Mar. 9 marked the filing deadline for public office in Montana. Three seats are up for reelection on the Republican-dominated Public Service Commission. The commission sets customer rates and approves new power, water and legacy telecommunications projects. In southeast Montana, two Republicans are challenging Commissioner Tony O’Donnell’s incumbency. State representative Daniel Zolnikov and former PSC Read More…
Montana State Auditor, Matt Rosendale, says fear and uncertainty in the market can leave investors vulnerable to scams. He advises Montanans to follow these tips: – Never accept any investments that are “guaranteed.” Investments are never guaranteed. – If someone offers an investment that is only available for a short period of time, that is Read More…
BIG TIMBER, Mont. – A Montana woman from Big Timber is being quarantined on a cruise ship where at least 21 passengers tested positive for coronavirus. Judy Vidack, a retired fourth grade teacher at Big Timber Grade School, announced on Facebook she is still aboard the ship and she is also feeling well. Vidak is Read More…
With less than a month to go before the U.S. Census Bureau kicks off its headcount of every person in the country, Montana has only hired half of the workers it says it needs. The bureau is still seeking temporary workers leading up to census day on Apr. 1. There are currently 2,400 projected temporary Read More…
More money is available in exchange for information on two separate February poaching cases in southwest Montana. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Monday that donors boosted the cash available for information about poached elk and pronghorn in the Paradise Valley and several trumpeter swans that were shot and killed on Central Park Pond Read More…
Walmart said Tuesday it is deploying an emergency employee leave program as the retailer confirms one of its store associates in Cynthiana, Kentucky, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The infected employee is a woman and Walmart said she is improving with medical care. The new policy comes as the coronavirus spreads throughout many U.S. states where the Read More…
WASHINGTON – There is more at stake in the race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders than simply who will top the Democratic Party’s ticket in November. It’s a battle to control the direction the party will take over the next decade, and to define and shape the party’s core message. Read More…
Democrats are doing everything they can to position themselves to win back the U.S. Senate. It still might not be enough. Monday, term-limited Montana governor and former 2020 presidential candidate Steve Bullock announced he’s running for Senate there, putting up Democrats’ strongest candidate to take this seat from Republicans. The same happened in Colorado when Read More…
Airlines have wasted thousands of gallons of fuel running empty “ghost” flights during the coronavirus outbreak because of European rules saying operators can lose their flight slots if they keep their planes on the ground. Demand for flights has collapsed across the globe amid growing fears about the outbreak. Under Europe’s rules, airlines operating out of Read More…
Unseating a longtime congressman in a primary is hard. It’s especially hard to do in a district where the family of the incumbent holds a handful of other elected offices, where there are schools named after the guy you’re trying to defeat. In Texas’s Twenty-eighth Congressional District, 26-year-old immigration lawyer Jessica Cisneros came close, though. Read More…
Local developer Mick Ruis is planning to build a major mixed-use development in downtown Columbia Falls. Ruis’ plan will go before the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board on March 10 at 6:30 p.m. and then the Columbia Falls City Council on April 6. If approved, Ruis believes it would be a transformative project for Nucleus Read More…
(AP) — Moderate Democrats are continuing to coalesce around Joe Biden following his strong performance in Super Tuesday primaries, which reset the 2020 Democratic race as a two-man contest between Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Biden’s campaign announced Friday he had secured backing from Maggie Hassan, a first-term New Hampshire senator and former governor, who did not Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — The 14-year-old West Yellowstone boy accused of murdering his 12-year-old nephew will find out in July if he’ll be tried as an adult. A Gallatin County court will decide if James Sasser III will be tried as an adult on July 7. READ FULL STORY
Democrat Tom Winter filed Thursday night to run for Montana’s sole U.S. House seat, becoming the second Democrat and seventh candidate overall in the crowded race. And, another candidate for the U.S. House – Republican Secretary of State Corey Stapleton – also is expected to file before the Monday deadline. Winter filed online from his Read More…
Weeks after Hardin teen Selena Not Afraid’s body was found near an I90 rest stop, Big Horn County investigators are responding to tough questions and criticism from their own community. Last weekend, authorities released final autopsy results for the 16-year-old Not Afraid, who went missing on New Year’s Day from a rest stop between Billings Read More…
As cases of coronavirus continue to grow in the U.S., Idaho is taking steps to try to slow its eventual migration to the state. There are no confirmed cases in Idaho, as of Wednesday afternoon, but six people have been tested and dozens are being monitored, according to state officials. Risk of contracting the illness Read More…
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators voted Wednesday to reject a permit for a proposed wind farm in Ward and McLean Counties. The Public Service Commission denied the permit for Southern Power’s Ruso Wind project by a 2-1 vote. But the commission left open the possibility of reconsidering the project down the road. The project Read More…
Edward Seidel, who touted economic development and the university’s role in enhancing the state’s economic well-being, has been unanimously selected to be the 28th president of the University of Wyoming. Currently the vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System, Seidel was one of three finalists for the position. The Read More…
Greg Gianforte just made a strong decision in selecting Kristen Juras as his lieutenant governor for Montana. Juras is a fourth-generation Montana native. She is a strong conservative who supports traditional family values, private property ownership, preserving Second Amendment rights, limited government, lower taxes, individual freedom and free enterprise economics. She is a perfect complement Read More…
BUTTE – NorthWestern Energy’s Montana customers are reporting a scam demanding money for a meter change. The criminals leave a phone message saying the customers’ meter will be changed shortly with instructions to call a phone number. When the customer calls the number, they are told there is a fee and service will be disconnected Read More…
