On the steps of the Montana State Capitol, Governor Greg Gianforte was officially sworn in Monday for his second term as the 25th Governor of Montana. Accompanied by his wife, First Lady Susan Gianforte, the ceremony marked a historic milestone, as Gianforte became the first Republican governor to secure a second term since 1996. Chief Read More…
(The Center Square) − Pornhub will soon be inaccessible in 13 states after lawmakers passed a slurry of restrictions for social media and other internet sites. The bills require certain age verification measures for websites hosting adult content. A total of 16 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Read More…
Wyoming families will soon have greater access to educational choices as the first phase of the Wyoming Education Savings Account (ESA) application process goes live on January 1, 2025. The ESA program, established under the Wyoming Education Savings Account Act signed into law in March 2024, aims to empower families by providing financial support for Read More…
In a historic milestone, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has announced the investment of more than $92 million in public schools, marking a record-breaking revenue contribution from the state’s trust lands. “Thanks to DNRC’s responsible management of state trust lands, this historic $92 million investment will provide our students with the Read More…
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) have launched a new app that allows Montanans to access their hunting and fishing licenses with their phone. The goal is to help reduce the need to secure and carry around paperwork while people fish and hunt. MyFWP will store and display licenses, permits, and digital carcass tags, known as E-Tags, Read More…
The Gianforte Family Foundation will donate $50 million to Montana State University for construction of a building dedicated to its computing school, the university announced Friday. The building will be home to MSU’s Gianforte School of Computing — named for a previous contribution from the Gianforte Family Foundation — and other classes including cybersecurity and Read More…
Montana has seen a surge in opioid and fentanyl overdoses over the last several years and it has officials concerned. A January 2022 news release from Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen says Montana experienced a 116% increase in fentanyl-related deaths from 2019 to 2020. The release goes on to say Lewis & Clark County emergency Read More…
The Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs has been placed on “Immediate Jeopardy” status by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS sent a letter to the Montana State Hospital saying the hospital violated patient rights and infection prevention control. CMS determined that the violations are so serious that it’s an immediate and Read More…
Celilo Miles is a 27-year-old wildland firefighter, student and model. Earlier this week, Victoria’s Secret released a new campaign empowering women and inspiring social change. Gone are the Victoria’s Secret angels, and instead are 18 models from diverse backgrounds, one of which is an Idaho native. “It was like a dream come true, those were Read More…
More than 1 in 6 teenagers who gave birth in Texas in 2020 already had a child. Texas does not require sex education and has the strictest abortion law in the nation. Like a lot of teenagers, Iryanna Rodriguez’s day starts early and ends late, and she’s often running behind from the moment she wakes Read More…
A lawyer for Elon Musk blasted the Securities and Exchange Commission and accused the agency of using its power to harass the Tesla founder. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, described a “pattern of conduct” by the SEC that “has gone beyond the pale.” He said that the regulator, which is led by Chairman Gary Read More…
A consensus is forming among North Dakota’s top oil industry operators: the formation that drove the state’s fracking boom has entered its middle age. “The Bakken has been rebranded — whether we want it to be or not — as mature,” said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Oil and Gas Division, Monday, Feb. Read More…
A new undergraduate program in Montana is hoping to recruit, prepare, support and retain K-12 teachers in the Treasure State. The new program will provide a stipend for a full-year in-classroom experience, possible district-provided housing and teacher leader coaching a release from the Office of Public Instruction says. “Solving Montana’s teacher retention and recruitment challenge Read More…
Not much is left of Butte’s iconic M&M after it was destroyed in a fire last May, but there’s a chance it could be rebuilt thanks to an economic grant that can get the process started. The Butte Local Development Corporation secured a $25,000 grant from the Big Sky Trust Fund Program to help the Read More…
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks said in a news release that a poaching investigation in northeastern Montana that lasted more than two and a half years ended with several men being sentenced last month. The men were sentenced in the 16th Judicial District Court in Garfield County. READ THE FULL STORY
