Collapsing energy prices and the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to cost Wyoming up to $1.5 billion in revenues through June 2022, preliminary estimates released Tuesday show, setting the stage for steep budget cuts, new taxes, or a mix of both. In a preliminary report delivered Tuesday to members of the Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee, Read More…
KULR (Billings)- It started in a brainstorm session, but evolved into something much larger, all to recognize area high school seniors. Lets face it, being a graduating senior is not the most ideal of situations right now. In a team effort, one Billings commercial print shop is providing area seniors a momento to remember their Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) outraised Sen. Steve Daines (R) in the state’s high-profile Senate race as Democrats hope to score an upset. Bullock raised about $2.4 million in the first half of the second quarter and has about $4.1 million in the bank, according to his campaign’s latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Daines raised $1.3 million and has a war Read More…
Ever since Montana’s stay-at-home order expired on April 24, Glacier Park International Airport Director Rob Ratkowski has noticed a gradual rise in travelers as summer approaches. With an all-time low of 21 passengers on April 18, Ratkowski says he’s seeing an average of 76 people daily this month, with 133 on Saturday, May 16. “Those Read More…
Every summer, thousands of cattle from this region are marketed through video sales. And with another busy summer video sales season already upon us, Superior Livestock Auction (SLA), like others, continues to persevere through these very unprecedented times. SLA’s president Danny Jones says they’re continuing to monitor and adapt to local, state and national restrictions, but they’ve Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — With the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a lot of focus on state leadership. We wanted to check in with our national delegation via video chat to gauge their concerns and ask what they want to see done in Washington, D.C., to help Montanans. Here is out extended interview with Senator Steve Daines where Read More…
GREAT FALLS — In an effort to honor the families of fallen servicemen and women, Great Falls Flower Growers and Rainbow Garden Club raised money to install a Gold Star Memorial marker along the western edge of the Montana Veterans Memorial. Rainbow Garden Club president Patricia Schlaeger explained the Gold Star Memorial marker’s purpose. “Every Read More…
Amidst widespread coal layoffs throughout the Powder River Basin in recent months and an industry rocked by plummeting prices and decreased demand, Decker Mine reverses course, offering a but of good news for the future of western coal. After laying off nearly 30% of its workforce earlier this month, all 98 furloughed Decker Coal Company Read More…
Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is elevating a longtime top political adviser to the president to the role of deputy campaign manager. Bill Stepien, who formerly served as White House political director and had been advising the reelection effort, will serve under Brad Parscale, who has been campaign manager since 2018. Those familiar with the decision, Read More…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence’s chief spokeswoman said Tuesday that she has recovered from coronavirus and is back at work. President Donald Trump confirmed on May 8 that Katie Miller, Pence’s press secretary, had tested positive for COVID-19. She is one of two people working at the White House complex known to have tested positive for the virus. Miller Read More…
A lot will be riding on the 230-foot rocket that lifts off this week from Cape Canaveral: The lives of two NASA astronauts. The United States’ ambitions to reclaim its independence as a spacefaring nation. And hopes for a reimagined era of space travel in which private companies ferry humans to low-Earth orbit and beyond. Read More…
A New Jersey-based company that sells caller ID spoofing services and the state of North Dakota are asking a federal judge to decide the fate of North Dakota’s new anti-spoofing law. Attorneys for both sides have filed motions in U.S. District Court asking the judge to decide the case based on their arguments, rather than Read More…
Three pieces of legislation providing relief from coronavirus impacts for businesses and renters in Wyoming were approved by the Legislature during its two-day special session. During the session, which ended Saturday, legislators approved bills authorizing Gov. Mark Gordon to spend $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds and specifying how some of the money will Read More…
The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame will have 41 new members in its next class, including two men from Campbell County. Butch Reynolds and his cousin Aldin Reynolds are a part of the class of 2020 that will be inducted Sept. 19-20 at the Little America in Cheyenne. READ FULL STORY
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Cleo counts out crumpled dollars, straightening the bills as she stacks them neatly on her bare leg. “Twenty-two dollars,” the 23-year-old exclaims. “Not too bad!” All around her, more than a dozen nearly naked women are dancing on the stage and swinging from a brass pole as music thumps and customers shower the Read More…
Montana GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte voted against the $3 trillion COVID-19 package passed Friday by the House, saying it was “careless” and a liberal wish-list. The Associated Press reported that the 208-199 vote, with all but one Republican opposed, advances a campaign-season display of Democratic economic and health-care priorities. The bill, which would cost more than the four previous Read More…
Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Susan Good Geise said Friday she’s withdrawing from the race, because the Covid-19 pandemic will demand all her time as a Lewis and Clark County commissioner. Geise, who chairs the commission, said she thought the federal government would take the lead on responding to the crisis, but that the burden is Read More…
MISSOULA – Montana movie theaters are thinking outside the box office, literally, to bring entertainment to people while also providing social distance. Outdoor theaters and drive-ins are popping up across the treasure state. One outdoor theater in the works will be behind Missoula’s iconic Roxy Theater in the alley. Right now construction is underway to Read More…
A University of Montana economist says since mid-February and COVID-19 Montana’s economy has declined too quickly to adequately measure, but one analysis shows a two-year recovery. “The downturn that is all around us right now in the economy as we sit here in the month of May will easily eclipse the largest downturn that we’ve Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that it has authorized an at-home sample collection kit that can then be sent to specified laboratories for COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Specifically, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Everlywell, Inc. for the Everlywell COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit. Everlywell’s kit is authorized to be Read More…
