HELENA, MT- For decades, Sgt. Patrick McLaughlin has served the state of Montana with the Montana Highway Patrol. Before working for MHP, McLaughlin was a volunteer firefighter for the Belgrade Fire Department for many years, which launched his career in service. “Even before I met Pat he was serving this community as a volunteer fire Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Montana is a place that many people want to call home, and after the effects of COVID restrictions ran out both of this family’s businesses due to shutdowns, they decided to make Montana their home. Jon and Amanda Bush were the power couple to beat in their town of Vancouver, Washington. Amanda Read More…
Helium is blowing up in the Flathead Valley — the technology start-up firm, that is. Jeff DuPuy, a local tech enthusiast, is spearheading the deployment of a radio system that acts as an alternative to traditional internet services. Dupuy is working with “other nerds across the country” to bring the benefits of the Helium system Read More…
“Let’s go Brandon” to the moon? A cryptocurrency digital coin labeled $LGB, which stands for the phrase “Let’s go Brandon,” went up 150%. The cryptocurrency is “America’s Coin,” according to its website . The digital coin is part of the mission to fight back “against the establishment, their mismanagement, and the financial fleecing of the American people,” the website Read More…
Thousands of Massachusetts parents opted their children out of a federally funded sex education curriculum that teaches kindergartners about genitalia. Worcester Public Schools this week announced that 13 percent of its students opted out of sex education, including 20 percent of K-4 students. The “Rights, Respect, Responsibility,” or “3Rs,” curriculum teaches elementary students about gender Read More…
After months of speculation, Democrat Beto O’Rourke announced this morning he will run for governor of Texas. “I’m running to try to help bring this state together,” O’Rourke said. “To do the really big things that are before us right now and to get past the divisiveness, the extremism, and the real small politics and policies Read More…
President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill would cost nearly $5 trillion if several temporary provisions are made permanent, a nonpartisan budget think tank estimates. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that advocates for lower deficits, said Monday the current House iteration of the Build Back Better Act relies “on a number of Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – House Bill 1002, Federal COVID vaccine mandates-prohibition and remedies-2 was signed by Governor Mark Gordon. HB1002 provides $4 million in funding for legal challenges to any COVID-19 vaccination mandates passed by the Federal government according to a release. “This bill confirms the Legislature’s support for the Executive branch’s previously-expressed determination to fight Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — In a few weeks, Montana’s Governor will select two new District Court judges, one in Gallatin County and the other in Yellowstone. It will mark the second time the governor will use a new state law about mid-year election nominations. We’re working for you to explain the law that changed Montana’s constitution. READ Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Fish, Wildlife & Parks is proposing to develop a new archery range at Big Arm State Park outside Polson, and expand the current range at Lone Pine State Park in Kalispell. The state would put in a new gravel parking lot, a covered firing line, and an elevated shooting platform at Big Arm. Read More…
The first wave of Covid-19 peaked in the Flathead Valley exactly a year ago this week. Active cases in the county climbed to nearly 2,500 — the highest of the entire pandemic — and statewide hospitalizations and deaths were rising at an alarming rate. While vaccinations were still being developed at that time, promising research Read More…
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce recognized local leaders during its 117th annual Grand Event on Nov. 10, honoring local attorney Tom Esch with its oldest and most prestigious award for his work facilitating the Kalispell Core Area Development and Parkline Trail projects. In addition to handing out the 50th iteration of its “Community Legacy” (formerly Read More…
BILLINGS — Billings will soon get a new concert venue in the form of an outdoor pavilion on the east side of Downtown. It’ll be built near 2nd Avenue North and N. 17th Street, and plans so far are receiving positive feedback from people in that area. “I’m sure it would add a lot to Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Senator Steve Daines has returned from a trip to India after meeting with India’s top trade official, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and Indian pulse crop buyers. According to a release, Sen. Daines met with Goyal and pulse crop buyers to promote Montana pulse crops and increase market access for Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On September 25, Amtrak’s “Empire Builder” derailed in northern Montana resulting in several injuries and three deaths. Many first responders and good Samaritans worked together to help those onboard, including a Roosevelt County man who was honored by Senator Steve Daines. Sixty-one-year-old Daniel Hutchinson is a rancher, Navy veteran, and foster Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Back in 2016, James Parker Shield of the Little Shell Tribe created the National Native American Hall of Fame (NNAHOF) to honor those who have accomplished a lot in their life. He saw there was a need for the NNAHOF after seeing a hall of fame for almost everything else. “Native Read More…
LIVINGSTON, Mont. – The residents of Park County are not alone when trying to find affordable housing options in a booming Montana housing market, but a recent needs assessment shows worrisome concerns for area housing. The Park County Housing Coalition launched by the Park County Community Foundation and Human Resource Development Council of District IX Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — It’s possible the House and Senate won’t agree Monday when lawmakers meet in special session on where to put boundaries for legislative districts that would apply in elections the next 10 years. If there is a stalemate, that duty, known as reapportionment, would fall, for the first time, upon the South Read More…
BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State University may want to consider changing its mascot following an unusual incident. WDAY captured the moment that a lone moose ran free across the home field of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in Brookings on Friday. Local police and stadium personnel worked together to chase the animal out through the Read More…
The Montana Department of Revenue has come out with two more packages of proposed rules, as they prepare for the start of recreational marijuana sales in January. Marijuana advocates say they’re concerned one of the provisions is going to put too many limits on who can take jobs in the industry. The newly proposed rules Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – On Saturday, a federal appeals court temporarily halted the recently announced vaccine mandate on larger businesses, and Senator Steve Daines says he was glad to see it was blocked. Senator Daines gave the following statement: READ FULL STORY
MISSOULA, Mont. — A mobile team of medical and behavioral health specialists in western Montana has reduced the number of people going to the emergency room or jail. Members of the Missoula Mobile Support Team respond to calls with local law enforcement and sometimes on their own with known clients. READ FULL STORY
HELENA, Mont. – In just six days, Montana Millionaire tickets are now sold out. Only 250,000 tickets were available, and the Montana Lottery says this is a record for sales. “W O W!! Montana!! You blow our minds!! Montana Millionaire sold out in a record-breaking SIX DAYS! Every last one of you who got a Read More…
At a press conference WHO Europe head Hans Kluge said the continent could see half a million more deaths by February. He blamed insufficient vaccine take-up for the rise. “We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19 to preventing them from happening in the first place,” he said. The rate Read More…
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