(The Center Square) – Illinois is facing new lawsuits over the state’s digital ad tax and social media platform fee. Internet freedom advocate NetChoice – a trade organization that includes social media giants Meta, Google, X, TikTok and Snap – filed two complaints in Cook County court on Friday. NetChoice Litigation Center Director Paul Taske Read More…
The U.S. Treasury Department said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network identified about $17.5 billion in suspicious financial activity potentially connected to health care fraud, highlighting the scale of schemes targeting Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. The findings come from an analysis of 5,702 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed by financial institutions between March 1, Read More…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has joined Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop a multistate antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The filing puts Knudsen at the center of another major national antitrust fight, this time on the opposite Read More…
(The Center Square) – Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle acknowledged receiving a long-awaited formal explanation from Mayor Katie Wilson’s administration regarding the forced resignation of former Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes on Friday. He maintains he still disagrees with how the executive branch handled Barnes’ ousting. In a letter sent on behalf of the mayor, Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A Browning man, Steven Ray DeCarlo, has admitting to dealing methamphetamine on the Blackfeet Reservation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The following was sent out by U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana: A Browning man accused of being a methamphetamine dealer on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation admitted to a trafficking crime today, Read More…
After two years of negotiations mired in deep division and characterized by back-and-forth public accusations, Logan Health administrators and unionized nurses found themselves in agreement last week when both sides expressed satisfaction with the union’s first contract. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, which is representing Logan Health’s bargaining unit of 650 unionized nurses, announced that nurses voted Read More…
HELENA — The state Board of Pharmacy has issued an emergency order to help pharmacists oversee and administer more vaccines for Covid-19 or other diseases – after that power had been revoked by Gov. Greg Gianforte. The board issued the order last week, reinstating Montana pharmacists’ emergency authority to oversee other health-care professionals, such as Read More…
BUTTE — Both the State and the defense rested their cases in Lloyd Barrus’ deliberate homicide by accountability trial Monday morning, in which Barrus is accused in the death of a Broadwater County Sheriff’s deputy in 2017. The judge decided to dismiss the jury until Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. when closing arguments will begin. Read More…
The FDA shopped from a menu of aborted fetus organs to insert into lab mice as part of taxpayer-funded experiments, according to government records—a practice that watchdogs said may violate federal law. From 2012 to 2018, Advanced Bioscience Resources, a nonprofit fetal tissue supplier, charged the FDA $340 per aborted fetus liver and $515 per Read More…
DEL RIO, Texas — State troopers deployed to the border by Gov. Greg Abbott are being credited for doing the federal government’s job and stopping thousands more migrants in Mexico from illegally crossing into the United States after well over 15,000 made it through here late last week. A swarm of Texas Department of Public Safety officers, known Read More…
(Bloomberg) — Most people don’t give fertilizer a second thought — except maybe when driving through a particularly fragrant agricultural area. But with prices for some synthetic nutrients at their highest levels since the financial crisis, it could mean weaker harvests and bigger grocery bills next year, just as the world’s supply chains start to Read More…
Arkansas is using federal coronavirus relief funds to buy children’s books about the coronavirus for distribution to schools in the state that are produced by a company co-founded by former Gov. Mike Huckabee. The Department of Education inked a $245,300 deal with the Florida-based business EverBright Media to distribute “The Kids Guide to Coronavirus” booklets Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said on Monday that it is tracking an outbreak of a disease that mainly impacts white-tailed deer and pronghorn. Outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) were confirmed based on sampling of dead deer and pronghorn near Arvada in northern Wyoming as well as near Douglas, Laramie and Cheyenne. Read More…
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland Eastern Shore judge who was about to be arrested at his home on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child was found dead Friday, officials said. FBI agents went to the residence of Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell in Henderson, Maryland, early Friday. “Upon entering the residence Read More…
