The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation is inviting employers, educators and workforce partners to a free virtual session next week aimed at promoting registered apprenticeship programs as a tool for addressing persistent talent pipeline challenges. The online event, part of a broader Apprenticeship Knowledge Series timed to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week, is Read More…
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy recognized personnel assigned to National Guard counterdrug programs for their support to 10 award-winning law enforcement investigations during a ceremony in Washington, April 2. The investigations were part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, a White House-led effort that brings together federal, state, local Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has launched a consumer protection investigation into Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis N.V., alleging that both automakers have been collecting and selling drivers’ personal data to third-party companies — including insurance data brokers — without vehicle owners’ knowledge or consent. Mr. Knudsen issued Civil Investigative Demands to both companies, giving Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte made a stop at Billings’ Park High School this week, touring woodshops, auto bays and a greenhouse as part of a broader push to position career and technical education as a cornerstone of the state’s economic strategy. The visit underscored a governance philosophy Gianforte has pursued since taking office: that closing Montana’s Read More…
A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the federal government not to remove 144 cities from being designated as metropolitan areas. They say reclassifying them as “micropolitan” could put key federal funding at risk. The request comes after The Associated Press reported this month that the federal government wants to raise the population criteria for core cities 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…
Lawmakers this year passed the biggest budget in state history and carved out funding for long-term, transformational projects like broadband and rail line expansion, all amid a once-in-a-century pandemic. But it’s what didn’t happen that the 2021 Legislative Session might be most remembered for. For 128 days, dozens if not hundreds of legal and political 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…
Rioters targeted the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., on Thursday evening in renewed clashes between demonstrators and federal police. The attack on the courthouse came one day after authorities removed fencing initially erected over the summer, in response to continued riots following the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest Read More…
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose criminal fraud trial was scheduled to start in July, is asking for a delay because she’s pregnant. In a court filing on Friday, her defense attorneys and prosecutors asked Judge Edward Davila to delay the start of her trial by six weeks to begin on August 31, 2021. “On March Read More…
One of the most prolific careers in NFL history has come to an end, as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced Sunday on Instagram he has decided to retire after 20 seasons. Brees’ four children, Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen, announced in a video: “After 15 years with the Saints and 20 years in the NFL, our dad Read More…
A number of Americans reported late Friday that the third round of government stimulus checks were posted in their bank accounts, just one day after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Relief Plan into law. Biden said on Thursday that some Americans would begin receiving deposits as soon this weekend. READ FULL STORY
Dozens of violent anti-cop protesters clad in black descended upon an Oregon courthouse, where they set fires and damaged the building Thursday night as federal officers responded with tear gas and flash-bang grenades, according to video and reports. Footage from outside the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse in downtown Portland late Thursday shows a small fire outside Read More…
The city of Sioux Falls in South Dakota will allow its mask mandate to expire after a 9-year-old girl read a letter before the city council saying she was “bullied” in school and called “stupid” for not wearing a face covering. Mayor Paul TenHaken broke the four to four tie vote on the city council and Read More…
OLIVER COUNTY, N.D. (KFYR) – The Oliver County Sheriff says approximately 25 head of cattle are dead in the Missouri River after they fell through the ice on March 3. Oliver County Sheriff David Hillard says it is believed the cattle walked on to and fell through the ice. The Department of Environmental Quality is 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…
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – North Dakota has another new State Health Officer. Gov. Doug Burgum, R-N.D., named Dr. Nizar Wehbi to the post and is expected to take responsibilities on May 1. Wehbi will be the fifth person to hold the office in either a permanent or interim basis in the past year. “Dr. Wehbi Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Press Release) – Governor Mark Gordon announced Wyoming will remove its statewide mask requirement and allow bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms to resume normal operations on March 16. The decision reflects the state’s continually improving health metrics and is consistent with the Governor’s approach of balancing public health with protecting livelihoods. Wyoming has Read More…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can gather indoors with others who have the jab — without masks or social distancing. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC, said Monday that fully vaccinated people can follow the looser guidelines about two weeks after their final shot. “CDC Read More…
The U.S. and South Korea have reached agreement on a new accord that would resolve a yearslong dispute on how to share the cost of American troops based on the Korean Peninsula, officials from the two countries said Sunday. The new accord, which would last through 2025, would provide for a “meaningful increase” in the South Korean Read More…
The U.S. is on course for an employment boom this year once pandemic restrictions ease and the economy reopens, according to economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Reopening, fiscal stimulus, and pent-up savings should fuel very strong demand growth,” Chief Economist Jan Hatzius and colleagues wrote in a report highlighting an outlook that’s more optimistic than Read More…
On January 15, in its last days, President Donald Trump’s State Department put out a statement with serious claims about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement said the U.S. intelligence community had evidence that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory were sick with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019—implying the Chinese government had 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…
A Long Island doctor is facing murder charges after five patients allegedly died between 2016 and 2018 due to prescriptions he wrote. George Blatti, 75, was arraigned Thursday on five counts of murder in the second degree and 11 counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree. Blatti was remanded and is due back in 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…
More North Dakotans are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines as at least one district health unit moves into a broader vaccination category. Right now, most of the state is in the Phase 1B category, which means, among other things, anyone 16 years of age and older with two underlying health risk conditions can get vaccinated. Phase 1C includes 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…
Israeli authorities have identified the ship responsible for a massive oil spill that polluted the bulk of the country’s Mediterranean coastline, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said Wednesday. “We have laid our hands on the criminal ship,” Gamliel tweeted. “Our long reach will get to all those who harm nature in the sea and our Read More…
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who Read More…
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Biden administration’s push to end contracts with private prisons has left federal authorities in Cleveland scrambling to find ways to house nearly 800 inmates. A contract between the U.S. Marshals Service and CoreCivic, owner of the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, expired Sunday. Authorities, however, were granted a three-month reprieve, Read More…
Whole Foods Market this week entered Wyoming, its 43rd state, with the completion of its acquisition of independent supermarket Jackson Whole Grocer. The Austin, Texas-based specialty grocery chain said the store, located at 1155 S. Highway 89 in Jackson, Wyo., will remain open during its conversion to the Whole Foods banner. The acquisition was announced Read More…