The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions Friday on four individuals and nine entities tied to Iranian financier Babak Zanjani’s sprawling sanctions evasion network, targeting his domestic conglomerate and a web of foreign firms that supported his cryptocurrency exchanges. “The Iranian regime continues to pay a steep economic price for its reckless behavior, with Read More…
Montana’s U.S. Senate race entered a turbulent new phase as the national Democratic Party’s campaign arm publicly declared it would not support the party’s own nominee, a major veterans organization endorsed independent candidate Seth Bodnar, and President Trump weighed in to attack Bankhead on social media — all while both candidates insisted they were staying Read More…
Hundreds of people, including Montana State University faculty, staff, students and alumni, along with community members, legislators and industry professionals, gathered Friday to celebrate the completion of the Combined State Labs building. The tri-lab agricultural facility, located on the west side of South 19th Avenue, brings together MSU’s Montana Agricultural Experiment Station Wool Lab, the Montana Department of Livestock’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Analytical Lab. Established at Read More…
Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, delivered a deeply personal and impassioned floor speech Wednesday urging the Senate to reject a War Powers Resolution that would have directed President Trump to halt U.S. military operations against Iran, choking up as he pointed to a bracelet honoring a fallen friend killed by an Iranian Read More…
Students are returning to fall classes at Montana Universities at a time when COVID cases are increasing. Mask mandates are now in place at Montana’s two largest universities. Two days after classes began at Montana State University in Bozeman, mask guidelines for inside classrooms changed from a recommendation to a mandate. The university had previously Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – Over the summer months, the Kalispell Fire Department has had to close or reduce services more frequently due to short staffing. Now, it sounds like these closures will happen less often. The Kalispell City Council approved a request to add two more firefighters in this upcoming year’s budget. This will make it Read More…
HELENA — There are a couple of unavoidable aspects of getting older. Firstly scammers are more likely to target you, and secondly, there will be BINGO. A group of senior citizens and residents at Edgewood Senior Living Facility enjoyed a fun round of BINGO and learned how to protect their wallets from scammers this week Read More…
BILLINGS — Bow and rifle hunting season is upon us, which is why one Montana-based company is aiming to educate people around the country on the sport. For the Love of Hunting (FORLOH), an outdoor apparel company, has traveled across the nation to educate people on hunting and its responsibilities. But they also offer fun opportunities around Read More…
CARBON COUNTY, Mont. — The body of a 23-year-old from Idaho who disappeared on a solo mountain-climbing trip in July has been found. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the remains belong to Tatum Morell, a graduate student at Montana State University who had been attempting to climb five mountains in five days when she went Read More…
A Washington state man who admitted to selling methamphetamine on the Flathead Indian Reservation was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen. Alberto Escareno-Sanchez, 27, of Sunnyside, Washington, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute meth. Escareno-Sanchez also will be on probation for five years, according Read More…
LOCKWOOD — It’s been eight years since Jessica Stiles was in Afghanistan doing detainee operations at the prison on Bagram Air Base. It’s a time she still sometimes lives with. “I get night terrors and had a hard time adjusting at first,” the Lockwood resident said this week. Stiles is one of the thousands of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – As tourism bounces back across the treasure state, hotel availability is dwindling while prices are skyrocketing. To put this in perspective, when I search for a hotel room here in Missoula for Friday, there’s absolutely nothing available. The city’s completely sold out. So, just how hard is it to find a place Read More…
GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Police Department recently acquired two new incident response vehicles thanks to a federal program. One is a mobile crime scene unit, the other is for the department’s High Risk Unit. “These two vehicles provide a lot of different capabilities for us,” noted Captain Doug Otto of the GFPD. He Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – The Montana National Guard is adding 25 personnel to state active duty to provide logistics and security support to the Lolo Complex Fire burning southwest of Missoula. Beginning Tuesday, a 20 person hand crew will aid in the Alder Creek Fire located southwest of Butte. On Wednesday, the CH-47 crew located in Read More…
