Breaking Story: Trump Injured at Rally, Two Reported Dead
By Denise Rivette Several news outlets are reporting that Donald Trump was rushed off the stage of a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after a series of pops that sounded like gunshots were heard. Mr. Trump raised a victorious/defiant fist before he was led off the stage by Secret Service agents with blood on his face.
Fire Season Has Arrived - Fire Danger is "High" in Carbon County
By Denise Rivette Fire season has arrived! The Billings Office of the National Weather Service predicts a hot and dry weather pattern will lead to increasing fire danger over the next several days. Please avoid sparking a fire! There is potential for high-based thunderstorms in the afternoons and evenings with gusty winds and spotty rainfall through the weekend. These storms may produce fires caused by lightning strikes. Be aware and be prepared.
Trump Releases Statement on Shooting
Former President Donald Trump has released a statement after being injured during an apparent assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania.Montana Independent News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Biden Says ‘No Place for This Kind of Violence in America’ After Shooting at Trump Rally
By Jennifer Shutt for States Newsroom WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden denounced political violence during brief remarks Saturday night after a shooting abruptly ended a campaign rally that Donald Trump was holding in Pennsylvania and injured the former president.
When Grasshoppers Attack
Christine Peterson for High Country News Last summer, gray-green grasshoppers crawled and skittered and flew so thickly across Monty Lesh’s land that the ground itself appeared to be moving. As they tumbled through the grass, their powerful jaws munched the blades down to nubs.
What Happens to Birds When it’s Smoky Outside?
Kylie Mohr for High Country News Last summer, Carrie Brown-Kornarens spent 10 minutes every week observing birds in her Los Angeles backyard and at nearby Griffith Park. Brown-Kornarens, a ceramicist with a background in graphic design and animation, looked and listened closely for birds amid the coastal sagebrush, scrub, oak and walnut trees. She was already collecting data for a local raptor study, and she liked the idea of learning even more about birds and their behavior.
Is Helena Home? Gianforte Residency ‘At Seat of Government’ Questioned
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Montanan The governor, along with the other five highest-ranking officials elected to lead state government, is supposed to “reside at the seat of government,” and Governor Greg Gianforte clearly spends time in Helena.
Schools Receive Third — And Potentially Final — Round of Federal Funding for Homeless Students
by Alex Sakariassen for Montana Free Press From the start of the 2023-24 school year to its conclusion, the number of students experiencing homelessness in Kalispell’s public school system jumped from 293 to 365. Assistant Superintendent Sara Cole said the increase reflects a growing trend in her district, one driven primarily by the soaring cost of living in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Car Crashes Into Geyser in Yellowstone Park, All Five Passengers Survive
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan Officials in Yellowstone National Park report that five people who had to escape from a car that crashed into a geyser all survived on Thursday, despite literally jumping into hot water. On Thursday at around 10:40 a.m., an sport-utility vehicle traveling between Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Junction in the park drove off the road and into the Semi-Centennial Geyser, which is located near Roaring Mountain.
Human Rights Group Says Montana Tech Should Fire ‘White Supremacist’
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan The Montana Human Rights Network is calling on the Montana University System to fire a Montana Tech postdoctoral fellow it says is a prolific white nationalist running for the Legislature, who espouses a wide variety of views, ranging from exterminating Jews and members of the LGBTQ+ community, to learning how to suture a wound for an upcoming collapse of society.
State Hospital Shuffles Top Leadership, Again
by Mara Silvers for Montana Free Press Roughly six months before its goal of applying for federal certification of the Montana State Hospital, the state health department is again juggling turnover in key leadership positions at the state’s only public adult psychiatric facility.
Why It Takes a Crisis to Trigger Funding for Montana’s Largest Irrigation Project
by Tom Lutey for Montana Free Press The rivets were still popping from the seams of the St. Mary siphon when Jennifer Patrick started crunching the numbers for repairing the century-old system that 18,000 residents of Montana’s Hi-Line depend on for water.
Montana Highway Patrol Likely Committed Unfair Labor Practice In Firing Trooper
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Montanan The Montana Highway Patrol likely committed an unfair labor practice violation when it fired a trooper and union president after she raised concerns about working conditions with her labor representative, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.
Montana Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Climate Change Case Appeal
By Blair Miller for the Daily Montanan The Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday morning in the Held vs. Montana case, as attorneys for 16 Montana youth and for the state, governor, and several agencies engaged with the court on questions about how Montana’s environmental law and permitting processes function, and whether Montana’s forward-looking constitution can nullify laws that do not protect the environment for current and future generations.
Montana Reproductive Rights Group Sues Secretary of State
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan Several groups fighting to get a constitutional ballot amendment that would permanently enshrine reproductive rights, specifically abortion, in the Montana Constitution have followed through on a threat to sue the Montana Secretary of State for rejecting signatures without cause.
Heat Can Kill - Know the Symptoms of Heat Illnesses and What to Do
By Denise Rivette Thursday begins a streak of dangerously hot temperatures around the county. Staying inside with air conditioning is the best way to prevent heat illnesses. If you must be outside when temperatures are in the 80s or higher, take precautions such as wearing light clothes, using sunscreen, making sure you have plenty of water and cloths for cooling, have plenty of water fortified with electolytes for drinking, stay near shade or bring your own and don’t work alone. Heat illness can progress from annoying to deadly very quickly. Know the signs and what to do (see below).
