(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Mirabelli v. Olson deciding against California’s law that allowed for gender transitions of school children without parental knowledge has met with commendation from advocacy groups and law firms, with a legal counsel calling the decision one of the “biggest parental rights wins” in a generation. Chief Read More…
U.S. stocks closed lower this week as investors grappled with renewed uncertainty around interest rates, economic growth, and upcoming corporate earnings. The broad market benchmark, the S&P 500, posted a weekly decline, with selling pressure building in the latter part of the week. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the index, ended near Read More…
The White House has unveiled “President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America,” a new framework outlining the administration’s approach to maintaining U.S. dominance in cyberspace and strengthening the nation’s defenses against growing digital threats. Administration officials say the strategy is designed to ensure that the United States remains unrivaled in cyber capabilities, while improving coordination between Read More…
In a surprise move that stunned Montana’s political circles, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from the 2026 Senate race just minutes before the state’s candidate filing deadline, abruptly ending his reelection bid and reshaping the field for one of the state’s most powerful offices. Daines, a Republican who has represented Montana in the U.S. Senate Read More…
Disney, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other U.S. companies with significant footprints in China are suspending operations and instituting travel restrictions as they respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The virus has now taken the lives of at least 82 people in China and sickened 2,900 worldwide, including in the U.S. and Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Read More…
U.S. Senator Steve Daines, R-Montana, announced Thursday he will be introducing bipartisan legislation to protect the civil liberties and privacy of Montanans from government spying programs. Daines’ bipartisan bill reforms Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the National Security Agency has used to create a secret mass surveillance program that swept up millions of Read More…
Two decades ago, four Montana hospitals tried something new. They bankrolled a company to compete with the most powerful insurer in the state. The hospitals wanted to challenge what they described as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana’s “dominating presence.” So they founded insurer New West Health Services in 1998 to cover hospital employees and Read More…
TC Energy is moving ahead with plans to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, and it’s getting ready to make a few Montana moves. Terry Cunha, a spokesman for TC Energy, told the Herald on Tuesday that Keystone XL has reached several key milestones. That prompted the company to file a status report with the Read More…
Democrat Reilly Neill has withdrawn from the 2020 governor’s race, saying she will work instead through “the media to educate, inform and report on issues of climate change and human rights.” The Livingston resident and former state representative posted her decision on her votereilly.com website Jan. 12. “At every event for Democratic candidates I’ve attended in the Read More…
REPUBLICAN GOV. MARK Gordon, who took his seat as Wyoming’s 33rd governor in 2019, is the most popular governor in America, according to Morning Consult’s latest survey. The global technology company releases a survey identifying the country’s most and least popular governors every three months, with the most recent survey taken from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2019. Read More…
JCPenney announced Friday that the retailer is planning to close its location at Southgate Mall. The department store is expected to close in April 2020. In a press release sent Friday afternoon, Washington Prime Group, the owner of Southgate Mall said prior to the JCPenney closing announcement they executed an agreement to gain control of Read More…
BELGRADE, Mont. – Montanans are ready for takeoff to the country music capital Nashville, Tenn. for the state’s first direct flight to Music City, USA. Montana’s busiest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, is getting ready for a new direct flight to Nashville through Allegiant Airlines. You can start booking flights now for nonstop service, with Read More…
BILLINGS — The Montana High School Association executive board passed proposals for the MSHA to add girls wrestling and boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports during the MHSA’s annual meeting on Monday in Billings. The sports will be offered to member schools beginning with the 2020-21 school year. It was announced in late November that the Read More…
More than 100 years ago, Montana and many states erected legal walls against spending public money on private religious schools, but today school choice activists are seeking to bring down those barriers using a case from Montana. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Kendra Espinoza Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — An investment group from Billings has filed a lawsuit against the Montana Lottery over rules that require businesses wishing to offer sports gambling to have specific alcohol licenses. The lawsuit filed by Arete Group argues the legislation that authorized sports wagering did not include the alcohol license rule. The lawsuit seeks an injunction Read More…
