The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on Monday, ruled that states can accept and count mail-in ballots received after the federal Election Day. The decision comes out of the high court’s ruling in Watson v. RNC, a case challenging Mississippi’s acceptance of mail-in ballots up to five days after Election Day as long Read More…
Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke celebrated the release of $53,889,068 in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding for Montana counties, an increase of more than $7.3 million over 2025 disbursements. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Zinke said he played a major role in securing the funds. “Public Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 23 state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the next attorney general of the United States. In a letter sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, Ranking Member Richard Durbin and other committee members, Knudsen urged Read More…
(The Center Square) – Betting on a football score isn’t gambling. At least not according to the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The commission recently proposed rule changes to strengthen its governance over prediction markets and sports betting. The changes involve how the panel defines “gaming” and “gambling.” The proposal defines limitations for the CFTC’s Read More…
Scrolling through the Instagram account managed by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a conservative Republican from Bozeman, it’s clear he’s hewed a well-established groove in the firmament of Western outdoors pursuits. Populating the first-term senator’s social media feed are pictures of him on backpacking trips deep in the Beartooth Mountains; him bagging ungulates on sunbaked foothills Read More…
18 year-old MacLean Kaiser is being held in the Ravalli County Jail without bond for allegedly posting an online threat to the Darby High School using Snapchat. Sheriff Steve Holton said the incident was first investigated by the Darby Marshal’s office. “Yesterday the school district got some information regarding a Snapchat post referencing the recent Read More…
You could feel the excitement. You could feel the cheering. As Mike Dennison detailed the millionaire after millionaire running for office this Fall, you could just imagine how excited the success-bashing Leftists were, sitting in their living rooms as they watched his report on the Montana Television Network. And then, you can imagine how the Read More…
The Montana and Idaho Community Development Corporation recently received $65 million in New Market Tax Credits from part of the annual allotment distributed by the U.S. Treasury. The nonprofit organization with hubs in Missoula, Bozeman and Boise will sell the tax credits to investors, and use the cash they get in exchange to offer subsidies Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. — It’s official. Meth is back in Montana and it’s more dangerous than ever. Opioid abuse has gotten a lot of the headlines in recent years but in Montana, methamphetamine has slowly become the drug that law enforcement officials deal with frequently. What used to be made in Montana labs in the eighties Read More…
Democratic Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) voted in support of sanctuary cities Thursday. The vote prompting one of his potential Republican challengers to tie Tester once again to the vote to shutdown the government over illegal immigrants. As The Hill reports, several other more moderate Senate Democrats voted to crackdown on sanctuary cities, while Tester voted Read More…
HELENA – Montana may have the wealthiest member in all of Congress – Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte – but he’s far from being the only multimillionaire running for federal office this year in Montana. Three of the four Republicans running in the U.S. Senate race and one of the five Democrats vying to take Read More…
An Illinois kid named Doug Betters made his way, serendipitously, to the University of Montana for the first time more than 40 years ago as a highly touted football defensive lineman. Since then, Betters has ridden life’s roller coaster with grace, from the heights of sports stardom, including the 1983 NFL Defensive Player of the Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton stopped by Billings West High School Thursday, to talk to students about the importance of getting involved. Stapleton spent over an hour with senior students at the high school answering questions. From social media to Indian Reservations and health care, Stapleton’s message to students was the importance Read More…
Montana is the sixth most prosperous state in the country, according to new research from Prosperity Now. The Prosperity Now Scorecard tallied up 62 measures in five areas and says Montana rose from 10th place in 2017 to sixth place this year. READ THE FULL STORY.