The mayor of Montana’s most populous city, Billings, says some people have moved from coastal states to the area because they want to be around other conservatives. Bill Cole told TIME magazine that he believed three major factors had brought newcomers to the city: affordable housing, people prioritizing their family and community over their work, and politics. Read More…
LIVINGSTON, MT- There’s a video going viral right now and chances are you’ve seen it, it’s of Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson in Livingston Montana shopping at Dan Bailey’s Outdoor Co. the video gets heated quickly. It was posted by a man named “Dan Bailey,” but the important distinction here is that Bailey shares no Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A new mission for Miss Montana after being invited to fly in a world-class air show. The restored military plane is headed for Oshkosh, Wisconsin this weekend. Earlier crews were busy getting the plane ready for the journey, from degreasing the plane to loading it with supplies. READ FULL STORY
Billings, Montana, has become the place to buy a home in the United States — at least according to The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index. The rise to the top of the index isn’t completely out of the blue for the city, which has a population of 184,000, since it was previously in the fourth spot. But Read More…
New food trucks have rolled into nearly every corner of the Flathead Valley this summer, vending everything from tacos to hot dogs and specialty soda. “COVID, I think, definitely had a huge impact on that,” said Amanda Hart, a co-founder of Kalispell’s Rescue Dog. Hart and her husband, Colten, launched their hot dog truck in Read More…
Town and Country foods will open sometime this summer. It’s a little bit behind schedule because of COVID and delivery delays. Management at Town & Country and at some of the other shops at West Park say it’s really important to not have that building be empty. “They gutted Lucky’s (Market) at the auction,” said Read More…
Montana environmental regulators are dropping their case to disqualify Hecla Mining from getting future mining permits in the state. The company’s CEO was previously an executive with Pegasus Gold, which abandoned mines in Montana. Critics say there could be consequences for not seeking penalties under Montana’s “bad actors” law. Montana Department of Environmental Quality Director Read More…
BOZEMAN — The Bozeman Yellowstone International airport is participating in a survey in an effort to prevent human trafficking via air travel. “Is it happening, are we having girls that we know are coming in on airplanes- yes. They then are typically setting up ads in Bozeman and Billings where they have major airports,” Andrew Read More…
Glacier National Park drew more than a half-million visitors last month, charting its second-busiest June on record despite imposing a ticketed-entry system aimed at blunting the acute congestion that in recent years has led to paralytic gridlock in the park’s key arterials. As approximated through June, the overall visitation estimates peg Glacier’s year-to-date totals as the second Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Cora Neumann has announced a run for Montana’s new U.S. House seat, becoming the third Democrat to join the race. Neumann is a public health expert from Bozeman. She told the Montana State News Bureau this week she would fight for good jobs and wages in Congress. READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Billings YWCA is looking to build a second emergency shelter due to the nearly 40% increase in partner and family member assaults during the pandemic. “We have been really struggling to figure out how to house everyone who needed support,” Billings YWCA CEO Merry Lee Olson said. “So, during the pandemic, we ended up Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – Missoula is growing, and with that, the downtown corridor is changing in order to support both its residents and tourists. One of the cornerstones of revamping downtown Missoula is the modern AC hotel on the corner of Pattee and Main Street. It can seem hard to believe, but just two years ago, Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Governor Greg Gianforte, Montana Commission on Community Service Chair Kevin Myrhe, and the Governor’s Office of Community Service Director Sarah Sadowski presented five people and two organizations with their 2021 ServeMontana Awards. The awards were presented on June 25th in Helena. A news release says the purpose of the awards is to Read More…
Alawsuit filed in federal court in late June alleges that Paul McCown, the former chief financial officer at Wyoming Catholic College, defrauded an investment firm out of $15 million. According to the suit, filed by New York-based advisory firm Ria R Squared, McCown is accused of faking bank statements that falsely said his bank account Read More…
