Category Archives: Montana

Record flooding and mudslides force closure of Yellowstone national park

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The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors as officials assess damage to roads and bridges

Record flooding and rockslides following a burst of heavy rains prompted the rare closure on Monday of all five entrances to Yellowstone national park at the start of the summer tourist season, the park superintendent said.

The entire park, spanning parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials assess damage to roads, bridges and other facilities.

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Montana sheriff thanks searchers who found body of hiker believed killed by bear

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Huge search and resue mission discovered body of Craig Clouatre, who went missing north of Yellowstone this week

A Montana sheriff has thanked a huge search and rescue mission, involving people on the ground as well as helicopters, that discovered a missing hiker who appears to have been killed by a grizzly bear north of Yellowstone national park.

“We’re fortunate to have a group of experienced volunteers on our [search and rescue] team and we’re thankful for the folks who have come to help,” the Park county sheriff, Brad Bichler, said in a statement.

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‘They don’t include Native voices’: tribes fight to ensure their votes count

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As the Native American population grows to the largest in modern history, groups say it’s vital that they organize to make sure they’re not left out of the redistricting process

In a small unadorned conference room in the North Dakota state capitol, Collette Brown, a representative for the Spirit Lake Nation, stood up on 26 August to testify on behalf of the 7,559 members of her federally recognized tribe.

Speaking to a largely white, male Republican committee of lawmakers, she explained what Native American communities stand to lose with redistricting if the legislature decides to draw legislative boundaries that split Native American communities or create areas that have at-large representation, instead of single-member districts.

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At least three killed in Amtrak train derailment in Montana

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The cause of the accident was not immediately clear and federal safety authorities will investigate

At least three people were killed on Saturday afternoon when an Amtrak train that runs between Seattle and Chicago derailed in north-central Montana, toppling several cars onto their sides, authorities said.

The westbound Empire Builder train derailed at about 4pm near Joplin, a town of about 200, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said. The accident scene is about 150 miles north-east of Helena and about 30 miles from the border with Canada.

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Who can afford to live in the American west when locals can’t?

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The region, which long had the lowest rate of income inequality in the US, is shifting to one of haves and have-nots – and it’s happening fast

I’ve long been accustomed to people outside the American west knowing next to nothing about my home state of Montana. Real things people have said to me over the years: is it part of Canada? Overrun with nothing but meth? A mythical place with big skies and nobody but macho cowfolk?

Of course, none of those statements are true. But in the last couple of years, Montana has become a destination among both the traveling and remote-work class – and my home is changing as fast as in any previous western land rush.

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Surging wildfire tears through northern California town and threatens others

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Caldor fire explodes in size as Pacific Gas & Electric begins shutting off power to 51,000 customers

Critically dangerous fire weather was forecast across northern California from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday evening, threatening to intensify several large blazes and increasing the risk of new ones, as a small rural town in the Sierra Nevada was ravaged by a fire that grew with devastating speed.

The Caldor fire, which erupted over the weekend, exploded in size on Tuesday and ran through the town of Grizzly Flats, destroying many buildings and forcing residents to leave. Two were injured. Officials estimated that the blaze had blown through 30,000 acres – up from 6,500 acres reported by the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) earlier that day.

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‘You are the worst human being’: man confronts Fox News host Tucker Carlson

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In viral video, Instagram user Dan Bailey harangues primetime anchor at outdoor goods store in Montana

In a confrontation that swiftly went viral, a Montana man told Fox News host Tucker Carlson: “You are the worst human being known to mankind.”

Related: Michael Wolff: Murdoch hates Trump but loves Fox News money more

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Sixty wildfires rage across 10 US states – including blaze bigger than Portland

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Thousands have been forced to evacuate from Alaska to Wyoming amid soaring temperatures and a drought

Nearly 60 wildfires were burning across 10 states in the parched American west on Tuesday, with the largest, in Oregon, consuming an area nearly twice the size of Portland.

The fires have torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires.

