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020, a new poll shows that a strong majority of state residents is in favor of removing him from office. The late October poll of 500 registered voters in South Dakota showed Read More…
Another county in eastern Oregon voted to approve a measure to join the “Greater Idaho” movement in response to progressive policies in Portland. Sixty-three percent of voters in Harney County supported the non-binding Measure 13-18 as of Wednesday morning, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported. It’s the only countywide vote this year. READ FULL STORY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — KELOLAND News has confirmed with the Hyde County Sheriff’s office that Sheriff Mike Volek has died. The office refused to release any other details, other than to say they would be putting out a news release sometime in the future. Volek was the first on the scene after Attorney General Read More…
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — An Idaho woman is in jail on a quarter-million-dollar bond for allegedly stealing items from a deceased security guard’s body amid the chaos of the shooting inside a Boise mall last week. Mary Alyce Scarbrough, a 54-year-old Boise woman, faces felony counts of alteration of evidence and malicious injury to property, as Read More…
A fourth Democrat and former state lawmaker has joined the race for Montana’s new congressional seat. Tom Winter, a former state representative from Missoula, announced his run for the U.S. House on Wednesday, saying populism and progressivism can win. Winter joins fellow Democrats Laurie Bishop, a state lawmaker, Cora Neumann, who runs a public health nonprofit, and Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – While Americans head to the polls on Election Day during National Native American Heritage month, groups in Montana look to engage Native Americans in building political and personal power to address local community challenges. Western Native Voice, a non-profit, non-partisan organization in Billings continues to work to increase Native American participation and engagement Read More…
The second week of rifle season brought fewer hunters to south-central Montana check stations. In fact, overall hunter numbers were at “near historic lows” except for Lavina, where the number of hunters and harvested deer and elk “were the highest in recent history,” according to the Billings Gazette. Tallies for 2020 are not available because Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks closed check Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana School Boards Association has voted to leave the National School Boards Association next summer. The Montana Association also voted Monday to work with other state school boards associations to create a new national federal advocacy organization. READ FULL STORY
Jes Staley stepped down as chief executive of Barclays PLC under pressure from regulators about how he characterized his relationship with the convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Barclays said Mr. Staley stepped down “in view of the conclusions” made by U.K. regulators in its long-running investigation into what Mr. Staley told the bank about his Read More…
Fraud rings stole billions of dollars from at least 11 states, including Washington, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ferguson’s novel approach to rooting out the embezzled funds included searching for bank accounts where the scammers had not yet withdrawn all stolen funds and then initiating a legal effort to reclaim the funds. Investigators from the Attorney Read More…
Saudi Arabia has started moving earth and tunneling through mountains to build a futuristic linear city that officials hope will host its first residents in 2024, the project’s chief executive said. Employees are still developing regional master plans and a “founding law” for the mega-project called Neom, Nadhmi Al-Nasr said in an interview in Riyadh. But Read More…
A clip from the former football quarterback’s new show – Colin in Black & White – has gone viral and caused a social media frenzy to erupt as the 33-year-old attempts to draw similarities between scrutiny players receive from coaches to that of slavers. In the clip, Kaepernick – who earned more than $40million during his time Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Law enforcement agencies statewide will be cracking down on seat belt violations over the next month and a half. The “Click it or Ticket” enforcement campaign with extra patrols is planned Monday, Nov. 1 through Dec. 16, according to the state Transportation Department. The campaign is part of the state’s Vision Read More…
The Wyoming Senate voted 15-13 Friday to kill a bill fighting expected federal COVID-19 rules as the House advanced two heavily amended measures of its own. Senators voted down Senate File 3-COVID-19 discriminatory practices, one of three COVID-related measures being worked by the Legislature, after considering 13 amendments and adopting seven. As originally written, the measure Read More…
The differences between Kalispell mayoral candidates Mark Johnson and Sid Daoud came down to questions of small and smaller government during a virtual question-and-answer session with the Daily Inter Lake on Thursday. Johnson, the incumbent two-term mayor, and Daoud, the Ward 4 City Council representative, generally agreed in their desire to see reductions in development Read More…
LOLO — Adam Wulf of Lolo is bringing holiday cheer to the neighborhood with his giant pumpkins! When reporter Katie Miller last talked with Wulf, he was just planting the seeds, but now he’s estimating his pumpkin came in at more than 700 pounds! Wulf lives in Lolo with his wife and son, and for years Read More…
