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…
KALISPELL, Mont. — Dozens of Montana National Guard soldiers have returned home following a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. The Daily Inter Lake reports soldiers from the 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion arrived at Glacier Jet Center in Kalispell late Saturday, greeted by a crowd of family and friends. U.S. Army Cpt. Dan Bushnell says the Read More…
GREAT FALLS – Youth Dynamics reports that every year almost 4,000 Montana children enter foster care due to abuse, neglect and other serious difficulties within their families. “There’s nowhere near that many homes,” Youth Dynamics Family Development Coordinator Bethany Grohs said. Grohs says there is a need for more couples to become foster parents, “I would Read More…
Thirty-four years ago, Rupert Murdoch showed up in Hollywood with $250 million, buying a stake in the 20th Century Fox film studio — even though he had little interest in making movies. The scrappy Australian newsman, then known for his clamorous tabloids, was viewed with suspicion. Skeptics assumed he was a corporate raider intent on Read More…
Medicare has penalized nine Wyoming hospitals this year for high rates of readmission and Aspen Mountain Medical Center in Rock Springs for a high rate of hospital-acquired illnesses. According to data from health news organization Kaiser Health News, hospitals can receive cuts to their reimbursements from Medicare. This includes up to three percent per Medicare Read More…
GREAT FALLS – A local man won the Montana Lottery’s top prize this week of $75,000, according to a press release. “It paid off really well,” said Arnie Depping, who bought the winning Slingo Trio Treasure ticket at the Holiday Station Store on 1428 3rd Street NW. He had cashed in a few winning lottery Read More…
A Montana State Fair carnival worker has been arrested in connection to a 2017 sexual assault. Lyle Oka made his initial appearance for one count of sexual intercourse without consent. In July of 2017, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office responded to Benefis Health System for a report of a sexual assault, according to court documents. Read More…
Francesco “Frank” Cali, the reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, was shot to death outside his house in Staten Island on Wednesday night, in a killing that echoes Mafia murders of the 1980s. The New York Police Department says that at 9:17 p.m. ET, officers received a 911 call reporting an assault in progress Read More…
A dreaded bloodbath at Goldman Sachs under the bank’s new boss has finally begun. The Wall Street powerhouse — whose new chief executive, David Solomon, took the reins from Lloyd Blankfein last October — laid off 65 employees in its New York office at the end of February, according to notice filed Thursday with the Read More…
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has called for Google to be broken up in Australia, the latest salvo in a battle between the corporate media giants. In a petition to Australian regulators, News Corp’s local subsidiary complained that “Google enjoys overwhelming market power in both online search and ad tech services.” Going a step further, the Read More…
CODY — Colossal dinosaur skeletons are a prime attraction at major museums in big cities like Chicago, Berlin, New York and Washington, D.C. But none of those institutions can match what Wyoming offers for a hands-on, citizen-science thunder-lizard experience in the heart of dinosaur country. “Paleontology is not accessible to the general public, and it’s Read More…
STEM-related jobs offer some of the highest paying salaries in the country and are in big demand. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, college-educated STEM job holders earn up to 39% more an hour than non-STEM employees, with the same education. Many schools in North Dakota don’t have the resources or funds to offer Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Once again the North Dakota unemployment rate is lower than the national rate of 4.4 percent. The state stands at 3 percent for January. That’s even with a labor force loss of more than 9,000 since 2014. In a North Dakota Job Service release, it says the greatest loss was from 2017-2018 Read More…
BOZEMAN – Crews are working on the Upper Gym roof on Montana State University, cleaning snow off and assessing damage after the roofs of two adjoining gyms collapsed on Thursday and Saturday. In a post on the MSU website, President Waded Cruzado apologized for the events and expressed gratitude to students, facility, staff, and parents Read More…
BOZEMAN- Nonprofit Serenity Ranch, which provides equine therapy for women veterans, is trying to raise $300,000 after a barn roof caved under heavy snow. The Serenity Ranch’s double mission is to take in unwanted horses while providing equine therapy programs for female veterans. The owners were asleep in bed in the early hours of the Read More…
A third of British billionaires have moved to tax havens after an exodus over the past decade, a Times investigation has found. They are among 6,800 Britons controlling 12,000 UK firms from low-tax jurisdictions. The Exchequer is denied billions a year but many of the bosses still reap the benefits of British assets. Some have Read More…
At 12:10 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2013, Australian billionaire James Packer texted a 21-year-old British actress named Charlotte Kirk. Kirk had been laboring to establish herself in Hollywood with limited success, but now Packer, who was a partner with director Brett Ratner in the film production/finance company RatPac Entertainment, was saying she was about to Read More…
As the Islamic State’s physical caliphate shrinks to nothing after an almost five-year campaign led by U.S. special operations forces, military insiders say one small unit has killed more of the extremists than any other: the company of Gray Eagle drones in the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Although the military has thrown a Read More…
ASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A report says the federal government has penalized nine Wyoming hospitals for high readmission rates, and another one for high levels of hospital-acquired medical conditions. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Kaiser Health News says the federal Affordable Care Act allows Medicare to cut payments to the hospitals. Read More…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently proposed to cut hours for four of Montana’s 16 ports of entry. The proposal would affect ports in Morgan, Opheim, Raymond and Scobey. The following changes would take place if the proposal is passed. Port of Raymond, which is currently open 24 hours, would be closed between the hours Read More…
Wyoming has now enacted a total of 13 blockchain-enabling laws, making it the only US state to provide a comprehensive, welcoming legal framework that enables blockchain technology to flourish, both for individuals and companies. These laws enable innovation and creativity, and are meant to bring capital, jobs and revenue into Wyoming. Law and technology are Read More…
