With one of the goals being to make Montana more business friendly, Gov. Greg Gianforte and budget director Kurt Alme released their proposed budget during a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 7. Gianforte, in his first week in office, described the plan as the “road map to the Montana comeback.” The budget includes $50 million in tax reductions including decreasing the marginal individual

By Bill Vander Weele After an attack of the nation’s capitol building, Montana’s two U.S. senators each ended voting against an objection to the electoral college vote on Wednesday, Jan. 6. A group of riots, believed to be pro-Trump protesters, breached the U.S. Capitol just as Congress started a joint session regarding the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Senators

Bigger Sky Kids in Wolf Point is reopening for classes and afterschool activities Thursday, Jan. 14. According program director Otto Osen, Cathryn McIntyre’s painting class will be held on Thursdays from 4:15 to 5:45 p.m. McIntyre’s class on studio art, which was scheduled to meet thirty times in the 2019–2020 academic year, was suspended in March with seven classes remaining. Those sessions

ther the meth trafficking conspiracy while incarcerated on state charges by urging individuals to recover and sell the drugs, which he thought were still hidden in the camper. Dabb was convicted in the case and sentenced to 51 months in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Plaut prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Wolf Point Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation,

Roosevelt County commissioners have approved the hiring of two former employees to assist with COVID vaccinations. The decision came during the weekly meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The nursing department requested that Bonnie Wemmer and Karla Thompson be hired as temporary part-time employees to administer the vaccinations. Commissioner Duane Nygaard made the motion to approve the recommendation.

The recent passing of the COVID-19 relief bill included additional funding for Amtrak, but those funds probably won’t translate into additional route days for the Empire Builder. Amtrak’s reduction from seven days a week to three days a week for the Empire Builder went into effect on Monday, Oct. 19. Currently, the eastbound Empire Builder stops in Wolf Point on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The Montana Department of Labor and Industry reminds Montanans that workers earning minimum wage should now be getting paid $8.75 per hour. The rate increase became effective on Jan. 1. An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Montana workers — 2 percent of the workforce — received hourly wages less than $8.75 per hour in 2020 and are likely to receive higher wages due to the 2021 minimum wage increase.

Although the recreational use of marijuana became legal in Montana on Friday, Jan. 1, Wolf Point Chief of Police Jeff Harada reminds the public that some restrictions still apply regarding the product. For one, individuals over the age of 21 are allowed to possess only up to 1 ounce of marijuana under the law. It may not be more than 8 grams in concentrated form or “any type of marijuana product