Montana’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4% in May, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, remaining below the national unemployment rate, which held steady at 4.3% over the month. “Since taking office, we’ve been focused on unleashing Montana’s economy to support business owners who create good-paying jobs, strengthen our workforce, and reduce barriers to employment,” Gianforte said. Read More…
A grassroots group of Laurel residents is asking a state judge to halt all planning and construction of a proposed forensic mental health facility after the state purchased 114 acres of farmland for the project west of town. Laurel Citizens Advocating for Responsible Economic Development, known as C.A.R.E.D., a group that formed in January 2025, Read More…
Montana Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar will remain unable to work from the PSC’s offices in Helena for now, after a federal judge denied his request for an order allowing him back into the building. The ruling means the commissioner, who represents Billings and much of south-central Montana, will continue participating in the regulatory body’s 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…
Montana State University’s most prestigious scholarship was awarded to 22 high school graduates from across the nation and the world, including 13 students from Montana. The MSU Presidential Scholarship is awarded based on scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership and exemplary public service. Recipients receive an annual stipend plus a tuition waiver, renewable for three additional years Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4% in May, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, remaining below the national unemployment rate, which held steady at 4.3% over the month. “Since taking office, we’ve been focused on unleashing Montana’s economy to support business owners who create good-paying jobs, strengthen our workforce, and reduce barriers to employment,” Gianforte said. Read More…
A grassroots group of Laurel residents is asking a state judge to halt all planning and construction of a proposed forensic mental health facility after the state purchased 114 acres of farmland for the project west of town. Laurel Citizens Advocating for Responsible Economic Development, known as C.A.R.E.D., a group that formed in January 2025, Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation applauded the U.S. Forest Service’s Montana Tri-Forest Federal Sustained-Yield Unit management plan, which is intended to support the state’s timber industry and improve forest health. “This is a key step to strengthen forest management and the infrastructure we rely on to keep our Read More…
Montana Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar will remain unable to work from the PSC’s offices in Helena for now, after a federal judge denied his request for an order allowing him back into the building. The ruling means the commissioner, who represents Billings and much of south-central Montana, will continue participating in the regulatory body’s 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…
Gov. Greg Gianforte last week continued his 56 County Tour, spotlighting innovations and investments in Montana’s rural communities in Big Horn, Rosebud, Treasure and Prairie counties. “Across Montana, rural communities are welcoming innovation and new investments to preserve the culture and history of our past while growing our economy,” Gianforte said. “Thanks to the efforts Read More…
Montana Attorney General’s Office files 25 felony counts; suspect already held in North Dakota on similar charges Prosecutors in the Montana Attorney General’s Office have charged a Sheridan County man with 25 felony counts of sexual assault and drug-related crimes, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced. The charges stem from allegations that the man abused five Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen asked the Montana Supreme Court to dismiss a petition from Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell seeking to end Knudsen’s supervisory control over her office, according to a reply filed this week. Knudsen invoked supervisory control over the Gallatin County Attorney’s Office on April 30, after Cromwell declined to rescind a policy Read More…
Five-day celebration in Helena will run June 24-28 with free tours, workshops and a Capitol Lawn finale The Montana Historical Society will host the Montana History Festival from Wednesday, June 24, through Sunday, June 28, a five-day community celebration marking the grand opening of the fully completed Montana Heritage Center. The festival will feature free Read More…
Governor recognized two veterans with Montana’s top commendation and addressed the state VFW’s annual convention Gov. Greg Gianforte recently continued his 56 County Tour and honored veterans in Yellowstone and Custer counties as part of his annual effort to visit every county in Montana. “As I travel the state for my 56 County Tour, I Read More…
Attorney general says MVD will waive renewal and replacement fees in July for Montanans adding the state’s new eagle-in-flight citizenship marker Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced that the state’s Motor Vehicle Division will waive certain driver license and identification card fees throughout July for residents who add the state’s new citizenship marker to their Read More…
Abutting the first-floor hallway of Montana State University’s Romney Hall, the Travis W. Atkins Veteran Support Center resembles a typical campus study space. But through the center doors is much more. Equipped with rows of tables, printers and grab-and-go snacks, the center dedicated to supporting MSU’s military population provides a comfortable place for veterans and their family members to study, relax and find community. Started in 2011, the Veteran Support Center has consistently invested in the Read More…
Montana earned recognition as one of the nation’s premier destinations for entrepreneurs, landing in the top 15 states in a WalletHub study ranking all 50 states on their business startup environments. The report evaluated states across 25 measures grouped into three dimensions: business environment, access to resources and business costs. Metrics included number of startups Read More…
After nearly half a century on Texas death row, Clarence Curtis Jordan was resentenced this week to life in prison by a Harris County judge who also recommended that the 70-year-old be granted parole based on medical conditions. The intellectually disabled man spent more than 47 years awaiting execution before Texas’ highest criminal court vacated Read More…
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has approved an Exploration License Amendment for Sentinel Metals and issued a final Environmental Assessment for the Columbia Gold Project, located near Lincoln in Lewis and Clark County. DEQ accepted public comment on the draft EA from March 20 through April 13, 2026, drawing significant public interest. The agency Read More…
Governor Greg Gianforte announced Montana joined First Lady Melania Trump’s initiative to expand access to Trump Accounts for children in the foster care system, providing a financial foundation for young people aging out of care as they transition into adulthood. Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment accounts available to every American child born between January 1, Read More…
The University of Montana will launch the first public physician associate program in the state this fall, addressing a major shortage of healthcare workers. The new program recently received accreditation-provisional status from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, an organization that establishes the national standard for PA programs. The accreditation marks Read More…
