In the end, the 2019 Legislature’s major Colstrip plan was a stalled solution that couldn’t catch a ride. Lawmakers ended the 87-day session Thursday afternoon with amendments drawn up to commit customers of NorthWestern Energy to covering debts associated with the utility’s potential purchase of Colstrip Power Plant generation and transmission lines. Billed as a Read More…
POLSON — Two years ago, Lake County purchased a drone. They’re still crafting a policy for how to use it. At a meeting Wednesday, the county commissioners and staff discussed several potential uses for their drone: mapping, planning, law enforcement and search-and-rescue. None of these have been carried out yet, said IT director Russ Rodda. He Read More…
The last of many nails was driven into the coffin of public preschool funding at the Montana legislature Thursday, as two last-ditch proposals were rejected. That leaves no replacement for the expiring $3 million-per-year STARS preschool program and no aid for public preschool programs built using a four-year, $40 million federal grant. The final two Read More…
BEATTIE GULCH — The scavenger-cleaned bison carcass scattered across the grassland provided the perfect punctuation point for Nathan Varley. Varley was lobbying a group of officials Wednesday to modify how the winter bison hunt is conducted in the Gardiner Basin, just north of Yellowstone National Park. The hunter-killed bison bones, fur and offal emphasized his argument: Read More…
The body of a Sidney man last seen alive on Sunday was found Tuesday in an area south of the town of Stanford, according to the Sidney Police Department. Foul play is not suspected in the death of the man, identified as William Russell Atkinson, according a press release from Sidney Police Lt. Travis Rosaaen. Read More…
Our Lady of the Rockies has been dark this week for the first time since it was lit in 1985, but crews were working Wednesday afternoon to get power — and Butte’s iconic statue — restored. NorthWestern Energy could not say when the statue’s light initially went out, but posted a statement on its Facebook Read More…
Construction is underway on $100 million expansion to the Hamilton GlaxoSmithKline facility that will increase the production capacity of the key components of an enhancement system used in several of the company’s vaccines, including products that help prevent malaria and shingles. The construction project is expected to be completed in 2022. Work began on the Read More…
Montana health authorities are investigating an outbreak of whooping cough in the Missoula area where six cases have been confirmed, including one that required hospitalization. In addition, the Missoula City-County Health Department says in a news release that it has identified more than 300 close contacts who may have been exposed to the highly contagious Read More…
The final charge to a plan to save Colstrip began this morning with lengthy amendments to the last two surviving energy bills in the Montana Legislature. Language to be added to House Bills 22 and 597 keeps customers of NorthWestern Energy committed to covering debts associated with the utility’s potential purchase of Colstrip Power Plant Read More…
For a third consecutive winter season there were no avalanche fatalities in the Cooke City area, maybe in large part due to the extra efforts of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center and Montana State Parks to educate snowmobilers, skiers and snowboarders in the region about avalanche danger. The information is contained in a wrapup Read More…
Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Mike Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and Wendy Stovall, geologist with the USGS and deputy scientist-in-charge, of the YVO. Last week, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists gathered in Read More…
Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Mike Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and Wendy Stovall, geologist with the USGS and deputy scientist-in-charge, of the YVO. Last week, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientists gathered in Read More…
It’s difficult to call it a celebration, coming together for the 24th birthday of a woman not seen for 10 months. Jermain Charlo, last seen running down an alley near Fifth and South Russell streets in Missoula during the twilight hours of June 16, 2018, was celebrated on Tuesday in a way that was a Read More…
SHELBY — Authorities say two people are dead but a hostage is safe after an incident that occurred in northern Montana. The Toole County Sheriff’s Office says the incident began Monday morning when deputies were called to a residence in the small town of Kevin, north of Shelby. They found a dead man. It was Read More…
MontanaFair kicks off Aug. 9 with the “Triple Threat Tour” of Blackhawk, Restless Heart, and Shenandoah. Country music act Old Dominion performs Aug. 11 at Rimrock Auto Arena during the 2019 MontanaFair. Courtesy photo The 1990s boy band 98 Degrees will play MontanaFair Saturday, Aug. 10. Courtesy photo Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday Read More…
One person was found dead in a truck discovered in the Missouri River near Craig on Monday. The truck, a late-model Toyota Tacoma, was discovered by residents upstream from the Craig boat launch and reported at about 10:30 a.m. The truck was driven between two houses into the river sometime Sunday night, according to Montana Read More…
First in a three-day series. When Annette Smith found out a 9-year-old Oregon girl she represents was being injected with Benadryl and other antihistamines to chemically restrain her for misbehavior and was also frequently being placed in locked seclusion while being treated at Acadia Montana in Butte, she was “horrified and scared for my client’s Read More…
As Acadia Montana faces criticism and questions about the care it provides kids with behavioral and psychiatric issues, the state of Montana’s oversight of the facility is complicated by a startling fact: the person responsible for the oversight and regulation of Acadia Montana is its former CEO, Carter Anderson. Anderson led Acadia Montana from early Read More…
A portion of the abandoned Oregon Short Line railroad will be resurrected to once again carry Yellowstone National Park-area tourists. On Thursday the Custer Gallatin National Forest announced approval of a nine-mile section of nonmotorized multi-use path along the old rail bed between West Yellowstone and Reas Pass at the Montana-Idaho border. “We’ll do some Read More…
A Montana ranching family’s decision to run a herd of goats and sheep in a region that supports the largest bighorn herd in the state, and was home to a new state-record ram, is giving some hunters heartburn. “The Missouri Breaks is probably one of the most … sought after licenses anywhere,” said Kevin Hurley, Read More…