Featured Articles in News

Knudsen Secures $29.5M Settlement with Vanguard in Coal Market Lawsuit

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…

Daines Visits Stillwater Mine

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 Signs Order Blocking ICE From City Property

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…

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Citizens thank veterans with meat donation

Veterans helping veterans. The Montana Veterans Meat Locker distributed meat to veterans at Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday. Each veteran received some combination of 12 to 15 pounds of deer, elk, moose, beef and pork. Hunters donated big game and ranchers contributed beef and pork. The church served a meal with the help of the Read More…

Group seeks to put wind tax on ballot

CASPER — A group organized by a Wyoming senator plans to quintuple Wyoming’s wind tax in an unusual way — by a vote of the people. Wyoming has a unique tax on wind energy production; just one other state levies a fee on wind power. A few lawmakers, like Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, have pressed Read More…

MCC seeks homes at VA for student housing

If the Custer County Commissioners accept the Veteran Administration’s offer of the old VA medical center in Miles City, one of the side benefits could be that Miles Community College (MCC) acquires more student housing. During a meeting Tuesday the MCC Board of Trustees and the commissioners discussed the VA proposal … READ FULL STORY

China confirms the birth of gene-edited babies and vows to punish scientist He Jiankui who ‘violated rules to carry out the unethical study for personal fame’

A Chinese investigation says the scientist behind the birth of two babies whose genes had been edited in hopes of making them resistant to the AIDS virus acted on his own ‘for personal fame and profit’ and will be punished for violating regulations. Confirming the births, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that investigators in Read More…

Despite Mild Winter, Montana’s Snowpack Near Average in Many Basins

Montana’s snowpack is closer to average than our mild winter might suggest, as residents across the state grew accustomed to snow-less sidewalks in December and celebrated a decidedly not-white Christmas. The close-to-normal snowpack is largely thanks to autumn snowfall, when storms provided a base in the mountains before the tap ran dry for a prolonged Read More…

Airport water fountains shut down after passengers become ill on Frontier Airlines flight

(CNN)Several water fountains were shut down at a Cleveland airport after passengers aboard a Frontier Airlines flight became sick, airport officials said.   At least six passengers who traveled on Tampa-bound Frontier Airlines Flight 1397 on Tuesday fell ill after leaving Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The passengers, who were not traveling as a group, were Read More…

She was jailed for drunk driving. Instead she had had a stroke, didn’t get help for days

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — A woman accused of drunken driving and jailed really had suffered a stroke, and despite multiple contacts with police and corrections officers, she went days without medical attention. Carol Carlson, 64, of Edmonds, Washington, drove to the Kingston ferry terminal on a Monday morning in December 2017. Washington State Patrol troopers Read More…

Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame to honor inductees at Induction Ceremony & Western Heritage Gathering in Great Falls, Feb. 9

The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center (MCHF & WHC) extends an invitation to all to attend the Annual MCHF Induction Ceremony & Western Heritage Gathering, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, at the Best Western Heritage Inn in Great Falls. “This year we celebrate our 13th gathering and 11th class of inductions into Read More…

Report Estimates New Costs of Medicaid Expansion in Montana

HELENA — Montana would have to shell out an extra $59 million over two years to keep its Medicaid expansion program running, but the state is expected to collect enough revenue to more than cover the additional costs, legislative analysts said Monday. Legislative Fiscal Division staff members presented a new report to lawmakers that analyzes Read More…

Senator Barrasso Spends Holiday in Poland With Troops

POLAND Barrasso visited with members of the US Army’s 1st armored brigade combat team, 1st cavalry division stationed on the Polish-Russian border. Wyoming currently has servicemembers in the division, which is charged with assisting North Atlantic treaty organization allies in deterring Russian aggression and increasing European border security. Barrasso says sharing Thanksgiving dinner with Wyoming Read More…

Targhee gets the OK for new master plan County commissioners were sharply divided over compromise.

