Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.2% in August, remaining below the national rate and placing the state among the 15 lowest unemployment rates in the country. The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, according to federal labor data. Total employment in Montana, including payroll, agricultural and self-employed workers, increased by 482 Read More…
A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has ordered the release of 24 people held by federal immigration authorities in Cascade County, concluding that the government failed to follow required procedures governing warrantless immigration arrests and detention. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris issued the order Friday as part of an ongoing class-action Read More…
Sen. Tim Sheehy’s Air Traffic Situational Awareness Enhancement Act advanced out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The bill, co-led by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., is intended to give air traffic controllers additional tools and training to keep American airspace safe. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration. “America has Read More…
Bloom Energy Corp. is scheduled to join the S&P 500 before Monday’s market open as part of the index’s quarterly rebalance, a shift that could trigger substantial buying from the passive funds that track the benchmark. Inclusion in the S&P 500 typically forces index funds and exchange-traded funds that mirror the benchmark to purchase shares Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.2% in August, remaining below the national rate and placing the state among the 15 lowest unemployment rates in the country. The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, according to federal labor data. Total employment in Montana, including payroll, agricultural and self-employed workers, increased by 482 Read More…
A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has ordered the release of 24 people held by federal immigration authorities in Cascade County, concluding that the government failed to follow required procedures governing warrantless immigration arrests and detention. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris issued the order Friday as part of an ongoing class-action Read More…
Sen. Tim Sheehy’s Air Traffic Situational Awareness Enhancement Act advanced out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The bill, co-led by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., is intended to give air traffic controllers additional tools and training to keep American airspace safe. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration. “America has Read More…
Bloom Energy Corp. is scheduled to join the S&P 500 before Monday’s market open as part of the index’s quarterly rebalance, a shift that could trigger substantial buying from the passive funds that track the benchmark. Inclusion in the S&P 500 typically forces index funds and exchange-traded funds that mirror the benchmark to purchase shares Read More…
Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the latest step in the transition at the top of the $1 trillion conglomerate he led for more than six decades. Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus effective immediately, the company said Friday. His oldest son, Howard Buffett, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman as Read More…
LONDON — Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman announced the initial findings of an independent review into the 2023 failure of Silicon Valley Bank, delivering the results in remarks at a luncheon hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of London at Mansion House. Bowman said she called for an independent review Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen testified Tuesday before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance on the missing and murdered Indigenous persons crisis, outlining jurisdictional challenges that hamper coordination among tribal, federal and local law enforcement in addressing the issue. During the hearing, titled “Missing and Murdered Indigenous People: Strengthening Public Read More…
Democrat Sam Forstag’s effort to emphasize his working-class background is drawing fresh scrutiny from Republican Aaron Flint’s campaign, which is highlighting Forstag’s years of lobbying and LGBTQ advocacy work in Helena. Forstag recently released an advertisement claiming that he earned $16 an hour as a smokejumper. Flint’s campaign responded by releasing lobbying records it says Read More…
Big Sky Broadcasting has filed to acquire two Missoula-area radio stations in a transaction that would expand the company’s media portfolio into broadcast radio. The company is acquiring KMSO (102.5 FM) and KHDV (107.9 FM) from Sheila Callahan & Friends, Inc. Both stations are currently off the air. According to the transaction filing, the deal Read More…
Nominations are now open for the 2026 Montana Governor’s Veteran Commendation, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced. “Our veterans answered the call to serve our country, and many continue that service long after taking off the uniform,” Gianforte said. “The Montana Governor’s Veteran Commendation gives me the honor and opportunity to recognize these outstanding men and women, Read More…
The U.S. Treasury Department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network identified about $17.5 billion in suspicious financial activity potentially connected to health care fraud, highlighting the scale of schemes targeting Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. The findings come from an analysis of 5,702 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed by financial institutions between March 1, Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has joined Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop a multistate antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The filing puts Knudsen at the center of another major national antitrust fight, this time on the opposite Read More…
Montana running back Eli Gillman added another chapter to his record-setting career Saturday, rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns as the Grizzlies beat Utah Tech 35-14 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The fifth-year senior continued his climb through both the Montana and Big Sky Conference record books. After breaking Chase Reynolds’ Montana career rushing-touchdown record a Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Rep. Ryan Zinke announced the introduction of the A River Runs Through It Act, a locally developed public lands package bringing together more than two decades of work by communities throughout the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys. Zinke unveiled the legislation at Smoke Elzer Barn in Missoula alongside local elected officials, members of Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Mountain States Policy Center at a press conference at the Montana State Capitol on Tuesday to announce the “Flat. Fair. Montana.” campaign, a statewide initiative promoting a flat individual income tax rate of 4.7 percent. The campaign is a project of MSPC focused on making Montana’s income tax system simpler, more Read More…
Republican congressional candidate Aaron Flint is using his first two general-election advertisements to emphasize his working-class upbringing, military service and support for skilled-trades education as he campaigns for Montana’s 1st Congressional District. Flint’s newest ad features his mother, Karen, recounting how she raised him as a single parent while working two jobs. She says Flint Read More…
President Trump announced that the federal government will return hundreds of millions of dollars in Obamacare overcharges collected under the Biden administration, issuing refunds of $500 per person to nearly 1 million Americans across 30 states. According to the White House, the Biden administration overcharged Americans through Obamacare exchange “user fees” that were passed on Read More…
The United States Mint announced a special-issue 2026 Semiquincentennial Enduring Liberty Half Dollar to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The coin features a unique privy mark: the date of the attack encircled by the phrase “NEVER FORGET.” “As we approach the 25th anniversary of September 11, we honor the memory of Read More…