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard made his case for a rapid move higher in interest rates, saying Monday that the central bank needs to react to accelerating inflation. “I do think we need to front-load more of our planned removal of accommodation than we would have previously. We’ve been surprised to the upside Read More…
The Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo was hacked, with reportedly tens of thousands of names leaked of those who donated to the site’s page for the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa. The hack redirected GiveSendGo.com to a webpage with the domain GiveSendGone[dot]wtf, where a video of Disney’s Frozen was posted along with a manifesto condemning the website. GiveSendGo’s webmasters eventually fixed the website redirect, Read More…
For generations, family-owned farms and ranches lined the Montana landscape. Now, families say big corporations and wealthy investors are moving in. Mariah Shammel woke up, fed the cattle and looked out over the neighboring pastures other Montana ranchers once cared for. “There’s three and four families that have worked those places that are now taken Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte is urging unvaccinated health care workers to consider using religious and medical exemptions ahead of an upcoming federal vaccine mandate deadline. Gianforte says health care workers should evaluate all their options. Gov. Gianforte says Montana’s unvaccinated health care workers have alternatives prior to Monday’s deadline when employees must have at least one Read More…
CHEYENNE – With rising cost of living far outpacing state wages, the Wyoming Highway Patrol says it can’t keep up. In a letter posted Dec. 16 to the organization’s Facebook page, Wyoming Highway Patrol Association President Sgt. Duane Ellis wrote that a failure of the agency – and by extension, the state of Wyoming – to Read More…
A stowaway was found alive on Sunday in a wheel well in the nose of a cargo plane that flew 11 hours from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, Dutch police confirmed. The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a local hospital after authorities discovered him at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The man is in stable condition Read More…
In an 8-1 vote Tuesday, the Kalispell City Council approved on first reading a five-story $34 million downtown hotel development and a 250-space parking garage, as well as a land transfer of the prominent city-owned parking lot located on Third Avenue and Main Street. The parking garage, which would utilize tax increment financing (TIF), is Read More…
BILLINGS — A months-long battle will come to an end Monday night, when the Billings school board decides whether to keep two books allegedly depicting gay sex on the library shelves. The issue first arose in Fairfax County, Virginia, surrounding two coming of age stories: “Lawn Boy” a novel by Jonathan Evison and “Gender Queer: a Read More…
TOWNSEND — Four months ago, Lloyd Barrus was convicted of deliberate homicide by accountability in the 2017 killing of Broadwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Mason Moore. On Friday, Barrus was back in court in Townsend for a hearing that could determine where he’ll spend his sentence – in the Montana State Hospital or in prison. District Read More…
MISSOULA — Although there’s still some lingering uncertainty because of the latest pandemic surge, firefighters in Western Montana are preparing their teams for a return to Seattle to climb hundreds of stairs to help fight a critical disease. The Seattle Stairclimb, which has raised millions of dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has become a Northwest Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State University Extension will present a free, three-part webinar series, “Electric Vehicle Adoption in Montana: Understanding Opportunities and Issues.” The series is intended to provide individuals, community leaders and planners with a better understanding of the impact of the use of electric vehicles in rural communities. The webinars will be held from 9 to Read More…
The Montana Department of Justice investigated 68 human trafficking cases in 2021, an increase of 871 percent from the seven cases reported in 2015, and the actual number of cases investigated in the state last year is likely higher, reports the Great Falls Tribune. While the amount of trafficking in Montana is on the rise, experts Read More…
Hard-hitting investigative journalist and former NYPD detective John Connolly passed away on Saturday at 78. The cop-turned-scribe was known among media insiders for his unending Rolodex, and a unique ability to mix among Hollywood execs and stars, Wall Street rainmakers, pols, police and wiseguys alike. Connolly was a co-author with James Patterson of the 2017 book “Filthy Rich: The Read More…
CNN — Photos and videos showing piles of empty boxes littered alongside rail tracks in Los Angeles County, California have gone viral as shipping companies say they’ve seen a dramatic spike in railroad theft. Some of the boxes are packages from companies like UPS, Amazon and FedEx. Union Pacific, one of the country’s largest railroad companies, Read More…
Three years ago, millennials became the largest living adult population in the United States, but not in Wyoming, where a steady flow of young people have migrated out of the state for years. A recent report by the Department of Workforce Services noted a 6% decrease in Wyoming’s millennial population between 2014 and 2020. That Read More…
