Great Falls' Independent News Source
Sen. Jon Tester is pushing the Air Force to make the 120th Airlift Wing a higher priority for military construction in the coming years. The unit needs additional ramp space to properly house the unit’s eight C-130s. The ramp was built for fighter jets, which are considerable smaller than the cargo planes. The Air Force currently has the estimated $9
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By Martin Kidston | Missoula Current Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and other U.S. trade partners have increased the cost of products sourced by Montana manufacturers, though the full ramifications aren’t yet fully known. A looming trade war with the country’s leading allies is likely to hit Montana manufacturers in the pocketbook,
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Goats have returned to Malmstrom Air Force Base for year two of a three-year weed management project. About 350 Spanish Boer Cross goats leaped from two livestock trailers Tuesday afternoon and raced to find the best weeds to munch on. They started in a field they’d worked in last year and would spend maybe an hour in that patch before moving
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Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill that includes provisions for Malmstrom Air Force Base. The bill next goes to the Senate floor for a vote. Both Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines sit on the Appropriations Committee. According to Tester’s office, the Democrat added a provision that would prohibit the Air Force from relocating
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Good neighbors deserve recognition. The Montana Neighbor Awards wants to celebrate good neighbors and is soliciting nominations for its annual awards. The Montana Neighbor Awards is a working group made up of conservation organizations from around the state including Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks, Montana Association of Land Trusts, Montana Farm Bureau, Artemis Common Ground, The Nature Conservancy of Montana
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Doug Otto is the new state command chief for the Montana Air National Guard. The traditional Guardsman is also a lieutenant at the Great Falls Police Department. Otto assumed the position in early May. The command chief is the senior enlisted airman within a military component and Otto advises the commander of the Montana Air National Guard, Brig. Gen. Pete
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By Spc. Michael Hunnisett | Army Public Affairs Special to The Electric Members of the Montana National Guard, including 14 soldiers and two airmen, have been participating in Cyber Shield 18 at Camp Atterbury, Ind. this month. The exercise includes members of the National Guard from 30 states, the U.S. Army Reserve, state and federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private
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Efforts to enact presumptive laws to cover Montana firefighters given their heightened risk of contracting certain diseases on the job have not been successful for the last 10 legislative sessions or so. But local firefighters aren’t done fighting. In late April, firefighters with Local 8 of the International Association of Fire Fighters union, met with Democratic legislators to discuss plans
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In an effort to prevent drunk driving, Malmstrom Air Force Base has continued to host the Live or Die, during which base volunteers stage a car crash, a hospital scene, a family notification, funeral and more. Tech Sgt. Jade Wyman, with the 341st Medical Group, is one of two drug and alcohol counselors on base and said the event is
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The Great Falls Snowmobile Club has been in existence since the early 1970s and in conjunction with the Meager County Snowmobile Club, King’s Hill Grooming Association, U.S. Forest Service and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, they maintain more than 300 miles of groomed trails in the Little Belt Mountains near Great Falls. The group rides all over the state and
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