Author: Press Room

Twitter Suffers Ad Decline

10 March 2023
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It may well be that Elon Musk’s strike for free speech on Twitter was not well received by many highly recognizable business in the country. According to CNN, more than half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers in September were no longer spending on the platform in the first weeks of January.

Some 625 of the top 1,000 Twitter advertisers, including major brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep, Wells Fargo and Merck, pulled their ad dollars as of January,  based on data running through January 25. Twitter had a $4.5 billion advertising business, according to CNN.

With his purchase of Twitter, Elon Musk pledged that going forward the company — noted for curtailing postings based on political agendas often at the urging of political figures — would cease such practices. He also laid off hundreds of staff. CNN said that “advertisers began to worry about the safety and stability of the platform,” with such transparency policies.

Study Shows Montana Has the No. 31 Most Tech-savvy Seniors

10 March 2023
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Historically known for being technologically challenged, America is seeing an unprecedented surge in tech adoption among seniors in 2023. This includes wearable devices to monitor vital signs, smart home technology to make aging in place easier, and computer literacy for online banking, shopping, and video calls with grandchildren. Despite these advances, seniors in certain states are further ahead than others.

Seniorly released a study on the States with the Most Tech-Savvy Seniors using the latest data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Department of Health & Human Services.

Key findings in Montana show 10.0% of seniors do not own a computer, 83.3% have an Internet subscription, 17.7% work remotely, 25% use telehealth, and an average of $453 is spent annually on technology.

The five most tech-savvy places are D.C., California, Utah, Arizona, Washington. The five least tech-savvy are West Virginia, Mississippi, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Nationally, a record percentage of seniors are texting (82%), using smart phones (65%), shopping (63%), banking (62%), using wearable technology (11%), taking classes (9%), and working remotely (9%).

Spitz Opens in Billings

10 March 2023
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Spitz, a Mediterranean restaurant, has been opened in downtown Billings by Jenna O’Brien. Located across from the Alberta Bair Theater on North Broadway, the restaurant, it is part of a six-state chain of restaurants. It features Turkish street fare, such as wraps, salads, bowls, Baklava etc. It is open seven days a week.

Lawmakers Grill  IRS Chief Nominee Over New Army of Agents

10 March 2023
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By Casey Harper, Center Square

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Internal Revenue Service took a slew of tough questions from lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday as the agency he seeks to lead faces a series of controversies.

One of the biggest questions facing Biden’s nominee, Daniel Werfel, a former acting IRS commissioner, was how he plans to handle the $80 billion included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Biden made clear that money was meant to supercharge the agency’s auditing efforts by hiring about 87,000 agents who the president claims would more than pay for the investment with new revenue.

Werfel promised lawmakers the audits would target wealthier Americans.

“…the audit and compliance priorities will be focused on enhancing the IRS’ capabilities to ensure America’s highest earners comply with applicable tax laws,” Werfel said.

Critics have argued there are not enough wealthy Americans to audit to justify tens of billions of dollars for new auditors. The IRS recently seemed to contradict the spirit of Werfel’s comments by announcing a program to crack down on tip reporting from waiters and waitresses.

“Stop the presses. No need to raise the debt limit,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, wrote on Twitter. “Biden is going after those billionaire waitresses’ tips,” he added, apparently referencing Biden’s call for a billionaires tax in the State of the Union.

But these aren’t the only issues for Werfel to tackle if he secures the position, which he is expected to do given the Democrats’ slim majority.

The IRS fell behind on tax returns in recent years in large part because it was saddled with distributing COVID-relief checks to millions of Americans. Then-Commissioner Charles Rettig raised concerns about the impact of this extra burden multiple times during his tenure.

Now, the IRS still has millions of suspended and backlogged returns to work through.

“Massive backlogs have left desperate families and small businesses waiting on much needed returns as they fight skyrocketing inflation,” U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said during the hearing.

The tax-collecting agency fell into the most significant controversy in years after news broke that the Biden administration was planning to have the IRS monitor bank transactions over $600. Bipartisan outrage followed, pausing but not altogether ending the plan.

The IRS announced in January it was delaying the need to report $600 transactions via services like Venmo for one year.

Other lingering issues are also plaguing the embattled agency.

Experts and lawmakers have also continued to push for answers after a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report from 2021 showed that the IRS destroyed roughly 30 million taxpayer documents, raising eyebrows.