Don and John Mueller are brothers who share a love of the history of the nation’s oldest national park and a love of the old buses that used to tour it in the years before World War II. Driving down Broadway Avenue in Red Lodge in a bright yellow bus made by White Motors in Read More…
Last month was the fourth hottest June on record in Kalispell, thanks in large part to the extreme heat wave that roasted the region the final week of the month. According to climate statistics from the National Weather Service in Missoula, the average temperature in June for Kalispell was 63.9 degrees, which is 6.3 degree Read More…
COLSTRIP, Mont. – One person has been charged with negligent arson after unintentionally starting a range fire north of Colstrip. The Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office reports the range fire was caused by fireworks. READ FULL STORY
DEER LODGE — Wildlife officials are continuing to search for a grizzly bear that killed a camper in Ovando on Tuesday morning. The Powell County Sheriff’s Office reports traps have been set in the area while a ground and air search is continuing for the grizzly bear. READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS — The question of whether to allow seven types of marijuana businesses into the Billings city limits could be up to the voters again in an election on Nov. 2, after the City Council directed staff on Tuesday to research ballot language and dates to bring back at a future meeting. Billings Assistant City Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court announced on Tuesday it will issue a final ruling on the Legislature’s subpoenas, rejecting GOP lawmakers’ request to dismiss the case. The state high court is moving forward with the case because justices say the dispute over Legislative powers is a relevant issue likely to come up again. READ FULL STORY
BOZEMAN — It was the last school board meeting of the academic year in Bozeman – and it surely went out with a bang, going on for hours. The meeting was the first in-person in almost a year, and administrators heard from dozens of people who showed up to express their concern, mainly to talk Read More…
LAUREL – The current Montana real estate market is nothing short of crazy. As more people pour into the state, what was once just a Bozeman boom, seems to be impacting big and small home prices across the state. But, if you think picking up and moving to Laurel will help you escape this crazy Read More…
Fentanyl-related deaths in Montana doubled from 2019 to 2020 and this year’s deaths have already outpaced the tally from two years ago. There were 41 fentanyl-related deaths last year, a dramatic jump from 19 in 2019. This year there have been 22 fentanyl-related fatalities confirmed by the state crime lab, according to a press release Read More…
HELENA — Law enforcement officials referring individuals to Montana’s Adult Protective Services (APS) is on pace for a 50% increase in 2021. This is because Elder Abuse is on the rise in Montana and the Department of Justice partnered with the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) to now train law enforcement officials Read More…
HELENA — The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) confirmed Tuesday evening that a DNRC helicopter incident happened while responding to the Deep Creek Fire in Townsend, MT on June 15, 2021 at approximately 5:00 pm. While en route to the Helibase, the aircraft experienced a hard landing that resulted in a fire. Read More…
HARDIN — While visiting Hardin Wednesday, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte donated his first quarter salary to One Health Big Horn clinic and said he was proud of the work done at the facility to help people fighting addiction. “I became familiar with their work, their addiction recovery and mental health services and they are helping Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – The University of Montana’s Lady Griz women’s basketball team welcomes a new assistant coach with strong family ties in the program. Joslyn Tinkle played in three Final Four tournaments while she was at Stanford, and then went on to play professionally in the WNBA, Hungary, Turkey and Australia, UM Griz Athletics said Read More…
DEER LODGE, Mont. – An inmate is dead after he disemboweled himself in the Montana State Prison. Now, Disability Rights Montana is calling for an investigation. According to his death certificate, 39-year-old Shaun Morrison killed himself by cutting into his stomach on May 19. He then died of his injuries four days later. Morrison was serving Read More…
Montana will be getting a second seat in Congress. The lines for the two new districts will soon be drawn. On top of that, the lines for state legislative districts will also be drawn. The big battles on both of those fronts have not really yet begun, but some of the battle lines are now being Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Country Billboard-charting artist Stephanie Quayle is returning to her home state of Montana and raising funds for a new safe house for human trafficking victims. Quayle is releasing new music this year and about to start touring again. The Bozeman native has been recording in Nashville for 10 years and has performed at Read More…