CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Gov. Mark Gordon has appointed Nancy Vehr as interim director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality following the retirement of longtime director Todd Parfitt. Vehr, who has been serving as the department’s deputy director, took over the role effective Oct. 2. She previously led DEQ’s Air Quality Division for nearly a decade and Read More…
BOZEMAN—Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Chamber of Commerce will host the third annual Big Sky, Bright Future Economic Summit on Oct. 15 in Bozeman, with this year’s event focused on technology and innovation in Montana. The summit will bring together business leaders, policymakers and technology executives to discuss artificial intelligence, national security, precision agriculture, Read More…
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department said UCLA School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in admissions for its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes, finding that the school continued to consider race after the Supreme Court restricted race-conscious college admissions. The department’s Civil Rights Division said its investigation found UCLA Law violated Title VI of Read More…
(The Center Square) – Fraud could cost federal taxpayers as much as $521 billion annually, according to a Foundation for Government Accountability report citing a federal estimate. The report estimates that improper payments by the federal government have totaled about $3 trillion since 2003. Liesel Crocker, the report’s author and senior research fellow at FGA, spoke with Read More…
MILES CITY, Mont. — Miles City Community Improvements is a non-profit organization in Miles City that has donated Chromebooks to teachers in the Miles City School District. According to Miles City Community Improvements board member Marc Ingraham, Miles City Community Improvements has donated 20 Chromebooks to teachers in the Miles City School District. Ingraham says funding came Read More…
HELENA — Spring sports in Montana are officially canceled. The Montana High School Association and executive director Mark Beckman sent a release on Wednesday afternoon following Gov. Steve Bullock’s press conference detailing the gradual re-opening of Montana, beginning with “Phase 1” this weekend. In that press conference, Bullock said schools would have the option to Read More…
Futures prices for oil fell into the negatives for the first time in recorded history Monday, further straining a Wyoming economy already reeling from months of price declines, continuing strife in the coal industry and the shutdown of numerous businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. West Texas Intermediate oil contracts for the month of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Gov. Steve Bullock announced the arrival of 5,000 nasal swabs from FEMA to help open access to more COVID-19 testing in Montana. The announcement comes on the same day the state reported zero new cases. “Just days ago, I joined Republican and Democrat governors in voicing concerns to the president about the shortage Read More…
Congressman Greg Gianforte visited with Q2 by Zoom on Monday morning and spoke about stimulus package expansion efforts, reopening businesses in Montana, and what it’s like to campaign in 2020. FULL STORY
It’s a good problem to have: how to spend $1.25 billion to restart Montana’s economy. That’s one of the big challenges as Montana begins to take steps to become one of the first states in the nation to lift its stay-at-home orders. Last week, Gov. Steve Bullock appointed a 26-member task force, charged with offering Read More…
MISSOULA — Some Anaconda area landowners still have a chance to force the Atlantic Richfield Co. remove more arsenic from their property. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that Montana’s courts and laws can play a role in federal Superfund decisions. However, the court also decided – not quite unanimously – Read More…
The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus first appeared late last year, revised its death toll sharply higher on Friday. Local authorities changed the previous figure of 2,579 to 3,869, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The change, 1,290 additional deaths, is an increase of almost exactly 50%. Officials also added another 325 Read More…
AMMON — An Idaho Falls man was arrested Wednesday after investigators say he traded sex with a teenage girl for a vape pen. Investigators were alerted of the alleged sexual activity between the victim and Tyler M. Meng, 26, when Facebook sent sexually explicit messages to investigators, according to court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com. Meng Read More…
CHEYENNE– Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon held a COVID-19 Coronavirus press conference Wednesday afternoon, in which he said the state’s economy is a changed one and will continue to be different for a long time to come. To help combat the financial impacts of COVID-19, Governor Gordon has directed all state agencies to identify opportunities to immediately Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A Bozeman-area company flew more 250 donated shield masks to groups across western Montana Thursday morning. Bridger Aerospace manufactures defense equipment, but when COVID-19 cases started spreading in Montana, they made changes at their factory to begin producing face masks. Bridger Aerospace CEO Tim Sheehy said they’re working to make masks and donate Read More…
