The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Fire Ready Nation Act by unanimous consent, advancing legislation aimed at strengthening the nation’s ability to prevent, forecast, and combat wildfires. The bill, introduced in January by Senator Tim Sheehy (R–Mont.) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.), formally establishes the Fire Weather Services program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R–Mont.) emphasized the importance of expanding energy production in tribal communities during a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing this week. Speaking with David Conrad, Acting Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, Daines highlighted the potential for tribal energy projects to strengthen sovereignty and fuel Read More…
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…
The nation’s treasury secretary initially thought lawmakers wouldn’t have to raise the debt ceiling until October or November, but White House officials have moved that deadline to early September. That’s because projected federal revenues are way down, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a wonky think tank that tries to avoid the partisan tit-for-tat that’s Read More…
Jon Tester said the way for Democrats to win in states President Trump won in 2016 is to “punch him in the face” during an interview on Morning Joe Thursday morning. The Montana Democratic senator notably won reelection in 2018 despite the president campaigning for the Republican challenger Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale multiple times in the Read More…
Montana Lt. Governor Mike Cooney today was awarded the first-ever Recycling Impact Award, a nationwide recognition of his work on recycling stewardship. The Recycling Impact Award is presented to a National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) member who is committed to working within a state, region, and/or communities to positively impact resource conservation and recycling. “Lt. Governor Read More…
It may look like marijuana, but industrial hemp with CBD is now legal to grow across the country. Unlike its cousin with THC, hemp won’t get you high. Instead, many use CBD for pain management, anxiety, insomnia and more. For the first time, Clarence Laub III can grow CBD hemp after several years of growing Read More…
A Laramie native who was serving consecutive prison terms for taking indecent liberties with a child and drug possession has died, the Wyoming Department of Corrections announced Tuesday. Department spokesman Mark Horan said Lorenzo S. Montez, 53, died of a long-term illness Tuesday at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. An autopsy has been Read More…
A 15-year-old Montana girl who escaped from a mental health hospital has died after being struck by a pickup truck on a nearby interstate highway, police say. Kayla Neal, of Missoula, was walking on the southbound lanes of I-15 around 2 p.m. Monday in Helena when she was hit by a 56-year-old woman driving a Dodge truck, police there told KURL-TV. Minutes before, she had run Read More…
MISSOULA – The University of Montana is quietly hitting a very high mark in the on-going effort to retain newly-trained physicians to work in Montana, with a strong majority of graduates deciding to stay and serve patients across the state. Just five years ago, there was a growing concern of finding enough physicians to meet Read More…
BOZEMAN – Twenty current and emerging leaders from Montana’s natural resource industries have been selected to take part in Class IV of REAL Montana (Resource Education and Agriculture Leadership). Class IV will begin their leadership journey on September 12, 2019 at their first seminar in Bozeman. “REAL Montana continues to strengthen its mission of building Read More…
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on paper has a strong case for the Democratic nomination for president: He’s a twice-elected governor from a state Donald Trump won in 2016, he worked with a GOP-controlled legislature to expand Medicaid this year, and he is running against dark money in politics. But so far, none of that seems Read More…
Communicating face-to-face provides an essential way for farmers and ranchers to address their concerns with government officials. During the Montana Farm Bureau Fly-In, June 10-13, in Washington, D.C. Montana Farm Bureau members had excellent opportunities to meet with lawmakers and agency personnel. The Fly-In participants—Susan Lake from Ronan, Don Steinbeisser, Jr. from Sidney and Kris Read More…
BILLINGS- The two Democrats vying to take on U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana next year in the 2020 election reacted Tuesday to a recent tweet from the Republican defending President Trump. Helena mayor Wilmot Collins, who came to the United State as a refugee from the civil war in Liberia, released a video Tuesday Read More…
Nearly three years after he began serving one of the longest prison terms ever for a member of Congress, former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah returned to federal court in Philadelphia on Friday to push for a lighter sentence now that some of his convictions were overturned on appeal. He left disappointed. Citing his still-standing convictions on 13 other Read More…
Not so long ago — as recently as the cover of the March 2019 Rolling Stone, in fact — they seemed like the best of friends. I’m referring to Nancy Pelosi and the members of “The Squad”: Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and (not pictured) Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. They shared some good times. It was Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakotans had grown accustomed to electing a state auditor named Bob Peterson. After all, the father and son pored over the state’s books in successive tenures that lasted more than 40 years. But that consistency was shattered with the election of Josh Gallion in 2016. Now, the new auditor is at the center Read More…
Former Rep. Cynthia Lummis announced a bid for Senate in Wyoming Thursday, becoming the first Republican to jump into the race and setting up a potential clash with her successor in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney. Lummis, also a former two-term state treasurer, was first elected to the House in 2008 and retired after the Read More…
Montana Democrat John Mues officially launched his Senate campaign Thursday to unseat one-term Sen. Steve Daines (R). Mues, a fourth generation Montanan, is a former U.S. Navy officer and public school teacher and currently works as an engineer in the energy sector. He hammered Daines over his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and support for President Trump’s tax cuts. Read More…
Rep. Greg Gianforte said he has gotten language included in the new defense bill that calls on the Secretary of the Air Force to consider improvements at existing facilities, such as fixing the runway at Malmstrom Air Force Base, rather than build new ones. “Malmstrom Air Force Base is home to the 341st Missile Wing which Read More…
President Donald Trump is pushing better forest management as a big part of his plan to stop the number of large wildfires that have caused devastation in the western United States in recent years. In a speech at the White House this past week, the president touted an executive order signed last December promoting more Read More…
