(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday approved expansion of coal mining in Montana, marking the second largest coal expansion since President Donald Trump took office in January as 33.75 million tons of federal coal will be recovered, 300 jobs ensured, and a million homes powered by the decision. The Read More…
The intense, week-long search for Michael Paul Brown — wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of four people at the Owl Bar in Anaconda — came to an end Friday afternoon with his capture. Authorities say Brown was taken into custody around 2 p.m. near the Ranch Bar, just south of Highway 1. He Read More…
A University of Montana program that trains students for careers in behavioral health care recently received a $2.4 million grant to continue growing the program and produce more providers serving Montana’s children, young adults and those in rural and underserved areas of the state. UM’s Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program was awarded the Read More…
The Montana Historical Society has received a $50,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana to create a free field trip program aimed at Montana students statewide. This initiative will bring students from every corner of the state to the Montana Heritage Center and the State Capitol for immersive educational experiences focused on Read More…
(The Center Square) – Montana is the ninth least stressed state in the U.S., according to a new study, in large part because of financial, family and health-related factors. Personal finance website Wallethub ranked the states based on more than 40 indicators across categories such as average number of hours worked per week, personal bankruptcy rate and Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte announced Monday in a release that Montana is one of four states selected to participate in the National Governors Association’s (NGA) 2021 Policy Academy to Advance Whole-of-State Cybersecurity. In the new policy academy, Montana will work with the NGA on developing and implementing cybersecurity workforce development plans. “As one Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Organizers for the Kenny Chesney concert have rescheduled the show at the Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman for 2022 due to COVID-19 concerns. Montana State University said in a release Chesney is putting on an entirely new show with a different name, different line-up and is including new music for his 2022 tour Read More…
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has agreed to drop its lawsuit against five Flathead County businesses and cover the defendants’ legal fees at a cost of more than $94,000, nearly five months after the businesses were accused of ignoring a statewide mask mandate imposed by former Gov. Steve Bullock. The Read More…
Montana and Texas are leading a 21-state coalition that seeks to block the Biden administration’s cancellation of Keystone XL’s border crossing permit. Other states in the suit include North and South Dakota, as well as Wyoming and Nebraska. The suit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas by Read More…
BUTTE — A former Montana Tech and Jefferson High School football player, Derek James Nygaard, was charged Tuesday with two counts of felony sexual intercourse without consent. Butte-Silver Bow prosecutors formally charged Nygaard, 19, of Clancy, who appeared with his lawyer, David Maldonado, and his parents in Justice of the Peace Jimm Kilmer’s court. A warrant Read More…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Montana counterpart Austin Knudsen are leading a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline project. What Happened: When Biden took office on Jan. 20, he fulfilled one of his campaign promises by signing an executive order canceling the March Read More…
Montana State University agreed to pay a former professor accused of sexual harassment and discrimination and a former graduate student a settlement of $200,000. The settlement is the result of a civil suit filed in June 2019 against the university and four female graduate students who are current or former employees of MSU. In Read More…
HELENA — Montana Highway Patrol leaders honored three troopers Wednesday with the department’s highest award. At a ceremony in Helena, Attorney General Austin Knudsen and MHP Col. Steve Lavin presented Troopers Alex Hiday and Connor Wager and Sgt. Jerril Ren with the Medal of Valor. The medal recognizes troopers who show heroism above and beyond Read More…
Glacier National Park will hold a virtual community discussion on Thursday, March 18, regarding challenges the park and visitors will face in the upcoming 2021 season. Park Superintendent Jeff Mow will provide an overview on topics, such as the proposed ticketed entry system, park visitation numbers, COVID-19 mitigations, and challenges with seasonal housing. Glacier National Read More…
The Bozeman School District on Friday reached a tentative two-year pay raise agreement with its teachers union and outlined avenues for continuing conversations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. About 500 teachers in the district will receive a 4% increase in pay over the next two years, including a 2.5% increase beginning next school year followed Read More…
The Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) commissioned 15 new troopers today at the 70th Advanced Academy Graduation ceremony at Helena’s Civic Center. MHP Colonel Steve Lavin and Attorney General Austin Knudsen addressed the graduates at the event before their badges were pinned and they were sworn in to their new positions as Highway Patrol Troopers. Of Read More…
The Adaptive Performance Center celebrated its one-year anniversary on Saturday. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, it was considered essential of fitness and mental health therapy. Veterans say they enjoy working out at the Adaptive Performance Center (APC). “It’s a nice quiet atmosphere,” said Jim Carnathan, a U.S. Navy and U.S. Army veteran. “A lot of times Read More…
The Bigfork School District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday night to extend the district’s mask mandate through April 9 after the teachers union expressed concerns over an earlier decision to lift the rule at the end of this week. The trustees voted 6-0, with one abstention, to continue requiring masks in school buildings based on Read More…
GREAT FALLS — The Montana Department of Commerce’s Housing Division is urging people to prepare to take advantage of a new rental assistance program. As of Thursday, the program was still being developed but was expected to start sometime in the spring, and meant to help people who have been impacted by the pandemic. The Read More…
Bozeman’s longest-running clinic is working on a new home. Bozeman Clinic opened in the 1930s and, while it’s remained an independent clinic, has leased a location on the Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital campus since the 1980s. But construction has begun on the clinic’s new two-story location at 1245 N. 15th Ave., at the corner Read More…
Researchers at the University of Montana have released a study that says a booming short-term rental market could have a significant impact on the state’s economy and affordable housing, if left unchecked. The face of Montana’s tourism industry has already changed a lot in the last five years, says Jeremy Sage, the interim director of the Institute Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – Before sunrise Tuesday, the red lights of a small, fixed-wing airplane blinked in the sky against the dark silhouette of the Northern Rocky Mountains, heading to Glacier Park International Airport in northwest Montana. The private charter plane landed, taxied and came to a stop. Stairs were dropped and five health care workers Read More…
MONTANA — Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced three veterans’ organizations in the state will soon receive donations as a result of civil penalties assessed as part of a settlement agreement involving an illegal raffle enterprise and the Montana Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Gambling Control Division. In a press release, a series of online nationwide and Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today that a new Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) Trooper recruitment cycle is underway. MHP is accepting applications now through March 24 for at least ten new Troopers to begin training in August 2021. MHP is the traffic law enforcement division of the Montana Department of Justice and is responsible for Read More…
BILLINGS — In Doug Brakke’s mind, it was a simple request. “They had the opportunities to make us feel valued without any monetary risks involved,” the Billings Senior math teacher said. “So I guess my question is, why don’t you do that?” When House Bill 251 was introduced into the state Legislature on Jan. 26, Read More…
HELENA — The U.S. Navy announced that the USS Montana, a Virginia-class submarine, launched Wednesday in Newport News, VA. Wednesday’s launch brings the USS Montana one step closer to being commissioned into the Navy fleet. Huntington Ingalls Industries constructed the submarine. According to the company, the Montana had been dry-docked in since October. In launching, the Read More…
A Bozeman couple donated $1 million to a Special Olympics Montana endowment that aims to raise $10 million. Mike and Cyndi Huempfner donated the money to the organization’s endowment, titled Reveal the Champion in All of Us, according to a news release from the nonprofit. Cyndi said in the release she and her Read More…
HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte said during a news conference in Helena on Tuesday beginning on March 8, Montana will move to Phase 1B+ of the state COVID-19 vaccination plan. Vaccines will become available for Montanans who are 60 years of age and older as well as people between 16 and 59 years old who have Read More…
Kalispell’s building frenzy isn’t going anywhere. The city doubled the number of building permits issued last year, and major residential projects are on the horizon. On March 9, the Kalispell Planning Board will hold a public hearing for a subdivision proposed by Four Mile Farmstead LLC that at full buildout would offer 455 dwellings on Read More…
The suite of passenger air services continues to expand at Glacier Park International Airport (GPIA), which on Friday announced a new partnership with JetBlue Airways that adds direct routes to New York City in addition to new routes through American Airlines. Beginning this summer, travelers will be able to take a seasonal JetBlue flight to Read More…