MISSOULA — Travelers flying to Montana for a taste of the outdoors has been one of the real bright spots in recent years, helping the state’s tourism sector generate a record $3.7 billion last year. But the COVID-19 pandemic has parked most of those planes. “The airline industry is going to be the one that Read More…
Holly Michels Montana reached 404 known COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with at least 209 recoveries statewide and 21 actively hospitalized. That represents a gain of five cases since Tuesday, the same number of cases the state added Monday and Tuesday. Prior to this week, the last time the state added fewer than seven cases in a day was Read More…
**Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article implied the business is in Wyoming, Michigan. It’s actually in the state of Wyoming. LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has warned a business in Wyoming state to stop falsely marketing the types of face masks it sells, also sending it a cease-and-desist letter for Read More…
HELENA — Montana Department of Labor & Industry Acting Commissioner Brenda Nordlund announced Tuesday that Montana has begun paying the additional $600 Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit established with the passage of the recent federal stimulus package, or CARES Act. DLI began paying the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefit on the evening of Monday, April Read More…
MISSOULA — The University of Montana on Monday placed 63 employees on temporary furlough, saying the financial strain brought on by the coronavirus pandemic necessitated the decision. The university reached out to the individuals on Monday and issued a campus-wide memo later in the day announcing the decision. The workers will remain on furlough through Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock says he doesn’t have a timeline for things to return to normal in Montana after the coronavirus outbreak. He spoke to residents in a telephone town hall on Monday, saying he’ll continue issuing his stay-at-home orders in two-week intervals based on advice from medical professionals. Bullock says indicators such Read More…
The Public Service Commission is holding two hearings on proposed projects this week, one Tuesday for a natural gas pipeline in Mountrail and Williams counties and another Friday for a wind farm in Burke County. Liberty Midstream Solutions is proposing a 4.7-mile steel transport to carry 80 million cubic feet per day of residue gas, Read More…
President Donald Trump on Saturday granted state leaders’ request for Wyoming to be declared a major disaster area because of the effects of the coronavirus. The declaration means state, local and tribal governments in Wyoming will be eligible for federal aid to help recovery efforts. As of Friday, Wyoming had recorded over 300 confirmed and Read More…
A Johnson County man who was infected with the novel coronavirus has died, the first such death in Wyoming, the Department of Health confirmed Monday. There has now been a death in every U.S. state. “This is a sad development we hoped we wouldn’t see in Wyoming and we want this person’s family to Read More…
Financial concerns also continue to mount during this pandemic. Scams aimed at seniors can always be a problem and even more now. State Auditor and Securities and Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale, a Republican, is warning Montanans about fraud exploitation. His office, along with the Montana attorney general, the U.S. Attorney and several other agencies formed Read More…
HELENA — Jim Murphy, Montana’s chief epidemiologist, has heard the same stories most everyone in the state has heard about residents who’ve made unsuccessful attempts to get themselves tested for COVID-19. But even as national headlines worry over testing backlogs in some parts of the country, he says testing constraints haven’t hampered Montana’s coronavirus response. Read More…
BILLINGS – Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW) are sending cookie donations to hospitals throughout Montana and Wyoming during the pandemic, they announced Monday. GSMW are giving a total of 8,000 boxes of cookies as a thank you to healthcare employees at 13 hospitals in Montana and Wyoming. READ FULL STORY
KALISPELL — A seventh COVID-19 related death is being reported in Montana. The Flathead City-County Health Department confirmed Monday the first death related to COVID-19 in Flathead County. The individual was over the age of 65 and was a resident of Flathead County who had had underlying health conditions, according to a news release. “We Read More…
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman expects the novel coronavirus outbreak to wipe out nearly a quarter of US economic output this year. “We have a GDP of somewhere around $21 trillion and we’re probably going to miss $5 trillion of it,” the chief of the private equity titan told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The pandemic is temporarily “putting Read More…
