In The News

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines visited West Glacier on Friday morning to meet with local business leaders affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of Glacier National Park. About a dozen members of the West Glacier business community joined Montana’s Republican senator at Glacier Outdoor Center for the roundtable. All expressed concerns and frustrations over the way COVID-19 has impacted the local economy and their businesses. Jeff Baldelli, co-owner of Glacier Raft Company and the Glacier Outdoor Center, said the local economy has gone into a “downward spiral” since lockdowns began in March. He said he has had numerous cancellations

BILLINGS — A Billings veteran, who died of COVID-19 in March and whose cremains got lost in the mail has been found and will be coming back home to Montana. On Thursday, MTN news spoke with Christine Tyler who lost her husband, Don to the virus while traveling abroad this March in Spain. She opted to have Don cremated and flown home with military tradition because he served in Vietnam. But on the way back to the United States, his body became lost at a United States Post office facility in Chicago. Since, her story has spread across the country.

Montana’s U.S. senators have said the Trump administration has reversed course on plans to limit the length of service for National Guard members during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving them access to additional federal benefits. To assist local and state governments in their response to the national health emergency, troops from the Army and Air National Guards across 54 states and territories, including Montana, have been put on state active duty or mobilized under Title 32 orders. Title 32 orders give federal authorization for in-country full-time National Guard service. The administration had planned to put a “hard stop” on deployment of Army

A handful of West Glacier businesses met with Montana Sen. Steve Daines on Friday to express frustration and concern over an opening date for Glacier National Park. MTN spoke with Gary Hamilton who is the CEO of Hamilton Group Limited, a souvenir manufacturing company that relies on Glacier Park tourism. “With respect to the park we’re in a very difficult situation,” he said. “The park is not open and they’re hopeful for some time of reopening in June. A lot of the customers we deal with in and around Glacier are either putting their business with us on hold or

WEST GLACIER – Normally, Montana House is the only business in Glacier National Park’s Apgar Village that is open year-round. But these are not normal times. “This would be, for the early season, a very busy weekend,” said Monica Jungster, owner of the craft shop. Friday brought temperatures in the 70s, plenty of sunshine and just a wisp of breeze to Glacier National Park’s western gateway. But with Glacier still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only ones there to enjoy it were a handful of maintenance staff and Jungster, whose parents founded Montana House in 1960. “This is

HELENA — Montana’s two U.S. senators say Congress must act to salvage the Postal Service, which is bleeding cash and says it needs a $75 billion infusion. “Montanans rely on the U.S. Postal Service for everything from prescription-drug delivery to absentee voting,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said Friday. “To say it is a crucial lifeline, especially for folks living in rural communities, would be an understatement.” Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines also called the USPS “vital for a rural state like Montana,” as it delivers drugs and other necessities to areas not served by for-profit delivery companies. “This is

About $82,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program allowed Helena brewery owner Max Pigman to keep all 13 of his production employees at work through the novel coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, Pigman told U.S. Sen. Steve Daines during a tour of Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. that he’d like to see another round of funding on an extended timetable as the state moves toward what’s expected to be a slow economic recovery.  “The worst thing that you fear as a business owner, as you grow a team, is you’re not only responsible for your own income and being able to

HELENA — Max Pigman, owner of Helena’s Lewis and Clark Brewing Company, says the COVID-19 pandemic hit at a difficult time for his business. “We were in a mode where our business was really growing well and we were just moving into new markets and just expanded into Las Vegas – and then all of a sudden the faucet got turned off,” he said. Pigman estimates Lewis and Clark lost at least 12% to 15% of its expected revenue from brewing, and the company is seeing smaller profit margins because it has shifted more of its beer into cans instead

LOLO — Montana conservation groups are throwing their support behind a bill that would provide permanent financial support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The groups say the Great American Outdoors Act would resolve the uncertainty that’s existed for the important pot of money for the past several years. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) is a co-sponsor of the measure which has bi-partisan support in the Senate as a means to permanently pay for the LCWF. That money, which is generated from offshore oil leases, has been in question for the past few years, jeopardizing a fund critical to help to pay for