A struggle continues in the Columbia River System by environmentalists who want more water for salmon runs and hydro-power generators for electricity. Joe Lucas, General Manager of the Western Montana Generation and Transmission Cooperative, recently on Voices of Montana said the stakes are high. https://northernbroadcasting.com/wp-content/up...
Montana Universities Adopting Various Mask Policies
State universities adopted guidelines this summer than can require students faculty and other staff to wear masks in classrooms and laboratory settings but at the University of Montana, the distinction is that faculty can elect to require masks in lab and classroom settings. Montana Tech reported Monday it continues to rely on strongly encoura...
National Guard Arrives At Billings Clinic
For the second time in two years Billings Clinic is bringing in the National Guard to ease staffing shortages and postpone non-medically necessary procedures as the hospital is packed with COVID patients with no end in sight. In the last seven days 27 more people have died of COVID-19 in Montana of which seven were Yellowstone County residents...
Colstrip Residents Suing Power Plant
More than 100 current and former residents of Colstrip are suing the power plant and the Rosebud Mine around which the community is built alleging damage from coal dust. The lawsuit filed in Rosebud County alleges that dust from coal piled at Colstrip Power Plant as well as trucks that deliver coal from Rosebud mine poses a health risk and has...
Montana Nursing Program Receives $100 Million Donation
Montana State University announced a philanthropic gift of $101 million for its College of Nursing from Mark and Robyn Jones, founders of Goosehead Insurance as they seek to help address access to health care for rural and frontier communities. It is the largest single donation given to a nursing program and will provide funding for new facili...
State Senator Proposes Federal Commission With Canada
The U.S. Canadian Border remains closed for non-essential travelers from up north due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in an economic strain on many towns along the Hi Line. Montana State Senator Mike Cuffe recently spoke about what’s being done to strengthen relations between the two nations going forward. https://northernbroadcasting.c...
FWP Announces Changes To Wolf Hunting Regulations
After a public comment period that drew more than 26,000 comments, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted several changes to the 2021/2022 wolf hunting and trapping regulations. Changes include eliminating quotas, increasing the number of wolf trapping and hunting licenses allowed for individual hunters, extending wolf trapping seasons and t...
Free Bear Spray available in Wyoming Tuesday Sept. 7th.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, in cooperation with the Safari Club International Foundation and the Western Bear Foundation, plans to distribute bear spray to hunters and anglers at no cost on Tuesday, September 7, at the Teton County fair & rodeo grounds. Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Biologist Mike Boyce said 100 cans of b...
School Districts Submit Spending Plans For Federal Relief Funding
A recent string of developments and deadlines have begun to offer a clearer picture of how Montana’s public school system will make use of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funding for K-12 education. Alex Sarkissian with the Montana Free Press reports that last Tuesday marked the submission deadline for school distric...
Canada’s Largest Coal Company Seeking To Reduce State Water Quality Standards
Teck Resources Ltd. this month filed a petition with the Montana Board of Environmental Review to challenge their recently applied water quality standard for the trace element selenium, a byproduct of coal mining that can kill fish and inhibit growth on both sides of the border. Teck are asking them to nullify the new standard, claiming itR...