BOZEMAN — The Gallatin City-County Health Department, along with Bozeman Health, is addressing two new concerns when it comes to local emergency rules and vaccine distribution – and according to Health Officer Matt Kelley, that includes how some people have found a way to “jump the line.” “While we are down significantly from where we Read More…
HELENA – While a lot slowed down in 2020, fraud and scammers did not. Data shows fraud reports and dollars lost went up both nationwide and in Montana. Scammers not only used phone calls, emails, text messages and social media, they also used COVID-19 to convince people to hand over their money. “We’re talking a Read More…
MONTANA — Montana Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, announced a new partnership called the Sentinel Project between the Department of Justice (DOJ), Montana Beer and Wine Distributors Association (MBWDA), and Montana Association of Chiefs of Police (MACOP) to fight human trafficking in the state. Beer and wine distribution employees statewide have participated in the awareness training, which included Read More…
BILILNGS — MSU Billings released its spring 2021 enrollment data, which showed an increase in undergraduate student enrollment and graduate degree program enrollment, particularly in healthcare support programs such as clinical rehabilitation, special education in applied behavior analysis, and health administration. At its official 15th class-day count 3,987 students were enrolled with 2,263 at University Campus and 1,724 Read More…
As the number of patients with mental health needs steadily increases, Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital is adding two rooms dedicated to emergency behavioral health patients. A lack of mental health and substance abuse services were flagged in two recent community health needs assessments, which Bozeman Health does every three years to ascertain where their services Read More…
HELENA — The Gianforte administration is updating a program to distribute at least $44 million in federal rent assistance to Montanans harmed financially by the Covid-19 pandemic – but the money has yet to be authorized by the Legislature. And that money is part of Montana’s total federal share of $200 million for rental assistance, Read More…
BILLINGS – As marijuana becomes legal in Montana with certain guidelines, there’s new concern among law enforcement roughly one month since the measure took hold. That’s because in a state already plagued by a drunk driving epidemic, new projections coming from the Montana Department of Justice show that DUI’s could increase due to marijuana use. Read More…
GALLATIN COUNTY — Body-worn cameras on law enforcement officers are becoming more and more common across the country. In a three-part series, MTN’s Gaby Krevat talks to a few Montana agencies leading the charge on body-worn cameras; a Montana city preparing to invest in the technology, and civil rights and racial equity advocates to hear Read More…
KALISPELL — The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office reports they are still searching for Nassem Ali Saleh Mohammed who illegally crossed the United States and Canadian border on the weekend of Jan. 23. Flathead Sheriff Brian Heino said Mohammed was taken into the custody of the Border Patrol in Whitefish, as the patrol agents were scanning Mohammed’s Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont.- Montana Highway Patrol Captain Keith Edgell said 50% of the deaths on Montana highways this year have involved people driving under the influence. There have been 17 deaths on Montana Highways so far in 2021. There were 209 deaths on Montana Highways in 2020. Ninety-one of those were linked to DUI. “You know, over the Read More…
BOZEMAN — As Montana State continues to search for its head football coach, one coach who had been a part of Jeff Choate’s staff since 2019 is packing his bags and heading to the NFL. MTN confirmed that Erik Frazier, the Bobcats’ wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator, has taken a position with the Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Missoula City Council agreed to sign the city on to an interlocal agreement with Missoula County, Bozeman and Helena to hire a green tariff consultant. A green tariff is a rate, not a tax, offered to people who want to opt into receiving 100% clean, renewable energy. The consultant will help leaders Read More…
A little more than one week ago, U.S. Border Patrol agents took four men into custody near Whitefish after they allegedly made an illegal border crossing from Canada into the U.S. Three remain in custody, including one accused of murder in Canada, but one walked away before agents fully realized who he was. Now, law Read More…
Longtime Titans coach Jeff Fisher is reportedly a candidate for the Montana State head coaching position. Fisher, 62, a Franklin resident, recently expressed interest in the Tennessee Vols vacancy. The Montana State position came open on Jan. 28 when Bobcats coach Jeff Choate became co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Texas. READ FULL STORY