A statewide campaign working to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana submitted two proposed 2020 ballot initiatives for state review Monday. According to the initiative backers, The first ballot proposal would legalize marijuana in Montana for adults. In a press release, backers say it would also establish a regulatory framework for pot cultivation and sales, including Read More…
Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen said on Thursday that she was proud to announce that graduation rates in state public schools have broken a record for the second year in a row. “This is improvement, this is growth,” said Arntzen. “For two years in a row our graduation rates have been the highest Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a $35 million judgment against Jehovah’s Witnesses for failing to report child sexual abuse. A lower court had found that the church illegally failed to report a child sexual abuser to authorities, which allowed him to continue sexually abusing another child. The unanimous decision from seven state Supreme Court justices found Read More…
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Then you can really enjoy this spectacular, 16,000-square-foot, mountain-top dream home in the winter wonderland that’s Big Sky, Montana. Maybe strap on your snowshoes and explore the miles of powdery trails that meander through the home’s 160 wooded acres. Or master the moguls at nearby Big Sky Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines was a cosponsor to a resolution introduced Monday that allows the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump after 25 days for lack of prosecution. The proposal, introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, is a move to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to play her hand. When the trial Read More…
More than two years into reforms designed to slow, or even reverse, the growth of offenders in Montana’s correctional system, state officials say they see indications of progress. But most early data show scant change. Prisons and alternative programs for criminal offenders are still full to capacity, and there’s been no reduction in the number Read More…
College Gazette, an online higher education magazine, has recognized Montana State University on its list of the top 10 public universities on the rise across the nation. To compile the list, College Gazette chose schools that have made measurable strides over the past 20 years in a variety of areas, including their programs, student Read More…
Ask Glacier Park International Airport Director Rob Ratkowski what the big storyline of 2019 was and he has a simple answer: passenger growth. “It was huge,” Ratkowski said of the 15 percent increase in passengers moving through the airport in 2019. “And next year will be even bigger.” Ratkowski said he expected boarding numbers at Read More…
HELENA — The Montana Lottery drew the winning ticket number for the 2019 Montana Millionaire game on Friday morning. The grand-prize winning ticket is number 042230. It was sold at a Town Pump in Kalispell. All 180,000 tickets of the $20 tickets were sold out by 1:12 p.m. on December 2nd – five days earlier than Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana’s ban on flavored vaping products has been in effect for about a week and already some people have found a way to get around it. “Having customers having access to a safe product, you know, that’s the goal,” said Freedom Vapes co-owner Ron Marshall. After one day of a 120-day temporary ban Read More…
HELENA — A federal judge has ruled that Native American tribes, including the Fort Belknap Indian Community, can continue with a lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris issued the ruling last Friday. The Fort Belknap and Rosebud Sioux tribes have claimed Trump exceeded Read More…
We’ve learned it’s a Georgia-based timberlands company that will be purchasing Weyerhaeuser’s Montana holdings, in a deal announced last week. Weyerhaeuser made headlines three years ago when it decided to close its Columbia Falls mill not long after buying Plum Creek Timber in an $8 billion deal. It cited a “continued shortage” of logs to Read More…
The Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is offering 2020 calendars featuring “glamour shots” of sheriffs from across the Treasure State to raise funds for charity. The Association said on Facebook calendars are $10 each and available by contacting local sheriff’s offices. Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin started the “Sheriff Glamour Shot Challenge” in September, Read More…
The Little Shell Tribe has been fighting for federal recognition for more than a century and as of Friday, their fight is over. On Friday, the National Defense Authorization act for 2020 was signed by the president, making the federal recognition of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians officially become law. The bill was Read More…
