Living
‘My mom’s life mattered’: Son of Black shooting victim urges Congress to act
WASHINGTON — The son of a Black woman shot and killed by a white supremacist begged members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to take action against such domestic terrorism. The gunman in Buffalo, New York, was motivated by the “great replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy theory that claims growing numbers of immigrants and people […]
State issues warnings in the wake of 8 fatal overdoses linked to fentanyl
Montana authorities have issued a warning, stemming from a sudden spike in fatal opioid overdoses in the past two weeks, leading to the deaths of eight individuals in six counties, ranging from ages 24 to 60 years old. The overdoses follow a continuing trend in the state of overdoses that mirror a national rise in […]
Vilsack highlights ‘mass timber’ to use small trees cut for wildfire prevention
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The federal government plans to remove kindling from about 75 million acres of land in the next decade — which includes thinning smaller-diameter trees from forests — to help prevent wildfires that have become more frequent and destructive in the western states. That presents a problem: “What do you do […]
Advocates for $15-an-hour federal minimum wage press Biden for a meeting
WASHINGTON — The Poor People’s Campaign is urging President Joe Biden to meet with low-income workers before the organization’s march on Washington, D.C., on June 18 to advocate for a $15 federal minimum wage. “What we cannot do is be silent anymore,” Rev. William Barber II, the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said during a […]
Want to know about climate change? Look no farther than Yellowstone Lake
The sediment record contained at the bottom of lakes has proven to be an excellent method to assess how climate has changed during the past thousands of years. For the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, sediment cores collected from Yellowstone Lake provide a basis to understand how climate in this basin has changed during the past 10,000 […]
After the fire: Denton is rebuilding, while preparing for another fire season
DENTON — Carla Allen misses the sight of the grain elevators punching up into the sky. “You watched ‘em burn. They were just huge infernos,” said Allen, who works just yards away from the railroad tracks where the elevators stood. Brenda Donaldson lost eight buildings on her ranch, but she misses the trees. The fire […]
Crow Nation celebrates culture, language as new dictionary is published
CROW AGENCY – A drum circle sang songs of victory. A smudging ceremony wiped away the tears. And Crow tribal elders spoke in Apsáalooke (Crow language) about the next generation that has yet to be born. Friday’s celebration at Little Big Horn College wasn’t just the culmination of a years-long project to capture the words […]
New ‘to-go’ cocktail rules making it harder to enforce underage drinking
During the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of states have given a boost to struggling restaurants by allowing them to sell cocktails to-go, through takeout, curbside pickup or home delivery. But the expansion of alcohol to-go laws has placed a heavy burden on understaffed alcohol enforcement agencies, which have been hard-pressed to prevent underage drinking. Before the […]
Touring the volcano-shaped landscape of Yellowstone National Park
The road over Dunraven Pass between Tower and Canyon Junctions, in the northeast part of Yellowstone National Park, exposes an outstanding sequence of geological history, much of which significantly predates recent Yellowstone volcanism. Construction work closed the road during the summers of 2020 and 2021, but the route is now open. The occasion provides an ideal opportunity to rediscover […]
When it comes to monuments, many communities considering how the West was won
PORTLAND, Ore. — In June 2020, protesters at the University of Oregon in Eugene toppled a statue called “The Pioneer,” which depicted a White man with a gun slung over his shoulder and a whip in his hand, and a second sculpture titled “The Pioneer Mother.” Both monuments had drawn criticism from Indigenous student groups […]
Infant formula stockpile for the U.S. suggested by FDA chief
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government should consider creating a stockpile of infant formula to avoid the possibility of future shortages, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told a Senate committee on Thursday. Commissioner Robert Califf said during his third hearing on Capitol Hill about the months-long shortage that his agency and lawmakers […]
Bison pastrami, anyone? Preschool assistant makes sure kids get to know indigenous foods
MINNEAPOLIS — Bison pastrami is not typical school lunch fare, but it’s a crowd favorite at a preschool in Minneapolis. Fawn Youngbear-Tibbetts — the seemingly always on-the-go coordinator of Indigenous foods at the Wicoie Nandagikendan Early Childhood Urban Immersion Project — is frequently found tweaking recipes in the kitchen or offering homemade goodies like flourless […]