The Center Square) – Nearly a year after a nine-person jury found Greenpeace liable for $667 million in damages in a case related to the Dakota Access Pipeline, a North Dakota judge has said the environmental organization will soon be ordered to make good on the damages. In court papers filed Tuesday, Judge James Gion Read More…
Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced a landmark settlement agreement with The Vanguard Group, Inc. this week, resolving allegations that the asset manager conspired to artificially constrict the coal market through anticompetitive trade practices. The settlement stems from a 2024 lawsuit filed by Knudsen against Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street Corporation. The suit alleged the firms Read More…
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines visited the Sibanye-Stillwater Columbus metallurgical complex last week, meeting with miners and touring operations as he praised recent federal trade action aimed at protecting Montana’s palladium industry. Daines credited Donald Trump for imposing a preliminary 132% tariff on Russian palladium imports, describing the move as a critical step toward leveling the Read More…
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Thursday signed an executive order barring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating on city-owned property and directing local police to protect peaceful protesters during federal immigration enforcement actions. The order prohibits ICE agents from staging or conducting operations in city buildings, parks, shelters, parking facilities, libraries, and other municipal Read More…
Craig Bjorland didn’t get to see his stepdaughter graduate from military basic training in 2017. “I flew to Texas to go to her graduation and I wasn’t allowed on base because of my marijuana charge,” he said. Instead, he drove around Dallas in a rental car to kill time. In 2010, Bjorland was pulled Read More…
HELENA — State officials said Monday they plan to invest $16 million annually over the next five years to add capacity for current community-based services for people with severe and disabling mental illness. The funding, under an existing Medicaid waiver benefit option, will increase the number of people already receiving services from 357 to 750 by 2025, Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — The business manager and fundraising program developer for the Idaho Military Division faces eight felony counts of possessing child porn. Kenneth Coulter, 72, of Boise was booked into the Ada County Jail about 11 a.m. Tuesday, charged with possessing sexually exploitative materials. The military division is the umbrella agency for both the Read More…
BISMARCK — Tribal casinos in North Dakota are taking a hit. Since the 2017 state Legislature legalized electronic pull tabs — a casino-esque game where players touch a screen to reveal winnings — tribal nations have been losing money as charities are seeing the benefits. “It’s no small thing for us,” said Mark Fox, Chairman Read More…
A Montana firefighter claims she was fired for posting provocative workout photos to her Instagram account, according to new reports. Presley Pritchard, 27, formerly a part-time firefighter paramedic with Evergreen Fire Rescue, filed a wrongful termination claim with the department — alleging that officials fired her because of her gender and singled her out over Read More…
DICKINSON, N.D. — Throughout the succession of failed bond referendums for a new high school with a career and technical education facility, community members in Dickinson have asked, “What about the Legacy Fund?” Dickinson got an answer sooner rather than later — and straight from the top. During a meeting with The Dickinson Press, Read More…
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana plans to invest $16 million annually over the next five years to expand community-based services for people with severe and disabling mental illness, officials said. The funding under an existing Medicaid waiver benefit option will increase the number of people already receiving services from 357 to 750 by 2025, The Read More…
CHEYENNE — Imagine you’re a cattle rancher in rural Niobrara County, where only 4.3% of the population has access to broadband internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster. You want to trade your cattle online, but you have to go to the public library in Lusk to access internet fast enough, leaving Read More…
The application deadline for this year’s Miss Montana Competition, including more than $300,000 in cash and applied scholarships, is March 15. Applications require a $200 sponsor fee. Montana young women between the ages of 17-25, and teens between 13-17, have the opportunity to earn college scholarships and learn leadership skills by entering the Miss Montana Read More…
MISSOULA — It’s been 18 months since Jermain Charlo went missing and despite the lack of progress in the case her family and friends continue the search. Charlo was last seen near the Orange Street Food Farm in Missoula on June 16, 2018. Search warrants and interviews have been completed, and dozens of leads investigated Read More…
