Travelers heading to Montana this summer may face sticker shock at the rental car counter. Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) has been named the most expensive airport in the country for car rentals, according to a new survey from travel website Cheapcarrental.com. The survey, which analyzed rental rates across 100 U.S. airports for the peak Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen today announced the appointment of Billings attorney Emily Jones to the Montana Judicial Standards Commission, a key body responsible for upholding the integrity and ethical standards of the state’s judiciary. With more than 15 years in private practice, Jones brings extensive legal experience to the commission, which investigates allegations of judicial Read More…
Governor Greg Gianforte and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz has signed a historic Shared Stewardship Agreement between the State of Montana and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, launching an ambitious new partnership to accelerate forest restoration and wildfire risk reduction across the state. The agreement establishes a long-term framework to dramatically increase Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced Friday that his office has opened an investigation into Lee Enterprises following a February cyberattack that compromised the personal information of nearly 40,000 employees and subscribers, including an undisclosed number of Montanans. Lee Enterprises, based in Davenport, Iowa, owns several major newspapers in Montana, including the Helena Independent Record, Read More…
The Montana Healthcare Foundation and the state have launched a new program aimed at reducing drug and alcohol use in pregnant women, new mothers and families. The three step plan provides support and care throughout a women’s pregnancy, and includes screening, counseling or higher levels of care, if needed. Care coordinators can then address social Read More…
BUTTE – The Montana East-West Shrine Game is five days away from kickoff, and the West team is starting to jell. They are practicing at Montana Tech’s Bob Green Field in Butte all this week. It was a rain-filled Tuesday morning for the West squad, but these players couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to Read More…
A former financial analyst at Kalispell Regional Healthcare said this week the whistleblower lawsuit filed against the hospital is a skewed and out-of-context snapshot of a complex business model that aimed to create the best possible health-care network for patients. Chris Hassler, the manager of financial analysis at Kalispell Regional for 16 years until she Read More…
Birmingham, Ala. • A year after a book on the brutal slaying of black teen Emmett Till revealed that a key figure in the case acknowledged lying, the federal government has reopened its investigation of the 1955 crime that helped build momentum for the civil rights movement. A federal report sent annually to lawmakers under Read More…
HELENA – Winning the lottery once was exciting for Cheyenne Long, but winning it twice in one day was unbelievable. Long, of Kalispell, won a total of $77,000 playing Power Play Gold Crossword, a Montana Lottery Scratch ticket. She bought another ticket the same day, and won again. “It was a super genuine and blissful Read More…
The National Weather Service (NWS) hasn’t confirmed whether or not an actual tornado struck down in Plentywood, Montana Monday night. Nonetheless, the storm wreaked havoc, flipping over airplanes and knocking out the beacon at the airport. Taylor Ordahl of Brooks Photography posted over a hundred pictures via Facebook, a couple are posted below also with Read More…
GREAT FALLS — The state trap shooting tournament begins Wednesday morning in Great Falls, but Tuesday at the range shooting range just south of Ulm, they let a few amateurs take their best shots. Members of the KRTV and KXLH news team were given guns and turned lose on some clay pigeons at media day Read More…
Last year, the Montana Highway Patrol created a drug interdiction team with hopes of slowing the trafficking of illegal drugs in the Treasure State. And the creation of that team has led to a record amount of drugs seized on the state’s roadways. “I never imagined the amount of drugs we would find,” Montana Highway Read More…
37 year-old Samuel Fawcett, a former school resource officer in Stevensville, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with sex crimes involving a minor child. Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright said the investigation began in April. The charges came to light when the minor child was interviewed by First Step in Missoula, where it was revealed Read More…
