Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a 27-state coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Washington state’s ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The coalition filed an amicus brief Monday in Gator’s Custom Guns, Inc. v. State of Washington, arguing the law violates the Second Amendment. In May, the Read More…
Governor Greg Gianforte this week signed an executive order creating a new Energy Task Force charged with developing strategies to expand affordable, reliable energy production in Montana. “With increasing demand on our energy grid, we must meet the challenge head-on to ensure affordable, reliable power for Montanans now and into the future,” Gianforte said. “After Read More…
U.S. Senator John Hoeven announced that U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Troy E. Meink will be a featured guest speaker at the 19th annual UAS Summit & Expo, scheduled for October 14–15 at the Alerus Center. The Summit, one of the nation’s premier gatherings for unmanned aircraft systems, draws government, military, and commercial Read More…
The Montana Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) is now accepting applications for the Chrome for Kids Wish Fund, a grant program that supports nonprofits dedicated to granting wishes for chronically or seriously ill children. The Chrome for Kids Wish Fund was created by the Montana Legislature and is financed through voluntary $20 donations collected when residents Read More…
New Jersey lawmakers seemed close to supporting legislation on Thursday that could free more than 3,000 prisoners — about 20 percent of the state’s prison population — months before their release dates in response to the extraordinary threat posed by the coronavirus in tightly packed correctional facilities. Inmates who are within a year of completing Read More…
A U.S. appeals court on Thursday agreed to rehear arguments over whether the judge assigned to the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, must grant a request to dismiss it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it would hold an oral argument in Read More…
Shortly before civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis died, he wrote an opinion piece that encouraged youth to “let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.” The piece was published in The New York Times on Thursday, the same day as the lawmaker’s funeral. Lewis died on July 17. He wrote that Read More…
Herman Cain — the maverick American business czar and Republican presidential candidate who campaigned for a sweeping tax reform plan called 9-9-9 — died Thursday morning after a monthlong battle with the coronavirus. He was 74. Cain, who recently joined Newsmax TV and was set to launch a weekly show, died in an Atlanta-area hospital Read More…
The Lincoln Project, a GOP anti-Trump group, on Wednesday launched a $4 million ad buy targeting Senate contests in Maine, Alaska and Montana. The buy, which was first reported by Axios, will air for seven to 10 days in key markets in the three states. The ads in Alaska and Maine express support for challengers to Republican Read More…
WASHINGTON, DC (KOTA) – A former Indian Health Service doctor convicted of pedophilia continues to receive a government pension; but South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson wants that to end. Johnson, along with Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to hold pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber fully accountable for Read More…
St. Vincent Healthcare officials announced Wednesday the hospital was recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health. The Billings hospital is the only of its kind in Montana to receive this distinction. This is the second year in a row for the recognition. St. Vincent is also the Read More…
A former Montana health official said Democratic governor Steve Bullock threatened her and other state employees who tried to blow the whistle on welfare fraud. Wendie Fredrickson, who served as a Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services audit reviewer for more than 20 years, said Bullock “intimidated [state regulators] into ignoring fraud” when Read More…
Flathead County health officials say with the rise in COVID-19 cases is becoming harder to trace within the community. Interim Flathead County Public Health Officer Tamalee Robinson explained to MTN News that with the busy tourist season in the Flathead Valley has seen an increase in virus cases. She says that many locals and visitors Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A homeless camp along Missoula’s North Reserve Street continues to grow amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the winter, officials estimate 15 to 20 people were living along the banks of the Clark Fork. That number grows every summer, but due to the pandemic they now estimate 60 to 80 people are living there. Read More…
