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Planning is moving forward on upgrading the next section of U.S. Highway 2 to a “Super 2” configuration with passing and turning lanes, with the Montana Department of Transportation looking for comments on the proposal. The project would upgrade 10.4 miles of the highway starting from where the first upgrade ended and stopping just west of Chinook. According to the new plan, the construction will start in 2017, and MDT has traditionally followed its schedule closely. The middle phase of the first three projects is well underw... Full story
Montana’s sole U.S. representative joined colleagues from the Dakotas Wednesday in shifting money to regional rural water projects including in north-central Montana. A press release from Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said the congressman joined Reps. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., in sponsoring an amendment to shift $6 million from solar energy programs and another $6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s administrative budget, putting $10 million to water projects and $2 million to deficit reduction. Th... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Steve Daines is projected to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Montana, defeating state Rep. Champ Edmunds and political newcomer Susan Cundiff in the primary election. And John Walsh has been nominated by his Democratic party to oppose Daines. The first-term congressman from Bozeman will go on to face tonight's winner of the three-way battle for the Democratic nomination. With 2 percent of precincts reporting, Daines captured 86 percent of the vote over his two competitors. The 51-year-old D... Full story
HELENA — Montana voters set the stage Tuesday for a November election that will determine whether a U.S. Senate seat that has been in Democratic hands for a century will stay there after the resignation of six-term Sen. Max Baucus. U.S. Rep. Steve Daines is leaving his House seat to challenge incumbent Sen. John Walsh, who was appointed in February to replace Baucus. Both easily won their primary elections Tuesday. The GOP sees Daines as the best chance to win back a seat it hasn't held since 1907. "This would be historic f... Full story
HELENA — Republican candidates for Montana's open U.S. House seat took shots at one another Wednesday over their positions on abortion, gun rights, spending and health care in the final debate before Tuesday's primary elections. Many of the barbs were directed at former Sen. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish, who has raised more money than the four others contending for the GOP nomination. The debate in Kalispell included Zinke and: • State Sen. Elsie Arntzen of Billings • State Sen. Matt Rosendale of Glendive • Former state Sen. Co... Full story
Democratic candidates at a Havre fundraiser had a consistent message: The main goal is keep Republicans out of office in the fall election. Park County rancher Dirk Adams, who faces Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., and former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger in the June 3 primary for the U.S. Senate seat in this year's election, said the real goal is in the general election in November. "I hope you keep in mind that the objective is to beat Steve Daines in the fall," he said. None of... Full story
Some federal-level candidates will join local candidates in Havre next week during a Democratic fundraiser. U.S. Senate candidate Dirk Adams and U.S. House candidate John Driscoll are expected to attend the burger feed, which starts Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Havre Eagles Club. State-level candidates also expected to speak include state Rep. Clarena Brockie, D-Harlem, state Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Havre, and state House candidates Rob Laas of Chester and Janet Trethewey of Havre. Candidates for Hill County offices also are...
With a list of heavy hitters set to talk about economics on the agenda, the inaugural Hi-Line Economic Summit got underway in Havre this morning. Summit organizer Ty Hedalen of Independence Bank said he was inspired to create the event, with key sponsors Independence Bank and BNSF Railway, when he attended one of the Montana Jobs Summits held by former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. In opening today's session in the Montana State University-Northern Student Union Building...
Absentee ballots for the June 3 primary election will be mailed out Monday, with last-minute filings adding to the contested primary races. In Hill County, Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong reports that six ballots already have been mailed to people serving in the military. Another 1,719 will be mailed Monday. The primary absentee ballots account for more than 18 percent of the 9,358 registered voters in the county and 23 percent of the 7,496 active voters. The polls open for the nonabsentee voters June 3. Local races have... Full story
Some political and economic heavy hitters are set to come to Havre in May to talk about the Hi-Line’s economy. Organizers of the inaugural Hi-Line Economic Summit Wednesday, May 14, which the organizers say was inspired by former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus’ annual Montana Jobs Summit, said Gov. Steve Bullock, Public Service Commissioner Travis Kavulla, Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota Regional Economist Toby Madden and Vann Cunningham, BNSF Railway’s assistant vice president of economic development, are confirmed speakers. “Many... Full story
A candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives said what he is hearing from Montana voters is that they want to see a little more maturity in their federal elected lawmakers. “They say, ‘We want you to go back and do the right thing,’” he said, adding that much of that would involve planning and managing risks as he does as a financial planner in Billings. “We need the grownups to show up in Washington, D.C.,” he said during a recent interview with the Havre Daily News. Stapleton, who received a bachelor’s degree in engine... Full story
Montana's freshman member of the U.S. House of Representatives - also a candidate for the Senate - has joined the Montana U.S. senators in calling for a permanent fund to help complete regional water projects including in north-central Montana. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced in a press release he has sponsored a bill to create a fund to build water projects that Congress already has approved. "Water supplies will be the key to the future of northern Montana, and we are...