HELENA – After proclaiming January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Montana, Governor Greg Gianforte today teamed up with Attorney General Austin Knudsen to encourage Montanans to join the fight to end human trafficking. “Generating an estimated $150 billion worldwide per year, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery whereby traffickers, which Read More…
Whitefish City Council on Tuesday will consider a large-scale mixed-used development straddling Big Mountain Road. Developers behind the Mountain Gateway project are requesting a planned unit development and conditional zoning for the property. The council is meeting on Tuesday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday. The meeting begins at 7:10 Read More…
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, Smith Valley School in Batavia announced staff shortages due to the rise in COVID-19 cases were forcing the school to close for the remainder of the week, the first pandemic-related school closure of the new year. Meanwhile, Kalispell Public Schools (KPS) Superintendent Micah Hill dispelled rumors circulating this week that administrators Read More…
Billings students will have to wear masks for the foreseeable future after Superintendent Greg Upham extended the mask mandate on Thursday. Parents responded to the news Friday while waiting to pick up kids after school. “You know, I would love to see them go away but it’s not that big a deal,” said Kara Eaton, Read More…
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said Monday he will be leaving his post with just a few weeks left on his term and amid revelations regarding his trading of stock funds. In an announcement released Monday afternoon, Clarida said he will be stepping down from his post this Friday. His term expires on Jan. 31. The Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – Being recognized as one of the country’s most innovative new programs, Missoula County’s Calibrate program received a $600,000 grant award from the federal Department of Justice. This prosecution-led diversion program differs from treatment courts in the area. Treatment courts are programs that take place after convictions, where participants of Calibrate are enrolled Read More…
A lawsuit has been filed against the City of Whitefish regarding the recent denial of a proposed hotel just off Highway 93 on the south end of town. Rimrock Companies, the Florida-based company that proposed the project, filed a lawsuit last month in Flathead County District Court claiming the city unlawfully denied the proposal. It’s Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – A staffing shortage of substitute teachers mixed with COVID concerns and full-time teachers calling out sick is affecting some of the biggest school districts in Montana. At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year in September, human resource directors at some of the biggest school districts across the state from Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Read More…
WEST GLACIER — Retiring Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow has a sense of satisfaction for what his staff accomplished during his eight-year assignment. But he also looks ahead to the challenges his successors are going to face in the years to come. If there’s a development historians will notice about the past decade in Read More…
Los Angeles lawmakers over the past few years have allowed the homeless to overtake a city-owned historic town square that has been a tourist destination for a century. When Sheriff Alex Villanueva discovered that famed Olvera Street was becoming a ghost town as merchants and restaurant owners fled the homeless encampment, he took it personally. Villanueva used to visit the city’s oldest Read More…
After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic delaying progress on the new Whitefish High School (WHS) sports complex, the topic is back at the forefront for school administrators and trustees, but with some big potential changes on deck. The Whitefish School District (WSD) recently identified looming classroom capacity constraints at the current high Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The new year in Montana brings the legalization of recreational marijuana. Marijuana businesses are allowed to be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and a 20% state sales tax is included in the purchase. Adults can now buy up to one ounce of marijuana and are allowed to have two mature plants Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Strong winds and unstable snowpack has created moderate to low avalanche danger with a possibility of large avalanches across the Bridger, Gallatin and Madison mountain ranges. The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center (GNFAC) said frigid temperatures in the single digits along with heavy snowfall in the past two weeks and strong wind Read More…
UPDATE: 1/2/2022, 3:35 PM – NWS Great Falls issued a Flood Advisory near Logan for low land flooding. As of Sunday afternoon the flood waters have not reached the county road but there is widespread lowland field flooding. There is considerable ice jams and all the rivers near Headwaters State Park. GREAT FALLS – Officials Read More…