The Biden administration is delaying decisions on new oil and gas drilling on federal land and other energy-related actions after a federal court blocked the way officials were calculating the real-world costs of climate change. Among the immediate effects is an indefinite delay in planned oil and gas lease sales on public lands in a half-doze...
Senator Tester Highlights Partisan Conflict With Federal Reserve
A boycott from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee last week delayed the vote for President Joe Biden’s nominees to the Federal Reserve. The boycott was due to question over the nominees’ past affiliations but committee member Jon Tester argued the Federal Reserve’s operation can’t afford to get political.
Over $1 Billion Infrastructure Funds To Address Tribal Water Rights
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced Tuesday the Biden administration will use $1.7 billion from the infrastructure bill to fund 16 tribal water rights settlements. They include the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes along with the Blackfeet and Crow Nation. The money will ensure that tribes get access to water they’ve been...
Avalanche Center Details Recent Cooke City Death
An avalanche near Cooke City over the weekend that killed a snowbiker marked the fourth avalanche fatality in Montana this year. Dave Zinn a forecaster with the Gallatin National Forest Service Avalanche Center who conducted the investigation shared the cause of the avalanche Tuesday on Voices of Montana.
Montana Ranks Near Bottom In Public Education Success In The Nation
The 2022 Student Success Rankings is the first Nationwide study to analyze the pandemic’s impact on our public school system. Based on the analysis of 42 metrics organized into 3 key indicators of educational success Montana ranked 38th in the nation in providing a good environment for a student to succeed in school and maintain a health...
AG Knudsen Sees Further Marijuana Regulation Ahead
Recreational marijuana may be legal across Montana now but that doesn’t mean it’s laws and regulations are set in stone. Attorney General Austin Knudsen recently said it will likely take years of adjusting before Montana has a real handle on it.
MSU Reports High Enrollment & Retention Numbers
Montana State University reported its second highest spring headcount ever today as well as strong graduate student enrollment and retention. The official headcount shows MSU has 15,608 total students a 4% increase over spring 2021. It is second only to spring 2019 when the university enrolled 15,694.
Senator Daines Highlights Economic Losses From Keystone XL Cancellation
Senator Steve Daines and other lawmakers sent a letter to the Biden Administration’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm demanding her agency to disclose the number of jobs lost when President Biden canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline. He notes Eastern Montana as one of the areas whose economies has suffered due to it cancella...
Montana ACLU Files Amicus Brief Challenging Sex-Offender Ruling
The ACLU of Montana Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Center for HIV Law and Policy have filed an Amicus Brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing an individual should not be required to register as a sex offender for engaging in consensual same-sex activity. It argues a ruling made by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christense...
First NRECA President from Montana
When thousands of Rural Electric leaders from across the nation meet in Nashville, March 6-9, for their annual meeting, it will be a special time for Montana’s Electric Cooperatives. For the first time, one of their own from the Big Sky Country will be leading the national association. In March of 2021, when Chris Christensen from Hinsdale ...