By: Cody Boyer BOZEMAN — As the city of Bozeman grows, so does the need for street lights. But some recently installed street lights are causing problems. “The national standards, frankly, haven’t caught up with the technology,” says Shawn Kohtz, city engineer for the City of Bozeman. Kohtz says issues with brightness started nearly three years Read More…
Gillette, Wyo. once produced 40% of all U.S. coal, but is now losing half its jobs as coal demand plummets. A nearby town survived a bust in the 1950s and offers lessons. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: The state that produces 40% of America’s coal is trying to figure out a new future for itself. Gillette, Wyo., Read More…
JACKSON — A new type of industrial activity is rising from the sagebrush and pastureland in western Wyoming: utility- scale solar farms. Three such developments have already been constructed or will soon be built in the Green and Bear river basins. The introduction of photovoltaic renewable energy technology figures to help replenish county coffers and Read More…
Wyoming Medical Center has signed a letter of intent with Banner Health, the first step in a potential future affiliation deal between Wyoming’s largest hospital and one of the most significant health care organizations in the region. The agreement is nonbinding, according to an announcement sent Tuesday by WMC, and allows both organizations to “conduct Read More…
Disney, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other U.S. companies with significant footprints in China are suspending operations and instituting travel restrictions as they respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The virus has now taken the lives of at least 82 people in China and sickened 2,900 worldwide, including in the U.S. and Europe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Read More…
The maker of the helicopter that crashed and killed former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant on Sunday pledged to investigate the incident. Defense contractor and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin said it would probe the crash of its Sikorsky S-76B helicopter in Calabasas, California, near Malibu, which killed nine people. The S-76 series helicopter debuted in the 1970s. Sikorsky has Read More…
FARGO, N.D. – Officials in North Dakota say it’s time for property owners in flood-prone areas of the Red River Valley to think about buying flood insurance. Flood preparation meetings with state and federal officials are scheduled this week in Fargo, Grand Forks and Jamestown. Those sessions will focus on insuring homes and other structures. Read More…
Spirits were high even as the beer ran low on a recent evening at the Great Northern Brewing Co., the Flathead Valley’s oldest craft beer establishment slated to close its doors in Whitefish’s downtown corridor next month. The iconic brewery at 2 Central Ave. has punctuated the north end of Whitefish since opening along the Read More…
BOZEMAN- What is the Dolly Parton challenge? It’s four photos of what could be your profile photos for social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tinder. Montana Senator Jon Tester got in on the fun but added a twist. Instead of using a “Tinder,” photo he used a “Farmersonly,” photo. READ FULL STORY
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration on Wednesday approved a right-of-way allowing the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across U.S. land, federal officials told The Associated Press, pushing the controversial $8 billion project closer to construction though court challenges still loom. The approval signed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt covers 46 miles Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — If a South Dakota Senator has his way, the Board of Regents will combine the administration of Spearfish-based Black Hills State University and Rapid City-based South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ryan Maher (R-Isabel) would require the Board of Regents to develop a plan Read More…
Training sessions on new electronic pollbooks are planned throughout the next week and a half for North Dakota election officials. The new devices — 990 of them — will be distributed to North Dakota’s 53 counties for use at polling locations after being delivered to the state in February. Pollbooks are records of voters Read More…
The American Red Cross is issuing a call for donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets. The organization notes in a news release that since influenza has been escalating across the country, it’s preventing some donors from giving. The Red Cross also reports that during winter weather has been threatening to cancel Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana State’s all-time winningest quarterback is headed to the National Football League. DeNarius McGhee will join the Houston Texans staff, sources tell MTN Sports on Tuesday. The former Montana State quarterback has been on Jeff Choate’s coaching staff in Bozeman for the past three seasons. “DeNarius did very good work in a number Read More…
USDA says eight percent of corn and two percent of soybeans still need to be harvested in the country. The weather does not help and continues to be a focus in the Northern Plains. Farmers in North Dakota saw dangerously low temperatures over the weekend. It’s one problem after the next as the state’s farmers Read More…
