On the steps of the Montana State Capitol, Governor Greg Gianforte was officially sworn in Monday for his second term as the 25th Governor of Montana. Accompanied by his wife, First Lady Susan Gianforte, the ceremony marked a historic milestone, as Gianforte became the first Republican governor to secure a second term since 1996. Chief Read More…
In a historic milestone, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has announced the investment of more than $92 million in public schools, marking a record-breaking revenue contribution from the state’s trust lands. “Thanks to DNRC’s responsible management of state trust lands, this historic $92 million investment will provide our students with the Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced his committee assignments for the 119th Congress, taking on influential roles in the Senate Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Energy and Natural Resources, and Indian Affairs. These assignments place Daines at the center of critical policy discussions affecting Montana and the nation. “It’s an honor to serve Montanans in Read More…
Kenneth Britton “Britt” Cotter, 48, who was recently elected District Court Judge for Lake and Sanders counties, has been charged with one count of solicitation to commit criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and two counts of attempted criminal possession of dangerous drugs. The Montana Attorney General’s Office announced the charges following a months-long investigation led Read More…
GREAT FALLS — The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) made an appearance over the skies of Montana on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. A moderate geomagnetic storm over the weekend produced the aurora. Some people headed out of town to escape the city lights in order to maximize their chances of seeing – including Brennen Read More…
A new presidential poll conducted by Mammouth University shows Gov. Steve Bullock is still at less than 1% with Democratic voters — far behind Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders who are all in a virtual tie at the top of the poll. Bullock recently took part in a CNN Town Hall , again portraying himself as Read More…
A former law clerk in Lewistown who settled a 2011 lawsuit against a state district judge sued the governor and attorney general Friday, saying an agreement not to reveal details of the initial case should be voided as unconstitutional. Britt Long, who lives now in New Jersey, settled a lawsuit with the state in 2013. Read More…
MISSOULA – A man arrested in Bozeman for sympathizing with terrorist groups is scheduled to change his plea this week. Court documents say Fabjan Alameti is set for an Aug. 28 hearing to change his plea in federal court. A plea agreement says Alameti will plead guilty to two counts of making a false statement Read More…
Thomas Penley, an incoming senior at Helena’s Capital High School, says when he took part in the Montana American Legion Boys State program in June, he hoped he might be selected to represent the state at Boys Nation in Washington, D.C. “I really wanted to do it, I was hoping and just really worked hard Read More…
HELENA – There are two new AmeriCorps billboards around the Treasure State. Their goal is to increase awareness of their programs and the opportunities for Montanan’s to serve right here in our fine state. There are eight programs for people to get involved in, which are all starting back up again in September. AmeriCorps offers Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Glacier National Park has temporarily closed access to the Granite Park area due to unusual grizzly bear activity, according to press release from park officials. The Highline, Loop, and Swiftcurrent Trail (from Swiftcurrent Pass to Granite Park Chalet) are all closed as of Sunday evening, meaning that access to the Granite Park Read More…
Workers for the general contractor toil eight days straight, in 10-hour shifts, before hiking the 6-plus miles out for six days off. They’re replaced during that time by another crew from Dick Anderson Construction of Great Falls. That rotation means the ongoing work in Glacier National Park to rebuild the historic Sperry Chalet dormitory, perched Read More…
Nearly 30 people from 20 countries raised their right hand on Thursday and swore allegiance to the United States before waving the Stars and Stripes to celebrate their achievement as the nation’s newest citizens. In a ceremony that marked many firsts, and with a diverse crowd looking on, the 28 new Americans took their “obligation Read More…
Police in Wyoming are recommending sex abuse charges against two unnamed Catholic leaders in the state, a move that comes roughly a year after police reopened a case involving accusations of sex abuse by a local bishop who is now retired. “An investigation into sex abuse taking place in Cheyenne by members of the Catholic Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana is ranked the fourth most dangerous state for kids online. The reason, according to a Century Link study, is because of “one law simply defining what bullying is, nothing else.” The study adds there is a “relatively low” victim rate of 8.21 per 100,000 residents. Century Link says more than one out of every Read More…
HELENA — Helena non-profit Executives and Directors met Monday afternoon at the Power Block building with Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte. The roundtable meeting was held with intent to discuss concerns by each non-profit from Helena Food Share to Habitat for Humanity. Congressman Gianforte listened intently as they went around the table highlight this year’s achievements Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Second Lieutenant Jenna Schaack recently graduated from the United States Armor School in Fort Benning, Georgia, and is now the first female Armor Officer in the history of the Montana Army National Guard. After graduating in June, Schaack was assigned as a Platoon Leader with C Company, 1-163rd Combined Arms Battalion in Read More…
DEER LODGE – An official U.S. senate hearing on Montana’s national parks was held Thursday in a barn. Senator Steve Daines, who chairs the Senate’s subcommittee on national parks, held the hearing at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge to get feedback from those in the state’s tourism industry. The hearing focused on bringing more Read More…
