News
Boeing tested air purifiers like those used in schools. It decided not to use them.
Aerospace giant Boeing tested two kinds of ionization technologies — like those widely adopted in schools hoping to combat COVID— to determine how well each killed germs on surfaces and decided that neither was effective enough to install on its commercial planes. Boeing noted in its conclusion that “air ionization has not shown significant disinfection […]
Kidney experts say it’s time to remove race from medical algorithms
Alphonso Harried recently came across a newspaper clipping about his grandfather receiving his 1,000th dialysis treatment. His grandfather later died — at a dialysis center — as did his uncle, both from kidney disease. “And that comes in my mind, on my weak days: ‘Are you going to pass away just like they did?’” said […]
Women now drink as much as men and are prone to sickness sooner
Victoria Cooper thought her drinking habits in college were just like everyone else’s. Shots at parties. Beers while bowling. Sure, she got more refills than some and missed classes while nursing hangovers, but she couldn’t have a problem, she thought. “Because of what my picture of alcoholism was — old men who brown-bagged it in […]
Secretary of State: Dismiss Democrats’ lawsuit challenging new voter laws
Attorneys for the State of Montana argue that a Yellowstone County Judge should toss out a lawsuit filed by the Montana Democratic Party that challenges changes to voter registration and election laws because the political party lacks standing and has failed to prove the law disenfranchises voters. Meanwhile, attorneys for the Montana Democratic Party say […]
ACLU challenges birth certificate law aimed at transgender citizens
The American Civil Liberties Union and two Yellowstone County residents have filed a lawsuit in district court challenging Senate Bill 280, passed by the 2021 Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte, which requires a judge and the Department of Health and Human Services to approve a birth certificate change for those who […]
Conflicting stories emerge as Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination hangs in the balance
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect the comments of John Blount who said Stone-Manning did not participate in planning the tree-spiking incident. Tracy Stone-Manning and a former federal investigator during the past few days shared widely varying accounts of her involvement in a 1989 tree-spiking in an Idaho national forest, as the […]
Official: Fire season stretching resources thin
Montana’s firefighting resources are stretched thin as the state faces down a possibly historic fire season and some of the worst drought on record, state officials testified in a meeting of the Water Policy Interim Commission on Thursday. The state, the rest of the Northern Rockies region and then the country as a whole entered […]
DNA confirms euthanized bear responsible for Ovando attack
DNA results received Wednesday confirmed the grizzly bear killed by wildlife officials last Friday was the same bear that fatally attacked a camper in Ovando early on the morning of July 6, according to a news release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “The DNA samples from the bear, saliva sample at the scene of […]
Teacher shortage ‘crisis’ escalates
Montana is facing a worsening teacher shortage “crisis” even as education officials worry that a key support to students — mental health care through the Comprehensive School and Community Treatment program — remains in limbo. Beth Brenneman, with Disability Rights Montana, said parents of roughly 4,500 children who receive mental and behavioral health services in […]
Yellowstone National Park sets June attendance record
Yellowstone National Park hosted 938,845 recreation visits in June 2021, making it the park’s most-visited June on record. This is a 64% increase from June 2020 (573,205 recreational visits) and a 20% increase from June 2019 (781,853 recreation visits). So far in 2021, the park has hosted 1,587,998 recreation visits, up 17% from 2019. This […]
Schumer: Federal government should legalize weed
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate says decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level is a change that’s “long overdue,” and that he’s prioritizing that effort amid a growing number of states legalizing cannabis. To that end, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday unveiled a draft proposal for removing cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances […]
Influx of medical school students could overwhelm Montana’s resources, experts warn
Opening two new medical schools in Montana would stretch and possibly overwhelm the state’s physicians who provide the clinical training that students need to become doctors, according to leaders of a University of Washington medical school program that relies on those teaching physicians. The University of Washington School of Medicine’s WWAMI program in Montana requires […]