Military retirees and disabled veterans in Montana will receive 2.5% increases to their monthly paychecks for 2025 along with others across the nation thanks to the annual Cost of Living Adjustment tied to inflation. The Social Security Administration announced its COLA increase Thursday and most government disability and retirement payments are required by law to increase annually by the same amount to account for the rate of inflation.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday Montana’s pandemic-era law barring vaccine mandates and data collection may go into effect in health care settings. The decision reversed federal Montana District Court Judge Donald Molloy’s injunction from 2022 after state attorneys appealed the case early last year. House Bill 702 was already in place for many other private businesses and employment settings.
Lawyers for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel delivered closing arguments Thursday in Knudsen’s disciplinary hearing before the Commission on Practice after hearing from the Supreme Court administrator and two lawmakers from the 2021 session. Complaints were filed against Knudsen in September 2023 alleging 41 various counts of professional misconduct.
The Montana Supreme Court has ruled a lower court didn’t abuse its discretion in temporarily stopping bills that restrict abortion procedures and ones that restrict access to abortion by patients who use Medicaid. It agreed preliminary injunctions can stay in place until a final decision is made in Lewis and Clark County District Court.
Amtrak serves railroad travelers with two daily trains as part of its Empire Builder route connecting Chicago to Seattle Portland with 13 stations across the state. In fiscal year 2023 Whitefish led the way as the busiest station in Montana with 40,401 passengers boarding or departing there while Browning recorded the lowest ridership with 935 passengers.
Bitterroot Health is introducing Montana’s first Medical Assistant Certification program that will pay candidates to learn while also being tuition-free. The Medical Assistant Pathways Program will extend career enhancement opportunities to accepted candidates.
University of Montana President Seth Bodnar addressed 350 faculty members Thursday to discuss the progress made and challenges faced by the school and the country in his annual address. He said with higher enrollment the main campus is up 6% and also discussed the obligation the school faces to educate the next generation of leaders and its efforts to evolve to that end.
The Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools held the 32nd Annual Saturday Live event at the MetraPark Pavilion September 28th. Thursday it was announced over $63,000 was raised to directly benefit participating school groups.
The Montana based First Interstate BancSystem has appointed Jim Reuter to president and CEO effective November 1st. He’ll be replacing Kevin Riley who announced his retirement earlier this year. Reuter previously served for seven years as president and CEO at FirstBank Holding Company one of the largest private banks in the nation.
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce is hosting a manufacturing month. This week it held a tour of the Stoltze Land and Lumber Company to show exactly how lumber is produced and the people behind the project.
