Your Community Builder
Your Community Builder
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 753
Montana’s annual youth-only deer hunt is set for Oct. 17 and 18. This year, the hunt happens over the two-day Montana teachers’ convention, when students are out of school. The two-day youth hunt is open to: legally licensed 12- to 15-year-olds who have completed hunter education and who are accompanied by a nonhunting adult at least 18 years of age properly certified and legally licensed apprentice hunters 10 to 15 years of age who are accompanied by a nonhunting adult mentor at least 21 years of age. This hunt is for dee...
Montana's Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte is running for his second term against a political first-timer, Democrat Ryan Busse, in an election that some think is already decided thanks to the state of Montana politics. Gianforte's campaign has adopted an aura of inevitability. According to recent polling from AARP, Gianforte has a 16-point lead over Busse. Gianforte is spending roughly half of what Busse is on his campaign. He isn't organizing big rallies or seeking out the...
Ask Bozeman attorney Ben Alke what prompted him to launch his long-shot campaign to unseat Attorney General Austin Knudsen and he is quick to rattle off stories of what he sees as partisan overreaching by Knudsen. Back in 2021, for example, Knudsen sent Montana Highway Patrol officers to question hospital officials about their unwillingness to prescribe Ivermectin to a Covid patient. The hospital later complained it amounted to harassment, but the Department of Justice said...
The Montana Newspaper Association surveyed candidates for the state legislature, Public Service Commission and statewide offices about their positions on government accountability, transparency and the right to know. Of 281 candidates receiving survey, 111 responded, or about 40%. Among respondents -including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, from Butte to Wibaux-there is a consensus that the right to know is imperative for our state's democracy. While the low return...
On a Wednesday September evening in Whitefish, two men sat next to each other recording a live podcast in a crowded bar. On the left was Ryan Busse, the 54-year-old former firearms executive and Democratic candidate for governor of Montana, in a baseball cap and jeans. On the right sat Brian Schweitzer, the two-term Democratic governor of Montana from 2004 to 2012. While the men have similarities ― both in dress and ideology ― the political environments surrounding their bid...
The wheels of justice continue to turn slowly for Isaac Carrier's family as a set trial date for Sterling Brown, the second suspect charged in connection to the murder of the Fallon resident nearly two years ago, is still pending. In December of 2023, a trial for Brown was postponed for the second time after his representing attorney, Lance Jasper out of Missoula, filed a motion to delay the trial. Carrier was found deceased in his Fallon apartment following a fire on Jan....
Montana's major party candidates for U.S. Senate exchanged parting shots Monday in a final debate before in-person voting begins Oct 8. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester characterized Republican Sheehy as a rich out-of-stater who would privatize health care while limiting abortion access. Sheehy said he wasn't lucky enough to be born in Montana because he "couldn't control where my mother's womb was when I crawled out of it." He repeatedly portrayed Tester as someone who has bee...
Montana lawmakers this month have trained a critical eye on funding for public schools, proposing new enhancements to the state's education funding formula and raising concerns about the handling of federal school funds by Montana's statewide education agency. The latter initially arose last week when state auditors in Helena presented legislators with a scathing report questioning the Montana Office of Public Instruction's handling of $67.5 million in federal money for...
Montana PBS will host a debate with Montana U.S. Senate candidates Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30. The one-hour debate will take place live in the Montana PBS studio on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman. It will feature incumbent U.S. Sen. Tester, a Democrat, and Sheehy, the Republican challenger, debating issues and answering questions from Montana PBS journalists John Twiggs and Anna Rau. There will not be a live audience in the studio during the debate. The format will allow Tester and...
In the second half of 2023, a secretive political action committee began running television ads against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. There were no details about who was funding Last Best Place PAC, how much money it had to spend, or who was working for the committee. The secrecy continued into the first quarter of this year when the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about Last Best Place PAC's lack of disclosure. In...
It's fall and hunting season is upon us. Soon the mornings will be crisp and cold and the leaves will be turning. Under the Big Sky, this is the season many of us spend the whole year looking forward to. In the following forecasts, FWP outlines what hunters can expect for deer, elk and pronghorn seasons around the state. We also have a fairly in-depth upland game bird forecast. Along with this great information, we have some tips on being safe in bear country and the...
OTTER - Jim Gilliland sat at the kitchen table in his ranch house, sorting through the mess of papers strewn about before him. Promotional leaflets advertised soil rejuvenation services. Glossy flyers touted potential government assistance for fence reconstruction projects. Informational brochures offered access to livestock feed at reduced cost. Outside Gilliland's window, just 200 yards from his house, blackened ground marked the Remington Fire's farthest advance. The...
Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation (EPEDC) recently announced a community grant award. By collaborating closely with Makoshika State Park, Friends of Makoshika, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), EPEDC successfully facilitated a grant from RMEF to support Makoshika State Park’s youth archery program. The Friends of Makoshika, in partnership with Makoshika State Park, have been awarded a generous $9,852 grant from RMEF. This crucial funding will be used to purchase essential equipment, including t...
Montana's two-day, youth-only deer hunt is coming up Oct. 17 and 18, and general deer season opens Oct. 26. Now is a good time to consider signing up for the Apprentice Hunter Program and the application is available on Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' website at fwp.mt.gov/hunt/education/apprentice-hunter. The apprentice hunter program allows people ages 10 and older to hunt as apprentices with a mentor for two seasons without completing a Hunter Education course. People...
MILES CITY – The good news is that a very popular dinosaur fossil that was a fixture alongside one of Makoshika State Park's hiking trails has not been stolen, vandalized or damaged; rather, it has been excavated by Museum of the Rockies. It's a bit of a shock to visitors who have become accustomed to seeing the hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur, vertebrae along the Diane Gabriel Trail. But its connection to the park will live on. The plan is for Museum of the Rockies to t...
The Montana Stockgrowers Foundation (MSF) is now accepting donations for its Wildfire Relief Fund which benefits Montana livestock producers affected by fires. Currently donations are focused on the Remington Fire in southeastern Montana, which as of Tuesday morning has grown to over 196,000 acres. In addition to financial support, which is the most immediate need, the Wildfire Relief Fund page also offers a form that can be filled out for in-kind donations like hay, feed, pasture, fencing supplies, etc. In-kind donation...
Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc., recently released a payment of capital credits to the cooperative’s members and patrons, with a capital credit retirement totaling $1,134,545.95. The 2024 retirement includes a portion of the 1996 patronage allocation and portion of the 2023 patronage allocation. Retirement and payment of capital credits is made only if the financial condition of the cooperative permits, as determined by the board of trustees. For the first time, Mid-Rivers was able to apply the retirement amounts as c...
As chair of the Montana Land Board, Governor Greg Gianforte recently led the state's purchase of more than 50,000 acres of habitat conservation leases (HCL) to increase public access, keep agricultural land in production, and conserve prairie habitats. With the support of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), conservation groups, and farmers and ranchers, the governor and members of the land board celebrated the approval to purchase eight private properties to enroll as HCLs....
For the second time in as many months, a state district court judge has sided with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and hunting groups in a lawsuit over elk management. The dispute relates to a 2003 law directing Fish, Wildlife and Parks to manage elk "at or below" the sustainable populations established in the state's elk management plan. Two years ago, the United Property Owners of Montana, a membership-based nonprofit that promotes its members' business interests, sued FWP,...
Last week, hunters were notified if they successfully drew an antelope license for the upcoming season. The number of licenses drawn in each hunting district were based on recommendations Fish, Wildlife & Parks' biologists made after they completed aerial surveys of antelope herds during the last few weeks. Surveys showed that antelope populations are stable in most regions, with some increases in particular hunting districts. FWP determines the number of licenses issued for...
HELENA – The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) will soon be distributing its second round of property tax rebates to eligible Montana taxpayers as part of a property tax relief package signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte in 2023. The property tax rebate is a rebate of up to $675 of property taxes paid on a principal residence. To qualify, you must have owned and lived in a Montana residence for at least seven months of 2023 and paid the property taxes on that residence. Properties owned by an entity and i...
As of Aug. 1, the Office of Public Instruction's employment portal listed 853 active job postings for licensed public school positions in Montana. The postings include openings for teachers, counselors, administrators and paraprofessionals in school districts across Montana, and may capture some redundant listings or positions that have recently been filled. With the start of the 2024-25 school year approaching, Montana schools of all sizes are once again contending with the...
Montana will receive $700 million to advance the nation's first transmission project bridging the eastern and western grids, a step described as critical to U.S. energy reliability. The U.S. Department of Energy grant, announced Tuesday by Gov. Greg Gianforte in a press release, will advance the North Plains Connector, a 415-mile, high voltage, direct-current line between Montana's Colstrip substation and Center, North Dakota. The 525-kilovolt line could be the first...
Governor Greg Gianforte recently announced that Montana's unemployment rate remained at 3.1% in June. The national unemployment rate rose to 4.1%. "With more Montanans working now than ever before, we saw another month of steady employment increases across industries," Gov. Gianforte said. "Thanks to our pro-business, pro-jobs policies, we're creating an environment where businesses can thrive, create more good-paying jobs, and increase opportunities for all Montanans." Total...
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking public input as it overhauls mule deer management and works to understand what's driving down mule deer populations in eastern Montana. In a news release last week, FWP began soliciting public input on 11 guiding principles that the Mule Deer Citizen Advisory Council has developed to form the foundation of a new mule deer management plan. The principles include increasing mule deer populations, using the best available science to...