Sixteen Montana State University student-athletes will travel to Casper, Wyoming, next week to compete in the College National Finals Rodeo, representing the Bobcats as Big Sky Region champions for the third consecutive year in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Competition runs June 14-20 at the Ford Wyoming Center, where MSU will send nine men Read More…
Montana State University student Peyton Summerhill has wanted to be a scientist for as long as she can remember. “For so many years as a kid, I was looking around trying to figure out where the scientists were, and they were here the whole time,” said Summerhill, who grew up in Bozeman and is majoring Read More…
The University of Montana School of Journalism capped one of its most successful seasons in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program when recent graduate Maddie McCuddy won the National Photojournalism Championship in San Francisco on June 4, adding a $10,000 prize to an already banner year for the program. McCuddy’s national championship title, combined with UM’s Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. — Kristopher Schreiner, an 18-year veteran of Kalispell Middle School’s history department, was named the 2026 Centennial Bell Montana History Teacher of the Year, recognized for an immersive approach to Montana history that has students mining for gold, tanning hides, and constructing log cabins alongside traditional classroom instruction. The awards committee selected Schreiner Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that Janicki Industries selected Great Falls as the site of an $800 million manufacturing campus expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in its first five years and ultimately employ more than 2,000 people once fully built out. John Janicki, president of the company, made the announcement Read More…
Scores of business professionals with an interest in women’s leadership congregated in Montana State University’s Strand Union Building for the annual women’s leadership conference on Tuesday. Hosted by the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the highly anticipated conference welcomed around 250 women from across Montana for a day filled with interactive keynote lectures, panel discussions, a slate of breakout sessions, catered lunch and a networking hour. Katie Read More…
(The Center Square) – The Governor of Montana tells The Center Square he hopes to lure more out of state business expansion into his state, following this week’s announcement that Sedro-Woolley based Janicki Industries chose Great Falls as the site of its next manufacturing campus. “We want entrepreneurs, they’re like golden geese,” said Montana Governor Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation called on Montanans to take steps to protect children from online predators during Internet Crimes Against Children Prevention Month, releasing new data showing a sharp rise in reported exploitation nationally and thousands of tips received in Montana over Read More…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal jury convicted four current and former leaders of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers on racketeering, embezzlement, and fraud charges, finding that they stole millions of dollars in union dues through lavish foreign travel, no-show jobs, unauthorized loans, and personal expenses charged to the union over a 15-year period. The Read More…
BOZEMAN — Kollen Pipinich keeps his schedule full. It’s a delicate balance, he said. As a full-time student at Montana State University, he spends much of his day in classes. As a mechanical engineering student, he spends a great deal of time studying. As a helper by nature, Pipinich has volunteered hundreds of hours to Read More…
HAMILTON, Mont. — The Department of Justice charged two researchers from the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and making false statements to federal law enforcement, U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy announced. The two researchers charged were Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe, both foreign nationals working at the Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a 14-state coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, asking the justices to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision that upheld California’s requirement that physicians complete diversity, equity, and inclusion training as a condition of maintaining their medical licenses. Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district court’s dismissal of Lighthiser v. Trump, a climate-related lawsuit that Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen had intervened in last year to help defend the Trump administration’s energy policies. The ruling marked the second court to side against the plaintiffs in the case, Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Labor and Industry unveiled a new online Wage and Hour Portal designed to give workers a faster way to report wage concerns and provide employers a more convenient method for responding to those claims, the agency announced. The portal connects users with the department’s Employment Standards Division through Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — The Trump administration selected Montana as one of ten states to receive federal funding to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services announced. Through the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Medicaid Demonstration Program, Montana will participate in a four-year federal Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte continued his annual 56 County Tour this week, visiting small businesses, energy facilities, agricultural operations, and infrastructure projects across six counties along Montana’s Hi-Line and Rocky Mountain Front. The governor began his day in Toole County at Prairie Peddler in Shelby, a local gift and coffee shop that reopened Read More…
Montana voters will cast ballots Tuesday in primary elections that will shape the state’s most competitive federal races of the 2026 cycle, with talk radio host Aaron Flint entering primary day as the clear frontrunner in the Republican contest for the Western Congressional District. Flint carries the full weight of the Republican establishment behind him, Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Billings City Council voted this week to establish an independent governmental authority to oversee Billings Logan International Airport, ending nearly a century of direct municipal control over one of Montana’s busiest commercial aviation facilities. The council approved the measure following a presentation from Billings Aviation and Transit Director Jeff Roach and Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a coalition of ten state attorneys general in calling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a rigorous review of any filings submitted by OpenAI ahead of the company’s anticipated initial public offering, citing concerns about undisclosed conflicts of interest involving chief executive Sam Altman. In Read More…
As the fourth largest state in the U.S. with the sixth smallest population, each agency relies on another for niche expertise, whereas bigger agencies can potentially accomplish everything on their own, said Adam Pankratz, deputy chief of Montana State University’s police department. These relationships start to form during basic training, which 14 future officers from Read More…
Montana has vaulted from 22nd to 8th in national fiscal health rankings over the past four years, according to a new report from Truth in Accounting, a nonpartisan think tank that annually evaluates the financial condition of all 50 states. The 2025 Financial State of the States report credited Montana’s rise in part to revenues Read More…
A new endowment at the Montana State University Alumni Foundation aims to support Montana students for generations to come, thanks to a $1 million investment from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. The endowment will permanently fund the D.A. Peressini Legacy Scholarship, named for father and son Donald and Daniel Peressini. Both attended MSU and Read More…