A Norwegian Cruise Line ship docked in New Orleans over the weekend with at least 17 passengers and crew members infected with the coronavirus, according to local health officials, including one probable case of the omicron variant among the crew. The Norwegian Breakaway departed from New Orleans on Nov. 28 with more than 3,200 people Read More…
WORCESTER (CBS) – About 200 UMass Memorial Health employees are out of a job because they missed the health care system’s COVID vaccination deadline. UMass Memorial announced the mandate over the summer with a deadline to get vaccinated or receive an exemption by November 1. Employees were let go on December 1 if they did Read More…
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Bill de Blasio announced what he called a first-in-the-nation vaccine mandate for private companies Monday. He said the combination of the Omicron variant and holiday gatherings forced him to take “bold” steps. He’s giving businesses just three weeks to make sure their workers are vaccinated. “We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike Read More…
The Federal Reserve has an extraordinary responsibility to ensure a healthy economy and sound financial system for all Americans. Unfortunately, over the past year my faith in the Fed has been deeply shaken by its political approach to digital assets in my home state, Wyoming, greatly contributing to my concerns over President Biden’s nominees, Jay Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Thanksgiving travel hit record highs at the Missoula airport, which is forcing officials to think about the kind of rush they will receive on Christmas. “We are just ticking up our expectations now for Christmas based on what we did for Thanksgiving, so we are actually coming up with some overflow parking plan Read More…
BILLINGS – Groups on both sides of the abortion issue in Montana are closely watching a key case challenging Roe v Wade, which is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court heard arguments for a Mississippi law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks. A lower court had earlier blocked that Read More…
HELENA — A federal judge in Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID vaccine mandate following a lawsuit filed by Montana and 13 other states. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen previously told MTN that the November 5th CMS rule is not only unconstitutional, but also will Read More…
Republicans on Wednesday slammed President Joe Biden’s latest nominee to the Federal Communications Commission for her history of attacking right-wing speech. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee tore into Gigi Sohn for what Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) called “a history of antipathy toward conservative views.” Sohn has called for the shuttering of right-wing networks repeatedly throughout Read More…
An exodus of top staffers from Vice President Kamala Harris’s office is not cause for concern, according to the White House. “Working in the first year of a White House is exciting and rewarding, but it’s also grueling and exhausting. It’s all of those things at once,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday. “It’s also Read More…
Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz will run for Senate as a Republican in Pennsylvania next year, adding intrigue to one of the races that will determine control of the chamber. The 61-year-old host of “The Dr. Oz Show” will enter a crowded swing-state race where no clear frontrunner has emerged on the GOP side. Oz, who Read More…
Nearly half of American households say inflation is causing financial hardship, according to a Gallup poll. Forty-five percent of Americans say inflation is responsible for their current financial difficulties—10 percent of whom describe those difficulties as “severe.” Among those most affected are Americans in the lowest income bracket, with 71 percent of households making $40,000 or less Read More…
Jussie Smollett’s legal team will get its chance on Thursday to poke holes in the credibility of Abimbola Osundairo, one of two Nigerian brothers who claimed the Empire actor paid them to stage a phony hate crime. Osundairo testified Wednesday in a Chicago courtroom that Smollett gave him and his brother instructions and money in advance of the Jan. 29, Read More…
Scientists claim to have discovered a “potential mechanism” that triggers rare blood clots in some people who receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine. Links between the vaccine and rare, sometimes fatal, blood clots have prompted some countries to restrict its use to older adults or favor alternative shots. To be sure, medical experts have repeatedly said the benefits of the Read More…
MEDORA, N.D. — The statue of Theodore Roosevelt astride a horse and towering over an American Indian and African American that has drawn criticism in New York City will move to the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in western North Dakota. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation and city of New York on Friday announced Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – – Despite record amounts of payments over the past few years, Wyoming’s Unclaimed Property Division of the State Treasurer’s Office is holding on to more money than ever as the amount of money now being held exceeds $100 million. Wyoming law stipulates properties that have reached the required dormancy period Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – Earlier this year, after Wyoming received the first installment of funds from the American Rescue Plan, Governor Mark Gordon asked a Strike Team to work on big ideas that would help Wyoming drive towards a future where its citizens will thrive. Now there are more than $3 billion in proposals that the Read More…
Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon don’t get along. Mr. Musk has spurned Mr. Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. for years, turning to other banks while expanding Tesla Inc. and his broader empire. Conversations over the years between the two companies have often upset one side or the other, according to people familiar with the matter. Read More…
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraised its Republican counterpart in October even as President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress were struggling to pass major legislation to invest more taxpayer dollars in infrastructure and social programs. The DCCC raised $11.6 million last month, according to figures just publicized, compared to $9.7 million raised by the National Republican Read More…
VAN HORN, Texas — Texas state troopers deployed to the border in remote West Texas to serve as backup to the overstretched Border Patrol are overwhelmed responding to the increasing number of illegal migrants who try to outrun them. The Texas Department of Public Safety has rerouted more than 1,000 officers from their normal duties to the border Read More…
Jerome Powell, who guided the Federal Reserve and the nation’s economy through the staggering and sudden Covid-19 recession by implementing unprecedented monetary stimulus, is being nominated for a second term as chairman of the U.S. central bank. President Joe Biden made the announcement Monday morning following weeks of speculation that a push from progressives might Read More…
ALBANY, N.Y. — On Monday morning, the New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee released its findings from its investigation into former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The investigation, which started before Cuomo’s resignation in August, sought to examine allegations of sexual harassment against the former governor. READ FULL STORY
A roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate plan passed out of the U.S House Friday, without the support of Montana’s lone congressman. Montana Republican Representative Matt Rosendale opposed the so-called ‘Build Back Better’ bill. The measure narrowly passed out of the U.S. House Friday morning on a near party-line vote of 220 to 213. Read More…
Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines implored “just one” Democrat to oppose the president’s “Build Back Better” agenda, which he said was a “hyperinflation bomb” that would most impact the poorest in society. “We just need one Democrat –just one– to oppose it and this bill dies in the Senate,” he said as Democrats try to Read More…
You’ll sooner have fewer options, when it comes to air travel in and out of Billings. Frontier Airlines is canceling all flights to both Billings and Bozeman until next August. Frontier Airlines confirmed the cancellations Thursday, providing this statement: “The Frontier business model is changing in many ways and we continually review our flight schedules Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — For the past ten years, the Veterans of Foreign Warfare (VFW) Post 2252 has hosted the Veterans Annual Food Drive. This year, their goal was to fill a moving van with food donations for holiday meals. The drive took place in the Rosauers parking lot on Saturday, where volunteers and Veterans came out Read More…
It’s been 86 years since the Jewish community of Helena, Montana sold its first synagogue, Temple Emanu-El, to the city of Helena for just one dollar. Now, the small Jewish community that remains in the town is trying to buy it for nearly $1 million from the Helena Catholic Diocese, which purchased the building in 1981. Rebecca Read More…
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…