About 13 percent of North Dakotans have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. But a study by Columbia University suggests a much higher percentage of the state may have already had the virus. So how close is North Dakota to herd immunity? Researchers at Columbia University say a computer model estimates 105 million Read More…
PIERRE – South Dakota voters created an unconstitutional super agency that would be a fourth branch of government when they voted to legalize small amounts of recreational marijuana, a lawyer challenging the vote argued Wednesday. Amendment A conveyed broad powers to the South Dakota Department of Revenue to regulate and tax marijuana, lawyer Lisa Prostrollo told Circuit Read More…
After 15 years working in western oil patches, Antonio Magana finally struck out on his own, starting a small oil and gas well servicing company. Then the pandemic hit. Demand tanked and production ground nearly to a halt here in Wyoming’s Jonah Field. Magana and his skeleton staff are down to working just three days Read More…
HELENA — A bill that would expand where and how people could carry firearms has cleared another state legislative committee, after an extensive discussion about proposed amendments. The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed House Bill 102 on a 7-4 vote Tuesday, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS – A Billings woman was able to return stolen property to multiple residents this week, including one item that had been stolen over two years ago. Billings resident Courtney Kirkwood owns multiple rental properties. She said one of her tenants was trying to do a good thing by lending a room to a man and Read More…
(RAPID CITY, SD) – In a ceremony on January 25, 2021, United States Attorney Ron Parsons presented several federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials with the prestigious Attorney General’s Award, the highest honor given by the Department of Justice, for their exceptional efforts in the multi-district federal prosecution of Stanley Patrick Weber. A longtime pediatrician with Read More…
A truck driver hauling produce was stopped at the Sweet Grass border crossing into Canada in December and found to have roughly 500 pounds of meth on board. The news came in a press release from the Canada Border Services Agency on Wednesday. It was the largest meth seizure at a land border crossing on Read More…
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 20-year-old Montana man was arrested in Miami Beach after investigators said he admitted to sending threatening text messages about conducting a mass shooting at an elementary school in his home state. Linde Teo Lambson was arrested in Miami Beach on Tuesday, Jan. 26, after police tracked his vehicle to a parking Read More…
KALISPELL — Anthony Weimer of Columbia Falls, who was found guilty of felony criminal mischief for removing a Ten Commandments monument outside of the Flathead County Courthouse in June, has been given a deferred three-year sentence. Court documents state that Weimer is ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,900 to reimburse insurance policies Read More…
As the city of Whitefish continues to refine its nascent program requiring affordable workforce housing in the majority of new multifamily developments, a new legislative proposal would prohibit “inclusionary zoning” rules intended to assist working residents with moderate incomes. Under the Whitefish Legacy Homes Program adopted by city council in July 2019, new residential developments Read More…
In a report released by the Florida Museum of Natural History, 10 people were killed by sharks worldwide in 2020, which is the highest number since 2013. According to the International Shark Attack File, there were 13 shark-related fatalities in 2020, 10 of which were confirmed to be unprovoked. Six of those fatalities happened in Read More…
A New York Times editor lost her job after receiving criticism for tweeting about her excitement for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Journalist Yashar Ali broke the news of Lauren Wolfe’s departure from The Times in a series of tweets last Thursday, saying that she had been let go from her editing job at The Times for tweeting about Read More…
Robert Kraft’s legal issues in Florida seem to finally be behind him for good. A federal judge in Florida ordered on Friday that a video allegedly showing the New England Patriots owner paying for sex at a massage parlor be destroyed, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II ruled that any videos Read More…
A bill that would aim to crack down on any possibility of voter fraud in Wyoming has been filed for the 2021 session of the Wyoming Legislature. You can read House Bill 75 here. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Chuck Gray [R-Natrona County], and a long list of co-sponsors. READ FULL STORY
(The Center Square) – California, the state that has led population growth nationally for the last 170 years, reported a population loss under Gov. Gavin Newsom for the first time since 1850, according to newly published Census Bureau data. Until 2020, California had gained population in every year since 1900. Increasing taxes, restrictive policies on Read More…
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky and Boeing have pitched a tweaked version of the team’s coaxial technology demonstrator — the SB-1 Defiant — which it plans to submit for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault (FLRAA) competition, according to the companies. The modified, competition-ready aircraft design is being called Defiant X, taking the same surname as little Read More…
There could soon be another Huckabee in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former President Donald Trump’s second White House press secretary, is expected to announced on Monday that she will run for governor of Arkansas, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Her father, Mike Huckabee, served as Arkansas’ governor from 1996 to Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — By TOM KUGLIN Independent Record Two northwest Montana lawmakers are considering a number of bills that could moderately or significantly change the way Montana manages wolves. Sen. Bob Brown and Rep. Paul Fielder, both Republicans from Thompson Falls, have drafted legislation ranging from including wolf licenses in big game combination licenses and Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – Right now, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the state and one in seven Montanans are using tobacco. The Montana Tobacco Quit Line is working to lower that number by launching new programs to make it easier for Montanans to get support and get more tools. The program Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s football coaching staff has taken another hit. Kane Ioane, who returned to Bozeman in 2019 as the Bobcats’ defensive coordinator, has agreed to become the co-defensive coordinator at Boise State. Multiple sources told MTN Sports that Ioane told his players on Friday and is flying to Boise on Sunday. MTN Sports’ Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today launched the state’s COVID-19 vaccine dashboard. “With over 77,000 safe and effective vaccine doses administered in Montana, we continue to make strides to protect the most vulnerable. We can make even greater progress if the federal government increases our supply,” Governor Gianforte said. “I encourage Montanans to use Read More…
