Government & Politics
Donald Trump calls for Iowa supporters to caucus, says ‘nothing’s over’ for 2024
CEDAR RAPIDS — With six weeks left until the Iowa caucuses, former president Donald Trump largely spent his time in Iowa criticizing President Joe Biden instead of going after his Republican rivals — but told supporters to not listen to claims that the primary is already “over.” “Don’t listen to that, don’t listen,” Trump said. […]
How a Maine businessman made the AR-15 into America’s best-selling rifle
This story was first published and produced by ProPublica, a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative newsroom. The original can be found here. Outside Healy Chapel on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, the American flag swayed at half-staff. Inside, candles flickered, and the dying autumn light filtered softly through stained glass. A nursing student sobbed […]
Anti-abortion groups shrug off elections losses and look to courts and legislatures
Anti-abortion groups are firing off a warning shot for 2024: We’re not going anywhere. Their leaders say they’re undeterred by recent election setbacks and plan to plow ahead on what they’ve done for years, including working through state legislatures, federal agencies, and federal courts to outlaw abortion. And at least one prominent anti-abortion group is […]
Library directors across Montana oppose removal of master’s degree requirement
Library directors signed a letter read during a public hearing Friday in opposition to removing the requirement for a master’s degree for the position in larger cities in the state.
Daines criticizes judge’s limits on wolf trapping, presses USFWS to finish grizzly evaluation
Montana’s Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines wrote a letter this week to the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calling a federal judge’s decision to limit the state’s wolf trapping season in grizzly bear territory one that “weaponizes” the Endangered Species Act. In the letter, he called on the USFWS “to expeditiously complete” […]
Sandra Day O’Connor, who made history as the first woman on the Supreme Court, dies at 93
WASHINGTON — The first woman to serve on the nation’s highest court is dead at 93. Sandra Day O’Connor, a groundbreaking justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, died Friday in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness, according to an announcement from the court. President Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor in 1981, […]
New York Republican George Santos expelled by U.S. House in bipartisan vote
WASHINGTON — New York Republican George Santos on Friday became the sixth lawmaker in history and the first member of the GOP to be expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives. The 311-114 bipartisan vote, which required two-thirds support, followed months of scandal that culminated in a federal criminal indictment and a damning report from the […]
Montana group fights Wyoming corner-crossing ruling, claiming broad precedent
A Wyoming judge’s decision that corner-crossing is not trespassing will seriously affect landowners across the western U.S., a Montana group says in court papers that ask for reversal of the ruling. The nonprofit group United Property Owners of Montana filed papers supporting Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman, who lost a civil suit claiming four […]
Federal judge issues preliminary injunction blocking effective date of Montana’s TikTok ban
Saying Montana’s law banning TikTok in the state oversteps the state’s powers and infringes on people’s constitutional rights, a federal judge in Missoula on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction temporarily prohibiting the state from enforcing the law set to take effect Jan. 1. U.S. District of Montana Judge Donald Molloy found the law banning TikTok […]
Upper Seven Law: PSC map partisan, should not be used in election
A Public Service Commission district map is so “nakedly partisan,” it shouldn’t be used in the next election, according to plaintiffs who filed a motion this week with the Lewis and Clark County District Court. The motion, filed by Upper Seven Law on behalf of Montana Conservation Voters and individual voters, requests the court grant […]
District court drag ban case paused while state appeals to 9th Circuit
A federal judge’s decision whether to permanently block Montana’s drag ban law will have to wait. First, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will make a decision on the state’s appeal of the initial injunction that temporarily blocked the law in October. Attorneys for the state and for the plaintiffs in the case met with […]
Conservation groups concerned with incidental trapping exceptions in wolverine listing
Conservation groups in Montana and the West largely applauded the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday to list the North American wolverine as a threatened species, but some said they remain concerned that the animals could still be incidentally trapped under exceptions in the interim rule. The effort to get wolverines […]