Gov. Kelly Armstrong appointed Tony Hillig, recreation division chief for the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, as the agency’s new director, effective immediately. Hillig has served as chief of the department’s recreation division since December 2020, overseeing recreation grants, trail management, motorized recreation and safety programs statewide. He joined the department in 2019 as Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in July, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, continuing the state’s record stretch of low unemployment and remaining nearly a full percentage point below the national rate, which also declined over the month to 4.1%. “As Montana’s unemployment rate continues to decline, businesses across our state are expanding, creating high-paying jobs, Read More…
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley commended the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after it dismissed a legal challenge brought by suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua who were seeking to avoid removal from the United States. The en banc Fifth Circuit dismissed the case on August 13 as moot after the Read More…
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Board of Directors has appointed Cara Kolb as senior vice president of Risk and Compliance, the bank announced. In her new role, Kolb will be responsible for ensuring bank staff effectively manage risks while rigorously complying with procedures and policies. She will also oversee functions related to data privacy Read More…
The nation’s treasury secretary initially thought lawmakers wouldn’t have to raise the debt ceiling until October or November, but White House officials have moved that deadline to early September. That’s because projected federal revenues are way down, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a wonky think tank that tries to avoid the partisan tit-for-tat that’s Read More…
Montana Lt. Governor Mike Cooney today was awarded the first-ever Recycling Impact Award, a nationwide recognition of his work on recycling stewardship. The Recycling Impact Award is presented to a National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) member who is committed to working within a state, region, and/or communities to positively impact resource conservation and recycling. “Lt. Governor Read More…
It may look like marijuana, but industrial hemp with CBD is now legal to grow across the country. Unlike its cousin with THC, hemp won’t get you high. Instead, many use CBD for pain management, anxiety, insomnia and more. For the first time, Clarence Laub III can grow CBD hemp after several years of growing Read More…
A Laramie native who was serving consecutive prison terms for taking indecent liberties with a child and drug possession has died, the Wyoming Department of Corrections announced Tuesday. Department spokesman Mark Horan said Lorenzo S. Montez, 53, died of a long-term illness Tuesday at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. An autopsy has been Read More…
A 15-year-old Montana girl who escaped from a mental health hospital has died after being struck by a pickup truck on a nearby interstate highway, police say. Kayla Neal, of Missoula, was walking on the southbound lanes of I-15 around 2 p.m. Monday in Helena when she was hit by a 56-year-old woman driving a Dodge truck, police there told KURL-TV. Minutes before, she had run Read More…
MISSOULA – The University of Montana is quietly hitting a very high mark in the on-going effort to retain newly-trained physicians to work in Montana, with a strong majority of graduates deciding to stay and serve patients across the state. Just five years ago, there was a growing concern of finding enough physicians to meet Read More…
Rep. Greg Gianforte said he has gotten language included in the new defense bill that calls on the Secretary of the Air Force to consider improvements at existing facilities, such as fixing the runway at Malmstrom Air Force Base, rather than build new ones. “Malmstrom Air Force Base is home to the 341st Missile Wing which Read More…
MANHATTAN, M.T. – According to the U.S. Geological Survey a 4.0 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:52 p.m. Mountain Time, 2 miles northwest of Manhattan, Montana. More than 500 people have reported feeling the quake. READ FULL STORY
When someone in Montana enters a hospital with private insurance, the price for care can be two-to-four times beyond what the federal government sets as fair. Rand Corporation, a global think tank, released a study earlier this summer that showed private insurance companies paid twice what Medicare paid for the same services nationwide from 2015 through 2017. Read More…
A Wyoming attorney and former municipal court judge has been disbarred after admitting that he engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with a client and lied to cover up the affair. Gregory L. Knudsen, of Torrington, will be disbarred effective July 15, according to an order from the Wyoming Supreme Court. For reasons still not Read More…
U.S. marshals arrested an Iowa man on the run for nearly eight years last week on a remote Montana ranch, USA Today reports. Michael Duane Strain, 62, was one of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s (ATF) most wanted fugitives. The department said he’d been evading the law since 2011 after being indicted Read More…
The month of June was the deadliest on Montana roadways in a decade. With the alarming increase in crashes, the Montana Department of Transportation is urging travelers to drive safely this summer. Memorial Day to Labor Day is known as the “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” due to the increased traffic deaths nationwide. At other Read More…
MISSOULA – Are you buying a used car that previously may have been used to transport meth? Or is your child going to a daycare that could have been a meth lab in the past? These are the questions a Montana pair are trying to answer with a new form of methamphetamine testing. The Montana Department Read More…
ANACONDA – According to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, this year’s open house at the Anaconda Job Corps Center was anything but routine. While the Anaconda Job Corps’ open house is an annual event, Tuesday’s had a special feel to it. Last May, the career-training program was set to be closed, and some Job Corps participants Read More…
The Chinese government made just 689 requests to Apple to access information about Apple devices, but the requests pertain to a massive 137,595 devices – more than seven times the number of devices in US requests and way over half the worldwide total. Once a pariah in the enterprise, Apple has quietly emerged as a Read More…
Montana gas prices have fallen 1.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.79/g today, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 615 stations. Gas prices in Montana are 9.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, yet stand 12.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, Read More…
FARGO — An online story published by Forbes on Wednesday asserts that Gary Tharaldson, known as the wealthiest person in North Dakota, has become the state’s first and only billionaire. When Forbes contacted Tharaldson to ask him about Forbes’ estimate of his wealth at $1 billion, Tharaldson is quoted as stating: “Obviously we wouldn’t sell Read More…
CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Tuesday that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 3.6% in April to 3.5% in May. Wyoming’s unemployment rate was lower than its year-ago level of 4% and slightly lower than the current U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6%. READ FULL STORY
