In The News

Mining giant Arch Coal on Thursday said it will suspend its work on securing a permit for a new mine in southeastern Montana. In a statement, the company blamed “capital constraints,” a weak coal market and uncertainty in the permitting process for suspending its proposed Otter Creek Mine project.  The company secured the lease rights to 8,300 acres of minerals in Otter Creek in 2010. The permitting process to begin mining, the company said, “has taken longer than anticipated, and further deterioration in coal markets has led to the decision to suspend the permitting effort.” In its statement, the company

A group of Republican senators introduced a resolution Thursday that would express the sense that the United States should detain captured ISIS operatives at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base military prison. The resolution–backed by 15 senators, including two presidential candidates–comes just as President Obama endures criticism from Republicans for his controversial push to close Guantanamo Bay and move current dangerous detainees to prisons in the U.S. Obama sent a plan to close the prison to Congress last month, citing detention facilities in Colorado, Kansas, and South Carolina as possible sites to hold the terrorist detainees. The resolution, introduced by Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.), expresses “the sense of Senate that individuals

Over a dozen GOP senators, including presidential candidates Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz(Texas), introduced a resolution Thursday to send detained Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters to Guantánamo Bay.  The resolution comes a day after the Pentagon said it captured an ISIS leader on the battlefield, sparking new questions about how to handle such prisoners. The commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Joseph Votel said on Tuesday there was a need to detain some terror suspects long-term, but where they would be held was under debate. The Republican senators say the military prison at Guantánamo, which President Obama is working

Montana has plenty of open roads, but some people don’t want to drive long distances. They’d prefer to fly or ride a train. Gordon Oelkers has been the mayor of Culbertson for 18 years. He has seen the town grow and he know it takes time. “It kind of goes in steps. You don’t nothing for six months then you get something going on,” Oelkers said. For last four years, Culbertson has been working on re-establishing an Amtrak stop that disappeared 40 years ago. And he’s optimistic he’ll succeed. “Some people say the oil boom is over and why are

On March 2, all five FCC Commissioners testified before the Commerce Committee. During the hearing, Montana Senator Steve Daines asked the commissioners to ensure an equal distribution of Universal Service funds to help close the gap in broadband access between urban and rural areas. “I see the commission awarding money to entities and areas that already have access to fiber, consistently upgrading speed in urban areas while certainly for many of us who are looking and repressing rural areas, we are undeserved,” said Daines. “Can you really say that is an efficient use for Universal Service funds and should the

Federal wildlife officials recommended lifting protections for the Yellowstone region grizzly bears Thursday, saying the species is recovered and no longer threatened. The long-awaited decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would remove the more than 700 Yellowstone-area grizzlies from the Endangered Species list and could pave the way for state-managed trophy hunting in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. USFWS director Dan Ashe called it a “proud moment” and said that it was the result of three decades of collaboration between state and federal agencies. “This is a triumph for partnership-driven conservation,” Ashe said. The proposal will be open for

President Barack Obama could easily return the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba when he visits the country later this month, Sen. Steve Daines told Newsmax TV on Thursday. “With this president, you remain worried on every front in terms of his executive overreach,” the Montana Republican told “Newsmax Prime” host J.D. Hayworth. “His abuse of power, his complete disregard of the Constitution and the Article II powers that are clearly, clearly laid out in our Constitution are something this president continues to violate. Obama will visit Cuba on March 21-22 as part of his efforts to normalize relations with Havana.

On February 29th, Senator Steve Daines went to Cuba to visit the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Upon Daines’ return, he took to the Senate floor to state the importance of maintaining the detention center and not bringing detainees to American communities. “Guantanamo Bay was a humble reminder of the services our military provides overseas to get these terrorists off the battle field and ensure that they don’t end up in American’s backyards,” said Daines. “President Obama has signed multiple pieces of legislation into law the explicitly prohibit the transfer of enemy combatants.” During the speech, Daines highlighted the threat

Republicans on a Senate appropriations panel challenged the head of the Interior Department Wednesday on a host of rules and energy assessments the agency is undertaking. During a hearing on the agency’s 2017 budget request, members were most concerned about regional issues, including regulations for offshore drilling in the Gulf and a pause in the federal coal leasing program. “The stakes are a lot higher today than they may have been in the past,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said, arguing the pause on new coal leases on federal land would hurt the economy in parts of his state, where coal