If the growing scrum of land and development interests bearing down on the intermountain west were to attend a formal gala, the region’s swaths of privately owned forestlands would surely stand out as the belle of the ball. And yet, as America’s working forestlands endure an unprecedented degree of pressure to convert their traditional bases to Read More…
BILLINGS – They’re calling it L.A. traffic jams in the shipping lanes of the Pacific Ocean, but the backlog of cargo ships waiting for a turn to dock and unload is impacting businesses in Billings. On both the West and East coasts, ships are hanging out in the ocean for days, filling up a so-called Read More…
GREAT FALLS — The proposed Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine took a big step closer to reality on Wednesday with a ground-breaking ceremony near the corner of 26th Street South and 18th Avenue, close to Benefis Health and Great Falls Central Catholic High School. A large crowd gathered to hear representatives from Touro, Benefis, Read More…
MISSOULA — The University of Montana confirmed to MTN News Thursday morning that the Dean of the Alexander Blewett II School of Law, Paul Kirgis, submitted his resignation. University spokesman Dave Kuntz said Kirgis sent an email to UM President Seth Bodnar shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday announcing his resignation. READ FULL STORY
HELENA, Mont. – Multiple police and sheriff’s offices in Montana have had grants approved that will help them obtain and train new canine units. The canine units will help local law enforcement crackdown on illegal drugs being trafficked into Montana according to the Department of Justice. “Dangerous drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl are coming in Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte traveled to the Texas-Mexico border as the fight to re-open the southern border continues. Gov. Gianforte joined nine other GOP governors addressing the issue of illegal immigrants and brought forth a security plan they believe will help the situation. The security plan includes 10 steps, like continuing Title Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly has edged down four percentage points since last year to 36%, making this year’s reading the second lowest in Gallup’s trend. In all, 7% of U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” and 29% “a fair amount” of Read More…
A Delaware judge should order Elon Musk to repay $9.4 billion to Tesla for the benefits he received by pushing the electric-vehicle maker in 2016 to buy an ailing solar company he partly owned, according to Tesla investors in a court filing late Friday. The investors said a “simple and practical” way to undo the benefits they Read More…
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged specifics on Hunter Biden’s ownership stake in a Chinese government-linked investment firm, saying only that “he has been working to wind that down” and directing reporters to speak with the president’s son for further details. The lack of transparency comes despite promises from President Joe Biden that his family would not have Read More…
“TPD along with other law enforcement agencies are working a very active scene near 400 N. Toole Ave. in the downtown area,” Tucson Police Department said on Twitter. “Please avoid the area on Toole Ave. between N. 4th Ave & N. 6th Ave. Information is limited at this time, updates to follow.” The shooting aboard Read More…
Katie Couric has been banned from promoting her new book on CBS after she slammed the network — and its former boss Les Moonves’ bad breath — in her dishy tome. The former “Today” anchor — who disastrously hosted “CBS Evening News” from 2006 to 2011 — had been booked to promote her bombshell memoir, “Going Read More…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand—New Zealand is ending its effort to keep Covid-19 out of the remote South Pacific country as the economic costs mount and after its latest lockdown failed to halt the spread of the virus. Pandemic restrictions in the country’s largest city, Auckland—in place after a Covid-19 outbreak in mid-August—will be eased in stages starting this week, Read More…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether three Federal Reserve leaders violated insider trading rules in 2020, when they bought and sold assets as the central bank ramped up efforts to save the U.S. economy from economic turmoil. Warren, who sits on the congressional committee that oversees the Fed, pressed Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – Montanans kicking off the first weekend of October with the Missoula Scheels grand opening. Making it the third Scheels store in Montana and 30th store in the country. As the opening ribbon came down, the energy ran high as people came piling through the doors, in Missoula Southgate Mall’s new addition. Some Read More…
BILLINGS — The family of soldiers in the Montana National Guard 1063rd Maintenance Company said goodbye to their loved ones in Billings on Saturday before a 400-day deployment to Southwest Asia. The 147 soldiers in the 1063rd are primarily from Montana and headquartered in Billings with a detachment that drills in Dillon. The company will Read More…
BILLINGS – Rocky Vista University – Montana College of Osteopathic Medicine (RVU-MCOM) broke ground Monday for its new Billings campus. RVU-MCOM will be the first ever four-year medical school with a dedicated campus in Montana. Langlas & Associates began construction on the 12-acre campus and 135,000 square foot state of the art building on Billings Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A district judge in Missoula has denied a request by several parents to halt mask mandates in Missoula schools while a legal challenge of the mandates is underway. The parents sued several Missoula schools in August over their mask requirements, arguing they violated the state’s constitution. READ FULL STORY
Gov. Burgum’s net-zero challenge to industry during the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference raised eyebrows — and maybe even a few hackles — back in May. It did something else, too, though. It has attracted what Burgum described as a multibillion dollar “cascade” of global investment interest. “Our announcement that we made in May Read More…
Idaho‘s feuding governor and lieutenant governor are at it again. As coronavirus cases spike in the state, Gov. Brad Little’s office disclosed Tuesday that he was mobilizing the National Guard again and adding hundreds of new medical personnel for state hospitals. And with hospitals strained due to unvaccinated patients, he called for more Idahoans “to receive the safe and Read More…
YouTube is cracking down on anti-vaccination content on its site, taking down several channels from high-profile anti-vaccination activists. A representative for Google, YouTube’s parent company, confirmed to the Washington Examiner that channels belonging to “well-known vaccine misinformation spreaders,” such as Joseph Mercola, the Children’s Health Defense Fund, which is affiliated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Erin Elizabeth, Read More…
