In The News

HAMILTON – Hamilton High School senior Caitlin Gillespie has received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy. She is already a licensed pilot and wants to use that love of flying in the military. “It’s amazing,” Gillespie said. “I knew when I got the principal nomination from Sen. (Steve) Daines in December that I was going to get an appointment, but now that it’s real I can start preparing. My family is all very proud. It makes a big difference.” Gillespie’s appointment pays for college, then she will serve in the military for five years. “I’m not sure what I

No one will mistake Sen. Steve Daines’ spring recess for a vacation. Some 2,000 miles from Capitol Hill, the Republican from Montana led an energy summit for about 600 people that featured executives from major transportation and energy industries and groups, as well as state and federal officials. “We need more made in America energy, not more made in the Middle East energy. And we don’t need these Washington, D.C., regulations that are defining our future here in Montana instead of letting Montanans define that,” Daines said in opening Montana Energy 2016, previewing what would be a recurring theme. “It’s actually

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Joseph Medicine Crow, an acclaimed Native American historian and last surviving war chief of Montana’s Crow Tribe, has died. He was 102. Medicine Crow died Sunday, Bullis Mortuary funeral home director Terry Bullis said. Services will be announced Monday, he said. A member of the Crow Tribe’s Whistling Water clan, Medicine Crow was raised by his grandparents in a log house in a rural area of the Crow Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana. His Crow name was “High Bird,” and he recalled listening as a child to stories about the Battle of Little Bighorn from those

Montana politicians weighed in Sunday as news spread of Joe Medicine Crow’s death. “Today, Montana lost a treasure,” said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., in a statement. “Joe Medicine Crow was a soldier and a scholar, but above all he was a fierce advocate for Native American families. “When you spoke to Joe Medicine Crow, it was impossible not to be inspired. I know his legacy will motivate generations of Montanans to follow in his footsteps and live a life dedicated to serving others.” U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., plans to give a speech on the senate floor Monday to

Corey Sell’s firm launched three decades ago to service the Colstrip power plant and mine, but the co-owner of CEI Electrical Contractors isn’t as worried now as people might think. In recent years, CEI, whose offices in Billings and Colstrip are in the heart of Montana’s coal country, has seen its biggest work demand from the wind-energy industry. CEI services the giant turbines, nacelles and other equipment that dot hillsides of wind farms in several states. Sell is a Colstrip native and has plenty of customers in the fossil-fuel industry, including the Colstrip plant, Phillips 66 and other oil refineries.

Made-in-Montana energy means good Montana jobs that on average pay two to three times more than the state average. Montana’s ability to create more good-paying energy jobs is immense. In fact, our state leads the nation in coal deposits. We are the nation’s fifth-largest producer of hydropower, with 23 hydroelectric dams across our state, and fifth in wind energy potential. Montana is at the center stage of the national energy debate and provides the nation a template of a true all-of-the-above energy portfolio. We have coal, natural gas and oil, as well as renewables such as hydro, wind, biomass and

The same kind of innovative spirit that helped the United States regain the title of the world’s leader in oil and gas production will also help the industry weather current market downturns, says the chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips. Over the past decade, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unleashed a flood of new oil and gas production in the United States. Despite a year-long decline in prices, “The U.S. energy renaissance is here to stay,” said Ryan M. Lance, a Montana native. Lance said Thursday that he has witnessed six downturns in the oil and gas industry

The backburner issue simmering for weeks about the potential closure of Units 1 and 2 of the Colstrip power plant was how the oil refineries, silicon plants and mining companies that buy electricity directly from those units would be affected. Those industry buyers, known in utility jargon as “large customers,” began hinting a few weeks ago of job losses and rising consumer prices for things like gasoline if cheap Colstrip power from Units 1 and 2 went away. Those two units, the oldest and dirtiest in the four-unit Colstrip power complex, face serious challenges. Actions by the two units’ current

Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines announced last week that a recent graduate of Polson High School was accepted to the prestigious U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Nicholas Becker, 19, received a full appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy. A Big Arm resident, Becker served on his high school’s Board of Governors, played tennis, lacrosse, and skied throughout his high school career. Tester and Daines spoke with Becker and congratulated him on his appointment. “Nicholas will make Montana and all of America proud as an officer in the United States Merchant Marines,” Tester said. “His stellar academic record and his leadership