July Was Historic Month For New Business Registration In Montana
A record nearly 7,000 new business registrations were filed in Montana last month topping the previous monthly best of roughly 6,700 in April. So far this year nearly 45,000 new business registrations have been filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. Montana has experienced record new business growth in each of the past four years.
Judge issues temporary injunction against Trump administration cancellation of humanities grants
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued an injunction Wednesday temporarily stopping the mass cancellation of National Endowment for the Humanities grants by the Trump administration Oregon judge said it was likely unconstitutional. Humanities Montana’s $725,000 grant was one that had been terminated. The order also stopped the federal government from otherwise disposing of the already committed funds.
Niece says Montana bar shooting suspect needs mental health treatment
This is the seventh day of the search for Michael Brown the man accused of shooting and killing four people in Anaconda at the Owl Bar last Friday. Officials say Brown then fled the scene in a pickup truck to the west of town and into the surrounding mountains. He is believed to still be alive. According to his niece Clare Boyle her uncle he is a very mentally ill veteran.
SNAP cuts create “big gap” in food assistance
The Montana Food Bank Network says about 12,000 Montanans are at “immediate risk” for losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility because of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” According to the Center on Budget and Policy this is the “deepest SNAP cut in history” and along with changes to policy and eligibility it will require Montana to pay more for SNAP benefits.
One-eyed wolf matriarch killed by rival Yellowstone pack 1 of 17 dead in 2024
17 Yellowstone National Park wolves were killed in 2024 and among them was the fabled one-eyed female 907F the fifth oldest wolf ever recorded in the park at 11.7 years of age. She was killed by the Rescue Creek pack three days before Christmas. Due to her longevity it’s likely that an individual in the pack that killed her was a close or distant relative. Clashes between wolf packs are the leading natural cause of wolf deaths in Yellowstone but the majority of wolf deaths of 77% are human related.
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State Senator Barry Usher will now lead the National Conference of State Legislatures that represents thousands of legislators and staffers from every state in the country. The Yellowstone County Republican was named president-elect after automatically rising to the position after being its vice president for the past year.
The nurse-midwifery program at Montana State University’s Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing has successfully completed its first year. Until last year Montanans who wanted to pursue nurse-midwifery had to leave the state for school or pursue distance learning. It was launched last falls and is the first and only nurse-midwifery program in the state.
The Bozeman City Commission is moving forward with the Boutique Hotel project after Intrinsik Architecture adjusted parts of the application commissioners had raised concerns about in previous meetings. One of the improvements includes reducing the size of the patio planned to go between the hotel and Bozeman Creek to make the creek more accessible to the public.
The Montana Public Service Commission has preliminarily fined the Helena Valley North Star subdivision nearly $87,000 after development owners failed to provide adequate water service to residents. They also failed to fully cooperate with the commission during its investigation into homeowner complaints about the disruptions in their utility services.
The city of Belgrade recently joined the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority’s Government Partners Program. It is one of the latest Montana communities to join the Big Sky North Coast Corridor project in an effort to restore passenger rail service from Chicago to Seattle through southern Montana.
