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
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…