A capital murder trial began Tuesday for a nurse accused of killing four patients at an East Texas hospital in 2017. William Davis, 37, allegedly killed four men who had been recovering from heart surgery at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler by injecting air into their arteries, prosecutors allege. “No one expects this is going Read More…
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told staff at Rikers Island on Monday not to ask for bail in many nonviolent cases, even though the policy could result in additional “low level” crimes. Under the new directive, trial division attorneys should avoid asking for bail when “the threat of confinement under these conditions outweighs the threat to Read More…
United Airlines Holdings Inc. is moving ahead with plans to terminate close to 600 employees who didn’t meet its Covid-19 vaccination deadline, company officials said Tuesday. United in August said it would require all of its 67,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated—the first major U.S. airline and one of the first large U.S. companies to do Read More…
President Joe Biden’s pick for the nation’s top banking regulator received a scholarship named for Vladimir Lenin and praised the Soviet Union for paying the sexes equally. Biden last week nominated Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks. Omarova in 2019 praised aspects of the Soviet Read More…
WASHINGTON (TND) — In an apparent rebuke of ongoing parental concerns in Loudoun County, Va., Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday he does not think parents should tell schools what to teach their children. McAuliffe, who is seeking a second term as governor, and Republican Glenn Youngkin, who is a former businessman and a political Read More…
The Whitefish Planning Board recently voted in support of two separate proposals to build new hotels in the city, one on a prominent lot downtown and the other off U.S. 93 south of the core business district. Both projects require conditional-use permits and approval from the Whitefish City Council to move forward, with developers of Read More…
SIDNEY, M.T. — As part of his 56-county tour of Montana, Governor Greg Gianforte made a stop in Richland County, touring a local meat processing plant. Eastern Montana Meats is a family-owned plant that opened up last December. Governor Greg Gianforte met with owner Steve Lunderby and his son Dillon to see how things are Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Tuesday, Sept. 28, is National Voter Registration Day, and the Office of the Secretary of State and election officials across Montana proudly recognized it while encouraging Montanans to register. “Registering to vote is the first step in ensuring your voice is heard on Election Day,” Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said. Read More…
HELENA — The Confederate Memorial Fountain that once stood in Helena’s Hill Park is currently in storage in an undisclosed location. Now, the group that originally donated it is asking to have it returned. Jewel Wellborn, the president of the Margaret Howell Davis Hayes Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, sent an email Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. — Workers wrapped up soil remediation at two schools in Butte after finding high levels of lead and arsenic. Now they’re working on three more. Out of 21 sites tested, five showed signs of lead and arsenic. “Butte High School, the Silver Bow Montessori school, West school, the former Lincoln school, which is now Read More…
MISSOULA — The University of Montana is reporting that for the first time in a decade, more students are enrolled than the previous year. UM officials say a 30% increase in the incoming class, as well as continued improvement in the retention rate, is responsible for the rise in enrollment. READ FULL STORY
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – Recommendation Applies to Those Who Previously Received Pfizer Doses Booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are now recommended and available for older residents and other adults at high risk of severe disease or exposure to the virus, according to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH). Dr. Alexia Harrist, Read More…
After years of laying groundwork, the future of Wyoming’s cryptocurrency banking industry now lies in the hands of federal regulators, officials with Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis’ office told lawmakers Tuesday. In a presentation to the Wyoming Legislature’s Select Blockchain Committee on Tuesday, Lummis policy advisers Tyler Lindholm and Chris Land warned lawmakers that Wyoming Read More…
HAMILTON — You may not give much thought to where the vegetables on your plate come from, but one company with Montana roots has, and it’s setting its sights on changing agriculture by bringing innovation to indoor farming. Local Bounti built its first large state-of-the art-greenhouse in Hamilton and has plans for several more in Read More…
A Democratic state lawmaker Wednesday questioned the head of the state health department about whether medical experts were involved in making a controversial emergency rule issued last month regarding masking in schools. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Adam Meier was questioned by a Democratic lawmaker from Bozeman about the origin of Read More…
BILLINGS – Whether three of Montana’s four new abortion laws will go into effect as planned next week hangs in the balance. Yellowstone County District Court Judge Gregory Todd heard arguments from the state and Planned Parenthood on Thursday morning. Judge Todd’s ruling will determine if there will be a preliminary injunction on the three Read More…
Flathead City-County Health Officer Joe Russell said the health department will begin giving Pfizer booster shots, now that the Centers for Disease Control’s independent advisory committee has recommended certain people get a booster shot at least six months after the completion of their Pfizer vaccine primary series. Russell provided information from the Advisory Committee on Read More…
Amtrack CEO Bill Flynn released a statement regarding the Amtrak train derailment that happened in Buelow, Montana Saturday: “We are in mourning today for the people who lost their lives due to the derailment of the Empire Builder train Saturday, near Joplin, Montana, on the BNSF Railway, as well as the many others who were injured. We have no Read More…
National Auction was ready for about 200 to come out to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks trophy sale in Billings Saturday. Some estimated the crowd as double that, and it was an opportunity for people, including non hunters to get some wildlife. “We are doing a live auction for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks,” Read More…
NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Amodio’s historic run on “Jeopardy!” has now netted him more than $1 million in non-tournament play, making him the third person in the show’s history to pass that mark. The only other contestants to win more than $1 million in regular season games are Ken Jennings, whose 74-game streak netted Read More…