The Montana Department of Revenue will continue to fight a court ruling that money from a tax credit program can benefit religious schools. District Judge Heidi Ulbricht ruled in May that the department incorrectly excluded religious schools from the program, which is funded by donations that can be offset by up to $150 in nonrefundable Read More…
As many as 400 homes were told to evacuate late Wednesday night after the Lolo Peak fire blew up, forcing the closure of the previous shelter for evacuees, according to the American Red Cross. The former shelter at the Florence-Carlton Community Church is now in an evacuation area. The new shelter is at the University Read More…
For the first time this summer, Helena’s air quality briefly reached a level considered unhealthy for all groups Wednesday afternoon. Hourly reports from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality show the local air quality frequently reaches levels considered moderate and unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with asthma and other respiratory disease, as wildfire Read More…
BILLINGS — A federal appellate panel has reversed a lower court ruling that condemned a group of mining claims in northwest Montana owned by a group of investors including former Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer and other investors in Optima, Inc. sought $10 million from the owners of the proposed Montanore gold and silver mine as Read More…
The Montana Department of Revenue will continue to fight a court ruling that money from a tax credit program can benefit religious schools. District Judge Heidi Ulbricht ruled in May that the department incorrectly excluded religious schools from the program, which is funded by donations that can be offset by up to $150 in nonrefundable Read More…
As many as 400 homes were told to evacuate late Wednesday night after the Lolo Peak fire blew up, forcing the closure of the previous shelter for evacuees, according to the American Red Cross. The former shelter at the Florence-Carlton Community Church is now in an evacuation area. The new shelter is at the University Read More…
For the first time this summer, Helena’s air quality briefly reached a level considered unhealthy for all groups Wednesday afternoon. Hourly reports from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality show the local air quality frequently reaches levels considered moderate and unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with asthma and other respiratory disease, as wildfire Read More…
BILLINGS — A federal appellate panel has reversed a lower court ruling that condemned a group of mining claims in northwest Montana owned by a group of investors including former Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer and other investors in Optima, Inc. sought $10 million from the owners of the proposed Montanore gold and silver mine as Read More…
Mary Sexton of Choteau was elected the chairwoman of the Montana Democratic Party on Aug. 12 during the group’s Rules and Officers conventions at the Radisson Colonial Hotel, according to a report in the Great Falls Tribune State Rep. Bryce Bennett of Missoula was elected state vice chairman. “The Montana Democratic Party is united as Read More…
A tribal judge on the Crow Reservation has upheld the validity of the Crow Tribe’s 2001 constitution, ruling against Tribal Chairman Alvin “A.J.” Not Afraid’s effort to hold a reservation-wide referendum on the governing document. The vote went ahead as planned Saturday, however. Not Afraid’s senior policy adviser, former chairman Cedrick Black Eagle, said Tuesday Read More…
Talen Energy has put a $138 million price tag on capping Colstrip Power Plant’s toxic coal ash ponds. The co-owner and operator of the southeast Montana coal-fired power plant submitted the required estimates earlier this month to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. Capping the ash pods is only one portion of a three-stage cleanup Read More…
Helena – More than two months in to his term as Commissioner of Political Practices, Jeff Mangan, is still using the services of a Billings lawyer his office previously found to have violated Montana’s campaign finance laws. In October 2016, then-Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl found that Billings attorney John Heenan and his political Read More…
Eight people were found dead on Sunday inside a sweltering tractor trailer parked at a Walmart store in San Antonio, Texas, and authorities said they were the victims of “ruthless” human traffickers. Another 30 people, many in critical condition and suffering from heat stoke and exhaustion, were also in the trailer, which lacked air conditioning Read More…
Helena – Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan issued a ruling Thursday that Governor Steve Bullock violated campaign finance rules in his 2016 re-election bid and should be fined. At issue in the complaint was the Bullock campaign’s failure to timely report the Governor’s use of the state airplane to fly to more than 37 Read More…
