Author: Reilly Lowery

MISSOULA, Mont. — Increasing costs of firefighting are depleting the U.S. Forest Service’s budget. A bill by Senator Steve Daines aims to reduce the risk of wildfires before they begin.   “This is about some common sense reforms that protect us against catastrophic wildfires,” said Daines.   The Cinnabar fire has been burning in western Montana for 16 days, and it’s still zero percent contained.   That’s why Senator Daines toured the Fire Incident Command Post in Missoula. He received a briefing on the fire and discussed his legislation aimed at what he calls “common sense” forest management reform. “Ninety-five

BOZEMAN, Mont. — FLIR, a Bozeman sensory technology company, gave Congressman Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines a tour of its new facility, which is under construction. The company is well-known for infrared and thermal imaging. FLIR designs and manufactures cameras and sensors using heat technology. The company grows crystals, which are used in their laser products. Multiple agencies benefit from the technology, including firefighters, law enforcement, search and rescue and border patrol. FLIR Vice President Randy Equall says the new facility location allows them to bring their three sites together into a single site and give them the capability

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 — Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, issued the following news release on Sept. 2: U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that Montana’s assisted living facilities may now apply for funding under the Provider Relief Fund to protect their patients and continue providing care throughout the pandemic. This follows Daines’ direct request to the Administration to ensure assisted living facilities receive support under the Provider Relief Fund to care for and protect Montana’s most vulnerable. “Expanding the Provider Relief Fund to assisted living facilities will ensure that Montana’s frontline providers are equipped to care for and keep Montana’s most

A high-tech company in Bozeman is expanding into a new 62,000-square-foot facility off East Valley Center Road, where it will develop equipment that will be used in hundreds of military and civilian applications. FLIR Systems has three smaller facilities in the Bozeman area and is planning to consolidate them into a single building that is now under construction on Jamboree Way near Taco Bell and Comfort Suites. The new building, which will be finished next year, will let the company grow, said Randy Equall, the company’s vice president of laser operations. “We’re bursting at the seams in our current plant,

U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund approved $7,816,794 for the State of Montana to provide financial assistance to Montanans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the $6,779,366distributed to the State of Montana last week. “This critical funding will help the thousands of Montanans who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and give them the support they need to get through these tough times,” Daines said. “I will continue working alongside the Administration to ensure struggling Montanans have access to additional unemployment funds.” Daines announced last

BILLINGS — It’s crunch time for Minor League Baseball in its effort to negotiate a new Professional Baseball Agreement with Major League Baseball, but answers are few and far between about the future of the Pioneer League and other MiLB clubs in limbo. The 30-year PBA is set to expire at the end of September — 27 days, officially — and the Pioneer League, which has been in operation in Montana and surrounding states for more than 80 years, is among those short-season coalitions in danger of losing their major league development contracts as MLB and MiLB haggle over a