So far, the agency has given little explanation for the destroyed files, which Americans may need for future audits.

“What specific documents were in the pile? Were any attempts made to contact affected Americans?” Americans for Tax Reform said in a statement. “Many Americans submitted forms only to be told by the IRS that they never did so. How will you compensate them for their lost time?”

Barrasso said all of these issues has diminished the credibility of the tax-collecting agency.

“Restoring the credibility of the agency is going to be a steep mountain to climb. When we visited I said this would be critical as part of your job,” Barrasso added. “The policies enacted by President Biden’s reckless tax and spending bill are really not going to be helpful in trying to regain the credibility of the American people for the agency.”

Federal Data Shows Rail Wrecks with Hazardous Materials Declining

10 March 2023
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By T.A. DeFeo, The Center Square

While rail wrecks like the one in East Palestine, Ohio, garner the headlines and turn the national dialogue to regulations, federal data shows that such mishaps have declined over the past three decades.

Numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that since 1990, rail incidents have accounted for about 5% of the more than 519,100 incidents involving hazardous materials. Most incidents (87.6%) were classified as “highway incidents.”

Between 2012 and 2021, the most recent numbers available, the BTS classified 5,432 incidents involving hazardous materials as rail incidents. That is down from 7,518 in the previous 10 years (2002-2011) and 10,786 in the previous 10 years (1992-2001).

“FRA data demonstrates declines in total train accidents for decades,” Benjamin Dierker, executive director at Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, told The Center Square via email. FRA is an acronym for the Federal Railroad Administration.

“In the past 10 years,” he wrote, “hazardous materials have actually fared better than general rail movement, with the hazmat accident rate declining by around 55% while the general train accident rate declined by around 10%.

“Accidents like the one in East Palestine are very rare, in part because releasing and burning a hazmat payload is incredibly rare. Over the past two decades, fewer than 1% of all train accidents have resulted in a release of hazardous materials.”

New Data Shows FTC Received 5,683 Fraud Reports From Montana Consumers in 2022

9 March 2023
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Montana consumers reported losing $17,004,601 to scams last year

The Federal Trade Commission received 5,683 fraud reports from consumers in Montana in 2022, according to newly released data.

Montana consumers reported losing a total of $17,004,601 to fraud, with a median loss of $575.

The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network is a database that receives reports directly from consumers, as well as from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members, and non-profit organizations. Reports from around the country about consumer protection issues—including identity theft, fraud, and other categories—are a key resource for FTC investigations that stop illegal activities and, when possible, provide refunds to consumers.

Across all types of reports, the FTC received a total of 9,197 reports from consumers in Montana in 2022.

The top category of reports received from consumers in Montana was Imposter Scams; followed by Identity Theft; Online Shopping and Negative Reviews; Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries; and Banks and Lenders.

Nationally, consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, up from $5.8 billion in 2021. Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams—more than $3.8 billion—than any other category in 2022. That amount more than doubles the amount reported lost in 2021. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with losses of $2.6 billion reported, up from $2.3 billion in 2021.

The FTC received fraud reports from 2.4 million consumers last year, with the most commonly reported being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams. Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment related reports; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.

Sentinel received more than 5.1 million reports overall in 2022. Of these, more than 1.1 million were identity theft reports received through the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website.

The FTC uses the reports it receives through Sentinel as the starting point for many of its law enforcement investigations, and the agency also shares these reports with approximately 2,800 federal, state, local, and international law enforcement professionals. While the FTC does not intervene in individual complaints, Sentinel reports are a vital part of the agency’s law enforcement mission.

A full breakdown of reports received in 2022 is now available on the FTC’s data analysis site at https:// ftc.gov/ exploredata.

KOA Promotes Wootteon to VP of Commercial Strategy

9 March 2023
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Kampgrounds of America Inc.’s (KOA) Kim Wootteon has been promoted to vice president of commercial strategy. In this newly established role, Wootteon will lead local marketing, revenue management and franchise business development, areas critical to the ongoing, accelerated growth the company has been experiencing for the last decade.

