The Montana Hospital Association has affirmed the state’s ban on workplace vaccine mandates is back to being the law of the land for health providers after federal immunization requirements for health workers were paused nationwide by a federal judge Tuesday. In October the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid had issued requirements that r...
Denton Evacuated Due To Wildfire
The town of Denton in Fergus County has been ordered to evacuate due to an ongoing wildfire. The West Wind Fire began Tuesday and has quickly spread due to powerful wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour. No one has yet been injured as a result of the fire, though Route 81 is currently closed due to a section of the railroad bridge catching fir...
Montana Supreme Court To Rule On Federal Culpability For Sexual Assault Cases
In Montana, if a citizen is sexually assaulted by a state county or municipal law enforcement officer, the victim can sue the agency for which the officer works. But, in Montana, it’s unclear whether that same principle applies to a federal law enforcement agent because the officer is a federal employee. That’s the central question the U.S. Ni...
WGFD takes first step to address court concerns to delist Grizzlies
Today the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission took the first step in the process to address the court’s concerns to delist grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Commission approved a revised tri-state Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) regarding the management and allocation of discretionary mortality of grizzly bears in the Greater ...
New Research Reveals New Homeless Trend Across Montana
The Pew Charitable Trusts presented new and compiled research focusing on Montana’s Housing economy to a Montana Legislative Finance Committee this week. Principle Officer for Pew’s consumer finance project Alex Horowitz emphasized one concerning correlation between the average cost of rent and homelessness. https://northernbroadcasting....
Student Loan Payments To Restart Early Next Year
Student-loan borrowers have had a reprieve from making payments during the pandemic but that’s set to end starting in February. Greg Harper is a financial capabilities counselor with Rural Dynamics, a Great-Falls based financial nonprofit. He has a plan of action for anyone with student debt. https://northernbroadcasting.com/wp-content/uploads...
Right-To-Work Group Challenges Clean Campaign Act
A complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula by Montana Citizens for Right to Work asks the court to find the state’s 2007 Clean Campaign Act unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy asked for supplemental legal briefs Tuesday afternoon following oral arguments earlier in the day in the case that could toss out a portion of ...
Grizzly Management Decision Moves To Montana Officials
Finalizing a revised plan for managing grizzly bear mortality in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem took a step forward Tuesday when The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved it. The memorandum of agreement now must be approved by wildlife officials in Montana and Idaho before the Cowboy State can petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...
Helium Drilling Looking To Expand Across Montana
Drilling information at the Montana Board of Oil Gas and Conservation shows development in potential helium sites. Helium prospecting is picking up in north-central Montana with Canadian companies expanding south after years of development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Permit holders have six months to show the state what they’re drilling for, ...
Big-Game Hunting Numbers Down From Last Year
The 2021 general big-game hunting season closed Sunday with the four west-central Montana wildlife check stations reporting overall hunter activity and harvest totals down just slightly from last season despite extra mild November weather. As usual the hunter check station near Darby was the regional leader in elk harvest with 133 elk checked ...