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…
When a local radio host asked Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale what differentiated him from the other GOP candidates earlier this year, he had a quick response. “Piece of cake. Rancher,” he told radio host Aaron Flint in January. “I’m a businessman. I’m a former legislator, and I’m an executive. And I’ve been very effective Read More…
Families heading to Yellowstone National Park this weekend can expect to see an increase at the gate. “Yellowstone, like other parks in the national parks in the system is having a slight entrance fee increase,” said YNP Public Information Officer Jody Lyle. “Starting June 1, it will be $35 per vehicle to enter Yellowstone National Read More…
Montana State University’s president says renovating Romney Hall isn’t sexy, it’s mundane deferred maintenance. At the Montana Board of Regents meeting Wednesday in Havre, MSU President Waded Cruzado defended the Bozeman campus’ request to the governor and 2019 Legislature for $32 million to modernize the historic building and turn it into classrooms. Given the huge Read More…
A Glendive woman who claims the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated a tribal order when it handcuffed her and removed her two grandsons from the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in which she is seeking $1 million in damages. BIA agents used an “invalid Minnesota warrant” to seize Patsy Read More…
For all of Montana’s exquisite colors and variegated beauty, in the right light, with the right eyes, it can be seen as a vast blank canvas. That’s how director and screenwriter Michael Polish and his actress wife Kate Bosworth see the Treasure State through the lens of filmmaking potential, not just as a pretty backdrop, Read More…
The National Park Service on Thursday granted a key permit for the rebuilding of Sperry Chalet. The project has been moving quickly through the regulatory process. Last month, the Park Service released a draft environmental assessment with four options for rebuilding the chalet that burned last summer in the Spraque Fire. Of these, the “preferred Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines is among a group of just over a dozen of Republican colleagues asking their Majority leader to continue working through the traditional August recess. Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester said he also didn’t have a problem staying in August. Daines told reporters during a telephone press call he didn’t think it Read More…
In 2016 Leonard Higgins of Portland shut off a valve at an oil pipeline in Chouteau County, Montana. It was part of a coordinated effort in four states to bring attention to the threat of climate change. A lawsuit is challenging 287 oil and gas leases on federal land in Montana, claiming the federal government Read More…
BILLINGS – The old James F. Battin Federal Courthouse has been vacant for several years. WC Commercial and EEC, Inc. have been removing asbestos and remodeling what is now known as the Stillwater Building. The first tenant, Yellowstone County, will soon move into a third floor office at 316 North 26th Street. Crews worked on Read More…
over 2,400 students received 3,344 degrees from the University of Montana on Saturday inside the Adams Center. They also enjoyed their commencement speaker, Griz Alum and Chief Operating Officer for Nike Corporation, Eric Sprunk, who looked ahead at what the future might hold. “I don’t believe anybody born after today will need a drivers license Read More…
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock sent a letter Monday to two congressmen objecting to a citizenship question that is to be included on the 2020 Census, saying such a query would keep some people from participating. Bullock’s letter was to Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Read More…
Winter still reigns in the upper reaches of Glacier National Park. Its mountains remain coated with snow, and a dark layer of clouds cloaked their tips May 2. But as the ALERT rescue helicopter flew over Lake McDonald, bound for Sperry Chalet, Orrin Webber wasn’t concerned. “We’re gonna have good visibility, that’s for sure,” the Read More…
HELENA – A coalition of health-care and other groups already has spent or raised more than $500,000 toward qualifying a ballot measure that would extend Medicaid expansion in Montana and raise tobacco taxes to help pay for it. The money – at least one-third of which has come from Montana hospitals – is behind Initiative Read More…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday presented Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., with its Spirit of Enterprise Award for his work to promote economic growth and Main Street businesses. The presentation was made during an event at Hagadone Digital in the Daily Inter Lake office in Kalispell, hosted by the U.S. Chamber, the Kalispell Chamber Read More…
Amtrak will close two ticket counters in Montana in early June with company officials citing the decision as a cost-saving move and the fact 90 percent of riders are buying tickets online or via telephone. The counter at the Havre station will close June 1 and the Shelby ticket counter will close June 3, an Read More…
HELENA – A study commissioned by Montana’s lodging industry says rentals by Airbnb, the on-line lodging giant, generated $69 million of revenue last year in Montana, but likely didn’t pay state lodging taxes on that amount. Industry spokesmen this week that the Montana Legislature should pass a law to clarify taxation of Airbnb and other Read More…
The Montana Democratic Party, assisted by a prestigious international law firm, is taking Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton to court over approving signatures that allowed the Green Party to qualify for the general election. Green Party spokesperson Danielle Breck said the Montana Democrats have a date in Helena District Court on Tuesday afternoon. “The Read More…
Missoula City Councilman Jesse Ramos wants to see how much a private attorney is receiving in compensation for work on the Mountain Water Condemnation lawsuit, but says he has been blocked from seeing the information by city officials. Missoula Attorney Quentin Rhoades explains. “The Mayor, the city attorney, and apparently the private attorney who has Read More…
Helena – The Montana Democrat Party has brought in a Washington state lawyer with deep ties to national Democrat organizations to lead its lawsuit to remove the Green Party from the Ballot. Kevin Hamilton, of Seattle, Washington with the firm Perkins Coie was admitted to represent the Montana Democrat Party less than an hour before Read More…
The app development side of Montana’s much-lauded tech sector will continue its upward trajectory, according to a newly released report. The sixth annual report, the State of the App Economy — aggregated by ACT The App Association, an industry organization that represents more than 5,000 app makers — details the growth of an almost $1 Read More…