KALISPELL — Officials in Washington State reported Monday that four more people have died from the coronavirus bringing the state’s death toll to six and as the cases continue to add up, Flathead County officials are taking pre-preemptive measures to help contain a potential outbreak. Kalispell Regional Healthcare Chief Medical Officer Dr. Doug Nelson says Read More…
HELENA — U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is asking the federal government to delay enforcing Real ID requirements in Montana, as state authorities continue to issue compliant identification. Daines’ office announced Monday that the senator had sent a letter to President Donald Trump, asking for a one-year extension of the Oct. 1 enforcement deadline. In the Read More…
BUFFALO — Johnson County is cowboy country – the land of the Virginian, Butch Cassidy and Sheriff Walt Longmire. But soon those Western heroes will have company. A new congregation of cowboys and cowgirls will descend on the county soon, courtesy of the Buffalo High School English department’s annual January Jubilee program. The jubilee, which Read More…
Wyoming isn’t typically known for being on the cutting edge of technology, but when it comes to 3D printing, research about and usage of the slowly maturing technology has already found a home. For instance, ceramic-printing research at the University of Wyoming could someday allow people to fly farther for cheaper. In Jackson, inexpensive prototyping Read More…
Ten entrepreneurs from southeast Wyoming have had their respective lives changed over the past six months. It’s been a hectic, frantic, chaotic and incredible time, one where all 10 men and women, ranging from a college student to a husband-and-wife team, have been working to change the world. Or at least Wyoming to start out. Read More…
Tony Romo and CBS finalized a 10-year contract extension last Friday that will net Romo more than he made in his entire NFL career. Before CBS agreed to make Romo the highest-paid sports broadcaster ever, the network made a phone call to one of his quarterbacking contemporaries. Via Andrew Marchand, the New York Post’s media reporter, CBS called Read More…
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar ended her Democratic presidential campaign on Monday and endorse rival Joe Biden in an effort to unify moderate voters behind the former vice president’s White House bid. She is flying to Dallas and plans to join Biden at his rally Monday night. Klobuchar outlasted several better-known and better-funded Democrats, thanks to Read More…
The first person to test positive for coronavirus in New York City arrived there following a visit to Iran last week, the New York Post reported on Monday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the patient is a 39-year-old healthcare worker who attempted to avoid contaminating others by acting in a “textbook way.” The woman was aware that Read More…
Montana schools are now mandated to test drinking water for lead, following state rule changes related to school health. Schools are required to test all fixtures that may “reasonably provide water for human consumption or for food preparation,” such as drinking fountains, water bottle refill stations and sinks. Schools may begin testing as early as Read More…
What about the inflatable Raptor? Erica Schnee, principal of Bozeman’s new Gallatin High School, laughed when she raised the topic to the guy in charge of school buildings, Todd Swinehart, as they huddled in Bozeman High’s Berg Library. They meet weekly to go over hundreds of details and decisions that go into building Read More…
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Elizabeth Warren can win debates, but not states: There’s a chance she will walk away from Super Tuesday having not carried any of the first 18 contests, including her home state of Massachusetts. Yet she, her campaign and their close allies say she’s in the race all the way to the convention, despite her Read More…
HELENA – Businesswoman Whitney Williams announced Buzz Mattelin as her Lieutenant Governor candidate. Buzz is a farmer and President of the National Barley Growers Association. He is from Culbertson. Williams is the last to announce her running mate. On Friday, Democrat Mike Cooney announced Casey Schreiner as his running mate. Schreiner is a former school Read More…
Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT) announced his much-anticipated running mate in the race for Montana governor and lieutenant governor on Sunday night in Billings. Gianforte selected Great Falls lawyer and former Montana Supreme Court candidate Kristen Juras to serve as his running mate. Juras told the crowd that she is excited to be Gianforte’s running mate, Read More…
A bill to prevent transgender people from changing their sex on their birth certificates is advancing in the Idaho State Legislature, flouncing a federal court order implemented two years ago that prevents such restrictions. H.B.509 argues that maintaining birth records with the sex a child was assigned at birth will provide more accurate documentation and maintain statistics that can Read More…
MANDAN, ND – Sgt. Wade Kadrmas with the North Dakota Highway Patrol says a tooper pulled over Kirsten Baesler on I-94 after observing erratic driving around 9: 45 p.m. Wednesday night. The trooper smelled alcohol and observed behavior consistent with alcohol consumption while talking to Baesler during the stop. Baesler was arrested for driving under the Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) Dan White, the last University of Wyoming finalist, started his forum showing some photos of his outdoor travels to a group that came to listen. “We are winter people,” White said. He said he never goes into a conversation without being willing to change his mind. “If you go into a Read More…
President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale briefed Republican senators on Wednesday about the campaign’s effort to expand the electoral map and assure Trump’s path to reelection. “They are more than ready for 2020,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a close Trump ally. “They’re going to be expanding the map.” “They’ve been working hard, whereas Read More…
As NorthWestern Energy seeks to acquire more power for its Montana customers, it’s already charging some of the highest electric rates in the region, among major utilities, an MTN News analysis shows. As of next week, NorthWestern’s residential customers in Montana will be paying 11.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for their power – the Read More…
WinCo and the owners of the proposed grocery store location paid union members $15,000 to settle a lawsuit against the city of Bozeman, according to court documents. While the lawsuit was between the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 4 and the city of Bozeman, the city did not pay any money in the Read More…
The latest crop of local candidates filing for political office has set up a Democratic primary battle in one district and guaranteed a general-election contest in two other districts. Garrett Henson of Columbia Falls filed to run in House District 3 against fellow Democrat Debo Powers. Powers was appointed to represent the district – which Read More…