East Helena Montana brothers Joshua and Jerod Hughes who prosecutors say were among the first people to break into the U.S. Capitol January 6th while the Electoral College vote was being certified were ordered released from custody Wednesday pending trial. Both face nine federal charges including civil disorder destruction of government proper...
Montana Supreme Court May Challenge New Voting Law
Six members of the Montana Supreme Court will consider a legal challenge to a new Montana law. It would eliminate the state’s judicial nomination commission and allow the governor to appoint judges to fill vacancies between elections and it asks for an injunction to block the law from taking effect and to declare it unconstitutional. Attorney...
Indian Health Service Receives Additional Funds For COVID-19 Response
By the time Indian Health Service’s acting director Elizabeth Fowler visited Montana Wednesday, more than a million vaccine doses had been administered by the IHS since vaccines began arriving in mid-December. The American Rescue Plan Act will provide $6.1 billion to the Indian Health Service in a continued effort to expand services and ...
U.S. VA Head Speaks In Montana About Veteran Vaccinations
Denis McDonough, the Head of U.S. Veterans Affairs, was joined Wednesday by Montana’s congressional delegation as he capped off a three-day visit to the state at Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Helena and he spoke about vaccination efforts against COVID-19. The Montana VA was selected in December as one of 113 VA sites to receive initial do...
Montana’s Request To Break From Standardized Tests Denied
The federal government has denied Montana’s plan to not require mandatory standardized statewide testing in schools because of challenges posed by the pandemic. The state had proposed to instead conduct local voluntary assessments set by school districts and had also proposed to focus on measures selected by districts to fulfill the stat...
Attorney General Knudsen Weighs In On Federal Lawsuit
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service reports March yielded substantially different weather patterns than the cold and wet conditions experienced during February. Snowpack percentages on March 1st were at a high point for the year. Later during March precipitation at both mountain and valley locations was well below average. Attorne...
Montana House of Representatives Approves Bill For Film Industry Jobs
The House of Representatives gave bipartisan preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill aimed at drawing the film industry to Montana. James Bradley from the University of Montana Legislative News Service reports House Bill 340 expands tax incentives set up by the 2019 Montana Economic Development Industry Advancement Act. Republican Speaker of th...
High Water is Dangerous Plan Ahead & wear PFD
When spring is in the air, snowmelt creates high water in our streams and rivers. You might want to get out there in your boat, but high water can be deadly when conditions are too extreme for safe boating. Although it can be hard to put safety ahead of adventure when you’ve spent hours planning a boating trip, sometimes the only safe ch...
Helena Schools Return To Full School Weeks
Legislation that would allow state agencies to charge the public for commenting on environmental documents was significantly amended Tuesday to remove the proposal. House Bill 695 in its original form would allow state agencies to charge public commenters a fee while drafting environmental impact statements. The amendment removes virtually all...
Montana Emergency Rental Assistance Program Begins Taking Applications
Montana has a new program to provide rental assistance for people who have lost income and are at risk of housing instability due to the pandemic. The Legislature has appropriated $17 million in federal funding for the Montana Emergency Rental Assistance program which state officials estimate will help about 8,000 renters stay in their homes. ...