Retired Air Force Col. Rolando Aguilar, a former Texas Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, remembers the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a day off that turned into a scramble to intercept an inbound aircraft he didn’t yet know was Air Force One. Woken by his unit’s crew chiefs with news that a plane Read More…
President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other distinguished attendees commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil during a formal ceremony today in the Pentagon’s courtyard. The two leaders were joined by First Lady Melania Trump; Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Read More…
Americans on Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with ceremonies at the World Trade Center site in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pa., honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed in the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil. At the National September 11 Memorial Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte is calling for new protections for children and teenagers on social media, saying parents need more support as concerns grow over screen time, addictive design and the effects of online platforms on young people. Gianforte visited Skyview High School in Billings, where he met with students, parents, educators and lawmakers to discuss Read More…
The Billings Gazette is preparing to leave its longtime downtown headquarters and move several blocks away to Granite Tower, the latest real-estate move by parent company Lee Enterprises as the newspaper chain continues to reshape its business amid years of financial pressure. The Gazette said its staff will work remotely before moving into the new Read More…
The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August, a stronger-than-expected showing that offered fresh evidence of resilience in the labor market as manufacturing and construction hiring picked up. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%. August payroll growth was well above the average monthly gain over the previous year. The White House pointed to the Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and 15 other state attorneys general have opened an investigation into OpenAI over potential violations of consumer-protection and data-privacy laws following a security incident involving one of the company’s experimental artificial-intelligence models. The investigation centers on an incident this summer in which an OpenAI model allegedly accessed outside computer networks Read More…
Republican Kurt Alme holds a commanding lead in Montana’s U.S. Senate race, according to a new analysis from Decision Desk HQ, as neither Democrat Alani Bankhead nor independent Seth Bodnar has been willing to step aside for the other, leaving the state with a fractured opposition against the GOP front-runner. In 2026, prominent independent candidates Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte is accepting applications and nominations for an upcoming district court vacancy in Montana’s Eleventh Judicial District in Flathead County. The vacancy is expected to arise because District Court Judges Amy Eddy and Dan Wilson are running against each other for one seat on the Montana Supreme Court. The chief justice of the Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and life sentence of Jason Allen Miller for the attempted homicide of Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Lewis Johnson, rejecting a series of challenges to his 2025 trial. Miller was convicted in June 2025 after prosecutors said he ran over Johnson in February 2023, seriously injuring the trooper. Read More…
Final EIS moves 525-kilovolt line linking Western and Eastern power grids closer to construction approval The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the North Plains Connector Project, a major transmission line proposed to link the Western and Eastern U.S. electrical grids, clearing a key hurdle in the state’s Read More…
Montana could receive more than $127 million from a sweeping multistate settlement with Meta Platforms over allegations that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to encourage compulsive use among children while misleading the public about risks to young users. The state is guaranteed nearly $89 million under the agreement, according to Montana Attorney General Austin Read More…
For most of the past 15 years, the hardest question surrounding Tim Cook was whether he could follow Steve Jobs. He answered it by building a different kind of Apple. Cook didn’t replicate Jobs’s theatrical product instincts or preside over another invention quite as culturally disruptive as the Macintosh, iPod or iPhone. Instead, the industrial Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Prosecutors in Cascade County are investigating potential signature-gathering fraud by at least one firm that worked for the independent campaigns of U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar and U.S. House candidate Michael Eisenhauer, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office. The Cascade County Attorney’s Office and the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office are Read More…
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Federal Reserve’s chairman used his first appearance at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium to lay out a leaner approach to communicating future policy moves, while cautioning that inflation remains too high despite a resilient economy. Marking his 100th day in the role, the chairman told an audience of Read More…
Ruling cites inadequate water-supply analysis, as delay costs state more than $8,000 a day A Yellowstone County district judge has halted all construction, groundbreaking and permitting on Montana’s proposed forensic mental health facility in Laurel, a ruling that is now costing state taxpayers more than $8,000 a day as the project sits idle. The state Read More…
The Republican Attorneys General Association is highlighting a new Michigan advertisement from its affiliated Safer Michigan Fund as part of a nearly $7 million political spending campaign across 13 states ahead of the November elections. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen serves as chairman of RAGA, which is working to elect and defend Republican attorneys general Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in July, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, continuing the state’s record stretch of low unemployment and remaining nearly a full percentage point below the national rate, which also declined over the month to 4.1%. “As Montana’s unemployment rate continues to decline, businesses across our state are expanding, creating high-paying jobs, Read More…
A federal court upheld the Trump administration’s authority under the Defense Production Act to oversee operation of the Santa Ynez Pipeline on the California coast, rejecting California’s efforts to block federally mandated oil production through state-level legal barriers — though the same ruling fined Sable Offshore Corporation nearly $1.5 million for violating a federal consent Read More…
U.S. Army Sgt. Adam M. Lee received the Soldier’s Medal during a ceremony at the Belgrade Armory Aug. 16 for heroic actions that saved the lives of two critically injured hikers in California. Brig. Gen. Trenton J. Gibson, adjutant general of the Montana National Guard, presented the award to Lee, a combat medic specialist assigned Read More…
Sen. Tim Sheehy made a fitting entrance at the Yellowstone International Airshow in Billings on Friday, parachuting onto the grounds at Billings Logan International Airport while carrying a Montana state flag. The former Navy SEAL, FAA-certified commercial pilot and flight instructor arrived during media practice day for the show, joining the U.S. Army Golden Knights Read More…
Close to 500 University of Montana students are degree candidates after this year’s summer semester. The students listed in the links below are UM degree candidates or have been awarded their degrees. Students with “cum laude” after their name indicate a GPA of 3.40 to 3.69. “Magna laude” indicates a 3.70 to 3.89 GPA, and Read More…