Government & Politics
Glacier proposes telecommunications upgrades
Better internet and cell phone service may be coming to the busiest areas of Glacier National Park in the future, but the backcountry still should stay quiet, as the park proposed in a telecommunications plan out for public comment until July 11. Glacier announced Friday its Comprehensive Telecommunications Plan and Environmental Assessment was out for […]
Teachers come under pressure as politicians, parents battle over ‘critical race theory’
WASHINGTON—Teachers from Tennessee to Iowa are swept up in a wave of outrage led by GOP politicians nationwide regarding how schools teach kids about race in U.S. history. Conservatives have pilloried much instruction about systemic racism as “critical race theory,” even when that academic term has never been mentioned. A half dozen states have already […]
Political Director for Western Native Voice announces campaign for Governor
Keaton Sunchild, who most recently lobbied for Western Native Voice during the last legislative session, announced Monday he will be running for Governor in the 2024 election, according to a news release sent out by his campaign. As a senior in high school, Sunchild, a Democrat, ran for a seat in the Montana House of […]
Chief Justice gets top award from Gonzaga Law School
Chief Justice Mike McGrath is the recipient of a 2021 Gonzaga Law Medal, the highest recognition given by the Gonzaga School of Law. The Gonzaga Law Medal is bestowed annually by the School of Law during Spring Commencement. The award is given to deserving individuals who have distinguished themselves in the service of justice through […]
Montana medical school clash reveals fight between for-profit and non-profit
Two universities are eyeing the chance to be the first to build a medical school in one of the few states without one. The jockeying of the two schools — one a nonprofit, the other for-profit — to open campuses in Montana highlights the rapid spread of for-profit medical learning centers despite their once-blemished reputation. […]
MSU: Dismiss lawsuit asking for reimbursement of tuition, fees
Montana State University has filed a motion to dismiss the possible class action lawsuit that asks the school to reimburse tuition and fees for students after it shut down in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic but continued to charge full fare. In a brief filed last month, MSU argues plaintiff Anthony Cordero, a student at […]
Tester urges bipartisan legislation instead of blowing up the filibuster
Sen. Jon Tester didn’t leave the farm in Big Sandy to do nothing in the United States Senate. But with partisan gridlock and Senate’s filibuster rule, which has been invoked to stymie much legislation, Tester said there may come a time when his support for “Rule 22” — the Senate’s policy that allows a minority […]
Tester introduces legislation aimed at making meat, poultry industry more accountable
When Jess Peterson of the United States Cattlemen Association was looking back at how long it has taken to get legislation on the meatpacking industry introduced, he was amazed. In 1920, Congress had been concerned about the consolidation of power among meatpackers. At the dawn of the Warren Harding administration, there were five big packers, […]
Is a firefighter a firefighter: Billings says airport crews shouldn’t get firemen benefits
The job title is “Airport Firefighter.” They drive large firefighting trucks that cost nearly $1 million. They are required by federal law to provide protection in case of structure fires or airplane crashes. The emblems on their trucks read, “Airport Fire and Rescue.” But the City of Billings says that a force of city employees […]
People’s Power League takes on HB273
Carole Mackin plans to pound the pavement the next six months, as do other members of the People’s Power League, to collect signatures to get an initiative on the ballot to make sure voters can decide if a nuclear power plant gets built in Montana. For them, it’s deja vu all over again, having put […]
Troubled Maryland plant told to toss some of its vaccines
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators have instructed Maryland’s Emergent BioSolutions to scrap some batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine substance manufactured at the company’s troubled Baltimore plant, while clearing a small portion to be used in the U.S. or sent abroad. Two batches of the J&J vaccine substance made in Baltimore were deemed “suitable […]
U.S. Senate panel grapples with fast-approaching state laws on rights of student athletes
WASHINGTON — There was little disagreement among senators Wednesday over whether a national law is needed to standardize what soon will be a patchwork of conflicting state statutes allowing some student athletes to earn money from their personal brands. But the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing shed little light on what a potential federal law […]