Jared Jeffery Walters received suspended sentences for two felonies during a hearing at district court June 25. As part of a joint plea agreement, Judge David J. Cybulski sentenced Waters to five years, all suspended, for the felony charge of strangulation of a partner or family member. The incident occurred on Jan. 13. Walters was also fined $1,000. In addition, he was sentenced for

Our newspapers’ staff members were fortunate recently to have been honored by the Montana Newspaper Association with several awards in the annual Better Newspaper Contest, which took place at the end of the association’s convention held in Kalispell. Our recognition included 10 first-place awards along with multiple second- and third-place honors. Winning categories ranged from editorial

State meteorologists provided information during the monthly weather-ready briefing conducted by Nick Vertz, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service, last week. Vertz reported that the Glasgow and Billings areas each had 15 severe thunderstorm warnings during June and six warnings in May. The amounts are comparable to recent years but lower when looking back a decade

Montana State University Extension has created a new magazine on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias that is designed especially for Montana farmers and ranchers. Montana has more than 21,000 people living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, including agricultural producers, said Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family economics specialist. “Family

American Prairie continues to expand its land holdings in north-central Montana, announcing last week it now holds more than 475,000 acres of land after acquiring another 12,534 acres in Phillips County on two parcels of land. The conservation organization said the two pieces of land were priority acquisitions so it can continue to preserve prairie land and improve wildlife habitat and public

In our previous columns, we introduced our organization and explained our constitutionally granted Right to Know, underscoring its importance. This time, we’ll talk about the accessibility of this Right for individuals from Carter County to Kalispell, how “fees” can disrupt the right, and what the Montana Transparency Project is doing to increase your accessibility. The framers of our

Fort Peck Community College’s board of directors will be hosting a presidential inauguration on Tuesday, July 9, at 11 a.m. in the Greet the Dawn auditorium on the Poplar campus to honor their new president, Craig Smith. Smith began his duties on June 1. He has been in several employment positions with FPCC the past 24 years, most recently being the vice president for institutional development

Montana State University’s College of Agriculture is seeking nominations for its Outstanding Agricultural Leader award, which will be presented during the college’s expanded Celebrate Agriculture Week Nov. 4-9 at MSU. The award recognizes individuals, families or businesses that have gone above and beyond for the Montana agricultural industry in public service, advocacy, production or business.