The Montana Historical Society is accepting nominations for the 37th Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award, which recognizes an outstanding schoolteacher for excellence in teaching Montana history. This year’s award will honor a teacher in grades 7 through 12 who has demonstrated exceptional work teaching Montana history during the 2025-26 school year. Nominations must be submitted Read More…
State officials are inviting public input on a proposed overhaul of Montana’s workforce development strategy, aimed at better aligning education, job training, and industry needs across the state. The Montana State Workforce Innovation Board is seeking comment on proposed updates to the state’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) plan, part of a broader effort Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a 24-state coalition urging the Trump administration to investigate the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Science Foundation, and to cut off federal grant funding tied to a climate science chapter used in a judicial reference manual. In a letter sent this month to Read More…
Montana’s Land Board approved a series of revenue-generating actions at its March meeting expected to produce more than $1.63 million for the state’s trust beneficiaries, including support for public education. The actions approved by the board included an estimated $1,093,308 from timber sales and $532,944 from an oil and gas lease sale. Combined, the measures 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…
Glacier High School football coach Grady Bennett has been named the Most Spirited Coach by Varsity Brands. The announcement was made Saturday during the Varsity Brands School Spirit Awards. Glacier High School will receive $3,000 as part of the award. The award recognizes a successful coach who makes the connection between athletic involvement, academic achievement Read More…
Facing public opposition to a proposed cell tower on top of Flathead High School, the Kalispell public school board voted 7-1 Tuesday night against entering into a lease agreement with Verizon Wireless, halting the project from moving forward. Led by a grassroots group called the Committee for Responsible Information on the Health of Children and Read More…
BILLINGS — The developer of the largest home ever built in Billings is facing federal charges for allegedly faking his own abduction in Virginia in a scheme to “disappear” with his mistress last month. Larry Price was charged in U.S. District Court in Virginia with giving false statements to investigators. Price, who developed the 26,000-square-foot Read More…
BILLINGS – The old James F. Battin Federal Courthouse has been vacant for several years. WC Commercial and EEC, Inc. have been removing asbestos and remodeling what is now known as the Stillwater Building. The first tenant, Yellowstone County, will soon move into a third floor office at 316 North 26th Street. Crews worked on Read More…
over 2,400 students received 3,344 degrees from the University of Montana on Saturday inside the Adams Center. They also enjoyed their commencement speaker, Griz Alum and Chief Operating Officer for Nike Corporation, Eric Sprunk, who looked ahead at what the future might hold. “I don’t believe anybody born after today will need a drivers license Read More…
What do you think? Does Netflix need to pay up? I took the poll shortly before noon on Thursday and nearly 65% of those who answered the question, over 13,000 people, seemed to agree with me: Netflix needs to compensate Glasgow, Montana photographer Sean Heavey. PetaPixel.com notes: “Photographer Sean R. Heavey was watching the hit Read More…
Winter still reigns in the upper reaches of Glacier National Park. Its mountains remain coated with snow, and a dark layer of clouds cloaked their tips May 2. But as the ALERT rescue helicopter flew over Lake McDonald, bound for Sperry Chalet, Orrin Webber wasn’t concerned. “We’re gonna have good visibility, that’s for sure,” the Read More…
The Montana Army National Guard conducted a change of command ceremony on Saturday at Fort Harrison in Helena. Brigadier General Robert Sparing relinquished command to Colonel Donald Emerson in front of military personnel, congressional representatives, and friends and family. “Colonel Emerson brings an outstanding experience level with him. He’s a top notch professional officer and Read More…
Amtrak will close two ticket counters in Montana in early June with company officials citing the decision as a cost-saving move and the fact 90 percent of riders are buying tickets online or via telephone. The counter at the Havre station will close June 1 and the Shelby ticket counter will close June 3, an Read More…
Despite holding an initial lead during the Kentucky Derby, Bolt D’Oro lost steam halfway through the race and finished 12th. His owners say he was checked for any heart or lung issues, but seems to be fine. First-place finisher Justify won the race on some of the worst, muddiest conditions in the derby’s history. Owner-trainer Read More…
HELENA – A study commissioned by Montana’s lodging industry says rentals by Airbnb, the on-line lodging giant, generated $69 million of revenue last year in Montana, but likely didn’t pay state lodging taxes on that amount. Industry spokesmen this week that the Montana Legislature should pass a law to clarify taxation of Airbnb and other Read More…
BILLINGS – Authorities say 17 people have been arrested on drug and gun charges under an initiative targeting an increase in violent crime in southeastern Montana that’s blamed on the drug methamphetamine. The arrests were announced Monday by Federal and state prosecutors and local law enforcement in Billings. U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme says all but Read More…
The Kalispell School Board of Trustees approved Callie Langohr as the assistant superintendent for School District 5 on April 24, selecting the only principal Glacier High School has known to help steer the future of every public school student in Kalispell. Langohr will assume her new position on July 1. Before opening Glacier in 2007, Read More…
As the flatland flooding around northcentral Montana begins to recede, counties, road departments and ag producers are assessing the toll. At this point the basic assessment is that spring seeding is about a month behind where it should be at this point, and it could be two or three weeks before the ground dries out Read More…
