The University of Montana Medicine Residency Program has received $750,000 to expand its training site. It was one of 15 throughout the country to receive a subsidy to develop new residency programs in rural communities to address the need for physicians in rural communities. The three-year award will support the development of residency training sites in Butte and Helena, in partnership with St. James Hospital and Southwest Community Health Center in Butte and St. Peters Health and PureView Health Center in Helena.
Nemont Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Nemont) has sold its telecom properties in North Dakota to Northwest Communications Cooperative (NCC100%) fiber-to-the-home internet service and communications provider. Communities involved are Williston, Trenton, Fortuna, Ambrose, and East Westby.
Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster in Missoula and Mineral counties following a July 24 thunderstorm storm with high winds that toppled trees and downed power poles in the Missoula area, leaving many residents without power. Wind speeds of 81 mph, lightning, heavy rain, and gusts up to 109 mph – caused damages to power poles across western Montana leaving tens of thousands of customers of Missoula Electric and Northwestern Energy without power. The State of Montana will expend funds from the general fund to meet contingencies and needs arising from these conditions
The U.S. Postal Service abruptly stopped air service in Montana last week even after Alpine Air, its air cargo contractor in the state, offered a roughly $3 million reduction in its contract. Alpine has worked with the Postal Service in Montana for some 35 years. Alpine Air anticipates having to look at layoffs in Montana. It employs 60 people in the state including 20 who have worked on the Postal Service contract. Two-day delivery will have to be obtained from companies other than the United Postal Service.
Puget Sound Energy, a Seattle-area electricity provider has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Clearway Energy Group for a 315-megawatt wind farm under development in Wheatland and Meagher counties in Montana. The additional power buy will satisfy about 15% of what the Puget Sound Energy needs to meet Washington’s 2030 clean energy targets. Construction on the wind farm is expected to start in June 2026, and the project is slated to go online in 2028. Puget Sound Energy is als building a wind farm near Rapelje, about an hour west of Billings, that will generate 248 megawatts. The Beaver Creek wind project will help meet Washington’s clean-energy laws. a second phase of the project could add wind turbines in neighboring Sweet Grass County, complete with a a lithium-ion battery energy storage facility.
Bridger Aerospace recently acquired Alabama-based FMS Aerospace in a $20.6 million deal. Sam Davis has become the interim CEO of Belgrade-based Bridger Aerospace.
Montana-Dakota Utilities is requesting that the Montana Public Service Commission approve a natural gas rate increase of $9.4 million in annual revenues, which would increase the average residential customer’s annual bill by 16.4%.
Justin and Kelsey Flake have recently taken on ownership of Sea Me Paddle. The business, under Tour Glacier, also offers a variety of tours in Glacier National Park and winter tours around the Flathead Valley. Since taking over, Justin and Kelsey have found that tourists enjoy the concierge experience and seeing sights as the locals do, so in addition to their outdoor adventures, the Flakes have started offering brewery and rodeo tours.
The Pickle Barrel is celebrating 50 years as a sandwich and pickles shop. Current owner Jenny O’Brien took over the Bozeman location in 2014. Over the years it has survived changes and even an explosion that caused the business to move to it’s current location, acroos the street from MSU.
Miles City is currently attempting to remedy a budget shortfall of over $700,000 for Fiscal Year 2025. The preliminary budget information is warning officials to expect steep cuts to personnel and services that will likely need to be made to balance the budget. One update was delivered by Mayor Dwayne Andrews announcing that following a conversation with union leaders representing the city employees, the unions are willing to re-negotiate contracts to find a way to minimize the damage as much as possible.
The Interim Transportation Committee of the Montana Legislature recently heard an update regarding cost estimates of the Federal Rail Administration’s Long-Distance Service Study for restoring passenger rail service across southern Montana. People associated with Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority presented updates to the Committee. The mission and goal are of seeing passenger rail service along the North Coast Hiawatha route restored to service southern Montana. The total estimated cost for restoration and operation of the North Coast Hiawatha route is approximately $3.9 billion.
Last week film crews from America’s Best Restaurants will visit Outlaw’s Bar & Grill in Watford City and 3 Amigos Southwest Grill in Williston. The crew will highlight popular dishes and interview the respective owners. The episodes featuring these two restaurants will be aired at a later date on America’s Best Restaurants’ Facebook page and website. America’s Best Restaurants is a national media and marketing company focusing on bringing attention to local, independently owned restaurants.
Connolly’s Nursery in Evergreen opened in April. The Nursery is located at 1654 Montana 35. From yellow to pink to green to white, everything that Connolly grows is made to grow in Montana. The business aims to provide quality plants for the Evergreen community and Northwest Montana in general.
Hunter and Julie Nguyen have officially opened the doors to their nail salon AJ Nails in Evergreen. The couple says they are slowly growing their business after renovating the former restaurant location.