Attorney General Tim Fox on Thursday filed to intervene in a federal district court lawsuit on behalf of the state of Montana, defending the U.S. Department of Interior’s reversal of the Obama Administration’s moratorium on federal coal leases. The lawsuit filed by Citizens for Clean Energy and the states of California, New Mexico, New Read More…
HELENA – While U.S. Senate Republicans’ plan to repeal “Obamacare” has been criticized for potentially undercutting coverage for thousands of low-income Montanans, at least one group is firmly behind it: The state’s primary lobby for small businesses. “What we’re looking for is a health-care system that is affordable, flexible and predictable,” says Riley Johnson, state Read More…
HELENA – Billings lawyer Kurt Alme has been recommended as Montana’s next U.S. attorney, the chief federal law officer in the state, whose appointment by the president must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., made the recommendation Thursday to President Donald Trump, saying Alme is the “right person for the job.” Read More…
It’s become difficult to decipher between reality and alarmism these days. To add insult to injury, President Trump can’t seem to take two steps without being ridiculed from every direction. The latest point of contention has been his decision to disengage from the Paris Climate Accord (PCA). But is all the noise justified? Perhaps not, Read More…
HELENA- Montana Attorney General Tim Fox was elected vice president of the National Association of Attorneys General. The vote was Thursday, while the association met for its annual Summer Meeting in Big Sky. Fox said he was “humbled and honored” by the vote. The association helps the 56 state and territorial attorneys general fulfill the Read More…
MISSOULA – Wildfires in Montana are nothing new. Last year, the Treasure State saw a bad fire season with more than 114,000 acres burned. In an attempt to better understand how wildfires may affect weather, climate and even health, a group of University of Montana scientists will fly directly into the smoke of a wildfire. Read More…
It seems like hardly a day goes by when you don’t see someone arrested in Gallatin County for a methamphetamine-related offense. It could be when a Bozeman police officer pulls over a driver for a traffic offense and discovers a small baggie with a crystalline substance and a residue-covered pipe. It could be when Read More…
Economics professor Gregg Davis wasn’t always interested in economics, though his interest in natural resources began at an early age. In high school, Davis got a job working in a landscape nursery and fell in love with working in nature. “I loved working with living things,” he said. A Columbus, Ohio native, Davis was the Read More…
Looking back, Kelly Lawrence thinks her son’s dependence on alcohol and drugs began when he was 14. But it’s hard to say — he hid his disease for so long. The first time he asked for help, he was in his 20s. She knew he was using heroin. They started making calls to see how Read More…
In April Senator Jon Tester joined an unsuccessful partisan effort to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. To justify his actions, Tester said at the time, “With Judge Gorsuch on the bench, I am deeply concerned that dark money will continue to drown out the voices and votes of citizens.” It seems Read More…
Missoula tech firm Submittable announced a $5 Million Series A investment led Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, True Ventures. Submittable is a cloud-based submission platform that was founded in 2010. The company now has more than 35 employees. “We are positioned as the matching and reviewing platform for any organization looking for work or any Read More…
Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) members Chris Folsom and Lola Philips work on the Casper Rotary Club Park trail on Casper Mountain, one of the first WCC projects of this summer. (WCC Photo) Projects ranging from building trails in the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests in northwest Wyoming to building a yurt at Glendo State Park Read More…
When Keith and Katie Poe contemplated the best way to make a living that allowed them to raise their family on Katie’s great-grandfather’s homestead in Trego, sausage became their savior. The Poes are in the fourth summer of taking their Saucy Dogs food truck on the road. The popular food trailer is a staple at Read More…
KALISPELL –Kalispell Regional Healthcare officials confirmed on Sunday that over 50 people were injured and transported in Saturday’s deck collapse at Glacier Camp, south of Lakeside. 36 of these patients were treated in the Flathead area, with 9 at North Valley Hospital and 27 at Kalispell Regional medical Center. Significant numbers of orthopedic and neurological injuries Read More…
She had heard about T-shirt screen printing as a kind of “get rich quick” scheme and figured it was a way to move on from waitressing gigs. Plus it would let the Savannah School of Art and Design grad get her creative juices flowing again. So Tatum Johnson bought a screen printing book and Read More…
Bozeman Mayor Carson Taylor said this week that he doesn’t intend to act on a request by neighborhood preservation activists that the city place a moratorium on major downtown developments. “I haven’t found any interest in the commission in discussing a moratorium,” he said in an interview Thursday. “I think we’re pretty comfortable with the Read More…
State Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale and Sen. Jon Tester exchanged lively letters this week over health care reform with Rosendale calling on the Democratic senator to not fight needed change and Tester telling Rosendale to give Montanans information to make good decisions on how best to make quality health care more affordable. The letters come Read More…
HELENA — Secretary of State Corey Stapleton said Friday that mail ballot voter fraud occurred in Missoula County during the May 25 congressional special election. The case involved a signature forgery on a mail-in ballot, he said. Stapleton said his office has notified the Missoula County Attorney’s office. “We’ve had mail ballot security issues in Read More…
So far this year we have had good precipitation and irrigation water is holding up well. Unfortunately, northeastern Montana is very dry. Some ranches are already cutting stock numbers or moving stock and most are looking to secure hay supplies early. Talking with several people around Brockway, very little hay will be harvested east of Read More…
BILLINGS – The White House sent its $4.1 trillion dollar spending plan to Capitol Hill Tuesday. President Donald Trump is looking to balance the budget in 10 years with big spending cuts and faster economic growth. That includes an almost $3.6 trillion dollars in cuts to programs including Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security Disability Read More…
CASCADE – Tucked in an old poker room in the back of the Driftwood Bar in Cascade, Amy Eisenzimer (formerly Parker) mixes just five ingredients to make a drink with a kick: Parker’s Hangover Tonic. “I do recommend this to customers that are hungover…a little hair of the dog always helps,” said Eisenzimer. Parker’s Hangover Tonic is Read More…
Billings – Governor Steve Bullock refused to answer questions about infrastructure funding from a constituent at a fundraiser. Mr. Bullock appeared at a democrat political fundraiser at a private golf club in Billings on Thursday. Bullock’s representatives told those present that the Governor would not be answering any questions on infrastructure funding. The 2017 legislative Read More…
Revelations of Democrat congressional candidate Rob Quist’s drug use have taken center stage in the final days of the campaign to replace Congressman Ryan Zinke. Earlier this week, a national media outlet uncovered court documents in which Quist confessed to regularly using marijuana. When the news reports became public, his campaign cancelled a previously-scheduled interview Read More…
Democrat congressional candidate Rob Quist’s venereal disease, drug use, and marriage problems were revealed to the public this week when a national media outlet uncovered documents from a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by Quist. The documents show, among other things, that Quist suffers from depression, has genital herpes, tested positive for tuberculosis, uses recreational drugs, Read More…
Helena – The tumultuous tenure of Jonathan Motl as Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices came to an end Monday with Jeff Mangan taking over. Mr. Motl’s time as Montana’s top political cop was marked by allegations of unethical behavior, partisan chicanery, and numerous lawsuits over his conduct. Mr. Motl was a controversial figure since his Read More…
As the 2017 legislative session has come to an end, we want to make sure that Montanans have a clear view of what’s happened the past few months in Helena. The mission of the Senate and House Republicans from Day One has been to help create more opportunities for all Montanans by making our state Read More…
Helena – On the final day of the 65th legislative session, Democrats in the House of Representative voted to kill a bill that would have provided $41 million in loans to local communities for water projects. House Bill 8 would have provided $41 million in loans from the coal tax trust fund to water, sewer Read More…
Helena – For the third consecutive legislative session, Democrat Governor Steve Bullock has failed to get an infrastructure bill passed by the Legislature. In the waning days of the 2017 legislative session, there seemed to still be a chance for the infrastructure package to pass, but in the end, it came down to a simple Read More…
Two recent publicly-available opinion polls show Republican Greg Gianforte besting Democrat Rob Quist in the special election to replace Congressman Ryan Zinke. The latest poll was released this week by the Emerson College Polling Society. That poll shows Mr. Gianforte leading with 52%, Mr. Quist with 37% and longshot, Libertarian candidate Mark Wicks with 5%. Read More…
Helena – Newly-released records show Democrat congressional candidate Rob Quist has not had a hunting or fishing license in Montana in at least 15 years. According to public records released to MTN news by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the banjo player turned politician has not purchased a hunting or fishing license since Read More…