At a construction site in Yellowstone County, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte last week announced the number of new apprenticeships in Montana this year is on track to surpass the number for 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined. A four-year college degree isn’t the path for everyone, and Montana needs more carpenters, plumbers, welders, and electricians like those I met today,” Gov. Gianforte said.

Olivia DeJohn laughs as she chalks up having found a classroom she loves so early in her teaching career to serendipity. She teaches second grade at Missoula’s Paxson Elementary School, a job she quips “fell into my lap.” She did her student teaching at Paxson while getting her master’s degree at the University of Montana and, as a result, was asked to serve as a long-term substitute for

Farmers, ranchers and local food processors can learn strategies for growing and selling their products to school districts at the Montana Farm to School producer training this September. The Montana Team Nutrition Program at Montana State University, the Montana Office of Public Instruction and project partners are offering two trainings this fall, the first beginning Sept. 15 and the second

Brett Schandelson has been named the new Montana Office of Public Defenders director. Schandelson started as the office’s acting director in June 2022 after former Director Rhonda Lindquist retired. He has been with the office since 2018 and served as chief of OPD’s Development and Operations Bureau prior to taking over as director. “Brett stepped up and successfully led the department

Ashliegh Beyers, Mallory Watts and Don Traeholt are the 2022-23 bus drivers for Lustre Christian High School. Bus drivers in any district hold a very important trust in the community for both the safety of the children riding their buses and also for the encouragement they give the students on a daily basis, as well as providing transportation to special events and school library visits. Former

The public is invited to these upcoming events at Fort Buford and the Missouri- Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center near Williston, N.D. All events are free and open to the public. All times are central time. Sept. 15: History Book Club, 7 p.m. Join other history buffs for a discussion of this month’s book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann.

As the school year starts in Montana, many communities are struggling finding the teachers they need for their students. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., says he is troubled by the teacher shortage in the state and especially northeastern Montana. He feels the key to attracting quality teachers is investing in public schools. Tester has pushed for a number of critical investments in public

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State and local public health officials are reporting the season’s first West Nile virus detections in positive mosquito samples in Dawson and Lewis and Clark counties. The first horse infected with WNV this season was also confirmed earlier last week in Lewis and Clark County. To date, no human cases of WNV have been identified this season. Increased risk of WNV infection in humans and

The annual application period for the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program, a grant funding program administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, opened Sept. 1. The purpose of WHIP is to accomplish large-scale restoration of private and publicly owned high-priority wildlife habitats through noxious weed management. Grant expenditures are limited to herbicide, mechanical, biocontrol and