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Blackfeet tribe gives surplus vaccines to First Nations relatives in Canada

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Effort by illustrates the disparity with which the US and its northern neighbors are distributing doses

The Blackfeet tribe in northern Montana has provided about 1,000 surplus vaccines to its First Nations relatives and others in Canada, in an illustration of the disparity in speed at which the US and its northern neighbor are distributing doses. While more than 30% of adults in the US are fully vaccinated, in Canada that figure is about 3%.

Among those who received the vaccine at the Piegan-Carway border crossing were Sherry Cross Child and Shane Little Bear, of Stand Off, about 30 miles (50km ) north of the border.

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Montana guide mauled to death in grizzly bear attack outside Yellowstone

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Charles Mock, 40, died of scalp and facial wounds after managing to call 911 for help

A Montana backcountry guide has died after he was mauled by a large grizzly bear that was probably defending a nearby moose carcass just outside Yellowstone national park, officials said Monday.

Charles “Carl” Mock, 40, who lived in the park gateway community of West Yellowstone, died Saturday, two days after he was attacked while fishing alone in a forested area along the Madison River several miles north of West Yellowstone, said a Gallatin county sheriff’s office spokesperson, Christine Koosman.

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Winds fuel wildfires in California as blazes rage across US west

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Region sees amber skies while Washington state faces more acres burned in a day than typically burn in a year

Large, fast-moving fires raged on across the American west on Wednesday, destroying hundreds of homes in the Pacific north-west and sending a dense plume of smoke that turned skies amber across parts of the region.

Related: California, Oregon and Washington battle dozens of fires – live updates

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Judge advises $14m in damages to Jewish woman targeted by neo-Nazi ‘troll storm’

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Daily Stormer publisher incited his readers to contact Tanya Gersh, who received threatening emails, texts and voicemails

The publisher of a neo-Nazi website, who organized a “troll storm” to target a Jewish woman and her family with months of abusive messages, should have to pay more than $14m in damages and remove all posts that encouraged his readers to contact her, a US judge has recommended.

The US magistrate judge called the harassment campaign, launched by the Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, “egregious and reprehensible”. Anglin targeted Tanya Gersh, a Jewish real estate agent in Whitefish, Montana, a town where the prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer and his family have sometimes lived.

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Montana governor Steve Bullock enters 2020 presidential race

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  • Democrat has pushed progressive policies in conservative state
  • Bullock stresses campaign finance reform in launch video

Steve Bullock, the Democratic governor of Montana, announced on Tuesday that he is entering the presidential race after pushing a progressive agenda in a conservative state.

Among a crowded field of more than 20 Democratic candidates, Bullock attempted to distinguish himself in his campaign launch video by touting his ability to work with Republicans and his record of fighting corporate spending in elections.

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Gianforte’s fortunes tied to Trump in Montana House race

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U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte is pinning his third campaign in two years on Montana residents being better off economically since President Donald Trump took office and that the voters will give him some of the credit. Gianforte has tied his political fortunes to Trump as he seeks his first full term in Montana's only House seat.

West Coast military installations eyed for US fuel exports

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The Trump administration is considering using West Coast military installations or other federal properties to open the way for more U.S. fossil fuel exports to Asia in the name of national security and despite opposition from coastal states. "I respect the state of Washington and Oregon and California," Zinke said in an interview with AP.

Ban on new mining claims in Yellowstone extended 20 years

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The ban on new mining claims near Yellowstone National Park was extended for another 20 years by U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke who signed the ban in a ceremony in the park's Paradise Valley on Oct. 8. A temporary ban on new claims in the area was put in place in 2016 under former president Barack Obama. Zinke's order extends that ban on new claims for gold, silver and other minerals on 121 km2 of public lands in the Paradise Valley and Gardiner Basin.

Montana DOJ urges people minimize risk of cyber threats

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HELENA Two recent data breaches, one at a Bozeman-based company and another at Facebook, highlight the importance of knowing how to minimize the risk of cyber threats and how to respond if your personal data may have been compromised. On Friday, Facebook notified the Montana Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Protection that approximately 50 million user accounts were impacted by a data breach.