DODSON – UPDATE: Sources now indicate that the animal may actually have been an escaped wallaby from a petting zoo on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Two people were injured in Montana Wednesday morning after swerving to avoid a kangaroo on the road. Trooper Matt Finley with the Montana Highway Patrol said he thought it was Read More…
Bozeman’s second high school hit another milestone Wednesday when the School Board approved $37 million worth of bids for the project’s interior, bringing the final cost of construction to $78.7 million. School trustees voted 8-0 at a special meeting to approve three dozen bids, for everything from carpentry and cabinets to paint and plumbing, gym Read More…
Montana Army National Guard soldiers based in Kalispell are one step closer to setting foot in Afghanistan. Sixty-eight members of the 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion deployed in mid-May, bound for a mobilization station at Fort Hood, Texas. According to Maj. Christopher Lende, chief of public affairs for the Montana National Guard, they are expected Read More…
HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice announced Tuesday they have developed a new website and hotline for survivors of sexual assault. The site features a video message from Montana Attorney General Tim Fox and is at www.dojmt.gov/SAKI. It includes: Links to survivor resources, including an interactive map to locate nearby services Crisis phone numbers Read More…
The White House on Wednesday notified the Secret Service of a threat after the actor Peter Fonda tweeted that President Donald Trump’s preteen son should be torn from his mother’s arms and caged. Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump told POLITICO that the notification came in response to Fonda’s tweet, which suggested Read More…
The Substance Abuse Prevention Alliance in Great Falls and the Lincoln County Unite for Youth Coalition will each get $50,000 for communities’ efforts to combat local drug use, especially among youth. “Montana’s meth and drug epidemic has taken lives and destroyed families,” Daines, R-Mont., said. “These critical funds will help Montana combat drug use and Read More…
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock on Monday requested a major disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide more resources to the state from the federal government for cleanup and recovery from widespread spring flooding. “Montanans have come together to help our friends, neighbors and communities respond to the devastating impacts of Read More…
Despite recent rains, fire season is coming soon and is predicted to be worse than average. Montana Insurance commissioner Matt Rosendale is pleading with Montanans to prepare for the worst by cataloging valuable possessions, a process that is especially important for those that live in the Wildland Urban interface. “Thorough inventories should include photos and/or Read More…
MILES CITY – A former Custer County High School science teacher was booked into jail Tuesday on suspicion of multiple sexual encounters with a 15-year-old female student over a month’s time in December 2016 and attempting to conceal evidence. Morgan Pett, 38, was charged with six counts of sexual intercourse without consent, one count of Read More…
The National Park Service on Tuesday announced the award of a $4.08 million dollar contract to Dick Anderson Construction out of Great Falls to begin rebuilding the historic Sperry Chalet Dormitory in Glacier National Park. The chalet was badly burned in August 2017 during the Sprague Fire that burned thousands of acres in the park. Read More…
Former Flathead County Commissioner and Creston farmer Joe Brenneman died on Sunday in Kalispell. Brenneman, who was 60, died at the Health Center Northwest on June 10. Brenneman was elected to the Flathead County Commission in a 2004 vote that was so close it garnered a recount, which Brenneman won. READ THE FULL STORY.
Flights were conducted over northeastern Montana this winter in search of feral pigs after sightings were reported, but none were found. Feral pigs are a destructive invasive species with a bristly attitude and hide and sharp tusks that have expanded in number to 6 million in 35 states. READ THE FULL STORY.
BOZEMAN – The 40-year-old rule barring spectators from golf courses in Montana has been a hot-button topic in the sports scene with a lot of outcry from parents. But now one of the biggest golf organizations in the country has thrown its weight into the issue. The American Junior Golf Association, one of the biggest Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Missoula police say at approximately 7:14 a.m. Sunday a body was discovered on the tracks at the Montana Rail Link facility between Orange and Van Buren streets. No word yet on the victim. READ THE FULL STORY.