BILLINGS — The Montana High School Association executive board passed proposals for the MSHA to add girls wrestling and boys powerlifting as sanctioned sports during the MHSA’s annual meeting on Monday in Billings. The sports will be offered to member schools beginning with the 2020-21 school year. It was announced in late November that the Read More…
More than 100 years ago, Montana and many states erected legal walls against spending public money on private religious schools, but today school choice activists are seeking to bring down those barriers using a case from Montana. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Kendra Espinoza Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — An investment group from Billings has filed a lawsuit against the Montana Lottery over rules that require businesses wishing to offer sports gambling to have specific alcohol licenses. The lawsuit filed by Arete Group argues the legislation that authorized sports wagering did not include the alcohol license rule. The lawsuit seeks an injunction Read More…
Taco Bell is looking for new ways to win over employees in the war for talent. On Thursday, the fast-food chain announced it would test a $100,000 salary for the general managers of certain company-owned locations later this year. Taco Bell also said that all employees at company-owned stores are eligible for at least 24 Read More…
Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen said on Thursday that she was proud to announce that graduation rates in state public schools have broken a record for the second year in a row. “This is improvement, this is growth,” said Arntzen. “For two years in a row our graduation rates have been the highest Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Just two days ago, a U.S. magistrate signed a federal search warrant in what agents suspect is a human smuggling case across Montana and Canada’s border. The 25-page document details something Border Patrol agents told NBC Montana during our special “On the Border” series last year. We toured the border near Havre and Saint Mary with Border Patrol Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a $35 million judgment against Jehovah’s Witnesses for failing to report child sexual abuse. A lower court had found that the church illegally failed to report a child sexual abuser to authorities, which allowed him to continue sexually abusing another child. The unanimous decision from seven state Supreme Court justices found Read More…
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Then you can really enjoy this spectacular, 16,000-square-foot, mountain-top dream home in the winter wonderland that’s Big Sky, Montana. Maybe strap on your snowshoes and explore the miles of powdery trails that meander through the home’s 160 wooded acres. Or master the moguls at nearby Big Sky Read More…
HELENA – The Montana Historical Society will officially be getting a new look, as the Department of Administration decided to remodel and add a connected building to create the new Montana Heritage Center. The corner of 6th and Roberts will be the location for the new Heritage Center. This location is at the Capitol Complex and is on existing state-owned property. The Historical Society says by keeping the Read More…
For the last five years, University of Montana sprinter Alex Mustard has been representing the Grizzlies on the track, and now he has set his sights even higher, to represent Montana and the United States on the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. KGVO News spoke with Mustard just after his winning ‘Olympic Hopefuls’ performance was broadcast Read More…
More than two years into reforms designed to slow, or even reverse, the growth of offenders in Montana’s correctional system, state officials say they see indications of progress. But most early data show scant change. Prisons and alternative programs for criminal offenders are still full to capacity, and there’s been no reduction in the number Read More…
The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. grew from 2018 to 2019 by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, Read More…
JACKSON, Wyo. — Third quarter Wyoming economic summary report was released this week indicating growth is slowing worldwide and in the Cowboy State as well. Wyoming continues to rebound from the severe downturn in 2015-16 but the pace slowed somewhat in after the first quarter of 2019. Total employment grew by 1.2 percent (3,570 jobs) Read More…
North Dakota will again enlist the help of Hollywood actor Josh Duhamel to help promote tourism in his home state. North Dakota’s tourism department confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the star of several “Transformers” movies will be paid $175,000 to be the face of the state’s tourism campaign for the next two years. The state Read More…
State health officials are worried as the number of Montanans diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease continues to rise. Montana’s gonorrhea numbers — expected to total 1,500 cases in 2019 — haven’t been this high in 40 years, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Dana Fejes, the state STD/HIV Read More…