Bear tracks found at scene investigators say, as Montana sees increase in grizzly sightings
A woman has been found dead in Montana after coming into contact with a grizzly bear on a trail west of Yellowstone national park.
The state’s fish, wildlife and parks department said the woman was found deceased on Saturday on a trail near West Yellowstone, a Montana town nestled in the Custer Gallatin national forest just west of Yellowstone national park.
Continue reading...Head wounds, broken ribs and other injuries were reported after the second-story deck of the Briarwood country club collapsed
More than 30 people were injured when a deck collapsed at a country club overlooking Montana’s largest city, police said on Sunday.
The second-story patio floor of Billings’ Briarwood country club broke and gave way Saturday evening. The collapse caused head wounds, broken ribs and other injuries as people landed atop each other and debris and scraps of food scattered over the grass next to the club’s golf course.
Continue reading...Environmental agency officials said workers are cooling the gooey material with river water and putting it into garbage bags for recycling
Globs of asphalt binder that spilled into Montana’s Yellowstone River during a bridge collapse and train derailment could be seen on islands and riverbanks downstream from Yellowstone National Park a week after the spill occurred, witnesses report.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency said cleanup efforts began on Sunday, with workers cooling the gooey material with river water, rolling it up and putting the globs into garbage bags. It will probably be recycled, said Paul Peronard with the EPA.
Continue reading...The EPA, which is working with the state rail authority on the cleanup, has not detected any toxic gases downwind of the site
Authorities on Sunday were testing the water quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where mangled cars carrying hazardous materials remained after crashing into the waterway following a bridge collapse.
The seven mangled train cars that were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur when they fell Saturday morning remained in the rushing river on Sunday near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles (roughly 64km) west of Billings. The area is in a sparsely populated section of the Yellowstone River valley, surrounded by ranches and farmland.
Continue reading...Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream after train cars carrying asphalt and sulfur submerged in Yellowstone River
A bridge that crosses Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early on Saturday morning, causing portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials to plunge into the flooded river below, officials said.
The train cars were carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur, said David Stamey, Stillwater county’s chief of emergency services. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a yellow liquid pouring out of tank cars.
Continue reading...Ruling could take weeks to emerge in trial for Held v Montana, which is the first constitutional climate trial in US history
A groundbreaking climate trial came to an early close on Tuesday as lawyers on each side presented a very different picture of who can be held responsible for the climate crisis.
Attorneys representing the lawsuit’s young challengers said Montana officials and agencies must be held accountable for exacerbating the crisis, and thereby violating the plaintiffs’ state constitutional rights. But the defense argued that climate change is a global problem, and that if Montana is contributing to it, plaintiffs should work to change that through the legislature.
Continue reading...Montana teen Mica is one of 16 plaintiffs in historic trial, alleging state has violated residents’ right to healthy environment
Mica, aged 15, learned about climate change when he was just four, when his parents showed him the documentary Chasing Ice.
“I understood it more than my parents thought I would,” he testified in a groundbreaking trial on Tuesday. “I just knew something bad was happening, but I didn’t know exactly what it was.”
Continue reading...The plaintiffs note that Montana’s constitution pledges a healthy environment ‘for present and future generations’
The US’s first-ever trial in a constitutional climate lawsuit kicked off on Monday morning in a packed courtroom in Helena, Montana.
The case, Held v Montana, was brought in 2020 by 16 plaintiffs between the ages of five and 22 from around the state who allege state officials violated their constitutional right to a healthy environment by enacting pro-fossil fuel policies.
Continue reading...Last week, Greg Gianforte, the governor, had signed into law a bill that prohibits app stores from offering the video-sharing platform
TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit against Montana over the state’s new law banning the short-video app.
In the suit filed on Monday, the company argues the ban violates first amendment rights of both the company and its users.
Continue reading...Greg Gianforte, the governor, signed legislation prohibiting mobile app stores from offering the video-sharing platform by next year
Montana has became the first US state to ban TikTok after the governor signed legislation prohibiting mobile application stores from offering the app within the state by next year.
The move is among the most dramatic in a series of US escalations against TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance. TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny over its ties to China, amid concerns that such links could pose a national security threat.