Heatstroke in Pets: How to Prevent it and What to do if it Happens
Adapted from the American Animal Hospital Association What are heatstroke signs in pets? As we enter the dog days of summer, keep a close eye on your pets for overheating signs, such as: Excessive panting Excessive drooling Difficulty breathing Vomiting
‘Land is Kin’: Old Salt Festival Celebrates Local Food and Open Landscapes
By Isabel Hicks for Montana Free Press HELMVILLE — Sitting on hay bales in the bed of an old pick-up truck, Montana rancher Cooper Hibbard looked out to a crowded pasture. Standing in between sagebrush, people ate lamb raised on Hibbard’s ranch and smoked over a fire that morning.
Montana Abortion Petition Group Alleges Secretary of State Wrongfully Tossing Signatures
By Blair Miller for the Daily Montanan Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the group behind the petition to get an amendment enshrining abortion access in the state constitution, accused the Montana Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday of inappropriately discarding signatures from registered, but inactive, voters and is threatening legal action.
Federal Regulator: Pharmacy Middlemen Appear to be Raising Prices and Hurting Patients
By Marty Schladen for States Newsroom The federal trade watchdog on Tuesday released an interim report saying that sprawling health care conglomerates are driving out competition in the pharmacy sector and appear to be increasing prices in the process.
United By Their Objections to Trump, Congressional Dems Largely Close Ranks Behind Biden
By Ashley Murray, Jennifer Shutt, Shauneen Miranda and Lia Chien for States Newsroom WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats appeared to quell some inner tumult over supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, after highly anticipated internal meetings Tuesday showed the president retained considerable support from the Congressional Black Caucus and other lawmakers in public statements.
New Mexico Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Items From Montana Historical Society
By Blair Miller for the Daily Montanan A New Mexico author who has written several books on Montana pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing several items, including letters from C.M. Russell’s wife, from the Montana Historical Society during the course of a year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Man Shot in Yellowstone National Park Had Threatened ‘Mass Shooting,’ Park Says
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Montanan The person who died after being shot by law enforcement rangers in Yellowstone National Park on the Fourth of July had been shooting a semi-automatic rifle toward a dining facility at Canyon Village, the park said Tuesday in a news release.
Yellowstone County Inches Closer to Laurel Power Plant While Residents Fume
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan As temperatures outside climbed toward triple digits in Billings, the comments directed at the Yellowstone County Commissioners and the state’s largest public utility, NorthWestern Energy, were every bit as hot.
Federal Review Prompted by New Mexico Wildfire Warns of Staffing Shortfalls for Future Prescribed Burns
By Patrick Lohmann for States Newsroom As the U.S. Forest Service plans to greatly increase prescribed burns to protect communities from devastating wildfires, a government report prompted by the state’s biggest-ever fire found “gaps in some key areas” in the federal agency’s strategy.
Opinion: The Economist Cover Attempts to Convey the Biden Situation Post Debate
By Denise Rivette The situation facing President Joe Biden after the June 27th presidential debate is the subject of this week’s The Economist cover. The process the editorial team went through from concept to cover is, as usual, an excellent summary of the issue itself.
Carbon County First Responder Blotter
TOTAL CALLS FOR SERVICE = 439 WELFARE CHECK = 10 FIREWORKS = 17 FIGHTS = 9 DISTURBANCES = 4 MEDICALS = 17 TRAFFIC COMPLAINT = 9 CRASH = 14 ARRESTS = 5 / INCARCERATIONS = 1 WARNINGS = 114 / CITATIONS = 27 July 1 Red Lodge Fire was en route to extricate a woman’s fingers that were caught in the bear latch of a trash can when she called back to report that she was finally able to free herself.
GOP’s Tim Sheehy Revives Discredited Abortion Claims in Pivotal Senate Race
By Matt Volz for KFF Health News and PolitiFact “Elective abortions up to and including the moment of birth. Healthy, 9-month-year-old baby killed at the moment of birth. That’s what Jon Tester and the Democrats have voted for,” Tim Sheehy, Montana GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, said in a June 8 debate.
Dealing With Drought and Poisoned Creeks in Fort Belknap
By Jule Banville for Montana Free Press If you ask Juanita Crasco about the historic and unrelenting drought where she and her husband live and ranch on the Fort Belknap Reservation, she’ll talk about her apple tree. “See here? I have a picture ready. You see how it’s just loaded with apples?” She took that photo on her iPad in 2021 and then drove roughly four hours to see her daughter in Browning, on the Blackfeet Reservation. When she returned two days later, all those apples were gone, decimated by grasshoppers. “They were so bad that year,” she says. “We lost a hundred percent of our hay crop. A hundred percent.”
Montana Supreme Court Candidates Talk Judicial Independence, Partisan Attacks, Individual Rights
By Keila Szpaller for the Daily Independent Judges need to stay independent and guard against partisan power-mongering — and they need to protect individual rights in the Montana Constitution, especially privacy. Those were several themes raised by two candidates for the Montana Supreme Court discussed Monday in Missoula at City Club with more than 100 people in the audience.
What to do for Heat Cramps, Exhaustion, Stroke
From the National Weather Service During extremely hot and humid weather, your body's ability to cool itself is challenged. When the body heats too rapidly to cool itself properly, or when too much fluid or salt is lost through dehydration or sweating, body temperature rises and you or someone you care about may experience a heat-related illness. It is important to know the symptoms of excessive heat exposure and the appropriate responses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a list of warning signs and symptoms of heat illness, and recommended first aid steps. Some of these symptoms and steps are listed below.
How to Stay Safe During Excessive Heat Events
From the National Weather Service To Stay Safe In Hot Weather, Remember the Following Tips Outdoor Activities Slow down. Reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities until the coolest time of the day. Those particularly vulnerable to heat such as children, infants, older adults (especially those who have preexisting diseases, take certain medications, living alone or with limited mobility), those with chronic medical conditions, and pregnant women should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.