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…
A White House staffer leaked President Donald Trump’s private schedules to Axios on Sunday, and the documents revealed some eye-opening details about the president’s day. For one, Trump spends the bulk of his workdays in “executive time” — unstructured blocks of time that make up 60% of his working hours. According to Axios, Trump spends Read More…
The 480-square-foot pink home at 66 Bishop St. in San Francisco is one of the smallest in the city. It’s also, with its whopping $600,000 price tag, one of the cheapest, SFGate reported. The home sold in late December after two months on the market and a $50,000 price cut. It was advertised as a Read More…
Stripe, a Silicon Valley online payment company which in September hit a massive $20 billion valuation, has become embroiled in an investigation into US President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, The New York Times reports. Citing two people familiar with the inquiry, the Times said federal prosecutors issued a subpoena demanding that officials on the inaugural Read More…
Alphabet shares traded slightly lower Tuesday morning as Wall Street delivered a classic reaction to its earnings which were released the prior evening: the results were good, but not good enough. While Alphabet reported revenue and profits for the fourth-quarter that topped Wall Street’s expectations, analysts said the internet giant’s margins were disappointing. That revelation Read More…
After 25 years on the run – hiding from the army and the police, imprisoned and staging astonishingly audacious escapes – Mexico’s most infamous drug lord finally had his day in court. Thirty minutes later, it was all over. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the $14 billion man, a short and stocky 61-year-old cartel leader sent Read More…
This year some of the Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, like Bud Light’s “Game of Thrones” teaser. Other crowd-pleasers focused on humor, like Amazon’s take on celebrity product testers. While the New England Patriots bested the L.A. Rams on Sunday in Atlanta during Super Bowl 53, brands were also winning Read More…
The U.S. government is preparing to begin construction of more border walls and fencing in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, likely on federally owned land set aside as wildlife refuge property. Heavy construction equipment was expected to arrive starting Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. A photo posted by the nonprofit National Butterfly Center Read More…
A bill that would create a $15 million low-income housing loan program in Montana could be headed for the state House floor for discussion as soon as next week. House Bill 16, sponsored by Whitefish Democrat Rep. Dave Fern, would direct $15 million of coal tax trust fund money to start a program to provide Read More…
From the outside, ADF International is just another industrial building people pass on the way out of Great Falls, but the inside tells a different story. “They see a large building, a large yard and they think it’s impressive. But I don’t think they understand really the scope of the work we do in the Read More…
Some GOP voters want a primary challenge but most would back Trump West Long Branch, NJ – In the run-up to 2020, fewer than 4-in-10 voters back a second term for President Donald Trump. The Monmouth University Poll finds a sizable number of GOP voters who would like to see Trump face a primary Read More…
A bill to help retain teachers in rural areas was introduce into the Montana House of Representatives. House Representative Llew Jones introduced Bill 211, and it had its first hearing in the education committee last week. The bill would build a program that would address recruitment and retention of K-12 teachers in areas that have Read More…
HELENA – The Montana House Friday narrowly endorsed a bill requiring a two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate to enact a tax or fee increase, or new tax or fee. House Bill 148, sponsored by Rep. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, won endorsement on a 53-47 vote, with all 42 House Democrats and five Republicans Read More…
HELENA – State Auditor Matt Rosendale on Friday pitched his proposal to crack down on drug-benefit managers and thus drive down prescription-drug costs in Montana – but ran into a wall of competition from health insurers and their drug managers. “Believe me, if I thought this bill could lower my health-care (premium) payment, I would Read More…
This week the governor gave an address in which he outlined his plan to tax and spend on the backs of working Montana families. He would like to cushion his state checkbook to the tune of $300 million by taking $150 million from Montanans’ checking accounts and putting it into his state checking account. Montanans Read More…
Veterans helping veterans. The Montana Veterans Meat Locker distributed meat to veterans at Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday. Each veteran received some combination of 12 to 15 pounds of deer, elk, moose, beef and pork. Hunters donated big game and ranchers contributed beef and pork. The church served a meal with the help of the Read More…
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday ripped Montana Gov. Steve Bullock for not telling his administration that a senior staffer had been fired for sexual harassment before he was hired by City Hall. “Clearly they had information and when DOI reached out, they did not share the information they had,” de Blasio said about the Read More…
The State of Wyoming’s legislature is considering moving away from Daylight Saving Time and efforting a measure that would allow the state to stay in standard time all year. Republican Rep. from Park County, Dan Laursen is helping to push the bill forward, he says the bill would send a message to the federal government Read More…
House Democrats provided a detailed offer Thursday — with dollar figures — of their opening offer in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding negotiations. The plan does not include funding for a border wall sought by President Trump. In her weekly news conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the ongoing negotiations over border security, making Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — A pair of bills under consideration by Montana lawmakers would make changes in a $6 fee used to help fund state parks and trails. The Independent Record reports Republican Sen. Terry Gauthier, of Helena, is proposing Senate Bill 24, which would raise the fee to $9. Money would go for state parks and Read More…