Seth Bodnar, who took the reins as president of the University of Montana in January, sees a world that increasingly values people with diverse, interdisciplinary educations and employment capabilities. His own experience speaks to this assessment: graduate of West Point, “a liberal arts college with a bunch of military training;” Rhodes and Truman scholar who Read More…
Missoula City Councilman Jesse Ramos wants to see how much a private attorney is receiving in compensation for work on the Mountain Water Condemnation lawsuit, but says he has been blocked from seeing the information by city officials. Missoula Attorney Quentin Rhoades explains. “The Mayor, the city attorney, and apparently the private attorney who has Read More…
BILLINGS – In the summer, the field behind the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch is full of fruit. “We had such a huge, I mean huge, amount of fruit last year,” said Jim Klempel, a teacher at YBGR. “Monday mornings we’d start at 6 in the morning and we’d pick all day.” That fruit is Read More…
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is praising his doctor and advocating for cancer screenings after he was diagnosed with colon cancer last month. According to Fox, he went his doctor with symptoms of fatigue and back pain. “[My doctor] recommended some blood tests and asked if I ever had a colonoscopy,” Fox said. “I told Read More…
MISSOULA – It will take a combination of “cuts and curriculum” if the University of Montana is going to solve its on-going budget issues. And UM President Seth Bodnar says that’s going to take some “hard decisions”. Everyone on campus has known this day was coming, as the administration grapples with a way to not Read More…
(HELENA) Paul Jenkins and Freddie Lawrence, convicted for the 1994 murder of Donna Meagher and a robbery, have been ordered to be released from prison. The order freeing Jenkins and Lawrence comes just days after Lewis & Clark County District Judge Kathy Seeley overturned their convictions and ordered a new trial. In her ruling, Judge Read More…
An independent nonprofit research group says Montana is losing its open space. Headwaters Economics analyzed home construction for the state and laid out the numbers from county to county from 1990 to 2016 in a study titled Montana Losing Open Space. During that period, the study said the number of single-family homes in the state Read More…
In 2016, students from the Natural History Museum at Kansas University found a relatively small dinosaur pelvis in the Hell Creek formation in Montana. It was the end of their dig season and they didn’t have the time to unearth the rest of the remains. But the fossil was worth the wait; when they returned Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court ruled this week the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association must return $200,000 to the city left over from an old lawsuit settlement around impact fees. The March 27 ruling upholds an order made in Gallatin County District Court. “We’re disappointed,” said SWMBIA attorney Art Wittich. “That money was supposed to be Read More…
A rumbling fleet of snowplows and excavators began the daunting task of clearing Glacier National Park’s roads last week, forging through a winter’s worth of snow and heralding springtime in Northwest Montana as the park prepares its iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road for the summer frenzy. On the east side, crews are plowing the Two Medicine Road Read More…
Since 2017, the Montana Veterans Meat Locker has distributed over 8,000 pounds of meat to over 600 veterans and their families. This is a non-employed, all-volunteer organization so our only cost is the processing fees,” said Chris Grudzinski, founder of Veterans Meat Locker. “We have great ranchers and farmers and hunters who have donated these Read More…
Denise Juneau is one of three finalists to be the next superintendent of schools in Seattle. There are some 53,000 students in the Seattle schools, and this number includes Huchoosedah, the school district’s Indian education program, designed to close opportunity gaps and deliver excellence to every student. Juneau, a citizen of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Read More…
The sale of Avista Corp. to a Canadian utility passed a major milestone Tuesday when the parties outlined conditions in a proposed agreement with Washington regulators. After the $5.3 billion sale, Avista would operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hydro One Ltd. of Toronto. Hydro One has agreed to keep Avista’s headquarters in Spokane, retain Read More…
HELENA – A Lewis & Clark County District Court Judge says author Jon Krakauer should be given access to university documents concerning a high-profile rape case on the University of Montana campus five years ago. However, the judge ruled that Krakauer will only receive a redacted version of those documents, protecting the identity of the Read More…
Whitefish Mountain Resort broke its record for skier visits in a single season on Sunday, nearly two weeks before the season ends. Resort officials estimate skier visits so far this year will eclipse 350,000 before this weekend. The previous record of 346,859 total skier visits was set last season. Resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said these Read More…
GREAT FALLS – A federal judge has put the brakes on coal expansion in the Powder River Basin, ruling that the federal government must find an alternative to a plan that could have opened 15 million acres for development. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Great Falls ruled Friday that the Bureau of Land Management Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Former New York Giants linebacker and Montana State star Corey Widmer has declined his nomination to the Montana Football Hall of Fame, saying the sport “destroyed my life.” Widmer said after numerous concussions he fears he suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease. He has depression and memory problems, suffers Read More…
Helena Public Schools leaders called Wednesday a day to remember, as they kicked off the district’s biggest building project in decades. They held groundbreaking ceremonies for three new school buildings, at Bryant, Central and Jim Darcy Elementary. The new construction was made possible by a $63 million bond, approved by district voters last year. “This Read More…
Pondera County Sheriff Carl Suta has agreed to resign from his position, following months of legal battles. Two misdemeanor charges against Suta were resolved without trial recently. On Friday, March 16, Suta pleaded no contest to one charge of partner/family member assault, and also agreed to a deferred prosecution on a charge of official misconduct. Read More…