Canadian wildfire smoke chokes north-central Montana
Smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted into Montana this week covering a large swath of north-central Montana Wednesday and Thursday. Fires have been burning since May in the Canadian provinces of Alberta Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Montana has had several small wildfires early this season itself and forecasts call for an active fire season in the Treasure State.
Trump moves to merge wildland firefighting into single force
President Donald Trump has told government agencies to consolidate their wildland firefighting into a single program. Thursday’s executive order comes after former federal officials warned that such a consolidation could be costly and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes. The move is meant to centralize duties now split among five agencies and two Cabinet departments. Officials have not disclosed how much the change could cost. The Trump administration in its first months sharply reduced the ranks of firefighters through layoffs and retirement offers.
Senator Daines Reintroduces Effort to Amend Constitution and Ban Flag Desecration Ahead of Flag Day
U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban flag desecration, aiming to protect the American flag. He has proposed this amendment annually since 2017. The legislation was reintroduced around Flag Day, which celebrates the flag’s adoption by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Congressman Steve Womack has introduced similar legislation in the House.
Trump policy bill could bring $160 million hit to state budget
According to an estimate this week from the Legislative Fiscal Division changes outlined in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” impacting Medicaid expansion the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and taxes could be a $160 million hit to Montana’s state budget. Thursday Senator Steve Daines said lawmakers are trying to get it on the president’s desk by July 4th.
Proposed Montana gas pipeline advances to BLM review stage
The Bureau of Land Management has launched an environmental review of a proposed 74-mile natural gas pipeline that would run from Helena to Three Forks. If approved it would be developed by NorthWestern Energy to expand natural gas capacity in western Montana and strengthen regional energy infrastructure. It would cross approximately seven miles of BLM managed public lands and follow an existing utility corridor to limit new ground disturbance and reduce ecological impacts.
Federal judge considers fate of shuttered asbestos-screening clinic
Attorneys for BNSF Railway the U.S. government and the Center for Asbestos Related Disease sparred in federal court Thursday over how the railroad giant can collect a multimillion-dollar judgment from hundreds of fraudulent diagnoses made by the nonprofit health care clinic in Libby. The case was litigated in in 2023 and CARD declared bankruptcy. Much of Thursday’s court proceedings centered on whether the U.S. government could intervene in the case given its interest in the clinic’s grant-funded assets.
Federal public land sales reintroduced “Big Beautiful Bill” but with Montana exempt
The sell-off of federal public lands across the West is back on the table in the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair released the committee’s proposal. The draft lists 11 eligible states where that land could be sold except Montana. No one has outright explained why Montana was exempted but the state’s delegation has been publicly pushing hard to prevent public lands from being sold off and the provision has renewed pressure on senators across the West to oppose the bill entirely.
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Workers discovered an unexploded military ordnance at the Butte-Silver Bow landfill early Thursday which was later determined to be a 105-millimeter projectile and the landfill was closed. The ordnance was detonated by explosive technicians from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and the landfill will reopen today.
One of western Montana’s only Olympic swimming venues is closed after officials discovered a leak in the bottom of 50-yard pool at Missoula’s Splash Montana June 6th threatening one of Missoula’s premier regional swim meets set for June 19th. As of Thursday afternoon the issue was still being investigated.
Today and Saturday members of the Laurel community will gather for the annual Montana State Firefighter Memorial fundraiser. The event aims to support the upkeep and improvement of the memorial park that honors Montana’s fallen firefighters. Located next to the Laurel fire station it was completed in 2018. It took nearly two decades of planning fundraising construction and landscaping to bring the memorial to life.
Great Falls Hospital unveiled a new robotic diagnostic device this week that is now available to patients in northcentral Montana for the first time. It is the first medical center in the area to use the Ion robot that offers a new alternative in diagnosing lung cancers. It is now in use in the hospital’s pulmonary department.
Salish Kootenai College has announced that Dr. Michael M. Munson is taking over as the school’s president following a national search and will assume the role June 23rd. Munson will be the sixth president in SKC’s history succeeding Dr. Sandra Boham who retired after eight years as president.