The warning had been in place for a long time: The 100-year-old St. Mary River diversion system was likely to fail at any moment. On May 17 it happened. A concrete structure on the St. Mary Canal near Glacier National Park crumbled and washed downstream, shutting off flow to the Milk River and leaving the Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – There have been reports of Montanans getting unsolicited packages in the mail from china containing packets of seeds. We reached out to a local botanist at MSUB to find out why it’s important not to plant or throw away any unsolicited seeds you may have received in the mail. Dr. Jason Comer Read More…
Christopher Vanderpool works shifts as a “health ambassador” at a Walmart in Fayetteville, N.C., For $11 an hour, he stands in the parking lot asking customers to put on masks before entering the store. Many abide by the rule. Others, the 18-year-old said, “will say ‘No, I am not wearing that garbage,’ or some expletive.” Read More…
It’s a device that looks like a blend between a beverage cart and a robot, but it is meant to help continue the fight against coronavirus. On Wednesday, JetBlue has become the first airline in the country to use new cutting-edge UV light technology in its cleaning efforts as a means to fight the coronavirus. Read More…
Oil production from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota fell to a 7-year low of 827,000 barrels per day in May (Figure 1). That is a drop of almost 550,000 barrels per day (-40%) since March. Most of the decrease in output is because more than 2,800 wells were shut in over the last Read More…
Rep. Louie Gohmert — a Texas Republican who has been walking around the Capitol without a mask — has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple sources. Gohmert was scheduled to fly to Texas on Wednesday morning with President Donald Trump and tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House. The eighth-term Republican Read More…
A Towner, North Dakota rancher has been appointed by Governor Doug Burgum to the North Dakota Beef Commission. Jason Zahn will serve as a beef producer director on the commission. He joins the NDBC as one of nine voting members, all representing various segments of the state’s beef industry. Zahn and his family run a Read More…
Three Wyoming state agencies will together provide 500,000 face coverings to school districts here, the departments announced Monday. The reusable face coverings, distributed by the departments of Health and Education and the Office of Homeland Security, are currently required for use within schools when staff and students can’t maintain 6 feet of distance. The gear Read More…
County election officials have asked Gov. Steve Bullock to decide by Aug. 10 whether they can conduct an all-mail ballot for the November general election, saying they must make that call soon, for planning purposes. The top election official in Lewis and Clark County also told MTN News Tuesday she’d be recommending an all-mail Nov. Read More…
Montana university officials approved guidelines for colleges and universities statewide to reopen campuses in the fall. These measures, known as Montana University System Healthy Fall 2020 Task force Guidelines, would be used as the framework for campuses to form their own individual safe back-to-school plans. A few of the key points listed in those guidelines Read More…
Two members of Congress have written a letter to officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) demanding that former Indian Health Services pediatrician and convicted pedophile Stanley Patrick Weber be stripped of his pension. Congressmen Greg Gianforte, R-Montana, and Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, wrote Monday that by allowing Weber to continue Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana man is recovering after being mauled by a grizzly bear Monday in an abandoned barn. Shannun Rammell, 50, was looking for the bear after a neighbor reported seeing tracks in the area, the Great Falls Tribune reported. The family drove to an unoccupied farm nearby but saw no signs of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Unordered packages containing unknown seeds are arriving in mailboxes across the country with return addresses in China. Montana officials started getting reports of the unsolicited packages this week. According to the Montana Department of Agriculture, it’s important that recipients of these unsolicited packages of seeds do not plant them. “Could they be harmless Read More…
On the campaign trail, current State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale spoke with KGVO News on Thursday about his plan to ‘Reignite our Economy’ should he be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Rosendale said there are eight parts to his plan. READ FULL STORY
Gov. Steve Bullock this week said his administration has “allocated” two-thirds of the Montana’s $1.25 billion in federal money for Covid-19 impacts – but, so far only $160 million has actually been distributed. Bullock, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, has been under fire from Republican legislative leaders for not getting the money out Read More…
NAMPA, Idaho — Just last week, St. Luke’s confirmed the death of Samatha Hickey. Hickey was a nurse practitioner with St. Luke’s Children’s team in Nampa. She spent 13 years providing care to children in the Canyon County area and five years with the hospital. The 45-year-old died from complications from COVID-19, according to St. Read More…