Dr. Anthony Fauci has expressed his support for COVID-19 vaccination requirements for air travel – as the Biden administration did not rule it out. “I would support that if you want to get on a plane and travel with other people that you should be vaccinated,” the White House chief medical adviser said in an Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — American troops leaving Afghanistan is familiar to those Vietnam veterans who were pulled out of their war back in the 1970s. One veteran from Helena recently released a book about his time serving in the Vietnam War. Author and Vietnam Veteran John Quintrell said leaving Afghanistan and Vietnam have storming similarities. He Read More…
Jurors on Friday heard the last words Broadwater County Deputy Mason Moore ever spoke as he tailed a Chevy Suburban at 100 mph on U.S. 287 and relayed information to a dispatcher. The dispatcher alerted the Montana Highway Patrol and other law enforcement and then lost contact with Moore, and minutes later, a trooper came Read More…
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Every year in Yellowstone National Park, huge bull elk perform loud and wild mating rituals. Sometimes the crazed animals pose a threat to nearby people, and much of the activity happens right in one of the most-visited parts of the park, the Mammoth village. The rut, or elk mating season, peaks in September, and people flock Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. — The Ambassador of Ireland to the United States, Daniel Mulhall, was in Montana last week visiting different parts of the states. One of the places he stopped in was Butte to see what future partnerships it could hold. “Mainly because of the presence here in the 19th and 20th centuries,” said Mulhall. “Tens Read More…
Car manufacturers including Ford, Volkswagen and Daimler are still struggling to deal with the impact of the global chip shortage, with executives from each of the companies warning a lack of silicon is likely to remain a problem. Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius and Ford Europe chairman of the management board Gunnar Herrmann told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach Read More…
The Biden administration on Monday unveiled a major permanent increase to the food stamp benefits that help 42 million Americans buy groceries — a record bump up for one of the country’s largest safety net programs. The average monthly benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be roughly 27 percent higher than they were Read More…
Rapid City has issued 3,111 building permits so far this year with a valuation of $245,820,725. The valuation from January to August is the second-highest in the city’s history with the highest from 2018 with a total of $262,030,115 for the same time period. The May to August valuation is also the second highest with Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — The Gallatin County Planning Department released the final draft of a new growth policy for the county. The policy is called Envision Gallatin: Tomorrow Together. It centers around three major themes — open space, heritage and opportunity. The Gallatin County Commission will vote on the policy at the public meeting Sept. 21. Developing Read More…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death asked a judge Thursday to bar their upcoming trial from being livestreamed, saying some witnesses won’t testify if the proceedings are broadcast. The request from attorneys for Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao is an about-face from their earlier request to Read More…
Citing rising Delta variant COVID-19 cases, Crow Tribal Chairman Frank Whiteclay announced he is reinstating a mask mandate inside all public buildings, including schools, on the reservation. The Apsalooke Service Corp main office in Crow Agency at the old casino will help provide masks and cleaning supplies for the community, Whiteclay said in a release. Read More…
A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by the state of Missouri seeking to stop a project that would supply Missouri River water to parts of central North Dakota. The Wednesday ruling will enable the federal Bureau of Reclamation to move ahead with a water service contract for the Central North Dakota Water Supply Project. Read More…
Heartwrenching details began emerging Friday about some of the 13 U.S. troops killed in suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, which included 20-year-old father-to-be and Bondurant native Rylee McCollum. Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier were among the dead, while 18 other U.S. service members were wounded in Thursday’s bombing, which was blamed on Read More…
Unlike Wyoming, PacifiCorp is turning away from fossil fuels. The parent company to Rocky Mountain Power, the state’s biggest electric utility, announced Friday that its biennial Integrated Resource Plan is expected to include substantial investment in renewables — and no new investment in coal or natural gas. The 2021 plan will be finalized next Read More…
“One of the first things he asked me … was whether or not I was vaccinated,” Firlit, 39, told the Chicago Sun-Times. She was not, she said, explaining that she has had “adverse reactions to vaccines in the past” and that a doctor advised her against getting inoculated against the coronavirus. “It poses a risk,” she Read More…