Teton County commissioners narrowly approved a new way for Grand Targhee Resort to offset its environmental impacts, allowing the resort to reduce its obligation for conserving land in exchange for paying into a creek restoration project. The compromise that commissioners approved last week on a 3-2 vote will require Targhee to contribute $100,000 up front Read More…

‘We are not robots’: Thousands of Amazon workers across Europe are striking on Black Friday over warehouse working conditions

Thousands of Amazon workers across Europe were striking and protesting on Black Friday in anger at the company’s warehouse working conditions. Strikes were taking place across Amazon sites in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. The Italian press reported that managers were having to pack boxes to meet demand. In the UK, the GMB trade union Read More…

Regents defend raises for those at top

The Montana Board of Regents is moving to approve 2 percent raises for 13 of its highest-paid administrators, including the two flagship campus presidents and the commissioner of higher education. The regents, meeting for two days in Missoula, expressed strong support for the raises, which will go to some of the state’s highest paid employees. Read More…

Zinke tours California fires while encouraging more joint forest management

CHICO, Calif. – Days after his boss generated controversy for suggesting poor forest management is to blame for California’s latest wildfires, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is pledging President Trump’s “full support” to help the torched state recover. But the former Montana lawmaker is still insisting forest management is key to curbing future disasters. “I don’t Read More…

“Weird Al” Yankovic tour plans Billings stop

BILLINGS – MetraPark announced Monday that “Weird Al” Yankovic will perform at the Rimrock Auto Arena next summer. Yankovic will bring the Strings Attached Tour to Billings on Aug. 25. Here’s the full press release: Weird Al” Yankovic will bring his tour to Rimrock Auto Arena on August 25, 2019. His Strings Attached tour is a Read More…

Group appeals city’s approval of WinCo grocery store

A group of local food and retail union members have appealed the city’s decision to approve site plans for WinCo Foods, requiring review by the Bozeman City Commission before the grocery retailer can move forward with plans. The six workers from Bozeman and Belgrade broadly criticized nearly every aspect of WinCo’s plans in their appeal, Read More…

New Sheriff’s Administration Takes Shape

Just days after he was formally elected as Flathead County’s next sheriff, Brian Heino is building his team. Heino has selected two long-time Flathead County Sheriff’s Office veterans and one new face to join him when he takes over as the county’s top lawman on Jan. 1. Wayne K. DuBois, a police sergeant in Richland, Read More…

Busineses hired 250,000 workers in October as wages rose most in 9 years

U.S. businesses added 250,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said on Friday—a blowout number that surpassed Wall Street’s expectation. The monthly average job creation now stands at about 180,000 for the last three months. That incorporates revised data for September, which saw an unusually low jobs figure thanks to Hurricane Florence. Wages jumped. Average monthly earnings Read More…

Watchdog probe of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent to Justice Department, reports say

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has been referred an investigation into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, raising the possibility for criminal charges, according to the Washington Post and CNN. The probe was one of several the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General had opened into allegations that Zinke, who heads the agency, used his office for personal Read More…

Daines discusses state challenges in drug war

HELENA – Members of Montana’s law enforcement community and others told Sen. Steve Daines on Thursday they were understaffed and underfunded in the growing war on drugs. “Meth is out of control here in the state,” said Stacy Zinn-Brittain, a regional agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Daines, R-Mont., had assembled a roundtable Read More…

Department of Transportation throws carnival for Montana town

FRENCHTOWN – The Montana Department of Transportation held an unusual Construction Carnival to thank the Frenchtown community for its patience with six months of construction work. After more than six months of road construction in Frenchtown, MDT wanted to thank the community for being patient, and organized the free family event at Frenchtown High School Read More…

Laurel school resource officer on leave pending investigation into alleged sexual contact with student

LAUREL – A Laurel school resource officer is on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged sexual contact with a student. Laurel Police Chief Rick Musson said the city administrator was tasked with leading the internal investigation by Laurel Mayor Tom Nelson. The officer’s name has not been released. On Monday afternoon, Laurel Schools Superintendent Read More…