BOZEMAN – Montana State University announced its spring headcount this week: 15,496 students, a record, and one that marks 10 straight years of spring enrollment growth. This spring’s number is up almost 300 students compared to the same time last year, according to Tony Campeau, the university’s registrar. University leaders credited the growth chiefly to Read More…
A Montana Department of Labor employee announced on Wednesday that he was quitting in protest of officials who “hunt down” undocumented workers. In a series of tweets, Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts said he put in his notice at the department because he’d been asked to help prepare information for ICE officials to use in finding undocumented workers. Read More…
Rene Elena Carter, a former Helena teacher, has been charged with sexual intercourse without consent involving a student several years ago. Carter appeared in Lewis & Clark County Justice Court on Thursday. READ THE FULL STORY.
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock says he won’t rush into a new contract with the operator of the private prison in Shelby – even though it could yield the state as much as $30 million to offset planned budget cuts of “essential services” for the poor and disabled. In an interview this week, Bullock told Read More…
President Donald Trump’s approval rating is now higher than former President Barack Obama’s on the same date of his first term, Rasmussen Reports daily tracking data shows. In its presidential daily tracking poll released Thursday, the Rasmussen Reports showed Trump’s approval at 48 percent, statistically tied with his disapproval rating of 50 percent. READ THE Read More…
Granite County Commissioner Scott Adler has been summoned to a court appearance this month on one charge of Official Misconduct and one charge of Theft by Embezzlement after the Department of Criminal Investigation looked into accusations that Adler had used county equipment and employees to install recycled asphalt on his personal driveway. In court filings, Read More…
A super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a new digital ad Tuesday attacking Montana Sen. Jon Tester. The ad, the group’s first of the cycle targeting the vulnerable Democrat in this year’s midterm elections, seeks to tie Tester to national party figures and calls him “just another Washington liberal.” It’s paid Read More…
HELENA – A leading Republican lawmaker Friday said the Bullock administration must share the blame for looming budget cuts to human services in Montana – and that the governor could help defray the cuts if he chooses. Sen. Llew Jones of Conrad, an architect of the November budget deal that closed a $227 million shortfall Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – Senator Steve Daines was in Billings Friday to promote the positive impacts of the new tax cuts that took effect January 1st. Daines toured True North Steel, visiting with Montanans, and discussing added jobs and bigger paychecks. The senator was all smiles as he toured True North Steel and discussed the positive Read More…
Every Democratic senator from a Republican-leaning state voted Monday to reopen the government, from the liberal Sherrod Brown of Ohio to the conservative Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Every one, that is, except Jon Tester. Republicans are determined to make him pay. The plainspoken Montanan was on a glide path to a third term despite Read More…
WHITEFISH — Maggie Voisin straightened her multi-colored K2 skis, leaned forward slightly and took flight, spinning around and sticking the 180 with the grace expected of someone who does this sort of thing for a living. She proceeded to hit another small ramp and spin smoothly back into a forward-facing position, eliciting oohs and aahs Read More…
The resurgence of the oil industry can be traced back to what happened in Congress one day in December 2015. That’s when lawmakers ended the 40-year ban on U.S. oil exports. Crude pumped in Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota could suddenly be shipped overseas. At the time, excess supply was wreaking havoc on the energy Read More…
U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT) was in Hamilton on Monday to honor WWII and Korean war veteran Jack Henley. Gianforte presented Henley with a certificate of his tribute made on the House floor back in November. Henley joined the Army right after graduating from high school in 1943 and attended boot camp in South Carolina. Read More…
Montana Senator Steve Daines will be hosting his second Montana Energy Summit in Billings, set for May 30 and 31, where attendees will discuss Montanan’s energy infrastructure and the good paying jobs that the industry creates.. At a Senate committee hearing this week, Daines promoted Montana coal as part of an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy for Read More…