The coronavirus pandemic will cost states hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue in the upcoming fiscal year, according to an NBC News survey of 33 states and Washington, D.C. With most states starting their new fiscal year early this summer, the projections in many cases will serve as the basis for severe budget cuts states may have Read More…
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will ask donors to give as much as $620,600 to support his White House bid and down-ballot candidates, dramatically expanding his fundraising capability to compete with President Trump’s big-money machine. The Biden Victory Fund, a committee that raises money with the Democratic National Committee, on Saturday filed an agreement that Read More…
Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president is deep in Democratic talent, filled with governors, senators and former rivals for the presidential nomination. But one of the least-known among them is attracting an increasing amount of attention from Biden advisers, donors and Democrats in Congress — Val Demings. The presumptive nominee himself acknowledged her appeal after Read More…
Gov. Steve Bullock said during a Wednesday call with the press he believes the state will remain “financially strong” coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the state is in a better financial position than most other states. The governor said his office is predicting the state’s general fund balance will be $113 million Read More…
The coronavirus has altered yet another thing — ballot initiatives. Montana’s secretary of state has determined that MTCARES, the group behind a ballot initiative that would require 80% of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2034, can mail in non-notarized signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The decision came shortly after a Montana Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana State University officials say a Kenny Chesney concert scheduled for July 5 at Bobcat Stadium has been postponed. Chesney postponed his entire tour, with plans to reschedule for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tickets will be valid for the rescheduled show date. Officials will also offer refunds for 30 days after Read More…
A California man pleaded guilty to a single count of blackmail in U.S. District Court in Missoula on May 7, four days before he was set to stand trial on a host of additional criminal charges alleging a years-long extortion and harassment campaign targeting wealthy Whitefish philanthropist Michael Goguen and his family. The defendant, Bryan Read More…
(Bloomberg) — Michigan closed down its capitol in Lansing on Thursday and canceled its legislative session rather than face the possibility of an armed protest and death threats against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The gathering, meant to advocate opening the state for business despite the coronavirus pandemic, followed one April 30 that resulted in pictures Read More…
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has been named the most bipartisan member of the Senate for the seventh year in a row by the Georgetown University and the Lugar Center, based on a voting index compiled by the two organizations. Collins, a Republican seeking her fifth term, is in what is expected to be her toughest Read More…
Local governments across Wisconsin moved to implement new public health guidelines Thursday after the state’s highest court overturned a statewide stay-at-home order, prompting the governor to warn of “massive confusion.” Some businesses began reopening Thursday, but it wasn’t clear whether they would do so on a broad scale. Some that did reopen closed again within Read More…
New York is poised to reopen parts of the state on Friday, 75 days after the state reported its first coronavirus case. Governor Andrew Cuomo urged people to remain cautious as some businesses are allowed to open their doors for the first time in two months. “Phased reopening does not mean the problem has gone away,” Read More…
One trader bought 250,000 barrels of oil and secured a rare payout as oil prices turned negative last month, causing jitters in markets and leaving most other traders scrambling to find storage options across both sides of the Atlantic, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. But for BB Energy, a trading house based in London, the historic oil-market crash was Read More…
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports during April had their lowest monthly passenger count since record keeping began 40 years ago, the state Aeronautics Commission reported Thursday. About 5,000 passengers — or 5% of the normal expected traffic — flew out of North Dakota’s airports during the month. The commission attributed the drop to the Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. – The Wyoming Machinery Company announced on Wednesday that it has laid off a number of employees. In a statement, the company laid blame on the recent downturn of the energy sector coupled with the economic effects of COVID-19 shutdowns. According to the statement, the company reduced its workforce by approximately 13 percent. Read More…
Idaho’s May 19 primary election will be the state’s first all-absentee-ballot election, a move to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Idaho Press partnered with the League of Women Voters to conduct candidate surveys for local races. Find their answers in the links below or do a ballot search using your home address at vote411.org. Tuesday, Read More…
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Before the coronavirus pandemic the state of South Dakota appeared to be able to afford to pay for historic new unemployment claims caused by an economic downturn, according to reports from the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis and the U.S. Department of Labor. But the state has reached historic new unemployment Read More…
WYOMING — The Wyoming State Legislature will convene for a special session on May 15 and May 16 to consider four bills aimed at providing critical relief and support to Wyoming communities, hospitals, workers, and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. They will appropriate some of the funds from the $1.25 billion in emergency funding Read More…
US states are rushing to court Tesla CEO Elon Musk, after he threatened to move the company’s HQ out of California. The billionaire is in a spat with California’s Alameda County over the closure of Tesla’s Fremont facility as part of a shelter-in-place order during the pandemic. He tweeted on Saturday that he would be Read More…
Starting Monday, Uber (UBER) will require its drivers and passengers to wear face coverings as the coronavirus crisis rages on around the world. Even as some countries and U.S. states debate relaxing lockdown orders, the ride-hailing giant is implementing new rules to protect both drivers and customers. The company plans to enforce the new policy using technology Read More…
Health officials and scientists across the world are racing to develop vaccines and discover effective treatments against the coronavirus, which has infected more than 4.2 million people worldwide in as little as four months, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There are no proven, knockout treatments and U.S. health officials say a vaccine could take Read More…