Christian Castro was released a day after a federal judge rejected Minnesota’s bid to keep him jailed while Gov. Greg Abbott decides whether to sign extradition papers. BROWNSVILLE — The immigration officer at the center of a Minnesota-Texas legal fight was released from a South Texas jail Thursday, a day after a federal judge rejected Read More…
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…
CHEYENNE – Native Americans in Wyoming soon will receive more recognition in statewide K-12 education. During the 2017 session, the Legislature passed Enrolled Act 119, which requires the Wyoming Department of Education and State Board of Education to update the state’s social studies standards to include Native American history, cultural heritage and contemporary contributions. READ Read More…
It was a windy week in Casper, appropriate given the number of wind stories that ended up in the paper since last Monday. Each came from the same conference, a two-day forum about wind development at the University of Wyoming. It’d be overkill to lay out each of the topics from that conference for a newsletter. In Read More…
MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy has proposed splitting its utility operations in North Dakota and Minnesota, telling regulators that widening policy differences between the two states over clean energy have caused stresses that might best be resolved through a breakup. But a consultant for the North Dakota Public Service Commission is arguing against the separation, saying Read More…
The Albany County Genealogical Society is helping people who have taken a DNA test learn more about their family histories and use the test results to find family members they have been separated from, Genealogical Society President Dicksie May said. “Some of the people I have been involved with recently (were trying to find their) Read More…
Raise a beer this weekend to toast Wyoming’s status as Kiplinger’s Most Tax Friendly State. When you do, you’ll be paying the lowest tax on beer in the nation. When compared with South Dakota, the nearest neighboring ‘most tax friendly’ state, Wyoming’s average sales tax is 5.42, while South Dakota’s is 6.39 and includes many Read More…
The exterior shell of Nicole Harkin’s life exudes accomplishment. The 1993 Flathead High School graduate’s resume is stuffed with achievement — a law degree, Fulbright Fellow in Germany, a research associate for a federal project on government oversight, a long stint as an analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Harkin’s personal life seems right Read More…
MISSOULA – The Montana High Tech Jobs Summit hosted by and for tech companies to encourage the development of the tech sector within Montana is underway. The event at the University of Montana is being hosted by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) will wrap up on Monday in Missoula. “We have some of the leaders in Read More…
BILLINGS – The Veterans of Foreign Wars club in south Billings did not show the Patriots and the Buccaneers on Thursday night in response to protests by NFL players. Veterans at the club said they don’t like players kneeling during the National Anthem but understand their right to protest. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1634 has not been showing Read More…
RAWLINS — The Bureau of Land Management office in Rawlins decided to curb the number of wild horses at the Red Desert Complex. The BLM faced lawsuits from Sweetwater County ranchers and the state of Wyoming in opposition to the decision made by the BLM. The state of Wyoming filed suit against the BLM, claiming Read More…
The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded $18 million in funding to 44 State international trade agencies through SBA’s competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), to support export growth among U.S. small businesses. The Wyoming Business Council was awarded $221,431 to assist small businesses in Wyoming expand their market through exporting. STEP is designed to increase Read More…
Following a conference call on Tuesday afternoon, the Montana Board of Regents offered the position of UM President to Seth Bodnar, and he accepted. Bodnar becomes the 18th president of the university. Associate Commissioner of Higher Education Kevin McRae said late Tuesday afternoon that the decision did come more quickly than was anticipated. “Last week, Read More…
The frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was hospitalized after suffering cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu. He could not be revived. Tom Petty, the iconic rocker who gained worldwide fame as the lead singer and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died Monday after suffering cardiac arrest at his home, his Read More…
Tesla reported Monday that it produced 260 of its new Model 3 electric cars in the third quarter, of which it has delivered 220, dramatically missing CEO Elon Musk’s prediction that it would produce more than 1,600 cars by September. In July, Musk tweeted a production update for the Model 3 vehicles, saying the car Read More…
BILLINGS – Officials at MSU Billings announced last week they will begin a search for a permanent chancellor. On Monday, Montana State University President Waded Cruzado was in Billings, hosting a community forum for the public to discuss the search. Many of those in attendance expressed their support for the universities interim chancellor, Dr. Ron Larsen. Larsen has been at Read More…
LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has announced a number of initiatives to help after the mass shooting on the Strip. Allegiant will arrange for family members of victims for free travel to Las Vegas. If you or your family members need to fly to or from Las Vegas, please write the airline at communications@allegiantair.com. Read More…
Montana’s two Republican Congressmen in Washington, D.C. urged the Trump administration this week to approve two massive mining projects in Northwest Montana. On Sept. 28, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to green light Hecla Mining Company’s Rock Creek and Montanore Read More…
MISSOULA – Neptune Aviation’s venerable P-2-V tankers have flown missions over thousands of wildfires, providing safety not only in the Northern Rockies but all over North America for the past quarter of a century. The distinctive workhorses are now being retired at the end of this long and volatile fire season. When Neptune Aviation was founded Read More…
KALISPELL, Mont. – More than 1,600 racers braved the rain, hail and cold temperatures for The Fifth Annual Pink Me Up race in Kalispell to support survivors and remember those lost. “Cancer runs in my family and my aunt died from cancer and we figured we’d be out in beautiful Montana enjoying the rain and Read More…
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is leaving in place a 70-year prison sentence for a Montana man convicted of shooting a German exchange student who was trespassing in his garage. The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Markus Kaarma. Kaarma was convicted of the 2014 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede, who had Read More…