(CNN)Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, will campaign in Montana for a Republican Senate candidate “very soon,” the candidate has announced. Troy Downing, an Air Force veteran and one of the four Republicans vying to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in November, announced the news Friday. “It is time to stand Read More…
Democrats and some in the mainstream media have been desperately trying to attack Ryan Zinke over his travel spending as US Secretary of Interior. However, new data shows that Zinke is spending less than his predecessors who served as Interior Secretary under former President Obama. As The Daily Signal reports: “The Daily Signal’s examination of Read More…
HELENA – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Troy Downing says he didn’t falsely portray himself as a resident when buying in-state hunting licenses for the past half-dozen years – and can’t believe the issue has become a full-scale criminal case in a Bozeman court. “It’s crazy,” he told MTN News in an interview last week. “My Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is praising his doctor and advocating for cancer screenings after he was diagnosed with colon cancer last month. According to Fox, he went his doctor with symptoms of fatigue and back pain. “[My doctor] recommended some blood tests and asked if I ever had a colonoscopy,” Fox said. “I told Read More…
MISSOULA – It will take a combination of “cuts and curriculum” if the University of Montana is going to solve its on-going budget issues. And UM President Seth Bodnar says that’s going to take some “hard decisions”. Everyone on campus has known this day was coming, as the administration grapples with a way to not Read More…
Gov. Steve Bullock rejected an offer from CoreCivic to extend its contract to manage Montana’s only private prison, because the company asked for a 15 percent increase in payments. Bullock told MTN News that [quote] “It doesn’t make sense for Montanans.” CoreCivic said Wednesday that the net increase under the offer would be only about Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court held oral arguments in Missoula today, April 6, in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The case revolves around a rule from the Department of Revenue which bans use of Statewide Scholarship Tax Credits for those who attend faith-based private schools. The roots of the argument go back Read More…
he Montana Democratic Party and three of its supporters filed suit late Monday to remove the Montana Green Party from the 2018 ballot, saying some signatures on petitions used to qualify the party are not valid. The lawsuit says at least 180 of the signatures turned in last month are invalid, and therefore the Green Read More…
The sale of Avista Corp. to a Canadian utility passed a major milestone Tuesday when the parties outlined conditions in a proposed agreement with Washington regulators. After the $5.3 billion sale, Avista would operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hydro One Ltd. of Toronto. Hydro One has agreed to keep Avista’s headquarters in Spokane, retain Read More…
U.S. Senate candidate Troy Downing wants a Gallatin County judge to throw out several charges alleging he was not a Montana resident when he bought resident hunting licenses, claiming past accountants made errors in his tax filings. Christopher Williams, Downing’s attorney, filed a pretrial motion in Gallatin County Justice Court and said the residency status Read More…
HELENA – A Lewis & Clark County District Court Judge says author Jon Krakauer should be given access to university documents concerning a high-profile rape case on the University of Montana campus five years ago. However, the judge ruled that Krakauer will only receive a redacted version of those documents, protecting the identity of the Read More…
On Monday, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox joined a coalition of 37 state Attorneys General, demanding answers from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the company’s business practices and privacy protections. “In the news recently, Facebook has had a practice of either voluntarily sharing private and personal information of its Facebook users, or more recently where Read More…
he Washington Post has tabbed Montana Governor Steve Bullock as the 15th most likely Democrat in the country to be elected President of the United States. According to the Post: ‘If Democrats want pragmatism over anything else, they would struggle to do better than Bullock. A two-term governor of red Montana, he won reelection by Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Former New York Giants linebacker and Montana State star Corey Widmer has declined his nomination to the Montana Football Hall of Fame, saying the sport “destroyed my life.” Widmer said after numerous concussions he fears he suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease. He has depression and memory problems, suffers Read More…
HELENA – A Libertarian candidate booted from the election for not filing all his paperwork on time said he asked the state to reconsider, but a state official said the decision stands. Ron Vandevender, 59, a Cascade resident who filed to run for House District 80, was among the seven candidates disqualified for not filing Read More…
Pondera County Sheriff Carl Suta has agreed to resign from his position, following months of legal battles. Two misdemeanor charges against Suta were resolved without trial recently. On Friday, March 16, Suta pleaded no contest to one charge of partner/family member assault, and also agreed to a deferred prosecution on a charge of official misconduct. Read More…
Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) is getting called out by Politifact for using false statistics when it comes to the gun control debate. Bullock, desperate to be named as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, was recently in Milwaukee, Wisconsin raising money for Wisconsin Democrats. Politifact analyzed a line by Bullock where he argued that Read More…
A select bipartisan, bicameral committee has been asked to examine more than $1.2 million in state employee settlements since the beginning of 2017. The committee, consisting of six Republicans and four Democrats was appointed by Senate President Scott Sales and Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen. Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas explained the genesis of Read More…
The Forest Service will be receiving a property tax bill from Mineral County this year. County Commissioners Laurie Johnston, Roman Zylawy and Duane Simons signed the letter March 9 requesting property tax revenue for 2017. The “historic letter” as defined by Rep. Denley Loge, describes the plight Mineral County is facing as options to fund Read More…
The Montana Legislative Finance Committee met on Monday and Tuesday this week with an update on the state budget. Committee Chair Nancy Balance says a group of state Democrats came to the meeting asking them to either appropriate money, declare a state of emergency or to create a supplemental budget allocation to address cuts in Read More…