In The News

MISSOULA, Mont. – U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines introduced a new measure to let the Veterans Administration expand its Missoula outpatient clinic. The expansion plan would increase the clinic by 24 percent. Both Tester and Daines say the clinic is too crowded, offers little privacy and veterans cannot get the help they need when they need it. Turns out the clinic project has been waiting for one year for congressional approval. Missoula is not alone. The senators say another 24 VA medical facilities in 15 states are faced with a similar problem. It is not the only challenge

Sapphire Community Health Center has moved across the street on North 3rd in Hamilton. In fact, it’s a situation of trading places with Human Resource Council. The health center is moving across North 3rd Street into the Ravalli County Human Resource Council building at 316 North 3rd. At the same time, the Human Resource Council is moving into the former health center. The community health services agency accepts all patients and assigns fees on a sliding scale, based on household size and income. Recently, mental health services were added to infant care, cancer screening, women’s care and other medical issues.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is pressing House and Senate conferees to consider controversial drought legislation for inclusion in any compromise energy bill. In a lengthy letter to top conferees, Daines yesterday urged the adoption of a bill, S. 2902, that seeks to overhaul the Army Corps of Engineers’ forecasting methods to improve planning for water storage in times of drought. “This legislation would improve the efficiency of existing water supply infrastructure, ease the regulatory burden on new projects and protect water rights that are critical to the prosperity of the western United States,” Daines wrote, noting that it would authorize the Dry-Redwater Rural

BOZEMAN – When their son Patrick took his own life last year, Tracey and Mike Rassley were met with shock. “He was away at college and we didn’t realize that he was kind of having a hard time,” said Tracey Rassley. “We’re out here to raise more awareness of kids who seem like they are doing great but might really not be at all.” Joining other parents of victims, survivors and allies, the Rassley’s are walking to end suicide with the Out of The Darkness Bozeman community walk. “What most of you wouldn’t think when you come and meet me, I’m

About a week after Montana’s congressional delegation requested it, the bill to name a Madison Range peak after a prominent conservationist who died earlier this year will have a U.S. Senate committee hearing next week. The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing on the Alex Diekmann Designation Act of 2016 next Thursday. The bill would name an unnamed peak in the Madison range after Alex Diekmann, who worked for 16 years as a project manager for the Trust for Public Land. Diekmann, who was 52, died of cancer earlier this year. For the Trust

Montana’s congressional delegation has secured $2 million in funding for the sprawling, multi-phase Whitefish Lake Watershed Project, which furnishes permanent protections on 15,334 acres of prime multiple-use land flanking the lake’s northern shore. The conservation and recreation community praised the easement because it protects critical fish and wildlife habitat and provides continued public access for outdoor recreation, while also securing the city of Whitefish’s water supply, 20 percent of which is drawn from Whitefish Lake. Coupled with the nearby Haskill Basin project on land owned by F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. — the source of the city’s remaining water

U.S. Senator Steve Daines was awarded the National Federation of Independent Business Guardian of Small Business Award this week for the second time in a row. The award is given for outstanding support of America’s small business owners in the 114th Congress. “It’s an honor to receive this recognition from the NFIB, and I will continue to work at every opportunity to help create a business environment where small businesses can succeed, free of unnecessary government interference” Daines stated. “Many elected officials claim that they are champions of small business, but our Guardian Award shows our members and other small business owners who

Hamilton High School Principal Dan Kimzey, Montana’s principal of the year, joined the top principals from 49 other states, plus Puerto Rico, in Washington, D.C., this week for the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ award and recognition event. The NASSP Principal of the Year Institute included professional development training and networking for school leaders and an opportunity to advocate for students and schools with each state’s Congressional delegation. “The awards banquet was in the Willard Hotel, which is supposedly the hotel in which Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and has been frequented

The U.S. Senate OK’d a major Indian water rights deal in Montana as part of a larger water-related bill Thursday. The Blackfeet Water Compact would settle historic claims by the Blackfeet tribe to rivers and streams crossing the reservation including the Milk and St. Mary Rivers allowing the tribe to develop the reservation’s significant water resources. As members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Republican Steve Daines worked together to include authorization for the compact in the Water Resources Development Act approved by the Senate Thursday on 95-3 vote, their offices said. Approval by