Weekly News Roundup
February 5 through 11, 2024
Gusty Crosswinds Through Monday
Gusty southwest to west winds will impact the western foothills through Monday, Gusts to 50 mph are possible. Take precautions if you will be traveling in a high-profile vehicle or towing a trailer.Montana Independent News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Senate Border Bill Fails
By Denise Rivette An appropriations bill including border issues; funding for Israel, innocent civilian Gazans and the Ukraine; and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act (cosponsored by U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester) did not make it through cloture this afternoon.
Daines On The One Year Anniversary Of His Incarceration...
By Denise Rivettte There is a lot of serious stuff going on this week. Providing a break from the intense political scene playing out in Washington, D.C., Senator Steve Daines took a moment to share with his constituents his humorous look back at the time he spent in Twitter jail for posting hunting photographs.
U.S. Attorney’s Montana Office Collects more than $6 million in Civil and Criminal Actions in Fiscal Year 2023
This press release came from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana: BILLINGS — U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced today that the District of Montana collected $6,041,422 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of this amount, $1,876,130 was collected in criminal actions and $4,165,292
An Ancestral River Runs Through It
By Keely Larson for Montana FreePress Jeff Wivholm isn’t partial to mountains. He likes to be able to see the weather rolling in, which is remarkably possible in the northeastern corner of Montana. If you look to the right there, Wivholm says, you can see the valley created by the aquifer. Maybe he can, his eyes accustomed to seeing dips and crevasses in what looks to an unfamiliar eye like a starkly flat landscape. He laughs and says it takes some getting used to.
Judge finds parts of bill adding new hurdles for Montana ballot initiatives unconstitutional
By: Blair Miller for Daily Montanan The imposition of a $3,700 filing fee for groups and individuals wanting to put ballot initiatives before voters, and a new statute allowing the state’s attorney general broad legal review powers over the proposals are unconstitutional, a Lewis and Clark County District Court judge ruled on Monday.
Daines and Tester Demand Answers from Biden Administration after 19 Months of Radio Silence on SkyWest’s Commuter Application
By Denise Rivette Montana’s U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester are pressuring the Biden Administration to provide answers regarding SkyWest Airlines’ application for commuter authority for its charter business, SkyWest Charter. Due to a pilot shortage, regional and rural routes are losing service. In an effort to maintain service through the subsidized Essential Air Service to Montana communities such as Butte and West Yellowstone, SkyWest has requested that its charter business be certified for commuter service. If granted, SkyWest Charter would be able to use pilots with fewer flight hours.
Law Enforcement Blotter
TOTAL CALLS FOR SERVICE = 231 CITIZEN ASSIST = 10 WELFARE CHECK = 3 MEDICALS = 13 PRISONER TRANSPORT TOTAL TIME = 9 HOURS TRAFFIC COMPLAINT = 4 ABANDONED VEHICLE = 3 CRASH = 6 ARRESTS = 4 / INCARCERATIONS = 2 January 29, 2024 Vandalism in the form of BB gun holes in a residential window and siding appears to be connected to a local juvenile after being investigated by a Deputy. The matter is being handled by adult parties involved.
Immigrant Advocates Opposed Border Deal; Seek Restart After Senate Deal Flops
By: Ariana Figueroa for Daily Montanan WASHINGTON — Immigrant advocacy groups that opposed the bipartisan Senate deal to overhaul U.S. immigration law called for restarting policy discussions as the bill failed Wednesday in the U.S. Senate. Several advocacy organizations opposed
Group Homes In Montana May Be Able To Reopen With $10 Million Program
By Keila Szpaller for Daily Montanan During the COVID-19 pandemic, Montana lost about 100 beds in places where people received behavioral health services because staff weren’t available — but a commission working on the issue is taking proposals that will put $10 million into increasing capacity.
With A Lift From Truckers, Skijoring Returns To Boulder
by Keith Hammonds for Montana Free Press Skijoring is a winter sport, dreamed up over a century ago in Scandinavia, wherein skiers are towed around a track by horses, navigating a series of gates and jumps. On snow. This presented a challenge to the Boulder Valley Skijoring Association. Its annual event, Skijoring the Big Rock, is scheduled for February 10 and 11 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Boulder — where there was decidedly no snow. None. A mostly warm and dry winter had left the putative skijoring track a ribbon of dirt and grass.
Cities Know That the Way Police Respond to Mental Crisis Calls Must Change. But How?
By Nicole Leonard, WHYY and Kate Wolffe, CapRadio and Simone Popperl If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.