Gun companies are suffering a sales slump under the Trump administration. But a regulatory change could give them a boost overseas. The administration is considering shifting oversight of gun exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The proposed change would treat handguns more like commodities and less like military weapons, and loosen the Read More…
Brown University has initiated a $120 million campaign to drop all loans from financial aid packages awarded to their undergraduates. Student debt is at an all-time high — the average outstanding balance is $34,144, up 62 percent over the last 10 years — and Brown will become the sixteenth U.S. institution, and the sixth in Read More…
BILLINGS – The Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that it would not rehear arguments in a wage dispute between Billings police officers and the city. The high court’s decision sends the case back to the district court for further review. A judge in Park County District Court previously ordered the city of Billings to pay Read More…
LARAMIE – Wyoming entrepreneurs can “WIN” access to capital financing through a new a new state program using crowdfunding opportunities, Secretary of State Ed Murray told those attending the Wyoming Working Together Conference on Friday. Murray outlined the Wyoming Invests Now (WIN) program for members of the Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA) and the Wyoming Read More…
The UM presidential candidate with the closest ties to Missoula appeared before a packed house in the University Center Theater on Friday after noon. He is Seth Bodnar, whose wife Chelsea grew up in Missoula and attended Hellgate High School, so Bodner and his family are familiar with the city and with the university and Read More…
HELENA – Officials announced a new Montana National Guard program that will allow limited hunting on Fort Harrison grounds. It’s called the Purple Heart Deer Program. Each year it will allow up to five Purple Heart recipients to hunt big game in Fort Harrison’s training area. National Guard leaders said the program is a way to Read More…
A man police call a Good Samaritan may face a lawsuit after injuring the alleged robber he thwarted, reports CBS affiliate KGPE-TV. In July, Fresno Police say 30-year old Ryan Flores used a gun and tried to rob a Starbucks. Cregg Jerri, 58, stepped in to stop the crime, and the two got into a fight. Both Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Montana officials will ask those who receive a permit to float the Smith River to help record algae blooms on the water next year. On Thursday the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Fish, Wildlife and Parks department are launching a project to collect data that’s difficult for researchers to obtain Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Numbers from the state show Montana public school students’ standardized test scores did not increase from last year to this year. The test scores released on Tuesday show about half of all public school students graded as at least proficient in English language arts and about 40 percent as proficient in math, Read More…
HELENA, Mont. – Wildfire smoke and the danger of new fires have prompted federal wildlife managers to postpone the annual roundup at the National Bison Range in western Montana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday the roundup was scheduled for Oct. 2 and 3. No new date has been set. Range manager Jeff Read More…
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kufm/audio/2017/09/MN-Piikani-money-09-11-17.mp3 When the Blackfeet Tribe learned its tribal members were about to start receiving payouts from a massive federal court settlement, the tribe wanted to get ahead of some of the problems that can arise when a lot of money floods a cash-based society. “There was about 150 some million dollars that was injected into Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – MSUB City College honors 9/11 by holding a remembrance in front of a memorial that now stands in memory of those who lost their lives. The college is home to a piece of metal that means so much to Americans across the nation. For many people, 9/11 is an event that happened Read More…
If the state of Montana ends up cutting state budgets by as much as 10 percent, that could result in the Board of Regents raising tuition next fall even more than already planned. Tyler Trevor, deputy commissioner of higher education, said Friday that the University System won’t know until the end of September how big Read More…
It didn’t take long for a company founded by a UW graduate student in 2011 to grow big enough to have an international reach and reputation. Bright Agrotech’s six-year growth surge was capped off this week by being featured in a cover story for Bloomberg Businessweek. Bright Agrotech and its founder, Nate Storey have been Read More…
Miss North Dakota 2017 Cara Mund has been crowned Miss America. Mund is the first North Dakotan ever to win the Miss America crown. She was asked during her interview question what is on her bucket list. She said it was to make it past the Top 10 on Miss America because only 3 other Miss North Read More…
As the fire season has ravaged parts of western Montana, it has also affected the real estate market, in that some insurance companies are refusing to offer policies in some zones affected by wildfires. Kyle Schmautz, spokesman for Montana’s Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale, said he has received questions from Missoula area realtors about the practice. Read More…
CHEYENNE – A Cheyenne filmmaker is preparing to travel to a Louisiana film festival, where his latest project will be up for an enormous cash prize. Paul Petersen is an actor, screenwriter and producer. His new film, “An Aria for Albrights,” is set to compete in the It is the third time he and his Read More…
It’s the million-dollar question in disaster planning: Do you order a city to evacuate before a hurricane hits land, or do you tell residents to shelter in place? The question has been before big-city leaders several times in recent years, and it was the question Houston faced as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the fourth largest Read More…
The United States’ ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was “begging for war” with his continued defiance of international sanctions barring his country from nuclear and missile tests. Ambassador Nikki Haley told an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council that “enough is enough” from North Korea, Read More…
When NFL teams trimmed down rosters to 53 players over the weekend, only four former Montana Griz players held a job. By Monday morning, that number was down to three. Here’s a look at how former Griz played this preseason, and who remains on an NFL roster to begin the season. READ THE FULL STORY.
WASHINGTON — In the hours after European antitrust regulators levied a record $2.7 billion fine against Google in late June, an influential Washington think tank learned what can happen when a wealthy tech giant is criticized. The New America Foundation has received more than $21 million from Google; its parent company’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt; Read More…