This week, high school girls from around Montana have come to Helena for an opportunity to learn more about how their government works. On Sunday, about 130 high school girls from around Montana met at Carroll College’s Guadalupe Hall to check in for the annual American Legion Auxiliary Montana Girls State program. During the weeklong Read More…
In the book, “Montana Women From the Ground Up, Passionate Voices in Agriculture and Land Conservation,” you will find the stories of women who are strong, independent farmers and ranchers. The book was written by Kristine Ellis and was released this year. The book is a compilation of women across the state and their stories Read More…
Tired of scalpers reselling tickets at inflated prices, longtime concertgoers Joel Martin and Henry Vinson decided to develop a better system. The Montana State University graduates created a web app, Sellout, to eliminate what the pair see as the biggest issues with modern-day ticketing. After buying a ticket, the app obscures its barcode until the Read More…
Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines kicked off the 2018 Montana Energy Summit saying energy production is the catalyst to winning in the global economy. “Energy production can be either an opportunity or a threat to the U.S. economy,” Daines said. He said China will become the largest importer of oil and Montana can help the Read More…
WHITEFISH – From the outside, the house looks like a modern addition to the farmland, a modest, two-storied building with a slanted roof; the wood and metal visible give it a clean feel, but nothing too different from other homes in the valley. Then you get closer – inside-the-walls closer. The walls that are at Read More…
Families heading to Yellowstone National Park this weekend can expect to see an increase at the gate. “Yellowstone, like other parks in the national parks in the system is having a slight entrance fee increase,” said YNP Public Information Officer Jody Lyle. “Starting June 1, it will be $35 per vehicle to enter Yellowstone National Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. — According to Montana foster care workers, 3,952 kids are in foster care, and they say that number is increasing. The problem is the number of foster families is not. Youth Dynamics care manager Mary Wolf sees kids in need all the time. “Most of the youth we work with have a diagnosis Read More…
Montana State University’s president says renovating Romney Hall isn’t sexy, it’s mundane deferred maintenance. At the Montana Board of Regents meeting Wednesday in Havre, MSU President Waded Cruzado defended the Bozeman campus’ request to the governor and 2019 Legislature for $32 million to modernize the historic building and turn it into classrooms. Given the huge Read More…
A Glendive woman who claims the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated a tribal order when it handcuffed her and removed her two grandsons from the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in which she is seeking $1 million in damages. BIA agents used an “invalid Minnesota warrant” to seize Patsy Read More…
The man the Belgrade School Board wanted to lead the district as superintendent has turned down the job leaving trustees to go back to the drawing board. It is unclear why Tony O’Brien, a superintendent in Newcastle, Okla., turned down the job, two trustees said Wednesday. The board voted 6-1 to offer the post to Read More…
HELENA – Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, along with the attorneys general of Ohio and Washington, led a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general calling on congressional leaders to promptly pass measures to help hold opioid manufacturers accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic and stem diversion. The coalition sent a Read More…
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with ranchers and farmers affected by the Lodge Pole Complex Fires. Zinke made his first stop on a 10-day tour at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center on Sunday. He started with a few words about the U.S. and energy independence. “We should be energy dominant,” Zinke said. “That’s a wise Read More…
For all of Montana’s exquisite colors and variegated beauty, in the right light, with the right eyes, it can be seen as a vast blank canvas. That’s how director and screenwriter Michael Polish and his actress wife Kate Bosworth see the Treasure State through the lens of filmmaking potential, not just as a pretty backdrop, Read More…
U.S Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT) honored Patricia Spoonheim, better known as “Piano Pat,” with his weekly “Spirit of Montana” award on Friday. In a press release Gianforte said that she was chosen for “entertaining countless patrons from Montana and across the globe at the Sip ‘n Dip Lounge since 1963.” Gianforte’s statement about Spoonheim is Read More…
Lincoln County will soon receive $4.1 million in payments from the U.S. Forest Service, thanks to reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program. Approximately two-thirds of that amount will go into the county’s road budget, with the remainder going to local school districts, according to Lincoln County Commissioner Jerry Bennett. Under the SRS program, created Read More…
The National Park Service on Thursday granted a key permit for the rebuilding of Sperry Chalet. The project has been moving quickly through the regulatory process. Last month, the Park Service released a draft environmental assessment with four options for rebuilding the chalet that burned last summer in the Spraque Fire. Of these, the “preferred Read More…
HELENA – Governor Steve Bullock today announced he will appoint Gene Walborn to serve as the Director of the Montana Department of Revenue. “It is fitting that 28 years ago today Gene started with the Department of Revenue and now he’s taking over the reigns as Director,” said Governor Bullock. “I’m confident Gene will lead Read More…