IDAHO FALLS — Police arrested three people on Monday after a woman told investigators they held her captive and tortured her over several weeks. On June 22, the woman asked a stranger to call 911 for her. The woman said she had just escaped from a home on the 1000 block of Canal Street, where Read More…
By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily Author Forrest Fenn confirmed this week that his treasure chest filled with $1 million worth of valuables was found in Wyoming. In a blog post, Fenn wrote that many of the people who searched for his treasure were curious where the lucky hunter found it, but he wanted to keep Read More…
The NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will go by the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season, giving the organization time to choose a new, full-time name. The club announced the placeholder name Thursday, ahead of the start of training camp next week. “The decision to use ‘Washington Football Team’ for this season Read More…
A former Pennsylvania congressman convicted in the 1970s Abscam investigation was charged Thursday as a result of new allegations that he bribed a poll worker to stuff ballot boxes in local elections. Federal prosecutors said former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers, now working as a campaign consultant, paid a South Philadelphia judge of elections Read More…
Tesla just reported its second-quarter results. Shares rose more than 4% after hours as the company beat expectations and reported its fourth straight quarter of profits. Here’s how Elon Musk’s electric car and renewable energy business did versus analysts’ expectations, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Earnings: $2.18 (ex-items) vs. 3 cents per share, expected. Revenue: $6.04 billion vs. Read More…
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who wondered at times whether Mookie Betts would even play a game for them before testing free agency, signed Betts to the richest contract in franchise history. The Dodgers and Betts have reached agreement on terms of a 12-year, $365 million contract and will have a press conference Wednesday afternoon to make Read More…
SIOUX FALLS | South Dakota lawmakers on Tuesday called for formal consultation processes between tribal and state governments following Gov. Kristi Noem’s handling of a conflict over coronavirus checkpoints set up by tribes. Legislators on a committee tasked with navigating the relationship between tribes and the state criticized the governor for escalating the conflict Read More…
Masks are now required in Teton County, the result of a long-sought countywide mask order the state approved as COVID-19 makes its return to the valley. The order includes some exceptions. State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist signed the order Monday, hours after the Teton County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon is pleased that a federal court in Wyoming reached a decision Tuesday that “will allow Wyoming and three other energy producing states to restart legal challenges to an overreaching Obama-era rule,” according to the governor’s office. Gordon’s office says the Wyoming federal district court’s decision comes after a Read More…
A Montana college graduate, who accused a national student-loan agency of bungling his opportunity to have his loans forgiven, can sue the firm in state court, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled. The high court last week unanimously overturned a lower-court decision that said federal law pre-empted James Reavis’s ability to sue the Pennsylvania Higher Read More…
HELENA- The State of Montana is partnering with Montana State University to expand surveillance testing for COVID-19 for critical front-line health care personnel, essential workers and other groups. Researchers with the Montana State University will begin surveillance testing next week and will have a capability to test 500 people per day according to a release Read More…
Montana State Prison Warden Lynn Guyer submitted his letter of resignation last week after almost two years on the job and amid a public health crisis through which the state correctional system has been carefully treading. Montana Department of Corrections spokesperson Carolynn Bright on Wednesday confirmed Guyer had submitted his letter of resignation on July Read More…
GREAT FALLS- William Edward Miller Jr. has been sentenced to 1 year deferred with unsupervised probation after a plea deal was reached earlier this year. Miller Jr., plead guilty to one of the 64 counts of sexual abuse of children after detectives found several photos and disturbing web searches on his cell phone and laptop. Read More…
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that President Donald Trump, “Whether he knows it yet or not, he will be leaving” the White House, despite Trump’s refusal to commit to respecting the 2020 presidential election results. “There is a process,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” referring to presidential elections and the Constitutional mechanism for putting their winners into Read More…