A former Helena elementary school teacher has been given a three-year deferred sentence for felony drug possession, stemming from an August traffic stop where authorities found cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine and psilocybin mushrooms in his vehicle. Eric Lehman, who is married to Democratic state superintendent of public instruction candidate Melissa Romano, pleaded guilty to the charge Read More…
STRONG (SUN JOURNAL) — A former Montana woman was arrested Saturday at a Strong residence in connection to the death of her 5-month-old daughter on Sept. 25 in Montana. She allegedly had methamphetamine in her system and was slumped over her child in a vehicle when police found her in Butte, Montana, according to a Read More…
BILLINGS — Seven Montana TV stations owned by Cowles Media, including KFBB in Great Falls, have been unable to produce normal newscasts since last Monday after a cyber-attack infected computer operating software. “Systems and software are integrated among all the TV stations. The attack to the vital software has caused delays in video feedback and Read More…
LAS VEGAS — Montana, say hello to your two newest world champions. Helena steer wrestler Ty Erickson and Miles City tie-down roper Haven Meged claimed 2019 PRCA world titles Saturday during the final round of the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday. Meged’s race was as close as they come. Read More…
Arthur Blank has a new ranch. The Arthur M. Blank Family of Businesses announced Wednesday it has closed on the purchase of Paradise Valley Ranch, a 9,300-acre property between the city of Livingston and an entrance to Yellowstone Park. Paradise valley is near Mountain Sky Guest Ranch and West Creek Ranch, two interdependent properties belonging Read More…
HELENA – Employees of the Montana Democratic Party said Wednesday they have chosen to be represented by a union. The employees made the announcement in a news release along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 206. James Holbrook, IBEW 206 business manager, said more professional employees are joining the IBEW because they can Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KOLO) – The U.S. Senate has confirmed Lawrence VanDyke to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The final vote was 51 to 44 in favor of confirmation. VanDyke previously served as Solicitor General of Nevada and Montana. Nevada’s two Senators, Jackie Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, both Democrats, opposed VanDyke’s nomination. Sen. Cortez Masto Read More…
The Montana National Guard and the Prickly Pear Land Trust (PPLT) were recognized in Washington D.C. with the Army Community Partnership Award for their work in creating the Ten Mile Creek Community Park. Major General Matthew Quinn, Adjutant General for Montana, and Mary Hollow, Executive Director for PPLT received the award at the Pentagon on Read More…
HELENA — A former Helena elementary school teacher – who also is married to Democratic state superintendent of public instruction candidate Melissa Romano — was charged Tuesday with felony drug possession, including cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine. The charges against Eric Lehman, who resigned his teaching post at Hawthorne Elementary School as of Nov. 1, said Read More…
Montana Governor Steve Bullock is ending his presidential campaign, citing an inability to gain traction with Democratic primary voters and, in a setback for Democrats, he has no plans to pursue a 2020 Senate bid. “While there were many obstacles we could not have anticipated when entering this race, it has become clear that in Read More…
MISSOULA — State wildlife officials have released the final numbers for the big game hunting season in Western Montana. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) reported checking 10,225 hunters with 837 harvested game animals at its three long-standing check stations in western Montana from opening day on October 26 until the general big game hunting Read More…
People living in many of Montana’s rural communities and on Native American reservations have no dentists, a problem Montana State University is working to solve. MSU is working with the University of Washington’s Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program to bring dental students from the Spokane-based program to train in Montana’s rural and Read More…
Once again, tickets for The Montana Lotttery’s Montana Millionaire game have sold out at a record pace. All 180,000 tickets were sold out by 1:12 p.m. on Monday, five days earlier than in 2018. The Montana Lottery has yet to set an official date, but the grand prize drawing will be held sometime between Dec. Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Forecasters say a snowstorm is expected bring more than a foot of snow to parts of Montana and create difficult driving conditions for people traveling for Thanksgiving. National Weather Service officials say near-blizzard conditions are expected along the Rocky Mountain Front and near Monida Pass at Montana-Idaho border starting Tuesday night through Thursday. Read More…
BILLINGS — Montana’s first suspected case of CWD in a wild elk killed near Red Lodge was recorded Monday, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. In addition, three deer killed in south-central Montana also tested positive for the disease Monday. They included a mule deer taken on national forest land near Crooked Creek in Read More…