A statewide education group introduced a program Thursday that will help adult students in Wyoming learn skills that lead to secure employment. The program will be called Wyoming Works, the Wyoming Education Attainment Council Executive Committee announced. “We are not only advancing our post-secondary attainment goals, but also ensuring Wyoming citizens have high-quality credentials to Read More…
Montana’s Lt. Governor Mike Cooney met with radio and television executives at the Montana Broadcasters Association convention at Big Sky on Sunday morning. Cooney provided a preview of the discussion with KGVO News on Saturday night. “We’re going to talk about the importance of the census to all the people of Montana, and we’re going Read More…
The US may have withheld a physical military response to Iran shooting down a drone, but it might not have shown similar restraint with a digital campaign. Washington Post sources say the President greenlit a long-in-the-making cyberattack that took down Iranian missile control computers on the night of June 20th. The exact impact of the Cyber Command operation Read More…
Senate hawk Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Sunday said Iran is ”steadily marching up” the “escalation ladder” in its provocative acts against the United States. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Cotton said there needs to boundaries set by the United States for Tehran. Iran is “steadily marching up the the chain, attacking vessels at sea, unmanned American Read More…
DARBY — Republican Sen. Steve Daines heard from Trapper Creek Job Corps employees about the president keeping the program open in Darby on Friday. “I was just a kid growing up in Montana like many of you have done and are doing,” Daines said at the event. “And it was an honor for me to Read More…
RED LODGE – Beartooth Pass is now completely open, according to a press release Sunday afternoon. It is completely open on both the Montana and Wyoming sides. The status of the pass can change quickly due to adverse weather and rock/snow slides, however. Drivers are asked to use caution. READ FULL STORY
The possibility of a nurse’s union forming at Kalispell Regional Healthcare is coming to a tipping point as employees gear up to cast their votes on the matter during a two-day union election slated for July 11-12— a fast-approaching resolution hospital officials say could signal an end to the hospital’s independence, should they vote in Read More…
A man was arrested after attempting to rush through the security checkpoint and attack Transportation Security Administration officers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the TSA. At about 9:45 a.m., multiple TSA officers were attacked inside Terminal 4 when a man, later identified as Tyrese Garner, 19, attempted to rush Read More…
CASPER — With a rate of uninsured children that’s double the national average, Wyoming has been ranked second to last in the United States for children’s health in a national study for the second consecutive year. Overall, the Equality State ranked 21st for children’s well-being on the Kids Count report, which is released in June Read More…
BISMARCK — North Dakota state officials are dusting off plans to construct a new “financial services center” after budget woes delayed the building project. Four years ago, state lawmakers authorized the use of $17 million in assets from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota for the project, which would house the Department of Commerce, Read More…
Acadia Montana, the troubled residential psychiatric treatment facility for children that has operated in Butte under several different names and owners over the past 31 years, announced Tuesday it will close. It was not immediately clear how many jobs would be lost, though Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Dave Palmer said the number could be more Read More…
In a media release issued Tuesday night, Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin delivered the following message to anyone seeking the Forrest Fenn Treasure in the area of Yellowstone National Park: “In the last couple years, two people have died, two have been rescued near death, several have had run-ins with local and federal law enforcement, Read More…
Montana’s congressional delegation made a successful bipartisan push Wednesday to advance legislation that would, for the first time, federally recognize the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. According to a press release sent to MTN News, Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester have stapled their tribal recognition bill as an amendment to must-pass defense spending Read More…
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in recent weeks to discuss how his company handles viral misinformation, but she has not called him back or personally replied, according to two people familiar with the exchanges. Pelosi’s decision not to engage with Zuckerberg, one of the most powerful technology Read More…
A long-awaited new addition to the Downtown Boise skyline is about to start sprouting up. Scott Schoenherr with Rafanelli and Nahas said permits are in with City of Boise on the 11th and Idaho retail and office project. He aims to get crews on site to start construction this August. The permit values the project at $27.7 million. Read More…
The constitutionality of South Dakota’s protest laws will be argued in a Rapid City courtroom on Wednesday. Arguments in the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit against Gov. Kristi Noem, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Rapid City. The Read More…
Very soon, an unmanned aircraft will be able to launch from the Montana border of North Dakota and fly to the state line of Minnesota uninterrupted and hundreds of miles away from its pilot. The North Dakota Legislature passed a bill this year infusing $33 million into UAS, $28 million of which is earmarked for Read More…
CASPER – Hospitals in Wyoming charged private insurance plans more than three times what Medicare would pay for the same care in 2017, according to a national study that looked at 14 hospitals here and nearly 1,600 facilities statewide and found further evidence that the Eq-uality State has a serious problem with health-care prices. “What Read More…
MISSOULA – Montana boaters will see another mandatory inspection this summer. A new aquatic invasive species (AIS) rule calls for all watercraft with ballast tanks or bladders to be decontaminated upon entering the state or crossing the Continental Divide into the Columbia River Basin. READ FULL STORY
The Montana Highway Patrol and local authorities near Bozeman, Montana were called to a crash scene in which a semi-tractor trailer careened off a roadway, and millions of bees were released. The incident happened at an intersection — the truck’s trailer overturned. Assistant Fire Chief Brian Nickolay told media it was an unusual rescue scene for his crew Read More…
NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. — Charles William Anderson wakes up and puts on pants from Amazon, then heads to the kitchen to brew coffee from Amazon in his coffee maker from Amazon. As he sips his morning coffee sitting in his chair, also ordered from Amazon, he looks around the room to see other items from Read More…
Leadership South Dakota has named those selected for the 8-month leadership program. The class includes 43 members and begins in September. Leadership South Dakota is a statewide program meant to provide South Dakotans with the background, experiences and insights to assume leadership positions at the local, state and national levels. READ FULL STORY