The University of Farmington had no staff, no professors, no curriculum, and no classes. But it did have hundreds of foreign “students,” who may now face deportation because of their willingness to participate in what authorities described as a “pay to stay” scheme in which they could live and work in the US under false Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s spokeswoman says the governor thought a former senior staffer of his wouldn’t harass any more women after being fired from the Democratic Governors Association. Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel said Tuesday that it’s clear that Kevin O’Brien’s 2015 firing from the DGA hadn’t been enough since O’Brien was forced out Read More…
Amazon.com Inc. will use robots to deliver packages in the suburbs north of Seattle, its latest experiment to automate the last-mile of delivery that’s a labor-intensive and costly component of buying products online. The e-commerce giant on Wednesday announced a trial of “Amazon Scout,” autonomous delivery devices the size of a cooler that roll along Read More…
Ivana Polk could not believe what she was hearing. At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, she put her 5-year-old son, Ibn, on the bus to Linden Hill Elementary School in Pike Creek. At 3:10 p.m., she got a call from the school district informing her that Ibn never made it to class. He had been stuck on Read More…
In first weeks of the legislative session Gov. Steve Bullock and the Republican Majority are trading barbs over how the state should pay for big public projects, including university system improvements and maintenance in towns and counties. On Wednesday GOP leaders revealed plans for a new system for how Montana borrows money for public works Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A Colorado-based coal company going through bankruptcy proceedings has asked for permission to sell its mine in southwestern Wyoming. The Casper Star-Tribune reports a recent court filing shows Westmoreland Coal Co. requested to sell its Kemmerer mine by the end of February. The company declared bankruptcy in October with more than Read More…
CASPER — A group organized by a Wyoming senator plans to quintuple Wyoming’s wind tax in an unusual way — by a vote of the people. Wyoming has a unique tax on wind energy production; just one other state levies a fee on wind power. A few lawmakers, like Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, have pressed Read More…
CHEYENNE – One day, Casper Republican Jerry Obermueller wanted to test whether Wyoming’s low tax rate had an effect on prices across the state. Phoning friends in Seattle and Nebraska, he asked them to buy a number of products from chain stores that he had purchased in Wyoming. Obermueller wanted to see if there were Read More…
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana knows an opportunity when he sees one, and one of the largest growing industries is cannabis. The NFL Hall of Famer joined former CEO of Yahoo Carol Bartz and invested in Caliva, a San Jose-based weed dispensary and delivery service, raising $75 million in funding, the company said Thursday. Read More…
VIRGINIA CITY – Montana’s historic Old West saloons are setting the scene for the set of supermodel Cindy Crawford’s latest photoshoot – and yes, that’s a live wolf and bear. Cindy Crawford and photographer David Yarrow organized the photoshoot as part of a fundraiser for animal conservation, according to Elijah Allen, executive director with the Read More…
Late January in the Flathead means its skijoring time in Whitefish. The 16th annual Whitefish Winter Carnival World Invitational Skijoring races up the ante this year with teams traveling from all over the West to compete for more than $20,000 in cash and prizes. The skijoring event will be held this weekend at Big Mountain Read More…
This is the final installment of a three-part series on MTN-MSU’s post-election poll BOZEMAN – Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, and Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines are Montana’s most popular politicians on a statewide level, according to an MTN News-Montana State University post-election poll of state voters. Bullock’s approval rating came in at 60 percent Read More…
If the Custer County Commissioners accept the Veteran Administration’s offer of the old VA medical center in Miles City, one of the side benefits could be that Miles Community College (MCC) acquires more student housing. During a meeting Tuesday the MCC Board of Trustees and the commissioners discussed the VA proposal … READ FULL STORY
SAN FRANCISCO—Before a campaign forum that would help to define her nascent political career, Kamala Harris, then a 38-year-old prosecutor, was bracing for questions about an uncomfortable topic: her relationship with the mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown. Harris’ consultant, Jim Stearns, had warned his candidate that her opponents would dredge up her ties to Read More…
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is looking at at least three potential sites for the experimental coal-generating plant he wants to build in the state. The Gillette News Record reports that the Gordon told the Wyoming Press Association Convention Friday that the Integrated Test Center near Gillette is one possibility. The other Read More…
Two conservative lawmakers introduced a measure this week to cap growth in state budgets in anticipation of the next boom — during which they say Wyoming could save enough money to avoid any future tax increases. The proposal is being carried in mirror House and Senate bills by Sen. Bo Biteman (R-Ranchester) and Rep. Chuck Read More…
Wyoming may soon become the first state in the U.S. to provide clear banking permissions for cryptocurrencies and digital assets. A bipartisan group of state legislators introduced SF0125 to the government on Friday, which, if passed, would classify digital assets as property within existing laws. It would also establish “an opt-in framework for banks to Read More…
In 1992, Ozzy Osbourne hit the road for his farewell “No More Tours” run. In 2019, there’s the sequel, “No More Tours II.” That would seem to contradict the whole “farewell” thing, but such is the way with rock ‘n’ roll. It’s become as predictable as the concert encore. Time and again, artists book “one final Read More…
The vast majority of freshman House Democrats are not quite ready to “impeach the motherf*cker.” Over the last two weeks, Axios reached out to every single one of the 64 new House Democrats, and only a tiny fraction said they were on board with impeachment. The big picture: There’s been a cable news feeding frenzy Read More…
Are you there, Pope Francis? It’s me … The Holy Father launched an app called “Click to Pray” on Sunday that’ll allow the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics to join him in prayer. The pontiff has a profile on the Android and iOS app that shows Catholics around the globe what he’s currently praying for. Read More…
A Chinese investigation says the scientist behind the birth of two babies whose genes had been edited in hopes of making them resistant to the AIDS virus acted on his own ‘for personal fame and profit’ and will be punished for violating regulations. Confirming the births, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that investigators in Read More…