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NPR
National
In this photo provided by Kimberly Fossen, people work at the scene of an Amtrak train derailment on Saturday in north-central Montana. Multiple people were injured when the train that runs between Seattle and Chicago derailed Saturday, the train agency

Federal Investigators Probe Deadly Amtrak Derailment In Montana

Sep 26, 2021
The westbound train, Empire Builder, was on its way from Chicago to Seattle when it left the tracks Saturday after near Joplin, Mont., killing three people.
NPR
Weather
A burned truck sits parked next to a property that was destroyed by the Dixie Fire on August 11, 2021, in Greenville, California. The Dixie Fire, which has incinerated over 500,000 acres, is the second-largest recorded wildfire in state history. The fire

The Dixie Fire Is Less Than A Third Contained

Aug 12, 2021
Large fires are burning in 14 states, mostly in the Western U.S.
NPR
Shots - Health News
John Calhoun of Flathead County has diabetes and was convinced by an old friend to get vaccinated, through he suspects the coronavirus isn't as dangerous as health officials say it is. He's hoping vaccination will ease divisions over masking.

Families, Communities Divided Over COVID Vaccination In Rural Montana

May 11, 2021
In sprawling Flathead County, only 25% of adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health experts worry about reservoirs of potential outbreaks as neighbors still debate the virus' danger.
NPR
Politics
Left: Incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines speaks at a manufacturing facility under construction in Bozeman, Mont., in September. Right: Montana Senate candidate Gov. Steve Bullock in 2019.

A Flood Of Outside Money Is Pouring Into 2020 Races, Alarming Transparency Advocates

Oct 27, 2020
States such as Montana, Arizona and North Carolina are experiencing a flood of campaign contributions from groups that don't have to reveal where the money's coming from.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

GOP, Trump Campaign Sue Montana Over All-Mail Voting Option

Sep 02, 2020

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and the Republican Party have sued Montana after Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock gave counties the choice to conduct the November election entirely by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic.

NPR
Coronavirus Live Updates
The St. Mary entrance into Glacier National Park, which borders the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, remained closed on June 5. Park officials and tribal leaders say they are negotiating when it will be safe to reopen the east side of the park.

Montana Is Open, But For Now The Blackfeet Nation Is Closed

Jun 17, 2020
Montana has one of the country's lowest coronavirus infection rates, and is reopening to tourists. But the Blackfeet Nation, whose reservation borders Glacier National Park, is moving more cautiously.
NPR
The Coronavirus Crisis
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in Clear Lake, Iowa, last August.

How 1 State Says It's Being Left Out Of Airlifted Supply Chain

Apr 10, 2020
The Trump administration says it's directing critical medical supplies "to the right place at the right time." But Gov. Steve Bullock says Montana isn't seeing any of that help.
NPR
National
The Wastewater Treatment Facility in Havre, Mont., collects the spent barley from a local brewery to feed the plant's bacteria at the right time in just the right dosage.

Beer Waste Saves Montana Town $1 Million On Water Treatment

Feb 12, 2020
Brewery waste can throw off the microbes that wastewater plants rely on to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. At least two communities in Montana are using it strategically to treat their water.
NPR
National
Water emerges from the headwaters of Nevada Spring Creek at around 44 degrees year-round. A mitigation bank provided private money to reconnect it to Montana's Blackfoot River and to restore a prized trout fishing habitat.

As Regulations Roll Back, Could Clean Water Protection Business Dry Up?

Feb 01, 2020
The Trump administration is stripping clean water protections put in place by President Barack Obama, and some in the industry worry that the regulatory changes will threaten their business.
NPR
Environment
This smokestack, left over from a century of copper mining, spewed up to 24 tons of arsenic per day over an area the size of New York City.

Montana Residents Ask Supreme Court To Allow Cleanup Beyond Superfund Requirements

Dec 03, 2019
Montana property owners are suing BP to clean up arsenic pollution left over from mining. The case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, and businesses worry it could open them up to huge new costs.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Kate Clyatt, 28, works seasonally as a ranch hand in southwest Montana, and relies on the state's Medicaid program for health coverage. "Ranching is just not a job with a lot of money in it," Clyatt says. "I don't know at what point I'm going to be able

Rural Seasonal Workers Worry About Montana Medicaid's Work Requirements

Nov 03, 2019
Montana is one of several states that want Medicaid recipients to prove they work a steady, minimum number of hours monthly. Will federal courts allow the Montana rule change to stand?
NPR
National
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux council member, Patricia Iron Cloud (center), watches protestors make speeches against the Keystone XL pipeline.

State Department Solicits Comments On Keystone XL Pipeline

Oct 31, 2019
The public had its first and only chance to meet with State Department officials about a new environmental analysis of the Keystone XL pipeline this week. Some protesters drove hours to attend.
NPR
National
Wilmot Collins stands in the Helena City Commission chambers before a meeting. He moved to Montana in the early 1990s.

