Gillette, Wyo. once produced 40% of all U.S. coal, but is now losing half its jobs as coal demand plummets. A nearby town survived a bust in the 1950s and offers lessons. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: The state that produces 40% of America’s coal is trying to figure out a new future for itself. Gillette, Wyo., Read More…
JACKSON — A new type of industrial activity is rising from the sagebrush and pastureland in western Wyoming: utility- scale solar farms. Three such developments have already been constructed or will soon be built in the Green and Bear river basins. The introduction of photovoltaic renewable energy technology figures to help replenish county coffers and Read More…
Wyoming Medical Center has signed a letter of intent with Banner Health, the first step in a potential future affiliation deal between Wyoming’s largest hospital and one of the most significant health care organizations in the region. The agreement is nonbinding, according to an announcement sent Tuesday by WMC, and allows both organizations to “conduct Read More…
Two competing plans to ask Montana voters to legalize and tax recreational marijuana are underway in the state. A group called MontanaCan is the latest initiative sponsor calling for a change in the state’s policies for marijuana. MontanaCan is proposing a gross sales tax on the recreational drug of no more than 5 percent, and Read More…
A Bozeman lawyer has appealed his case against the former commissioner of political practices to the Montana Supreme Court. The case relates to two ethics complaints and a federal court case and is tied to the 2016 election. Matthew Monforton, a lawyer and former Republican state lawmaker, submitted an ethics complaint against Jonathan Read More…
Disney, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other U.S. companies with significant footprints in China are suspending operations and instituting travel restrictions as they respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The virus has now taken the lives of at least 82 people in China and sickened 2,900 worldwide, including in the U.S. and Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Read More…
NBA legend Kobe Bryant, 41, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning in Calabasas, Calif., along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. Seven other people were on board Bryant’s helicopter and were all killed in the tragic accident. Bryant’s impact on basketball is obvious: five-time NBA champion; two-time NBA Finals MVP; league Read More…
The maker of the helicopter that crashed and killed former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant on Sunday pledged to investigate the incident. Defense contractor and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin said it would probe the crash of its Sikorsky S-76B helicopter in Calabasas, California, near Malibu, which killed nine people. The S-76 series helicopter debuted in the 1970s. Sikorsky has Read More…
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues that people become billionaires only by exploiting workers and preying on vulnerable and less privileged people. “No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars,” she told the author Ta-Nehisi Coates at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event this week. Ocasio-Cortez shared a NowThis clip of their discussion Read More…
With the leadoff Iowa caucuses days away, President Trump’s re-election campaign wants to remind voters that Democrats aren’t the only game in town. For the Feb. 3 caucuses, the Trump campaign is planning an ambitious show of force around the state, with over 80 surrogates expected to campaign at caucus locations. The push will be Read More…
FARGO, N.D. – Officials in North Dakota say it’s time for property owners in flood-prone areas of the Red River Valley to think about buying flood insurance. Flood preparation meetings with state and federal officials are scheduled this week in Fargo, Grand Forks and Jamestown. Those sessions will focus on insuring homes and other structures. Read More…
Wyoming’s governor is reiterating his support for s a statewide lodging tax to boost state revenue. Republican Gov. Mark Gordon says a lodging tax is the only new tax he would support. Gordon told reporters and editors at the Wyoming Press Association’s winter convention in Casper a lodging tax would make Wyoming’s tourism promotion efforts Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — Under current Wyoming law, people can get married or enter civil unions if they are at least 16 years of age. The Wyoming Legislature will consider a “child marriage restriction” bill that would raise the minimum age to 18. Both parties entering into marriages or unions would need to be 18. The proposal would Read More…
Spirits were high even as the beer ran low on a recent evening at the Great Northern Brewing Co., the Flathead Valley’s oldest craft beer establishment slated to close its doors in Whitefish’s downtown corridor next month. The iconic brewery at 2 Central Ave. has punctuated the north end of Whitefish since opening along the Read More…
BOZEMAN- What is the Dolly Parton challenge? It’s four photos of what could be your profile photos for social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tinder. Montana Senator Jon Tester got in on the fun but added a twist. Instead of using a “Tinder,” photo he used a “Farmersonly,” photo. READ FULL STORY
U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Montana, announced Thursday he will be introducing bipartisan legislation to protect the civil liberties and privacy of Montanans from government spying programs. Daines’ bipartisan bill reforms Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the National Security Agency has used to create a secret mass surveillance program that swept up millions of Read More…
Berkadia secured $30.3 million in financing for Talus Apartments, a 288-unit garden-style multifamily community in Great Falls, MT. Seattle-based Investors Capital Group, LLC, was the borrower. The 10-year Freddie Mac loan features a full-leverage loan with partial-term interest-only. Located at 2100 26th St. S, the community was constructed in two phases from 2015 to 2018. Read More…
Two decades ago, four Montana hospitals tried something new. They bankrolled a company to compete with the most powerful insurer in the state. The hospitals wanted to challenge what they described as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana’s “dominating presence.” So they founded insurer New West Health Services in 1998 to cover hospital employees and Read More…
SHELBY, Mont., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Port of Northern Montana has recently confirmed that it has a significant amount of low-cost renewable electrical power available at its Data Center Development Park in Shelby. In particular, as a result of a cooperative arrangement with NaturEner USA, there is approximately 10 megawatts (MW) of renewable electrical power currently available at the Shelby Data Center Read More…