HELENA – Former state judge Russell Fagg, one of several Republicans vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Tester this year, reported Tuesday that he raised $615,000 in campaign funds through December – his first campaign-finance report. Fagg, a former state district judge from Billings, also said that 80 percent of the money came from individual Read More…
Eleven of the the 12 most vulnerable senators up for re-election in 2018 ended last year less popular among their constituents than at the start of the 115th Congress. That’s according to the new Morning Consult Senator Approval Rankings for the fourth quarter of 2017, based on more than 250,000 surveys with registered voters from Read More…
BIGFORK – A small earthquake shook the area north of Bigfork on Sunday . There have not been any reports of injuries or major damage. The quake was measured by the U.S. Geological Survey as magnitude 3.0. It happened at about 6:44 p.m. on Sunday at a depth of about 6.1 miles, according to the Read More…
Apple on Wednesday made a slew of announcements about its investment in and contribution to the U.S. economy in part because of the new tax law. The headline from Apple is that it will make a $350 billion “contribution” to the U.S. economy. The company also promised to create 20,000 new jobs and open a Read More…
HELENA – Montana’s two Republican members of Congress said Wednesday they’ll support a GOP budget plan to keep the federal government open past Friday – including the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Yet Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte said any budget plan should not be linked to immigration reforms, which are Read More…
GILLETTE, Wyo. – Coal from the Powder River Basin will soon be on its way to Japan to fuel two new coal gasification plants in Fukushima Prefecture. Gillette, Wyo.-based Cloud Peak Energy, which operates the Spring Creek Mine near Decker, will begin to ship up to 1 million tons of coal a year to Japan Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — A new study using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows Montana has the worst drivers in the country. This is the third time in four years Montana has topped the list. “It’s not a good category to win, if you want to call it that,” said Montana Highway Patrol Read More…
More than three decades ago, the lawsuits against W.R. Grace & Co. began cropping up with relative obscurity, brought by former miners and their families who were exposed to the asbestos-laced vermiculite mined in Libby. People were dying. And as that trend became clear in the mid-1980s, the first of many lawsuits asserted that company Read More…
Well one of the leaders now in rentals and vacation nights is Airbnb. How much did we make here in the Big Sky State utilizing this service? According to NBC Montana, In 2017, Airbnb hosts earned over $19.7 million and welcomed nearly 147,000 people to Montana. Wow, that is more then I thought. Having used Read More…
On a map, or from the frozen skin of Dickey Lake, David Guild’s and Bill Krywolt’s properties look similar. Both are long, narrow lots about one acre in size, with a few pines and steep slopes plunging toward about 100 feet of lakeshore each. Krywolt reaches the water via a switchbacked path; Guild has a Read More…
Terry Sargent of Great Falls claimed a $100,000 prize in the Montana Millionaire lottery drawing. Sargent, a military retiree from Great Falls, won the prize on a Montana Millionaire ticket he bought at the Holiday Station Store on 15th Street North in Great Falls. He found out he won right after the winning numbers were Read More…
A whitefish native is headed to the Olympics. Maggie Voisin suffered a broken ankle in the Sochi Olympics, a heartbreak for the 15-year-old. This year, she will have the chance to finish what she started. READ THE FULL STORY.
HELENA – Candidate filing for state offices in Montana’s 2018 elections kicked off Thursday at the Capitol, led by a half-dozen filers in the top two races on the ticket, U.S House and U.S. Senate. Four of the five Democrats hoping to challenge Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte paid their $1,740 filing fee Thursday, including Lynda Read More…
With a resume that goes far beyond tremendous accomplishments at the University of Montana, a Grizzly will get his due! Division I-AA champion. All-American. Walter Payton Award winner. Grey Cup Champion. Canadian Football MVP, Hall of Famer and Coach of the Year. On Monday, the National Football Foundation announced that Montana Grizzly football great Dave Read More…
Is it your new year resolution to own a business, your chances of making that happen are looking better. One of the hardest parts of starting a business is coming up with the cash to get one up and running. What if I was to tell you that your could be the proud owner of Read More…
BILLINGS – Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme issued a statement Friday on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to rescind the Cole Memo. The Cole Memo, issued under the Obama administration, gave guidance to U.S. attorneys saying prosecutors shouldn’t focus on states that legalized it, as long as they had strong, effective regulations to keep Read More…