Category: News Article

Lane Nordlund has the Montana Ag Network report for Wednesday, February 26, 2020: #1: This week potato growers from all over the nation, including Montana, are advocating for the potato industry for the National Potato Councils 2020 Fly-In taking place in Washington D.C. The event gives potato farmers and industry leaders the opportunity to share their story on Capitol Hill. “It’s the one time of year where we can gather whether we’re producers, seed growers, commercial, chippers, all aspects of the potato industry,” said Ronan seed potato farmer Reed Tobol. “We are all here at one time. For one reason. That

The Indian Health Service has yet to disclose a third-party report into the way it dealt with pediatrician and serial pedophile Stanley Patrick Weber, according to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, who wants the report made public. Weber, who sexually assaulted Blackfeet Indian boys in the early-1990s and remained employed by IHS for another 16 years. During that time, the pediatrician relocated to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where he sexually assaulted five more boys, the youngest of them age 9. Weber received five life sentences this month for the South Dakota sexual assaults. On Feb. 10, the pediatrician lost

Today, Senator Daines met with Montana’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, Linda Rost. Linda lives in Baker, MT and teaches several different science classes at Baker High School. She earned a master’s degree in science education from Montana State University in 2018 and is currently working towards her Ph.D through Texas Tech. Daines, who earned his degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University, and Linda discussed the importance of STEM education in the classroom and some unique projects Linda’s students are working on! Linda is also one of four nation-wide finalists in the running for the National Teacher of

Construction of a new passenger terminal at Missoula International Airport received a welcome funding boost this week, landing $6.7 million from the Federal Aviation Administration. Announced by Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines and provided by the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, the funding will reduce the amount of debt incurred by the airport as it completes the first phase of its terminal project, valued at $67 million. “What it really means is less debt for the project,” Airport Director Cris Jensen told the Missoula Current on Friday. “It gets us close to the goal of moving into the next phase

Montana’s Republican Sen. Steve Daines sat with a group of seniors Friday morning between gym equipment in Belgrade to talk about tapping into care through private health plans backed by the government. A handful of people, selected to talk in advance, described access to places like The Gym of Belgrade through Medicare Advantage — plans offered by private companies that contract with Medicare. Much of the conversations doubled down on Daines’ support for the program that he said covers 50,000 Montanans. “The Medicare Advantage program ensures our seniors have access and, an important word, affordable, an important word, high-quality health

U.S. Senator Steve Daines recently met with Kandi Christophersen, the 2019 Montana Special Olympics Athlete of the Year from Billings. Kandi has competed in the Special Olympics for 22 years in over 10 different sports, including two trips to the national competition in 2006 and 2010!   Montana Special Olympics CEO Rhonda McCarty was also in attendance. Together they shared stories of what makes Kandi such a fierce Special Olympics competitor. They also thanked Senator Daines for being such a strong supporter of the Montana Special Olympics.

Sen. Steve Daines is supporting a bipartisan proposal brewing in the Senate Finance Committee that would cap annual out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D. The proposal, known as the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, has the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the Trump administration. “I hear from seniors who are struggling with high, out-of-pocket costs when it comes to their prescription drugs,” Daines told Azar during a recent committee hearing. “I’m glad the administration voiced its support for such a proposal in the president’s budget. It’s an important policy that I’m going

BILLINGS, Mont. — Two Veterans Affairs clinics will now bear the names of World War II veterans, Benjamin Steele and Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow. The renaming came after legislation authored by U.S. Senator Steve Daines, U.S. Senator Jon Tester, and Congressman Greg Gianforte. “It’s so appropriate that we now have a facility that holds the names of Montana war heroes and its going to be a place where veterans can come and get healed,” says Congressman Gianforte. “It’s such a great made in Montana story — two Montana natives that went on and did heroic things in World War II,”

A bill naming a ridge near Emigrant Peak in honor of Air Force pilots who died there has passed the U.S. Senate. The B-47 Ridge Designation Act honors the crew of a bomber that crashed in the summer of 1962, killing the four men on board — Capt. Bill Faulconer, Lt. Fred Hixenbaugh, Lt. David Sutton and Lt. Lloyd Sawyers. The bill would would designate the southwestern arm of Emigrant Peak as B-47 Ridge and allow for placement of a plaque at the crash site where plane debris is still strewn. Montana’s congressional delegation announced Senate passage of the bill

Republican Senator Steve Daines videoconferenced into a Sidney High School classroom full of students on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 12. The students — from social sciences teacher Brad Faulhaber’s class — were eager to ask questions. The first question proposed to the U.S. senator by a student in the class was about changes he’d like to make to the current healthcare system. “We need the cost lowered,” Daines said. “That’s one issue I hear about more than anything else, is the costs are too high.” Following up on the question of drug prices was senior Madison Brost, who brought up the continuing rising cost of insulin.