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BILLINGS – Montana State University Billings commemorated the 35th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in a virtual ceremony Monday. Dr. King was a minister and activist who eventually became the face of the civil rights movement. He led the Montgomery bus boycotts, which ultimately led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision to outlaw segregation. King advocated for non-violent protests, and is famously remembered for his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech he delivered in 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Stefani Hicswa, Chancellor of MSUB said, “When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement

About 6,000 rural Montanans are one step closer to having high-quality well water available to their homes and businesses. Congress has authorized the Clean Water for Rural Communities Act, although the approval came four years later than originally assumed. This gives the Central Montana Regional Water Authority formal consent to seek federal funding to develop its rural water system. The system will service residents in and near nine communities west and south of the Big Snowy Mountains. “We’ve been working since 2014 to get authorization, so it is a big deal,” said Monty Sealey, project administrator. The act provides no

About 6,000 rural Montanans are one step closer to having high-quality well water available to their homes and businesses. Congress has authorized the Clean Water for Rural Communities Act, although the approval came four years later than originally assumed. This gives the Central Montana Regional Water Authority formal consent to seek federal funding to develop its rural water system. The system will service residents in and near nine communities west and south of the Big Snowy Mountains. “We’ve been working since 2014 to get authorization, so it is a big deal,” said Monty Sealey, project administrator. The act provides no

A federal magistrate judge has ordered the Indian Health Service to release the report it commissioned on how the agency failed to protect Indigenous children from Stanley Patrick Weber, the doctor who sexually abused boys on the reservations in Montana and South Dakota for decades. The report includes interviews with South Dakotans and might identify the people and practices responsible for the Pine Ridge IHS failing to properly respond to reports of Weber’s behavior. The Journal and other media outlets requested the report under the Freedom of Information Act, but the IHS denied the request, arguing the report was exempt

Red Sleep Mountain began its official return to the Flathead Indian Reservation on Friday as Interior Secretary David Bernhardt formerly signed papers transferring the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. “The CSKT have strong and deep historical, geographic and cultural ties to the land and the bison, and their environmental professionals have been leaders in natural resources and wildlife management for many decades,” Interior Assistant Secretary Tara Katuk Sweeney wrote in a Friday email statement. “Interior is pleased to continue its partnership and work with them on the restoration of the NBR to federal trust ownership

Many Montana businesses are still struggling from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 shutdowns from last Spring, and many are still suffering under restrictions that remain in place. Now that another COVID-19 relief package was signed into law by President Trump, another round of Paycheck Protection Program funds are now available. DAINES: This PPP funding is critical for Montana small businesses who have been hit hard due to the pandemic. This funding will help keep Montana small businesses open and their workers employed. I’m glad I was able to help secure it. Senator Daines said the funding became available starting January

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines announced that beginning this week, Montana small businesses heavily impacted by the pandemic are able to apply for the second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.  “This PPP funding is critical for Montana small businesses who have been hit hard due to the pandemic,” Daines said.“This funding will help keep Montana small businesses open and their workers employed. I’m glad I was able to helpsecure it.”  Beginning today, some of Montana’s hardest hit businesses can begin applying for their first draw PPP loans, and beginning January 13, harder hit businesses can begin