In The News

The House on Thursday passed a bill banning transfers from Guantanamo Bay for the remainder of Obama’s presidency, in a move that Democrats said is “probably unconstitutional and certainly immoral.” The bill, introduced by Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., passed the House by a 244-174 vote. It would prohibit the transfer of any detainees from Guantanamo Bay until the next administration takes office or until the passage of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, whichever comes first. Twelve Democrats voted for the bill. Four Republicans voted against it. Walorski told the Washington Examiner ahead of the vote that her next priority will

The statue at the Vietnam Memorial in Rose Park depicts an angel with massive, feathery wings lifting a soldier, whose pained expression is carved with a bit of relief, to heaven. The original copper has faded to a dull, military green, making a fitting, though somber, backdrop to Sunday’s 15th annual Never Forget Service, sponsored by the Missoula Exchange Club. Susan Reneau, a Missoula author who’s put together the event since 2006, organized the placement of more than 4,000 tiny American flags on the lawn in front of the Vietnam Memorial. “Unfortunately, each year we have to add flags to

HELENA — Two federal appellate judges have blocked a Kootenai National Forest logging project two days before cutting was to begin. The East Reservoir Project approved by the U.S. Forest Service calls for logging 8,845 acres of forest on the east side of Lake Koocanusa, approximately 15 miles east of Libby. The timber total — roughly 39 million board feet – represents more board feet than the Kootenai National Forest typically harvests in a year. The timber harvest in 2012 was 24 million board feet. During the logging heyday of the 1980s, however, the annual Kootenai timber harvest often topped 200 million

State foresters would have more ways to help manage federal and private forests under a bipartisan proposal authored by senators Steve Daines and Amy Klobuchar. Daines, R-Mont., and Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the Environmental and Economic Benefits Restoration Act of 2016 on Monday evening. In an interview on Tuesday, Daines said the legislation would make it easier for states to help the U.S. Forest Service get hazardous fuels reduction work done. “One frustration we have as Montanans, is we see the state out managing state lands, but we don’t see our national forests getting actively managed,” Daines said. “This would allow

The Little Shell Band of Chippewa Cree Indians won a key victory Thursday in their longtime effort to become a federally recognized tribe.  The Little Shell Tribe of the Chippewa Cree Restoration Act of 2015, introduced by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont ., would grant the Montana tribe federal recognition. It passed through the House Committee on Natural Resources Thursday.  The same legislation passed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last year. “I am fairly happy with today’s outcome, and I am happy that we were able to move it forward in a significant manner,”  Zinke said during a telephone press conference.  The legislation is part

For Col. Ron Allen, the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, “started like any other.” He was a captain at the time, working at the Pentagon. Now he’s the commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom. That morning, he woke up at 6 a.m. as usual and headed to work. Not long after arriving, office chatter turned to the attack on the World Trade Center happening in New York City. “We all knew then our nation was under attack,” Allen said during a ceremony in the Malmstrom chapel Friday. But work continued at the Pentagon, and he was headed to

A bill to overturn a temporary ban on federal coal leases — while also giving state and local governments a bigger say in leasing — was approved Thursday by the House Natural Resources Committee. Western lawmakers have been demanding for months that federal officials end the coal-leasing ban, which Department of Interior officials imposed last spring while they tried to determine whether the public is getting a fair royalty payment on federal coal. U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., authored the bill, which added a twist to the leasing ban debate by creating a royalty policy committee from which state, tribal and energy

WASHINGTON – A House panel approved legislation Thursday that would grant Montana’s Little Shell Tribe recognition by the federal government. The House Committee on Natural Resources voted 23-13 to approve legislation that includes the Little Shell federal recognition bill, bringing the tribe headquartered in Great Falls one step closer to receiving the designation it has spent more than 35 years trying to obtain. The Little Shell recognition was introduced by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont. If the legislation is eventually signed into law, the Little Shell would become the last tribe in Montana to be federally recognized. Instead of being an

The Bitterroot Valley’s Sapphire Community Health Clinic has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding was announced by U.S. Senator Steve Daines of Montana this week. The funding is part of over a million dollars awarded to 17 Montana community health centers. Other centers included facilities in Billings, Livingston, Chinook, Miles City, Shelby and Hardin. The Sapphire health center is at 303 North 3rd Street in Hamilton and has recently added mental health services.  They also offer many medical services including: acute care for minor illnesses and injuries, urgent care, DOT