Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is asking for comments on a plan to move a dirt road at the western edge of its Deadmans Basin Fishing Access Site west of Ryegate because the old roadway is eroding away. A draft environmental assessment of the project was completed this week. Construction could be completed in May if the final plan is appro...
MoFi Loan Program Receives New Grant
MoFi’s new Thrive loan program is providing working capital loans with reasonable repayment terms and attractive rates to help businesses that may have depleted their reserves due to the pandemic. With the help of a recent $2.1 million grant from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, the community development lender has made it even more acce...
House Bill Known Unofficially As “The Beast” Passes Through State House Of Representatives
After Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act, sending billions of dollars to Montana, lawmakers quickly drafted House Bill 632 to start the process of spending that money. The bill passed the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support last week before landing in the Senate Finance and Claims Committee Wednesday. James Bradley...
Montana Organic Medical Supply Opens Series Of Lawsuits
Montana Organic Medical Supply is suing the state Department of Health and Human Services, two of its employees, the city of Billings and a police detective. Violations were found in 2018 and the inspection report gave the medical marijuana business until September 18th to make corrections but, without any warning, the state shut it down early...
Helena Brothers Involved In January 6 Riot Released From Custody
East Helena Montana brothers Joshua and Jerod Hughes who prosecutors say were among the first people to break into the U.S. Capitol January 6th while the Electoral College vote was being certified were ordered released from custody Wednesday pending trial. Both face nine federal charges including civil disorder destruction of government proper...
Montana Supreme Court May Challenge New Voting Law
Six members of the Montana Supreme Court will consider a legal challenge to a new Montana law. It would eliminate the state’s judicial nomination commission and allow the governor to appoint judges to fill vacancies between elections and it asks for an injunction to block the law from taking effect and to declare it unconstitutional. Attorney...
Indian Health Service Receives Additional Funds For COVID-19 Response
By the time Indian Health Service’s acting director Elizabeth Fowler visited Montana Wednesday, more than a million vaccine doses had been administered by the IHS since vaccines began arriving in mid-December. The American Rescue Plan Act will provide $6.1 billion to the Indian Health Service in a continued effort to expand services and ...
U.S. VA Head Speaks In Montana About Veteran Vaccinations
Denis McDonough, the Head of U.S. Veterans Affairs, was joined Wednesday by Montana’s congressional delegation as he capped off a three-day visit to the state at Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Helena and he spoke about vaccination efforts against COVID-19. The Montana VA was selected in December as one of 113 VA sites to receive initial do...
Montana’s Request To Break From Standardized Tests Denied
The federal government has denied Montana’s plan to not require mandatory standardized statewide testing in schools because of challenges posed by the pandemic. The state had proposed to instead conduct local voluntary assessments set by school districts and had also proposed to focus on measures selected by districts to fulfill the stat...
Attorney General Knudsen Weighs In On Federal Lawsuit
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service reports March yielded substantially different weather patterns than the cold and wet conditions experienced during February. Snowpack percentages on March 1st were at a high point for the year. Later during March precipitation at both mountain and valley locations was well below average. Attorne...