In Montana, A Liberian Refugee Mounts U.S. Senate Challenge

Oct 09, 2019
Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins' strategy is to meet as many people as possible and make connections on common issues such as trade and student loan debt.
NPR
National
A highway webcam shows a snowy portion of U.S. Highway 89 near Pendroy, Mont., on Monday morning after a record-setting winter storm dumped snow on the northern Rockies.

Up To 4 Feet Of Snow: Montana Hit By 'Unprecedented' Winter Storm

Sep 30, 2019
Despite coming in September, the amount of snow that just fell over two days in Great Falls is second to only one other two-day total in the city, in any month.
NPR
National
Elongo Gabriel, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, drops his kids off on the first day of school at St. Joseph's Elementary in Missoula, Mont. He is one of 330 refugees to be resettled since 2016 in the college town of 75,000 people.

Popular Refugee Resettlement Programs Closing Under Trump Administration

Sep 12, 2019
The number of refugees being allowed into the U.S. is the lowest it's been since 1980. Some smaller resettlement agencies particularly in rural states are closing putting refugees' lives further in limbo.
NPR
Law
Montana's Cascade County District Judge Greg Pinksi on Friday handed down harsh punishments for Ryan Patrick Morris and Troy Allan Nelson, who both fabricated stories about serving in the military to get more lenient sentences.

Montana Men Who Lied About Military Service Ordered To Wear 'I Am A Liar' Signs

Aug 28, 2019
Two men pretended they had served in the military to have their cases transferred to veterans courts with the aim of getting more lenient sentences. It didn't work.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Sovereign Valentine and his wife, Jessica, wait as a dialysis machine filters his blood. Before finding a dialysis clinic in their insurance network, the Valentines were charged more than a half-million dollars for 14 weeks of treatment.

First Came Kidney Failure. Then There Was The $540,842 Bill For Dialysis

Jul 22, 2019
A personal trainer in Montana had a sudden need for lifesaving dialysis after his kidneys failed. But he and his wife never expected the huge bill they received for 14 weeks of care.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Montana Governor Signs Sports Betting Bill

May 06, 2019
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana became the first state to legalize sports betting this year after Gov.
KNPR
Newscast headlines

Montana Governor Signs Sports Betting Bill

May 04, 2019
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana is the first state in 2019 to authorize sports betting.

Gov. Steve Bullock signed a bill Friday for the Montana State Lottery to oversee wagering on sports through kiosks and mobile devices.

NPR
National
Martha Hernandez (left) and Ana Suda say they were interrupted and detained because they spoke Spanish while shopping at a convenience store in Havre, Mont. They've now filed a lawsuit.

Americans Who Were Detained After Speaking Spanish In Montana Sue U.S. Border Agency

Feb 15, 2019
"I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here," an agent told two women in a convenience store. The two friends were born in California and Texas.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Republican lawmaker Allen Christensen is pushing a bill in the Utah Senate that would shrink the Medicaid expansion his state's voters approved. "They are not obligated to balance the budget," he argues. "We are."

Utah Voters Approved Medicaid Expansion, But State Lawmakers Are Balking

Feb 08, 2019
Political fights over health care continue to flare. In Utah, angry voters say lawmakers are disregarding their wishes by trying to limit the scope of a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid.
NPR
National
Keystone XL pipeline sections sit on a train near Glendive, Mont.

As Construction Of Keystone XL Is Paused, Tribes Brace For What's Next

Nov 10, 2018
A federal judge in Montana blocked further work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline this week. Construction was scheduled to start in January 2019 and TransCanada says it's still committed to the project.
NPR
Shots - Health News

After Midterm Defeat, Advocates For Montana's Medicaid Expansion Turn To Legislature

Nov 08, 2018
If a funding extension can't be hammered out in the Montana Legislature, the state could be the first to undo an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
NPR
Shots - Health News
"Most of us are ecstatic" about Medicaid expansion in Utah, said Grant Burningham, of Bountiful. "We were all together and hugging and kissing last night."

A Winning Idea: Medicaid Expansion Prevails In Idaho, Nebraska And Utah

Nov 07, 2018
Voters in Idaho, Utah and Nebraska approved ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid, overcoming roadblocks that had kept an estimated 300,000 people from obtaining coverage.
NPR
Shots - Health News
Grant Burningham, who lives in Bountiful, Utah, worked to get a referendum on Medicaid expansion on the Utah ballot in November.

Voters In 4 States Set To Decide On Medicaid Expansion

Oct 31, 2018
Ballot initiatives in Utah, Nebraska and Idaho will determine whether to expand Medicaid, after legislators refused to do so. Montanans will vote on whether to keep the state's expansion intact.

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