‘It Just Happens Here:’ Montana grapples with barriers to mental health care
By: Christine Compton - Published in Daily Montanan It was Monday, November 18, 2019, shortly after classes had ended at Glacier High School. Libby was driving home to pick something up for jazz band class and got a text from her mom. Traffic was going to be bad around the overpass. Libby didn’t think anything of it.
Millions of People with Medicare Will Benefit from the New Out-of-Pocket Drug Spending Cap Over Time
by Juliette Cubanski, Tricia Neuman, and Anthony Damico Published: Feb 08, 2024 In 2025, Medicare beneficiaries will pay no more than $2,000 out of pocket for prescription drugs covered under Part D, Medicare’s outpatient drug benefit. This is due to a provision in the
Possibility of Wildlife-to-Human Crossover Heightens Concern About Chronic Wasting Disease
By Jim Robbins previously published in Scientific American Each fall, millions of hunters across North America make their way into forests and grasslands to kill deer. Over the winter, people chow down on the venison steaks, sausage, and burgers made from the animals.
Surge in Syphilis Cases Leads Some Providers to Ration Penicillin
By Catherine Sweeney, WPLN When Stephen Miller left his primary care practice to work in public health a little under two years ago, he said he was shocked by how many cases of syphilis the clinic was treating. For decades, rates of the sexually transmitted infection were low. But the Hamilton County Health Department in Chattanooga — a midsize city surrounded by national forests and nestled into the Appalachian foothills of Tennessee — was seeing several syphilis patients a day, Miller said. …
Tester, Daines Introduce Resolution Designating National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week
Today, U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines led a bipartisan group of colleagues in designating the week beginning February 5th as “National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week” to highlight the importance of higher education in Indian Country.
Daines Gives Biden Administration Reality Check on Financial Burden of Dam Breaching
By Denise Rivette Yesterday, U.S. Senator Steve Daines insisted in a letter authored with other Republican lawmakers that President Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) address the financial burden that breaching the lower Snake River dams (LSRDs) would have on Montanans. The demand comes after months of what Daines’ statement referred to as the Biden administration attempting to usurp congressional authority and move toward dam breaching.
Tester Takes to Senate Floor to Call Out Politicians Blocking Bipartisan Border Security Bill
By Denise Rivette U.S. Senator Jon Tester took to the Senate floor yesterday to call out D.C. politicians who he claimed “shamefully blocked bipartisan legislation to secure our southern border for political purposes.” Key excerpts from the Senator’s floor speech are below.
Daines Accuses Biden Administration of Playing Politics with U.S. Energy
By Denise Rivette U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivered the following opening statement on Thursday, February 8, at the committee’s hearing examining the administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals.
Attorney General Knudsen Urges CBS to Drop Super Bowl Ads From Chinese Retailer Temu
By Denise Rivette Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter today urging executives at Paramount Global and CBS Entertainment Group not to broadcast commercials from Temu – an online retail platform linked to the Chinese Communist Party – during Super Bowl LVIII.w
Atwood and Hollow Horn Bear Complete Course To Join Carbon County Dispatch Team
By Denise Rivette The Carbon County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) announced on their website that they are pleased to congratulate Charlene Hollow Horn Bear and Cody Atwood on their successful completion of the Montana Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA) Dispatch Basic Course.
Justice Department Announces Plan to Administer Grant Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2024 to Strengthen Community Safety
By Denise Rivette The Justice Department on Thursday, February 8, announced its annual plan for making anticipated grant funding available this fiscal year to advance public safety activities and improve justice system outcomes. The Department is inviting community-based organizations; state, local, Tribal, and territorial government agencies, including law enforcement agencies; research institutions; and nonprofit entities to apply for funding from more than 200 grant programs, administered by its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). As in prior years, the awards will be made later this year, subject to appropriations, and will build on almost $5.8 billion in grants awarded in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.
U.S. Justice Department Gathers Stakeholders, Advocates for Inaugural National Elder Justice Law Enforcement Summit
By Denise Rivette On Wednesday, February 7, the U.S. Justice Department convened the National Elder Justice Law Enforcement Summit, representing the first national gathering of local, state, and federal law enforcement to focus on efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and fraud.
Mexican Drug Cartels Targeting America's Last Best Place
By Denise Rivette I don’t usually provide a link to the mainstream national media for Montana news, but I’ve been trying to pull together a relevant and comprehensive article on the subject of drugs in Montana for many months without hitting the target. I believe