Previously serving as senior director of marketing and revenue management for the Owned and Operated Assets of KOA (OAK), Wootteon’s work leading a talented team of marketers and revenue managers is expanded in her new role to encompass local strategy and initiatives across the organization. Wootteon and her team’s areas of focus include evaluating market opportunities, analyzing local competitive landscapes and reviewing historical market data and revenue trends to optimize activities and growth.  “Kim has a disciplined approach that has brought impressive results to our owned portfolio,” said Darin Uselman, chief operating officer of Kampgrounds of America, Inc. “She has helped build proven processes we are eager to implement and continue developing for the greater KOA brand. We’re growing quickly, and Kim’s new holistic focus on commercial strategy will continue that growth.”  Prior to her work at KOA, Wootteon brings many years of revenue management and marketing experience within the campground and hotel industries with Blue Water Development Corp and The Grand Hotel and Spa..  Kim strives to leverage proven hospitality concepts and innovative tactics to maximize profitability locally and across the KOA brand.Wootteon holds a degree in business management from Globe University.

EPA Sends Fund to Montana for Clean Water

9 March 2023
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The  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $11,390,000 to the state of Montana from the federal governments  Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). The funding  is meant to support Montana communities in upgrading essential water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure that protects public health and treasured water bodies. Nearly half of this funding will be available as grants or principal forgiveness loans helping underserved communities across America invest in water infrastructure, while creating good-paying jobs. 

The funding builds on previous funding provided for Montana communities for water and wastewater treatment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $8.7 million for the CWSRF.  Projects already planned include places like Fort Smith, Montana, where Bipartisan Infrastructure Funds are contributing to a $7.5 million Wastewater System Improvement Project, including new collection systems, a central facultative lagoon away from the Bighorn River, and spray irrigation disposal.  These improvements are vital to a functioning sewage system for nearby communities, as well as the blue-ribbon, trout fishing industry on the Bighorn River.   

The Infrastructure Law makes over $50 billion available for water and waste water infrastruc -ture improvements across the country between FY2022 and FY2026.

Murder Rates

8 March 2023
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Chicago recorded 697 total homicides in 2022, far more than any other city in the United States, but New Orleans had the highest murder rate per capita, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group. 

Chicago had more total homicides in 2022 than Philadelphia (516), New York City (438), Houston (435) and Los Angeles (382), which rounded out the top five, according to a report from Wirepoints, an Illinois-based research and news organization that surveyed 2022 crime data from 75 of the largest U.S. cities.

New Orleans had the highest homicide rate in the nation in 2022 with 74.3 homicides per 100,000 people. It was followed by St. Louis (68.2), Baltimore (58.1), Detroit (48.9) and Memphis (45.9), Wirepoints found.

The nation’s lowest homicide rates were concentrated in the West, according to the report. The cities with the fewest homicides out of the 75 surveyed were Plano, Texas, and Gilbert, Arizona. Plano reported 1 homicide and Gilbert reported 3. 

Montana Estimated to See Nearly 34% Increase in Hotel-Generated Tax Revenue

8 March 2023
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By Chris Woodward, The Center Square

Montana may see a big increase in hotel-generated state and local tax revenue this year.

A report by the American Hotel and Lodging Association projects the state will see $145.3 million in tax revenue this year, a nearly 34% increase from 2019 when tax revenue was $108.7 million.  

AHLA, which is the largest hotel trade group in the U.S., said 2020’s nationwide drop in travel due to COVID-19 led to a loss of just over $13 billion in state and local revenue.

“Hotels are integral contributors to communities across the country, generating tens of billions of dollars in state and local tax revenue,” AHLA said in a press release. 

AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers said hotels are now “making significant strides toward recovery, supporting millions of good-paying jobs and generating billions” in state and local tax revenue nationwide. 

“To continue growing, we need to hire more people,” he added. “Fortunately, there’s never been a better time to be a hotel employee, with wages, benefits, flexibility and upward mobility better than ever before.”

Montana’s Labor Day report, released last September, said the state is experiencing an economic boom, “with more Montanans working than ever before.”

“Businesses have continued to thrive, grow, and increase production in the face of worker shortages by increasing productivity and raising wages to attract workers,” the report said.

AHLA, which is the largest hotel trade group in the U.S., said 2020’s nationwide drop in travel due to COVID-19 led to a loss of just over $13 billion in state and local revenue.

“Businesses have continued to thrive, grow, and increase production in the face of worker shortages by increasing productivity and raising wages to attract workers,” the report said.