BOZEMAN — Glendive native and former Montana State offensive lineman Mike Person has agreed to three-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers, ESPN reported on Sunday. The deal will reportedly pay Person $9 million, with $3 million guaranteed. Person was set to become an unrestricted free agent next week before signing the deal Monday Read More…
Another weekend of tournament basketball is in the books. Thousands of fans packed into loud gyms over the past few weeks, but are they loud for the wrong reasons? Last month, the Montana High School Association released an op-ed titled, ‘Dear Mom and Dad – Cool It,’ telling parents and fans to stop the growing Read More…
For every 10 Montana teens who graduate from high school, six go on to some kind of college, but four don’t. That means thousands of kids get no training beyond high school. State legislators feel that’s a problem because so many Montana employers have complained they’re having a hard time finding well-trained, well-qualified people Read More…
An Alaska Airlines plane from Chicago to Seattle was forced to divert Wednesday night as passengers and crew struggled to breathe. The Boeing 737-900, which had 114 people on board, landed in Minneapolis just after 7pm where 12 people were treated for breathing difficulties. An airport spokesman said four crew members were hospitalized and six more were Read More…
Tax refunds increased by 17 percent last week and are now at the same level as last year, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The left and the media have spent the past few weeks arguing that the reduction in tax refunds in the first few weeks of tax filing season meant that families are Read More…
Below-average gas prices across the Gem State are making travelers happy this time of year, one Riggins convenience store operator said. “I think good prices are a good thing for everybody,” said Andrew Puderbach, who has owned the Riggins One Stop gas station and convenience store for about five months. The American Automobile Association recently Read More…
BISMARCK, N.D. – Hundreds of hunting licenses remain for North Dakota’s spring turkey season. The Game and Fish Department offered 6,025 licenses and recently held a lottery drawing. The agency says 915 leftover licenses in nine hunting units will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis beginning March 18. They’re available only to North Dakota Read More…
Let’s be honest. Most people outside of the U.S. have never heard of Wyoming. Yet, the home of the famed Yellowstone National Park, steep canyons, and gushing geysers is firmly on the cryptocurrency community’s radar. It started about a year ago, with blockchain friendly bills. But things really kicked off in earnest ever since governer Read More…
A Wyoming county will open a school to serve a single student By Shelby Copeland, CNN Updated 7:29 PM ET, Wed February 27, 2019 Cozy Hollow Elementary School was active more than a decade ago. Here’s a sign to the school in 2004. (CNN)The nearest school to one Wyoming kindergartner is more than an hour’s Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. — Five bull bison from Yellowstone National park have been transferred to an American Indian reservation in northwest Montana under an effort to bolster herds of the animals outside the park. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports the animals were released into corrals on the Fort Peck Reservation on Friday. They’ll be under quarantine Read More…
A once in a lifetime hunt, quite literally! House Bill 390 in Montana’s 66th legislature is introduced to limit the harvest of certain game to one per lifetime. House Bill 390 states, “A person who has killed or taken any game animal, except a deer, elk, or an antelope, during the current license year is Read More…
BUTTE – Our latest blast of winter weather has NorthWestern Energy offering up some winter safety advice. The utility is looking to remind customers to make sure natural gas meters, as well as furnace and appliance vents, are free from snow and ice. Blocked vents could result in a loss of heat or buildup of Read More…
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, sat down with a panel of Kalispell Regional Healthcare officials and employees on Wednesday to discuss the state’s ongoing struggles with drug abuse and how Flathead County is battling what has been, and continues to be, a “major crisis” throughout Montana. The panel highlighted a troubling increase in the number of Read More…
BILLINGS-Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., visited the Rimrock Foundation in Billings last week. The senator talked with people at the Willow Way Program home. Willow Way allows mothers to go through detox and rehab while staying with their children. Daines learned the importance of these programs are for those going through treatment. “What would happen if you didn’t Read More…
Preventing invasive species from wreaking havoc on ecosystems and regional economies is among the world’s greatest challenges, and with the help of a grant from NASA an investigative team of researchers at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station is launching a new project enabling officials to predict the spread of aquatic invasive species Read More…
After 25 years as the conductor of the Bozeman Symphony, Music Director Matthew Savery resigned Thursday amid an investigation into his conduct. A release from Great Falls law firm Ugrin Alexander Zadick, P.C. confirmed the resignation on Friday. “Matthew expresses his gratitude for and appreciation to the symphony for the opportunity to serve Read More…
Stung by domestic defeat after a losing battle with Democrats in Washington, D.C., this winter, President Donald Trump hopes his negotiating skills can achieve better results some 8,000 miles away when he meets with North Korea’s leader in Vietnam later this month. Trump will travel for his second session with the North Korean dictator Kim Read More…
Facing a nationwide shortage of teachers — and special-education teachers in particular — schools in Montana are feeling it acutely as the number of students receiving special-education services is on the rise. Statewide there are 18,803 students receiving special-education services. This is a more than 10 percent increase over the past five academic years. In Read More…
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has a new job with a lobbying firm led by former aides of President Trump. Zinke, also a former Montana congressman, is now a senior adviser at Turnberry Solutions, which was formed in 2017 by Jason Osbourne, Mike Rubio and Ryan O’Dwyer, who all worked on Trump’s 2016 Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court is allowing a Bozeman man to enter a new plea agreement or stand trial in two sexual assault cases against him. Jerry Joe Henderson appealed his Gallatin County District Court sentencing to the high court and argued that state law does not allow no contest pleas, like the one he Read More…