Hunter Biden must appear Jan. 29 in a Batesville courtroom and explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for violating court orders to provide financial information in his Arkansas paternity case. Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer signed an “Order to Appear and Show Cause” on Monday, a day when Arkansas courts were closed Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration on Wednesday approved a right-of-way allowing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across U.S. land, federal officials told The Associated Press, pushing the controversial $8 billion project closer to construction though court challenges still loom. The approval signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt covers 46 miles Read More…
There were no arrests or confrontations with heavily armed police at Monday’s gun-rights rally in Richmond. This caused Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to wonder aloud why that was … and blame racism. The New York Democrat and avowed socialist said in an interview for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that was posted on social media Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — If a South Dakota Senator has his way, the Board of Regents will combine the administration of Spearfish-based Black Hills State University and Rapid City-based South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ryan Maher (R-Isabel) would require the Board of Regents to develop a plan Read More…
Today in Pierre, S.D., lawmakers are holding the very first state hearing on whether to ban surgical and chemical sex-change treatments for minors. The Vulnerable Child Protection Act would prohibit medical sex-change treatments for children under the age of 16 and make those directly involved guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. It would not prevent Read More…
Training sessions on new electronic pollbooks are planned throughout the next week and a half for North Dakota election officials. The new devices — 990 of them — will be distributed to North Dakota’s 53 counties for use at polling locations after being delivered to the state in February. Pollbooks are records of voters Read More…
TC Energy is moving ahead with plans to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, and it’s getting ready to make a few Montana moves. Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TC Energy, told the Herald on Tuesday that Keystone XL has reached several key milestones. That prompted the company to file a status report with the Read More…
BUTTE – United Airlines estimates it would need $1 million in guaranteed revenue over two years from Butte before it would consider adding a second flight from Bert-Mooney Airport to Denver. This more than the $380,000 Butte’s Tourism Business Improvement District, or TBID, was asked to raise. TBID officials are planning to send a survey Read More…
Democrat Reilly Neill has withdrawn from the 2020 governor’s race, saying she will work instead through “the media to educate, inform and report on issues of climate change and human rights.” The Livingston resident and former state representative posted her decision on her votereilly.com website Jan. 12. “At every event for Democratic candidates I’ve attended in the Read More…
The American Red Cross is issuing a call for donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets. The organization notes in a news release that since influenza has been escalating across the country, it’s preventing some donors from giving. The Red Cross also reports that during winter weather has been threatening to cancel Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s all-time winningest quarterback is headed to the National Football League. DeNarius McGhee will join the Houston Texans staff, sources tell MTN Sports on Tuesday. The former Montana State quarterback has been on Jeff Choate’s coaching staff in Bozeman for the past three seasons. “DeNarius did very good work in a number Read More…
USDA says eight percent of corn and two percent of soybeans still need to be harvested in the country. The weather does not help and continues to be a focus in the Northern Plains. Farmers in North Dakota saw dangerously low temperatures over the weekend. It’s one problem after the next as the state’s farmers Read More…
REPUBLICAN GOV. MARK Gordon, who took his seat as Wyoming’s 33rd governor in 2019, is the most popular governor in America, according to Morning Consult’s latest survey. The global technology company releases a survey identifying the country’s most and least popular governors every three months, with the most recent survey taken from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2019. Read More…
He’s a one-man stimulus package! Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending so much money on television spots across the country that it’s causing ad rates to soar, a new analysis shows. “The typical [TV] market increased their rates by 22 percent as the political spending poured in,” an Advertising Analytics analysis found. “Houston was Read More…
As the Senate embarks on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump — only the third such trial in U.S. history — there’s intense speculation over how senators will vote in the case. And while there is virtually no chance that 67 senators will vote to remove Trump from office, inside both parties are key Read More…
Online advertising is saving entrepreneurs and small business owners significant time and money, creating more efficiencies and effective uses for the limited capital they have on hand, and playing a positive role in driving new sales growth and revenues. These are the findings of a new survey conducted by TechnoMetrica for SBE Council in “The Read More…
JCPenney announced Friday that the retailer is planning to close its location at Southgate Mall. The department store is expected to close in April 2020. In a press release sent Friday afternoon, Washington Prime Group, the owner of Southgate Mall said prior to the JCPenney closing announcement they executed an agreement to gain control of Read More…
BELGRADE, Mont. – Montanans are ready for takeoff to the country music capital Nashville, Tenn. for the state’s first direct flight to Music City, USA. Montana’s busiest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, is getting ready for a new direct flight to Nashville through Allegiant Airlines. You can start booking flights now for nonstop service, with Read More…
HELENA – Lawmakers are heading home after wrapping up their first Legislative Week. Throughout the five days, lawmakers were busy bouncing around from meetings, to training sessions to committee hearings. They also looked into moving to annual sessions. Montana is only one of four states who meets every other year for 90 days. The week was Read More…
BILLINGS — The Montana High School Association executive board passed proposals for the MSHA to add girls wrestling and boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports during the MHSA’s annual meeting on Monday in Billings. The sports will be offered to member schools beginning with the 2020-21 school year. It was announced in late November that the Read More…
Even though our statewide radio show is called “Montana Talks,” we cover a lot of issues important to folks in the Rocky Mountain West. We also get a lot of great listeners in Wyoming thanks to the big signal from our Billings radio station: Newstalk 95.5 and AM970 KBUL. That being said, the news that Read More…