Montana State Fund’s 22,000 policy holders will receive a 10% rate reduction and a $20 million dividend. Wednesday, Montana’s largest workers’ compensation provider said the dividends are a direct result of better-than-expected investment performance and positive workplace safety results. Senator Steve Daines led a hearing We...
Montana Rural Teacher Of The Year To Retire
With real-estate inventory down by more than half compared to last year, the personal-finance website Wallet Hub today released its report on 2021’s best places to be a real estate agent comparing more than 170 U.S. cities. Billings ranks 14th and Missoula is ranked as 37th across 22 key indicators of a healthy housing market ranging from sale...
Montana Lands Face Potential Mining Ban For Bird Conservation
The Biden administration announced Tuesday it will consider a ban on new mining on large expanses of public lands in Western states to protect a struggling bird species, the Greater Sage-Grouse. A temporary ban on mining was imposed under former President Barack Obama, but dropped by the Trump administration. The affected lands totaled 10 mill...
Gianforte Signs Broadband Infrastructure Bill Into Law
Montana is the 46th ranked state for broadband access according to Federal Communications Commission data published in January. One in three residents in Montana doesn’t have broadband access which is three times the national average and it’s even worse in rural Montana where three in five lack broadband access. Only 12 of the state’s 5...
Lewis & Clark County Sites Under Scrutiny For Current Names
Seven groups asked the U.S. Board of Geographic Names Tuesday to rename Davis Gulch just south of Helena’s city limits in Lewis and Clark County and Jeff Davis Peak and Jeff Davis Creek located in the southern stretch of the Bitterroot Range in Montana to honor Indigenous people and Chinese immigrants. They are now named after Jefferson Davis,...
Montana Legislature Chairs Auctioned Off
The old chairs that House members of the state Legislature sat in for more than 100 years have been auctioned off to current and former lawmakers. The 100 chairs which were replaced for the 2021 session were sold last week by silent auction for bids ranging from $125 to $1,100 with the proceeds going into the state’s general fund. The bidding ...
Montana Board Of Regents To Hold Listening Session For College Firearm Policy
Under a draft policy to implement a new law broadly expanding where firearms are allowed, students on Montana’s college campuses who meet safety certifications would be able to carry concealed firearms without a permit. The Montana Board of Regents will host a listening session Wednesday to hear comments on their draft policy implementing Hou...
Check out the New WY Interactive Fishing Guide
Want to catch a kokanee? Or how about a golden trout? It’s easy and inspiring to plan all your fishing pursuits with a new interactive fishing guide from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Explore the guide on the Game and Fish website. “The interactive fishing guide is useful for all anglers,” said Mark Smith, Game and Fish assistant fish...
Montana Justice Rice Files Challenge Against Legislative Lawsuit
Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice was the only justice to file a court challenge against a legislative subpoena seeking his communications regarding any polling conducted on pending legislation. Monday District Court Judge Mike McMahon grilled a state attorney representing the Legislature on Republican lawmakers’ chosen methods of p...
Senator Tester Recognizes National Police Week
As of May 1st, 19 low-elevation SNOTEL sites across Montana have melted out and the Natural Resources Conservation Service says that is slightly more than normal for this date. Streamflow forecasts indicate near to slightly below average stream flows are still possible though for many Montana rivers because October and February saved snowmelt ...