NEW ORLEANS, La. — All of New Orleans is without power as Hurricane Ida continues to hit Louisiana with high winds, heavy rain, and storm surge. Entergy New Orleans said Sunday evening that all of Orleans Parish was without power due to “catastrophic damage” to its transmission system. Entergy’s outage tracker on its website showed more Read More…
Montana’s agency responsible for certifying law enforcement officials alleges a former Whitefish Police chief engaged in a wide range of misconduct. The Flathead Beacon first reported the allegations. The 12-page complaint from the standards and training bureau within the state justice department alleges former Police Chief Bill Dial engaged in, condoned and/or failed to disclose acts Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – Over the summer months, the Kalispell Fire Department has had to close or reduce services more frequently due to short staffing. Now, it sounds like these closures will happen less often. The Kalispell City Council approved a request to add two more firefighters in this upcoming year’s budget. This will make it Read More…
HELENA — Law enforcement officers and dispatchers dedicate their lives to keeping the community a safe place, Helena Police Department held an awards ceremony dedicated to outstanding members of law enforcement for their dedication to their jobs. But what makes the officers continue their service to the community? “When we when we first start out Read More…
HELENA — There are a couple of unavoidable aspects of getting older. Firstly scammers are more likely to target you, and secondly, there will be BINGO. A group of senior citizens and residents at Edgewood Senior Living Facility enjoyed a fun round of BINGO and learned how to protect their wallets from scammers this week Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Bozeman School Board voted 7-1 to update the face-covering policy which requires a mask to be worn inside school district buildings. The new policy is effective as of Tuesday, Aug. 24 and requires face coverings for all students, faculty, staff, parents, volunteers and visitors on campus. Enforcement of any masking requirement will not Read More…
CARBON COUNTY, Mont. — The body of a 23-year-old from Idaho who disappeared on a solo mountain-climbing trip in July has been found. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the remains belong to Tatum Morell, a graduate student at Montana State University who had been attempting to climb five mountains in five days when she went Read More…
An agreement has been reached by Bakken Energy and Basin Electric on key terms and conditions to purchase the assets of the Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), a subsidiary of Basin Electric, and the owner of the Great Plains Synfuels Plant (Synfuels Plant). Located near Beulah, ND, the Synfuels Plant holds a distinguished place in Read More…
Drought that has plagued North Dakota all summer worsened again in the past week, with exceptional drought beginning to creep into the southwest after appearing in the east last week. Exceptional drought — the worse of four categories, now covers nearly 16% of the state, up from 14% last week, according to the latest U.S. Read More…
A 41-year-old Cheyenne anesthesiologist who disappeared while hiking in the Wind River Mountains over the weekend was found dead on Monday by a Sublette County search and rescue team. Tip Top Search and Rescue announced late Monday afternoon that the body of Thor Hallingbye was discovered in Fremont County. Earlier, the rescue unit said Hallingbye was last Read More…
U.S. troops do not currently have the capability to help people reach Kabul airport to be evacuated from Afghanistan because they are focused on securing the airfield, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday. The speed with which Taliban forces retook Afghanistan, as U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew after a 20-year war, has Read More…
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials on Wednesday announced plans to dispense COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection amid the surging delta variant and signs that the vaccines’ effectiveness is slipping. The plan, as outlined by the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other top health Read More…
President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan Wednesday, blaming the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country squarely on the Afghan army and a peace deal brokered with the Taliban by the Trump administration. In an interview with ABC News‘s George Stephanopoulos, Biden argued that there was no way the intelligence community could Read More…
A Washington state man who admitted to selling methamphetamine on the Flathead Indian Reservation was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen. Alberto Escareno-Sanchez, 27, of Sunnyside, Washington, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute meth. Escareno-Sanchez also will be on probation for five years, according Read More…
GREAT FALLS — It’s back to school time and it’s not just families who sometimes struggle with the increasing cost of school supplies. East Middle School teacher Adrienne Culliton is one of the many who has benefited from a Facebook page called ‘Adopt a Teacher, Great Falls Helping Great Educators.’ She says a box of Read More…