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…
HELENA — State officials said Monday they plan to invest $16 million annually over the next five years to add capacity for current community-based services for people with severe and disabling mental illness. The funding, under an existing Medicaid waiver benefit option, will increase the number of people already receiving services from 357 to 750 by 2025, Read More…
Former President Barack Obama met privately with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Thursday in Washington, an adviser confirmed, as Democrats hold out hopes that the red-state governor makes a surprise, last-minute splash into the state’s Senate race. Bullock has consistently said he will not run for the Senate after dropping his own White House bid Read More…
BILLINGS — Economists with the University of Montana touted Billings’ economic health during a Tuesday luncheon at the Northern Hotel. Patrick Barkey, the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research director, said Billings has had good construction activity, a healthy real estate sector and financial institutions that are doing well. “Billings is the Read More…
Democratic attorney general candidate Raph Graybill is not eligible for the ballot because he hasn’t actively practiced law in Montana for five years, alleges a complaint filed this week with the state political practices office. Graybill, however, said he will have met the requirement before the Nov. 3 election, and his campaign called the complaint Read More…
MISSOULA — It’s been 18 months since Jermain Charlo went missing and despite the lack of progress in the case her family and friends continue the search. Charlo was last seen near the Orange Street Food Farm in Missoula on June 16, 2018. Search warrants and interviews have been completed, and dozens of leads investigated Read More…
House Minority Leader Casey Schreiner dropped out of the gubernatorial race Monday, leaving just two candidates running in the Montana Democratic primary race for governor. The four-term Great Falls state representative is suspending his campaign four months before Montana’s June 2 primary. In a statement, Schreiner said he doesn’t have the resources needed to run 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…