Montana’s wilderness. That’s where my mind went to most often while I was deployed in Southern Afghanistan as an explosive ordnance disposal operator in the summer of 2009. Some people missed their families, others had a sweetheart or spouse back home whom they missed, and others just longed for a good meal and a comfortable bed. But for me it was different. What I missed most were Montana’s wild open places. In Afghanistan I quickly learned that the most important thing was the people fighting next to me. Getting kille... Full story
Preliminary work is underway on the second phase of a project that is set to, eventually, upgrade U.S. Highway 2 from Havre to the Fort Belknap Agency in Blaine County. The phase of work set for this summer is from Havre to where a previous upgrade started just east of town, west of Porkchop Hill. Upgrading the highway from Havre Lori Ryan, public information officer for Montana Department of Transportation, Thursday described the changes to be made to the two and a half-mile... Full story
A state agricultural group is discussing in Havre Wednesday a two-year past-due federal policy with major impacts on north-central Montana’s major economic driver: Agriculture. Montana Grain Growers Association is holding a meeting at the Northern Agricultural Research Center at Fort Assinniboine six miles southwest of Havre from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, the latest of a series of meetings on the 2014 Farm Bill. The meetings are being held by agencies that include MGGA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Although it will be... Full story
Correction: An earlier edition of this story said that Republican Mike Lang of Malta was unopposed. He is being challenged by Democrat Floyd Russell Hopstad of Glasgow. An earlier version said that Democrat John Bohlinger had not filed for the U.S. Senate seat. He filed Friday afternoon. With three days left to file as a candidate, many county and legislative races in this part of Montana are uncontested. However, challenges have come up in county races in Blaine and Liberty counties and heavy competition is in the works in... Full story
HELENA (AP) — A Helena attorney submitted a ballot initiative proposal Tuesday that would change Montana law to take away the governor's power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies and instead require special elections. The process was in the spotlight last month when Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock named his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. Republican legislative leaders criticized Bullock's selection, saying it was done in secrecy and with no input from the public. The proposal by attorney J... Full story
Newly appointed U.S. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., stopped in Havre Friday during a tour of the state in his second week on the job. Walsh joined fellow Montana Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, keynote speaker at Friday’s Bear Paw Development Corp. meeting, at the Student Union Building Ballroom at Montana State University-Northern for the 45th annual meeting of the economic development agency. Walsh said in an interview his first two weeks have been busy, although he was sworn in Tuesday, Feb. 11, and the Senate went into r... Full story
A U.S. senator Friday had high praise for the local economic development agency that serves in his own backyard. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, who grew up and farms west of Big Sandy in the midst of the five-county, two Indian reservation region Bear Paw Development Corp. serves as an economic development agency, was keynote speaker for Bear Paw's 45th annual meeting. "Congratulations on 45 successful years in a partnership that has included spending, or should I say investing,... Full story
Two GOP candidates for the first open U.S. Senate seat in nearly four decades were in Havre Sunday night, stumping at a local Republican fundraising dinner. U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was the keynote speaker at the Blaine and Hill county Republicans Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner, held at the Duck Inn Olympic Room with close to 100 people at the packed event. State Rep. Champ Edmunds, R-Missoula, was among some 11 other state and federal candidates who spoke at the dinner... Full story
HELENA - Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid it was "none of your damn business" who the Democratic governor appointed to fill Montana's vacant U.S. Senate seat. Refuting claims by state Republican Party officials that his appointment of John Walsh last week was a ploy to give Democrats an advantage in retaining the seat in November's election, Bullock said he spoke with no other senators, White House officials or political party... Full story
Montana’s senior U.S. senator is taking over a committee on which he has served since first taking office in 2008. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Thursday he is taking the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Tester, a Big Sandy-area farmer who grew up near Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, said he will be dedicated to working with tribes and his longstanding ties to Indian Country will lead to new opportunities for all Native Americans. “Working together, we will expand economic opportunities, create safer c... Full story
A candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives was in Havre Wednesday, telling local voters why they should send him to Washington and what he would do if he was sent. State Sen. Matt Rosendale, R-Glendive, who was elected to the Montana House of Representatives in 2010 and the Senate in 2012, said he decided to run for Congress because he took a close look at how he could serve the state most efficiently and effectively. "The big problems we are dealing with originate in... Full story
Staff and wire reports HELENA— Gov. Steve Bullock has named Board of Regents chairwoman Angela McLean as lieutenant governor. McLean will replace John Walsh, whom the Democratic governor appointed last week as interim U.S. senator. The appointment will also mean that Havreite Paul Tuss, presently Regents vice chair, will be elevated to the chairmanship of the board that oversees colleges and universities in the Montana University System. Tuss is executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp. Bullock's office announced M... Full story
In a long-suspected move, Montana’s Democratic governor this morning appointed his lieutenant governor to fill a vacant Senate seat. “I introduce to you Sen. John Walsh,” Gov. Steve Bullock announced in a press conference shortly after 10 this morning. Bullock, after listing Walsh’s accomplishments including being a 33-year veteran of the Montana National Guard, appointed him to fill the seat vacated by 35-year U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, who was confirmed Thursday as ambassador to China. Baucus, a Democrat, stunned the politic... Full story
