CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Gov. Mark Gordon has appointed Nancy Vehr as interim director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality following the retirement of longtime director Todd Parfitt. Vehr, who has been serving as the department’s deputy director, took over the role effective Oct. 2. She previously led DEQ’s Air Quality Division for nearly a decade and Read More…
BOZEMAN—Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Chamber of Commerce will host the third annual Big Sky, Bright Future Economic Summit on Oct. 15 in Bozeman, with this year’s event focused on technology and innovation in Montana. The summit will bring together business leaders, policymakers and technology executives to discuss artificial intelligence, national security, precision agriculture, Read More…
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department said UCLA School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in admissions for its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes, finding that the school continued to consider race after the Supreme Court restricted race-conscious college admissions. The department’s Civil Rights Division said its investigation found UCLA Law violated Title VI of Read More…
(The Center Square) – Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya are neck and neck in the most-recent polling of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race. Flanagan, a Democrat, leads Tafoya 44.8% to 43.3%, according to the average of the four most-recent polls compiled by 270toWin. There is a wider gap in the Minnesota gubernatorial Read More…
BISMARCK, ND — A Courtenay, North Dakota man is behind an effort to change the state constitution and end prohibition of the cannabis plant. John C. Bailey is the chairperson of the sponsoring committee. He has turned in a petition request to the secretary of state’s office in Bismarck. The secretary and attorney general will review Read More…
DES MOINES, Iowa — The two dozen Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination have found few applause lines more likely to earn a standing ovation than a pledge to overhaul campaign finance rules. Now, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) is putting the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision at the center of his long-shot bid for Read More…
Montanans are constantly bombarded with robocalls and Congressman Greg Gianforte is trying to help solve the problem. At a Communications and Technology subcommittee hearing, Gianforte pressed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on the issue. “Montanans have told me one of the worst things they face day to day are illegal robocalls,” Gianforte said. “They’re Read More…
HELENA – Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer will return home to Montana on Wednesday, May 22. He is currently receiving treatment at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where his doctors have determined he is ready to transition to the next phase of care. Palmer will be flown to Missoula and is Read More…
They said it couldn’t be done. A Liberian refugee who escaped a civil war could never be elected to office. And certainly couldn’t do it in Montana. They do not know Montana. They do not know America. Where if you dream, and if you work hard, anything is possible. I may not look or Read More…
BOZEMAN – Congressman Greg Gianforte announced the winners of the 2019 Congressional Art Competition, Jessie Graveley, a student from Powell County High School, is Montana’s winner. “Every year, I’m impressed with the talent of our high school artists. Every piece submitted was unique and showed a different aspect of our state. Thank you to all of Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. — Organizers announced the remaining performers for the annual Montana Folk Festival in Butte this summer. Led Kaapana, Mick Moloney, Rahim AlHaj Trio, Charlie Walden, Jasmine Bell and North Bear, Yuliyana Krivoshapkina, Rahzel and Himalayan Heritage Band are slated to perform. There will be 21 performers at the event. “We can now give everyone Read More…
Former Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen announced Monday that he is seeking the Republican nomination for Montana’s Attorney General race in 2020. Knudsen served as a representative from Culbertson in the state Legislature from 2011 to 2017, serving as Speaker of the House during his last four years. He’s the second Republican to enter the Attorney Read More…
MEQUOKETA, Iowa — When Gov. Steve Bullock hits the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, his security detail of two Montana Highway Patrol officers comes along, too — at taxpayer expense. The Montana Republican Party, in a statement earlier this week, asked why state taxpayers “should have to swallow the cost of his executive protection Read More…
Washington (CNN)America is about to get a tantalizing look into the hidden fortune on which Donald Trump made his name but is at the root of some of the most mysterious unresolved questions about his presidency. The expected release of the President’s latest financial disclosure forms on Thursday will trigger a now annual controversy about Read More…
A federal trial in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the state of Idaho that was slated to start April 15 has been canceled because the state has settled the case. Former Idaho Department of Labor purchasing agent James Cryer sued the department in December 2016, claiming the department retaliated against him and fired him for Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota regulators say the state’s oil production remained at a near-record level in March. The Department of Mineral Resources says the state produced an average of 1.39 million barrels of oil daily in March. That was down from a record 1.4 million barrels a day from the record set in January. Read More…
Gov. Mark Gordon is pulling together a citizen’s group to help find a happy medium between energy and conservation interests seeking regulatory certainty around migration corridors in the southwestern quadrant of the state, his office announced Tuesday. In a statement, Gordon called on Wyoming residents representing industry, agriculture and conservation to find a state-level Read More…
University of Montana President Seth Bodnar is taking his message statewide. On Tuesday, he spoke to service club members at the Meadowlark Country Club in Great Falls. Bodnar, who took over the top job at UM in January of 2018, said the University needs to do a better job of telling its story to combat Read More…
James Stack’s career as a financial advisor is testament to the fact that you can understand the movements of the stock market while working 2,200 miles away from it. A native of western Montana, Stack made a decision to forgo life in a financial center for the pleasures of working in Whitefish, in the middle Read More…
The number of prisoners in Montana under jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authority on Dec. 31 decreased by 3 percent between 2016 and 2017, according to a report recently released by the national Bureau of Justice Statistics. The 43-page report is packed with a variety of stats related to a snapshot taken of people Read More…
Top Democrats in Montana and Washington are really excited about Gov. Steve Bullock running — for the Senate, not the presidency. The Montana governor’s seemingly quixotic presidential run comes as nearly everyone in the party is begging him to challenge GOP Sen. Steve Daines and transform the 2020 Senate map. Unlike any other Democratic candidate Read More…
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester has entered into an agreement to write a memoir, Publishers Weekly reported in its April 22 edition. It is to be co-written by Aaron Murphy, the former chief of staff for the Montana Democrat, the article stated, adding a fall 2020 publication date is planned. Tester entered into an agreement with Read More…