As Joe Biden becomes America’s 46th president today, some North Dakota lawmakers are looking to preemptively curb the impact his executive orders could have on the state. House Bill 1164 would allow North Dakota to exempt itself from applying certain presidential orders. Under the bill, orders could go unenforced if the attorney general deems them unconstitutional and Read More…
Former Wyoming Senate President Hank Coe of Cody has died at the age of 74. According to the Cody Enterprise newspaper, Coe died Thursday afternoon of pancreatic cancer. The paper says he was diagnosed with the disease in November. Coe served in the Wyoming Legislature for three decades, including stints as Senate president and Vice President. He Read More…
Several bills intended to improve the safety of Wyoming’s highways advanced out of their legislative committees this week, aiming to reduce the state’s persistently high numbers of highway deaths that have seen steady increases over the last few years. A law that would allow police officers to pull over and ticket drivers for not wearing a Read More…
BUTTE – Montana Tech director of athletics Matt Stepan announced the upcoming addition of track and field to the Orediggers’ list of varsity sports. The men’s and women’s teams will begin recruiting immediately and are scheduled to compete in the Frontier Conference and the NAIA indoor and outdoor seasons in the spring of 2022. “We Read More…
BOZEMAN – Montana State University announced that it will extend free asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for students living on campus beyond the first two weeks of spring classes. The tests are offered by appointment at MSU’s Student Testing Center near Bobcat Stadium. Only students living in the campus residence halls are eligible for asymptomatic testing, though any student showing symptoms Read More…
HELENA – Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Friday he requested the returning home of Montana National Guard soldiers deployed for security assistance at the presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. In a tweet, Gov. Gianforte wrote, “With their mission complete, I have instructed Adjutant General Hronek to bring our @GuardMontana soldiers home.” READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS — A portion of Governor Greg Gianforte’s proposed Montana budget is aimed at bolstering drug and alcohol treatment, both inside and outside prison walls. He demonstrated his agenda on his first day in office by having Yellowstone County District Court Judge Mary Jane Knisley administer the oath of office. Then, at the top of Read More…
HAVRE, Mont. – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced 250 veterans will receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Havre Thursday. The Montana VA Health Care System (MTVAHCS) was chosen to be the forefront of the VHA pilot program bringing vaccines to rural veterans nationwide. “With the vaccines, our Veterans and staff finally have Read More…
Washington’s public works department should have built an emergency system of drainage ditches, culverts and tunnels to divert into the Potomac River the torrents of praise, approval and adoration the press poured down on President Joe Biden on Inauguration Day. At one point in the early evening, citizens living in low-lying portions of the city Read More…
Former President Donald Trump’s supporters are mobilizing to exact revenge on the 10 House Republicans who supported impeachment last week, thrusting the GOP into a civil war just as party leaders are trying to move on from the Trump era. Pro-Trump Republicans are racing to launch primary challenges. The former president’s donors are cutting off Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakota’s statewide mask mandate will expire at 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 18, as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the state. Medical professionals have widely credited North Dakota’s mask mandate with reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the state, but Gov. Doug Burgum said on Friday, Jan. 15, he believes Read More…
South Dakota, a state that weathered months of criticism from the media and Democrats for how it handled the COVID-19 epidemic, has become a model for vaccine distribution while other states struggle. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, South Dakota is the third-most successful state in administering its provided coronavirus vaccines, following West Read More…
Smoke could be smelled for miles and the sky blazed red through the night in northwest South Dakota on Thursday, January 14. A grass fire broke out just after 4:30 p.m. in Adams County, North Dakota, just across the border from Lemmon, South Dakota. Wind speeds in Lemmon at the time were 30 to 40 Read More…
JACKSON —PAWS of Jackson Hole Executive Director Amy Moore’s four-person staff gathered in an office around the holidays to open a certified letter inbound from the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Foundation. Only one person present, PAWS Development Director David Watson, knew what was concealed within. “As we opened up the envelope, we had no Read More…
Emails indicate North Dakota’s attorney general advocated for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Texas’ lawsuit over the presidential election despite an expectation among some of his top officials that it wouldn’t succeed. The state’s deputy solicitor general told Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem he thought the high court would deny the case “in one sentence.” A Read More…
Gov. Kristi Noem has proposed $900,000 in one-time funds for curriculum to help meet her goal of teaching South Dakota’s students “why the U.S. is the most special nation in the history of the world.” Noem stated her educational goals on Tuesday while delivering the governor’s annual State of the State Address to formally kick Read More…
CASPER, Wyo — The Wyoming Republican Party has responded to the “whirlwind” created by U.S. House Representative Cheney’s Liz Cheneys vote to endorse the impeachment of President Donald Trump. “There has not been a time during our tenure when we have seen this type of an outcry from our fellow Republicans, with the anger and Read More…
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, decided against running for an open Senate seat in Wyoming in 2020, according to Politico. In an article detailing the political futures of the Trump family, specifically that of White House advisor Ivanka Trump, who is thought of as a potential Republican challenger to GOP Sen. Marco Rubio Read More…
HELENA — It’s been more than three years since the last store in Helena’s Capital Hill Mall closed its doors, and nearly two years since the former mall building was demolished. Now, the first new construction at the site is getting underway. Contractors are currently putting up the frame for a new building south of Read More…