State officials now believe the coronavirus outbreak in the state will peak sometime in May and restrictions on social interactions should be relaxed a little later that month, Governor Mark Gordon said Friday. “What we’re looking at is our peak coming sometime in early May and our behaviors, we will look at on a regular Read More…
CHEYENNE — In a video message to Wyoming students, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow told students they may finish the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year at home. The YouTube video was posted on the Wyoming Department of Education’s Facebook page on Monday, April 6. “With school closures in Wyoming extended, it’s possible that you Read More…
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has seen about a sharp drop in reports of child abuse and neglect since the Governor directed schools to close to slow the spread of COVID-19. From Mar. 8-14, which was the week prior to the closures, 765 calls a week were made on average Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — There’s some promising news coming out of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that shows all the work we’re doing staying home is actually making a big difference. We first showed you this site on March 30. On that date, the site predicted Montana would reach its COVID-19 peak in cases at the very Read More…
The UK plans to roll out “immunity passports” to Brits who have already contracted the COVID-19 disease in order to allow them to return to “normal life,” the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday. “We are looking at an immunity certificate,” Hancock told a Downing Street press conference. “How people who have had the Read More…
The FDA announced Thursday that it is relaxing some of the recommendations regarding blood donations to address “a dramatic reduction in donations” amid the COVID-19 pandemic — but the department still recommends that sexually active gay men should not give blood. According to a press release from the department, it is now recommending that male donors can Read More…
Glacier National Park has awarded its labor services contract for the 2020 Visitor Transportation Service to LC Staffing of Kalispell. The contract with the company is valid for up to two years and provides drivers, dispatchers and supervisors for the park’s 35-bus fleet that provides shuttle service along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Jim Foster, chief of Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Red Ants Pants Music Festival, that is usually held in July outside White Sulphur Springs has been canceled due the COVID-19 pandemic. This would have been the 10th year for the music festival. “It is with heavy hearts we have made a difficult, but we feel the most responsible, decision to cancel Read More…
LIVINGSTON – Popular musician John Mayer approached a Livingston nonprofit to help combat COVID-19 in Park County. The Livingston Enterprise reported Mayer made a financial contribution to the Livingston HealthCare Foundation to provide Park County residents with more ventilators. Livingston HealthCare hospital spokesperson Whitney Harris told The Enterprise Mayer got in contact with the nonprofit to Read More…
Violators of Yellowstone County and Montana state orders to limit group gatherings and maintain social distance could face up to 90 days in jail and fines, county officials said during a news conference Wednesday in Billings. Law enforcement officers said they will not be stopping drivers on the road for no reason or putting up Read More…
Holly Michels Following a surge in calls to a state-funded phone line by people in crisis and needing emotional support, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services said it’s expanding mental health services. “We continue to monitor and make adjustments as necessary to meet the needs of Montanans during this challenging time,” said Read More…
North Dakota’s two U.S. senators are hopeful about the outlook for the oil industry that’s plagued by low crude prices, after a phone call earlier this week between the presidents of the United States and Russia. Few details have emerged about the call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which came after several weeks of Read More…
BISMARCK — Cass County now has more cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, than any other county in North Dakota. The North Dakota Department of Health announced 17 new cases of illness Tuesday, March 31, including eight in Cass County. A ninth Cass County case was confirmed earlier Tuesday, but the department Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department says that legislation passed in 2019 to expand the regulated area for shed antler and horn collection in the state is now in effect. “The updated regulation expands the seasonal closure area to include expanded critical wintering habitat and enact a new opening time of 12 noon on Read More…
HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s governor is asking tourists to stop coming to the state while it’s under a stay-at-home directive. Gov. Steve Bullock also asks anyone who recently traveled to the state from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days. The directive does not apply to people traveling into the state for work-related reasons. Read More…