There is little less unifying than our collective hate of robocalls. It’s a bipartisan issue, and unwanted calls, by far, elicit the most complaints to the Federal Communications Commission. I often receive as many robocalls over the course of a day as regular calls. And, in recent months, it has only gotten worse. For everyone. Read More…
Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat and 2020 presidential candidate, said she doesn’t support eliminating all private health insurance under Medicare-for-all after suggesting in January that she does. Harris told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Sunday that “supplemental” private health insurance wouldn’t be eliminated under Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-all legislation, which she Read More…
ATLANTA (AP) — A spokeswoman says former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he has broken his hip. Spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in a statement Monday afternoon that Carter fell at his home in Plains, Georgia, while leaving to go turkey hunting. READ FULL STORY
Now that the trade war between the US and China is on, observers on both sides are wondering what more China will do to retaliate against the US. One measure China could take that keeps popping up in conversation is that the country could start dumping its massive hoard of $1.1 trillion worth of US Read More…
Apple stock plunged nearly 6% Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Apple customers can sue the company over prices on its App Store. The 5-to-4 ruling lets consumers move forward with a long-running lawsuit that claims Apple (ticker: AAPL) is using its market dominance to inflate prices via a 30% commission at its Read More…
By Valley News Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a bill into law making North Dakota the 25th state in the nation to eliminate the threat of jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana. HB 1050 reclassifies possession of up to a half ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and older as an infraction Read More…
BISMARCK — Tom Volk caught a lunker walleye on Easter Sunday, April 21, a 16-pound, 9-ounce fish that appeared to be a new state record for North Dakota. A few weeks later, it’s been ruled he’s not the state record holder. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department announced Monday, May 13, the walleye won’t Read More…
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees named three candidates for the position of acting president Friday. Two are no longer university employees and the third has been a university employee for less than a year. Chris Boswell, UW’s former vice president for governmental and community affairs, and Bill Mai, former vice president Read More…
BILLINGS – Mothers, daughters, sisters, granddaughters and friends came together for the Montana Women’s Run on Saturday. Almost 5,300 women participated in the 38th annual run. “This is my first year of doing the women’s run,” said Kealy Milton. “I thought I would just come out and see what it was all about and kind Read More…
Dive Brief: OSHA has cited a Montana highway contractor for 26 serious and two other violations and proposed fines totaling $225,425 in connection with an accident during which three employees sustained burns and one worker fell. The agency’s initial press release in April reported 23 serious violations and fines of $261,418. The agency said three Read More…
The 66th legislative session is completed. I was humbled by the opportunity to serve the citizens of Flathead County in my first session. Now that the session is over, it is right and proper that I detail for my constituents my observations. Montana, like America throughout its history, has a two-party political system. Since Read More…
BOZEMAN – As the opioid crisis and drug epidemic deepen nationwide, we’re feeling the effects right here in Montana. So far this year, law enforcement in southwest Montana have seized nearly 35,000 grams of drugs, ranging from marijuana to meth to prescription drugs. They’re already on track to surpass last year’s seizures of close to Read More…
Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins announced Monday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate next fall, becoming the first to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines. “I’ve traveled this state, from every corner of this vast, rugged state. And what remains consistent is that for far too long and far too often, we Read More…
HELENA, Mont.—Yes, another Democrat running for president. Another white guy. Another politician most of the country has never heard of. Another candidate who doesn’t have a lot of money to start with, or any real hopes of meeting the low bar to make the stage for the first debates next month. Another dude whose last Read More…
The last time I saw Mark Zuckerberg was in the summer of 2017, several months before the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke. We met at Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., office and drove to his house, in a quiet, leafy neighborhood. We spent an hour or two together while his toddler daughter cruised around. We talked politics Read More…
President Donald Trump is “goading” Democrats to try to impeach him because he believes it would help “solidify his base” of supporters, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. Pelosi has not been shy about publicly criticizing the president and his administration. But she has shown clear resistance toward the politically fraught prospect of impeaching Trump, Read More…
Turkey’s beleaguered currency breached 6.24 against the dollar in Thursday trade, its lowest level in eight months amid deep market uncertainty worsened by the recent announcement of new elections for the city of Istanbul. Credit default swaps, or the cost of insuring exposure to Turkish debt, spiked 11 basis points (bps) in one day to Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An independent report states that visitors to Wyoming spent more than $3.8 billion in 2018, an increase of 6.8% from 2017. The report by Dean Runyan Associates released Monday by the Wyoming Office of Tourism shows a steady increase in traveler spending and visitor volume in the state since 2007. According Read More…
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming-based coal company has received another extension to make a $1.8 million payment on a loan. Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday it reached an agreement to make the payment by the end of the day Friday or go into default. The Read More…
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tracked 40 outdoors-related bills during the 2019 legislative session, 21 of which were passed by both chambers and signed into law by Gov. Doug Burgum. Here’s a closer look at the bills, which take effect Aug. 1 unless the bill includes an emergency clause indicating it already is Read More…
Triangle Petroleum Corp., which has interests in North Dakota’s energy and commercial real-estate markets, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday with a reorganization plan under which bondholder J.P. Morgan Securities LLC will get all of the equity. Triangle’s debt consists mostly of a $2 million secured term loan from JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and $167 million under Read More…
BILLINGS- A former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent in Billings admitted in federal court Tuesday to possessing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. Shawn Thomas Conrad, 48, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release on one count of possession Read More…