Living
Postcard from an overrun ICU: ‘The problem is we are running out of hallways’
BILLINGS — Nurses fill the hospital room to turn a patient from his stomach to his back. The ventilator forcing air into him is most effective when he’s on his stomach, so he is in that position most hours of the day, sedated and paralyzed by drugs. Lying on his stomach all those hours has […]
Yellowstone National Park: Woman suffers significant thermal burns in park
At Old Faithful early Thursday morning, park rangers provided initial care to a 19-year-old woman from Rhode Island with second- and third-degree burns to 5 percent of her body, the park said in a news release. The park said she was later life-flighted to Idaho and her condition was not available to the park. The […]
Glacier sees drop in Going-to-the-Sun traffic with ticketed entry
After implementing a new ticketed entry system this year, Glacier National Park saw a 12 percent decrease in vehicles on Going-to-the-Sun Road from Memorial Day weekend through the end of August compared to 2019, according to a news release Thursday from the park. Generally, Glacier National Park reported 2,354,475 visitors through August, a busy year […]
Putting on pandemic pounds: State obesity rates hit all-time highs
WASHINGTON — The number of states with high obesity among residents has nearly doubled since 2018, according to new data Wednesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Montana, 28.5 percent of adults self-reported as being obese, according to the CDC data. There were 16 states that had obesity rates among adult residents of […]
‘Religious’ exemptions add legal thorns to looming vaccine mandates
In Northern California, the pastor of a megachurch hands out religious exemption forms to the faithful. A New Mexico state senator will “help you articulate a religious exemption” by pointing to the decades-old use of aborted fetal cells in the development of some vaccines. And a Texas-based evangelist offers exemption letters to anyone — for […]
‘We have the watch’: Stories from inside NORAD on 9/11
At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supervised the excavation of Cheyenne Mountain, a peak pimpled with rocky outcrops and shaded by evergreen trees southwest of Colorado Springs. They pulled out the mountain’s innards and paved over the gravelly cavern, dividing the space into high-tech offices for U.S. military […]
Residents demand more protection from East Boulder mining company
McLEOD – It sounds about as unbelievable as it is unlikely: A 30-foot tidal wave that would crash through the East Boulder River Valley wiping out everything in its path and leaving a toxic sludge behind. From where Leon Royer lives, he’s guessing he’d have five – but not 10 – minutes to move to […]
Silver Gate was Mammoth before Mammoth Hot Springs
Just south of Mammoth Hot Springs, near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park, lies a jumble of white/gray rock known as the Hoodoos or, more formally, Silver Gate. The origin of this deposit is a quintessential tale of the dynamic nature of Yellowstone. Imagine you have just arrived at the north entrance to Yellowstone […]
Publisher wins fight to keep her weekly newspaper in northeastern Montana
WOLF POINT, Montana — Last Tuesday afternoon, Northern Plains Independent Publisher and Owner Darla Downs was just finishing up the touches on that week’s newspaper, amidst the sawing, hammering and air compressors just a few feet away from her office. A new front door was replacing the rotten old one. The week before, new flooring, […]
One year after Jacob Blake shooting, Kenosha is still looking for answers
The incident, which started as a domestic call during a child’s birthday party, took place on a Kenosha street on a Sunday afternoon in late August. Neighbors took a cell phone video as Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey fired eight shots into Jacob Blake’s back. The video went viral, quickly igniting a firestorm. The small […]
FAA warns public to ‘lose the lasers’
The Federal Aviation Administration has a message for you (and you know who you are): Quit with the lasers. In a report issued recently, the FAA and the FBI have noticed a disturbing uptick in a phenomenon only the federal government could term with such technical speak – “laser events.” For the rest of us, […]
How do they know where the earth is quaking?
Ever wonder how seismologists determine the location of an earthquake in Yellowstone? It’s an intricate process, but thanks to experienced scientists, up to thousands of earthquakes are located in the Yellowstone region every year. During the past decade, The University of Utah Seismograph Stations has located an average of approximately 1,570 earthquakes in the Yellowstone […]