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State officials have identified another possible presence of invasive mussels in Montana, this time in the Missouri River south of Townsend. The state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Wednesday that mussel larvae were confirmed from water samples taken Tuesday in the Missouri River near the York’s Islands Fishing Access Site. FWP officials are searching for mussels to identify if an adult population has already been established. The Missouri River is now the third water body in Montana that is suspected of being infiltrated by aquatic invasive species. Tiber Reservoir in north-central Montana east of Shelby tested positive for the larvae of aquatic mussels, and tests from

U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox today released the following statement on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rejection of Montana’s application for an extension on REAL ID compliance: “Montanans have spoken loud and clear: we don’t want REAL ID and we don’t want the federal government infringing on our personal privacy,” Daines stated. “I’m going to work to pursue every legislative fix I can to safeguard Montanans’ civil liberties and personal privacy.” “Montana has emphatically rejected the invasion of personal privacy by requiring sharing of private information with the federal government, and other states, through

 Montana residents won’t be allowed to use their driver’s licenses to access military bases, nuclear power plants and federal facilities starting Jan. 30, and they’ll need another form of identification to board commercial aircraft a year after that, federal officials said Tuesday. Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent Montana Gov. Steve Bullock a letter rejecting the governor’s request to delay implementation of the federal Real ID Act of 2005 The state previously received two one-year extensions, but won’t get a third. There is no evidence that Montana will commit to meeting the requirements of the federal law

Montana and Idaho are getting some very good economic development news. The Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation (MICDC), a nonprofit headquartered in Missoula, was awarded $90 million in New Markets Tax Credits by the U.S. Treasury Department. That type of tax credit has been used to help finance several major projects in western Montana over the years, including the six-story Garlington, Lohn and Robinson law office building downtown and the new Poverello Center homeless shelter – two projects that equate to roughly $20 million in investment in Missoula alone. “I can’t overstate how excited and honestly blown away we

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., on Monday wrote a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to request the expedited implementation and distribution of funds for watercraft inspection stations. Daines’ letter comes in the wake of confirmed invasive mussel larvae in the Tiber Reservoir and potentially in Canyon Ferry. If adult mussels spread, they threaten to block hydropower and irrigation ducts. Invasive mussels also negatively impact the ecosystem, recreation and tourism of affected areas. “Montana has already spent nearly $1 million on operating 16 inspection stations this year,” Daines said in his letter. “Montana has plans to expand the

The Department of Justice is defending controversial changes to the rule of evidence that would allow officials to search computers that are masking their location. In an agency blog post, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell argues that updates to Rule 41 of the federal rules of criminal procedure are necessary to keep pace with changing technology.  “While most changes were for the better, some technologies enable new forms of crime and victimization that would have been difficult to imagine not that long ago,” she writes.  Updates to Rule 41 were approved by the Supreme Court and, without congressional action, will take