Continue reading...David Gianforte, who uses he/they pronouns, said they urged father Greg to stand up against ‘unjust, immoral’ legislation
The son of the Republican governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, met their father in his office to lobby him to reject several bills that would harm transgender people in the state, the Montana Free Press reported.
David Gianforte told the paper they identify as non-binary and use he/they pronouns – the first time they disclosed their gender identity publicly. They told the outlet they felt an obligation to use their relationship with their father to stand up for LGBTQ+ people in the state.
Continue reading...Zooey Zephyr will be able to vote remotely, however the decision has drawn protests that brought the legislature to a halt
Montana Republicans have barred the transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the statehouse floor for the rest of the session after she told colleagues they would have “blood on your hands” if they voted to ban gender-affirming medical care for trans children.
Under the terms of the punishment, Zephyr will still be able to vote remotely but will be unable to participate in debates for the remainder of the 90-day legislative session. The Democratic representative had been forbidden from speaking for the past week over her comments, which Republicans said violated decorum.
Continue reading...Zooey Zephyr hasn’t been allowed to speak on house floor since taking a stand against bill that would ban gender-affirming care
Protesters gathered outside the Montana state house on Monday over Republican legislative leaders’ decision to prevent a transgender lawmaker from speaking after she told colleagues they would have “blood on their hands” if they banned gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.
Zooey Zephyr, a Montana state representative, hasn’t been allowed to speak on the state house floor since Thursday because of her remarks.
Continue reading...Coors Light and Blue Moon shipments spilled beside the Clark Fork River in Paradise, leaving a difficult mess
A train derailment beside a scenic western Montana river has spilled powdered clay and huge amounts of beer, leaving crews with a daunting cleanup.
The train derailed on Sunday across the river from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort in Paradise, spilling cases of Coors Light and Blue Moon beer in cans and bottles, the Missoulian reported. No injuries have been reported.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken delays trip, as China claims balloon was for ‘meteorological’ purposes and was blown off course
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has postponed a planned visit to China this weekend after the intrusion of a high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.
China had apologised for the incident, claiming it had been a weather balloon which had been blown off course, but US officials made clear they did not believe that explanation and the Pentagon restated its assessment it was a surveillance aircraft, adding that by midday Friday it had changed course and was over the centre of the country.
Continue reading...Officials say balloon has been watched for a few days but decided not to shoot it down for safety reasons
The Pentagon has said it is tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying over the US but decided against shooting it down for safety reasons.
Defence officials said the balloon had been watched since it entered US airspace at high altitude a couple of days ago. It has been monitored by several methods including crewed aircraft, and has most recently been tracked crossing Montana, where the US has silo-based nuclear missiles.
Continue reading...Herd struck by semi-truck on Montana highway, with some of the bison needing to be euthanized ‘due to severe injuries’
Thirteen bison have died as a result of a road crash in the dark on a Montana highway near Yellowstone national park, authorities have announced.
In a statement released on Facebook, the West Yellowstone police department announced that around 6.30pm on Wednesday “multiple bison were struck by a semi-truck near mile marker 4 on Highway 191”, referring to a highway north of the town of West Yellowstone.
Continue reading...An estimated 50 million Americans also under windchill alerts as ‘once-in-a-generation-event’ could impact holiday travel
Severe winter weather is set to affect millions across the US this week, as freezing temperatures and strong storms threaten to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans.
A burst of arctic air settling over several states this week is forecast to drop temperatures to dangerous – and potentially deadly – levels just as more than 110 million Americans are expected to set out for their celebrations.
Continue reading...More than 15 million people under winter advisory while several areas in midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms
More than 15 million people are under a winter advisory as of Tuesday, as several areas in the midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms, Axios reported.
Storm warnings are in effect across a dozen states, including parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota.
Continue reading...Parts of California could see 115F heat as several states face potentially record-breaking weather
A brutal, potentially record-breaking heatwave is setting over the US west, the latest in a string of extreme temperature events that’s putting communities on high alert for heat-related illness and death.
Temperatures are expected to hit 115F (46C) in the coming days across parts of southern California, Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley, according to the National Weather Service. In Death Valley, temperatures were forecast to reach more than 120F (49C).
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