MANHATTAN, M.T. – According to the U.S. Geological Survey a 4.0 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:52 p.m. Mountain Time, 2 miles northwest of Manhattan, Montana. More than 500 people have reported feeling the quake. READ FULL STORY
When someone in Montana enters a hospital with private insurance, the price for care can be two-to-four times beyond what the federal government sets as fair. Rand Corporation, a global think tank, released a study earlier this summer that showed private insurance companies paid twice what Medicare paid for the same services nationwide from 2015 through 2017. Read More…
A Wyoming attorney and former municipal court judge has been disbarred after admitting that he engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with a client and lied to cover up the affair. Gregory L. Knudsen, of Torrington, will be disbarred effective July 15, according to an order from the Wyoming Supreme Court. For reasons still not Read More…
The chairman of the North Dakota House’s energy committee recently defended a business relationship with the state’s top oil and gas lobbyist. Mandan Republican Rep. Todd Porter and North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness are both listed in state records as partners in a commercial real estate investment group. Porter owns 5% of Read More…
U.S. marshals arrested an Iowa man on the run for nearly eight years last week on a remote Montana ranch, USA Today reports. Michael Duane Strain, 62, was one of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s (ATF) most wanted fugitives. The department said he’d been evading the law since 2011 after being indicted Read More…
HARLOWTON, Mont. — Bridger Brewing, Montana Space Grant Consortium at Montana State University and Bozeman-based Crooked Yard Hops have partnered on a project that sent beer ingredients into space. The retrieved ingredients were then used to brew a commemorative beer celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. While other breweries are Read More…
The month of June was the deadliest on Montana roadways in a decade. With the alarming increase in crashes, the Montana Department of Transportation is urging travelers to drive safely this summer. Memorial Day to Labor Day is known as the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” due to the increased traffic deaths nationwide. At other Read More…
MISSOULA – Are you buying a used car that previously may have been used to transport meth? Or is your child going to a daycare that could have been a meth lab in the past? These are the questions a Montana pair are trying to answer with a new form of methamphetamine testing. The Montana Department Read More…
ANACONDA – According to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, this year’s open house at the Anaconda Job Corps Center was anything but routine. While the Anaconda Job Corps’ open house is an annual event, Tuesday’s had a special feel to it. Last May, the career-training program was set to be closed, and some Job Corps participants Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on Montana statewide candidates’ quarterly reports U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte has raised over $534,000 in a month in his new bid for Montana governor. That is more than five times what Attorney General Tim Fox raised over the last three months and more than 12 times what state Sen. Read More…
The Chinese government made just 689 requests to Apple to access information about Apple devices, but the requests pertain to a massive 137,595 devices – more than seven times the number of devices in US requests and way over half the worldwide total. Once a pariah in the enterprise, Apple has quietly emerged as a Read More…
A state lawmaker from Missoula has become the first Democrat to announce a run for Montana state auditor in 2020. State Rep. Shane Morigeau, an attorney who has served two terms in the Montana House, made the announcement Sunday morning. He said he is seeking the auditor’s job to work for affordable health care, which Read More…
Montana gas prices have fallen 1.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.79/g today, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 615 stations. Gas prices in Montana are 9.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, yet stand 12.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, Read More…
HELENA – Montana’s lieutenant governor is expected to launch a campaign for higher office next week. Mike Cooney, a Democrat, has reportedly set a “special announcement” for Wednesday, July 3, at Butte’s Stodden Park. Cooney is widely expected to announce that he will run for governor in 2020. He has previously said he is considering Read More…
WASHINGTON— Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +1.38% Chief Executive Jeff Bezos tries never to schedule a meeting before 10 a.m. “I go to bed early, I get up early, I like to putter in the morning” reading the newspaper, drinking a cup of coffee and eating breakfast with his children, he said. Mr. Bezos schedules “high IQ” meetings before lunch, and tries Read More…
UPDATED with total viewership numbers: Most of the contenders pulling in big poll numbers take the stage in Miami later today for Night 2 of the Democratic debates on NBC, but Night 1 has set a pretty high bar for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and the rest to reach. That bar, however, is well below Read More…
South Dakota may only be half way through 2019, but the state’s public university system is looking two years into the future. Universities and schools under the South Dakota Board of Regents asked for almost $91.2 million to complete what they deemed as “high-priority projects” in 2021 at Wednesday’s board meeting through informal budget hearings. The Read More…
FARGO — An online story published by Forbes on Wednesday asserts that Gary Tharaldson, known as the wealthiest person in North Dakota, has become the state’s first and only billionaire. When Forbes contacted Tharaldson to ask him about Forbes’ estimate of his wealth at $1 billion, Tharaldson is quoted as stating: “Obviously we wouldn’t sell Read More…
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Tuesday that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 3.6% in April to 3.5% in May. Wyoming’s unemployment rate was lower than its year-ago level of 4% and slightly lower than the current U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6%. READ FULL STORY
HELENA – Big Sky businessman Troy Downing, a Republican who ran for U.S. Senate last year, announced Wednesday that he’s running for state auditor in 2020. Downing’s announcement echoed many of the themes from his 2018 Senate campaign, calling himself an “outsider” and a businessman who will bring conservative leadership to state government. We need Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A third Republican has filed to run for Montana’s U.S. House seat left open by Rep. Greg Gianforte’s decision to run governor. Lewis and Clark County Republican chairman Joe Dooling filed his paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission. He joins State Auditor Matt Rosendale and Secretary of State Corey Stapleton Read More…
The tourism industry in Montana is booming and it’s easy to understand why. Montana is the best place to explore over a million acres of wilderness filled with glacier-carved terrain, crystal clear rivers, and 400-foot waterfalls all in between breathtaking mountain ranges. The sightseeing alone draws millions to the state every year. During the winter, Read More…