Featured Articles in News

Montana Highway Patrol trooper seriously injured by vehicle to continue recovery in Denver

The Montana Highway Patrol trooper who was run over by a suspect’s vehicle following a pursuit near Eureka is headed out of state to continue his recovery. Trooper Lewis Johnson was seriously injured on Feb. 16 and was flown by ALERT helicopter to Kalispell’s Logan Health to receive life-saving care. He suffered multiple critical injuries, Read More…

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Musk accuses SEC of harassing Tesla to chill his criticism of government

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…

New undergraduate program looks to recruit & retain teachers in the Treasure State

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…

Fed’s Bullard says the central bank’s ‘credibility is on the line,’ needs to ‘front-load’ rate hikes

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…

GiveSendGo hacked, names of Freedom Convoy donors leaked

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…

Gianforte urges religious exemptions for health care workers facing vaccine mandate

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…

MSU Extension offers free series about electric vehicle adoption in Montana

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…

Montana Human Trafficking Up 871%

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…

John Connolly, journalist who investigated Jeffrey Epstein, dead at 78

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…

Thieves in LA are looting freight trains filled with packages from UPS, FedEx and Amazon

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…

Gov. Gianforte, AG Knudsen encourage Montanans to join the fight to end human trafficking

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…

Council considers Big Mountain Road development

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…

County diversion program looks to expand after receiving national recognition

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…

Developer sues Whitefish over U.S. 93 hotel denial

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…

Statewide workers shortage, COVID concerns impacting school districts across Montana

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…

Historic LA landmark taken over by homeless now in cleanup mode

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…

Whitefish Returns to Stadium Planning, Seeks to Address Classroom Crowding

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…

Harvard Prof Convicted of Lying About China Ties

A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a Harvard University professor of lying to the U.S. government about payments he received from a Chinese university. Charles Lieber, the former chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, in 2011 agreed to establish a research lab at the Wuhan University of Technology in exchange for more than $1.5 million and Read More…

CDC drastically drops estimate of Omicron cases in US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has drastically reduced its estimate of Omicron cases in the US, saying the variant accounted for about 59 percent of COVID-19 infections as of Christmas Day — a massive drop from the 73 percent previously reported. The CDC also significantly lowered its estimate for the week before Christmas, Read More…

Repeat DUI offender arrested after smashing snowman

A woman with four previous DUIs is once again accused of driving impaired, this time allegedly plowing through a ditch and smashing a snowman in front of multiple witnesses. Christine Lois Simmons, 73, was booked into the Flathead County Detention Center on Christmas Eve, charged with felony DUI. READ FULL STORY

Montana Millionaire winning tickets announced

If you bought ticket number 233771 or ticket number 100451 in the Montana Millionaire raffle, today is a good day – those were the two winning numbers, each worth one million dollars. The winning numbers were announced at Montana Lottery headquarters in Helena on Tuesday morning. The tickets were sold in Butte and Missoula. READ FULL STORY

Minimum wage in Montana: biggest increase in years

GREAT FALLS — Montana’s minimum wage will increase from $8.75 per hour to $9.20 per hour beginning on Saturday, January 1, 2022 – an increase of 45 cents per hour. Montana law requires that the minimum wage be adjusted annually based on changes in inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from Read More…