Flathead High School Principal Michele Paine was surveying an assortment of old, at times decrepit, tables and shelves destined to be tossed or recycled last week as she prepared for the start of the school year. With the school gearing up to unveil its multi-million-dollar remodel later this month, Paine had decisions to make. “Education Read More…
Nearly half the bid and rental receipts from lease sales go to the states to directly support public education, infrastructure improvements and other state-determined priorities. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Montana/Dakotas raised $1.6 Million in its quarterly oil and gas lease sale held online July 30. Nearly 50 percent of the revenue from Read More…
A wolf trapper certification class scheduled for Billings aims to educate those willing to learn, how to properly trap and conserve in the state of Montana. The class will be a comprehensive education session taught by FWP staff and experienced wolf trappers. The trapping portion of each course will be taught by trappers who have Read More…
Gloria Schmidt visits Pacific Steel and Recycling in Kalispell every couple of weeks to drop off her recyclables. On Monday morning she deposited a few boxes and newspapers into the appropriate bins, just like usual. Although it’s not a lot, it’s important to her to do what she can to help the environment. But a Read More…
BELGRADE – A bull that legend says no cowboy could ride now has a permanent tribute in downtown Belgrade. In the 1890s, a bull named Corbett rose to fame with a reputation for being gentle in the pasture and a wild bucker outside of it. Cowboys came from hundreds of miles away to hop on Read More…
HELL CREEK FORMATION, N.D. (WTHR) — A University of California Merced student had the experience of a lifetime finding a 65-million-year-old fossil. Harrison Duran is studying biology at the California school. As a longtime fan of dinosaurs, he decided to take a course on the history of dinosaurs his freshman year. He furthered his interest outside the Read More…
Democratic presidential candidate and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has publicly supported a national minimum wage of $15 an hour, but his official office was advertising full-time internships earlier this summer that only paid his interns $9 an hour. Bullock took to Twitter last week to call for the minimum wage to be raised by quoting Read More…
Many of us have tried our luck with a lotto ticket, but it’s safe to say, the grand majority of us don’t win. But did you know the money from the Montana Lottery plays a big role in our local economics across the state? The Montana State Lottery money is disbursed in two different ways. 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Montana judge James A. Manley had previously ruled that the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) had violated the rights of developer MTSUN by cutting both the rates paid for electricity and contract lengths under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), for the express purpose of undercutting the viability of solar power. This was in Read More…
DARBY — Republican Sen. Steve Daines heard from Trapper Creek Job Corps employees about the president keeping the program open in Darby on Friday. “I was just a kid growing up in Montana like many of you have done and are doing,” Daines said at the event. “And it was an honor for me to Read More…
RED LODGE – Beartooth Pass is now completely open, according to a press release Sunday afternoon. It is completely open on both the Montana and Wyoming sides. The status of the pass can change quickly due to adverse weather and rock/snow slides, however. Drivers are asked to use caution. READ FULL STORY
CASPER — With a rate of uninsured children that’s double the national average, Wyoming has been ranked second to last in the United States for children’s health in a national study for the second consecutive year. Overall, the Equality State ranked 21st for children’s well-being on the Kids Count report, which is released in June Read More…
Acadia Montana, the troubled residential psychiatric treatment facility for children that has operated in Butte under several different names and owners over the past 31 years, announced Tuesday it will close. It was not immediately clear how many jobs would be lost, though Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Dave Palmer said the number could be more Read More…
Montana’s congressional delegation made a successful bipartisan push Wednesday to advance legislation that would, for the first time, federally recognize the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. According to a press release sent to MTN News, Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester have stapled their tribal recognition bill as an amendment to must-pass defense spending Read More…
The first Democratic candidate for Montana governor has filed her paperwork with state regulators. Former state Rep. Reilly Neill registered Saturday with the state commissioner of political practices office. She pledges to carry on Gov. Steve Bullock’s legacy on her campaign website . The 45-year-old Neill represented Livingston in the Montana House between 2013 and Read More…
GREAT FALLS- State Rep. Casey Schreiner announced he’s running for the 25th Governor of Montana. He’s the second Democrat to announce a big for the race, after Livingston’s Reilly Neill. A native to Great Falls and a representative in Montana State Legislature House District 26, Schreiner made his announcement on Facebook this morning, June 11th, Read More…
The Montana Highway Patrol and local authorities near Bozeman, Montana were called to a crash scene in which a semi-tractor trailer careened off a roadway, and millions of bees were released. The incident happened at an intersection — the truck’s trailer overturned. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Nickolay told media it was an unusual rescue scene for his crew Read More…
NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. — Charles William Anderson wakes up and puts on pants from Amazon, then heads to the kitchen to brew coffee from Amazon in his coffee maker from Amazon. As he sips his morning coffee sitting in his chair, also ordered from Amazon, he looks around the room to see other items from Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — NBC Montana recently obtained surveillance video from a 2016 lawsuit involving the Montana State Hospital for allegations of violating patients’ rights. Disability Rights Montana is a federally-mandated organization that oversees the Montana State Hospital and represents the disabled in court cases. Courts documents said plaintiff and Montana State Hospital patient Ryan Bragg broke Read More…