U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the department has begun accepting applications for up to $1.15 billion in loans and grants to help people in rural areas get access to high-speed internet. This announcement comes on the heels of the recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides another nearly $2 billion in additional funding for the Re-Connect

Do you know a student who could use $1,000 to help pay for their education? The Reach Higher Montana Scholarship program opened on Dec. 1, at www.Reach-HigherMontana.org. This year, the Montana-based nonprofit organization will award 81 scholarships – 30 awards for Class of 2022 graduating high school seniors, and 50 awards for students currently attending a Montana college or university for use

Dear Editor: For years, we've felt the impacts of the decaying St. Mary Milk River water system. In 2020, a massive drop structure failure resulted in 22 weeks without water flowing through the St. Mary’s Diversion Dam — a structure that regularly supplies the Milk River System with more than 60 percent of its water. Fixing that one drop structure cost $8 million in emergency funds

U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.), John Thune (S.D.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Jim Risch (Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Pat Toomey (Penn.) are pushing back against President Biden’s vaccine mandate that will impact truckers and

Agricultural producers should do tax planning before the end of the year. “It is that time of the year again to think about yearend tax planning,” says Ron Haugen, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension farm management specialist. “Generally, all or most of the government payments that farmers and ranchers received during the year must be reported as income in the year it is

After 32 years as Cape Air’s Founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dan Wolf will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2022. Cape Air president Linda Markham will be named CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2022, and will continue to serve as president in her new role. This change in leadership reflects a years-long succession planning process put in place by the airline’s board of directors. “Building this

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said that he changed his mind regarding voting for the vaccine mandate on private businesses with more than 100 employees after hearing from Montanans. Tester and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia were the only two Democratic senators to vote in opposition of the vaccine mandate. The measure against the vaccine mandate passed by a 5248 vote on Wednesday, Dec.