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Micron Earnings in Focus as AI Memory Demand Drives Expectations Higher

BOISE, Idaho — Micron Technology is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results Sept. 30, with investors looking for another quarter of rapid growth as artificial-intelligence spending continues to fuel demand for high-performance memory. The Boise-based semiconductor company has already set a high bar. Micron reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $41.46 billion, up 74% from the Read More…

Montana Highway Patrol Commissions Seven New Troopers

BOULDER, Mont. — The Montana Highway Patrol commissioned seven new troopers during the 84th Montana Highway Patrol Advanced Academy graduation ceremony. For the first time, the graduation was held at MHP headquarters in Boulder. Montana Highway Patrol Col. Kurt Sager and Montana Supreme Court Clerk Bowen Greenwood addressed the graduates before the swearing-in and badge-pinning Read More…

Outside Spending Intensifies as Montana Senate Race Enters Final Stretch

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s U.S. Senate race is entering its final stretch with millions of dollars in outside spending, a dispute over a television advertisement targeting Republican Kurt Alme and growing scrutiny of independent candidate Seth Bodnar’s record leading the University of Montana. The four-way contest to replace retiring Republican Sen. Steve Daines includes Alme, Read More…

Montana Land Board Approves Oil and Gas Lease Sale Generating $2.1 Million

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana State Board of Land Commissioners has approved an oil and gas lease sale expected to generate more than $2.1 million for state trust lands, with the proceeds benefiting public education. The sale included 12 tracts in Musselshell, Sheridan and Toole counties. A single tract in Sheridan County generated a $2.14 Read More…

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US companies suspend China operations, restrict travel as coronavirus outbreak spreads

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…

Daines bill aims to reform Patriot Act

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…

‘An earthquake’: The deal that changed Montana’s insurance market

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…

Democrat Neill drops from Montana governor’s race

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…

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon Is Nation’s Most Popular

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…

Bozeman airport brings first direct Nashville flights to Montana

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…

Montana High School Association to add girls wrestling, boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports

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…

Montana Marijuana Legalization Proposals Take First Steps Toward 2020 Ballot

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 Court Reverses $35 Million Child Abuse Verdict Against Jehovah’s Witnesses

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…

Online higher education magazine names MSU one of top 10 public universities on the rise

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…

Montana sheriffs publish “Glamour Shots” calendar for charity

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…

Helena teacher, husband of OPI candidate, sentenced on felony drug charge

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…

U.S. Senate confirms Lawrence VanDyke to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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…

Helena teacher, and husband of OPI candidate, faces felony drug charge

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…

MSU seeks to train dentists for rural Montana

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…

Snowstorm to hit Montana during holiday travel rush

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…