State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen today announced Montana is initiating a new student growth assessment pilot. The Montana Alternative Student Testing (MAST) Pilot Program is a partnership with participating school districts and MetaMetrics, Inc., and is overseen by the Montana Office of Public Instruction. The pilot is designed to lessen the burden of federally mandated testing Read More…
Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to offer police officers who refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine $5,000 to relocate to Florida, pledging “we will treat you better” than forces across the country threatening layoffs of those who don’t want the jab. “We’re actually actively working to recruit out-of-state law enforcement, because we do have needs in Read More…
The Biden administration is in touch with nearly 400 Americans who are stranded in Afghanistan, a figure that far exceeds the administration’s claims that about 100 Americans were left in the nation following the United States’ hurried exit from Kabul, according to a senior congressional source who was briefed Thursday by the State Department. With Read More…
Sen. Joe Manchin told reporters at the Capitol on Monday that Democrats could reach a deal on the framework of their spending package this week. Manchin has for weeks been a thorn in the side of liberals seeking a proposed $3.5 trillion spending package. Manchin, as well as Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, have raised objections to the Read More…
AUSTIN, Texas — The Biden administration rejected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s appeal that the federal government reimburse the state for millions of dollars spent responding to the border crisis. In a letter sent Sunday, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell denied the Republican governor’s request that it reconsider its denial to approve the state’s request for an Read More…
The Kalispell City Council voted to restrict marijuana dispensaries, cultivation and manufacturing to industrial zones after a second reading of the ordinance at the Oct. 18 council meeting, setting the city’s framework for facilities once operations can begin on Jan. 1, 2022. While marijuana operations are permitted in the city, they will be limited to Read More…
HAMILTON — It’s fall in Montana, with windswept mountain ranges and morning temperatures hovering in the 30s, and it’s not the ideal growing season. That is unless you’re inside Local Bounti. “This new type of growing is really exciting,” said Meaghan McGrath, director of product development. Local Bounti is a company specializing in growing facilities that Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Next month’s abbreviated session of the North Dakota Legislature is intended to finish the job of legislative redistricting and to determine how federal coronavirus relief aid will be spent. But some lawmakers want to broaden the agenda. More than two dozen bills have been submitted ahead of the session planned for Nov. Read More…
The leaders of the Wyoming House and Senate have formally announced a special session of the Wyoming Legislature to deal with President Biden’s vaccine mandate. The session is scheduled for Oct. 26-28, according to Senate President Dan Dockstader and House Speaker Eric Barlow. According to a release from the pair on Tuesday afternoon: READ FULL STORY
BOISE — From now on when Idaho Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy looks at wildfire suppression budget proposals, she won’t ever again just see numbers or charts on a spreadsheet. Instead, she’ll see the faces of the firefighters and the equipment they rely on. Troy, R-Genesse, will see her family members standing with their arms wrapped Read More…
For the past 30 years, South Dakota has been a bastion of extreme wealth, a place for multimillionaires and billionaires around the world to stash their money in vehicles known as trusts. As the explosive Pandora Papers investigation has exposed, the world’s wealthy employ complex schemes in order to avoid taxation, and the use of trusts is Read More…
Those looking to fly out of Idaho Falls now have more options. “One thing that we have been missing since it went away over probably a decade ago is the ability to travel within the state of Idaho,” says Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper. Until now. Intrastate travel in Idaho will be returning to the Read More…
STAR, Idaho (CBS2) — A fully-vaccinated mother from Star lost her battle with COVID-19 on Thursday. Susan Ward’s death was felt throughout the community. Ward was just 58-years-old. Despite being fully vaccinated, she contracted the coronavirus and was admitted to the ICU at St. Luke’s Meridian. “I miss her, I’ve missed her, it’s so lonely here Read More…
As visitation to Flathead Lake’s state-managed islands continues to increase, so do the negative consequences on wildlife habitat, including an uptick in instances involving human waste, garbage, vandalism, and unattended campfires. To that end, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has released a draft environmental assessment on a suite of proposed rule changes, which the agency crafted Read More…
The commission in charge of drawing Montana’s new political boundaries remains stuck in a deadlock over how to split the state into two congressional districts. The bipartisan Districting and Apportionment Commission failed to find consensus Thursday. Instead of putting forth a single map for consideration as planned, they advanced two. Still, commissioners are getting closer Read More…
A tenured professor at the University of Montana announced through his attorney that he has resigned amid an investigation into his blog. This comes after a student newspaper reported the blog shared homophobic and misogynistic views. Rob Smith’s statement, which was shared on Twitter, said the university previously told him his blog, which he says expresses Read More…