Bear spray: Made by a Griz for grizzly encounters

Libby Riddle FLORENCE (UM News Service) – Before bear spray, encounters between people and bears often ended in bullets. That changed when graduate student Carrie Hunt developed the life-saving deterrent at the University of Montana in the 1980s....

Nikki Haley’s son trolls Vivek Ramaswamy’s ‘makeup,’ torches ‘nepo baby’ claims – Who is Nalin Haley?

Indian-origin American politician Vivek Ramaswamy drew thousands of attendees at Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) “This is the Turning Point” tour in Bozemon, Montana, on Tuesday night (US time). Hosted at Montana State University, the event sought to...

Ep. 779: Bonus - The Hide Hunters, Ch. 1: Ghosts

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to our latest bonus drop of the Meat Eater podcast. What you're about to hear is a chapter from our new audio original, Meat Eater's American History, The Hide Hunters eighteen sixty five to eighteen eighty...

Man’s Camping Trip Interrupted After Realizing He Won Nobel Prize

Outdoorsman and now Nobel Prize winner Dr. Fred Ramsdell was enjoying an off-grid camping trip with his wife and their dogs when he realized he’d missed some pretty important phone calls. The couple was in Montana when Ramsdell’s wife, Laura...

Critical mineral firms boost Washington lobbying as US expands investments

Critical mineral companies are boosting lobbying efforts in Washington, hoping to share in the ambitious investments that U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to firms deemed essential to national security, a Reuters review of public records...

Lawmakers back crisis pregnancy centers and birthing centers amid maternity care shortage

A year after lawmakers spent the summer discussing possible solutions to Wyoming’s crippling shortage of maternity care services and came up dry, the interim Joint Labor and Health Committee is moving two proposals forward that they say will help....

Polytag unlocks Recycling Traceability with Zebra’s Machine Vision Software

Zebra Technologies Corporation, recently announced that Polytag, a leading provider of advanced QR code and UV tag and trace solutions for circular economies, is using Zebra’s Aurora Vision Library to empower organisations to take actionable steps...

Insights: Cheers to manufacturing

Read the full October 2025 Insights publication here. Insights is the Northwest Montana Business Journal from the Daily Inter Lake, published the first Sunday of each month. From Anton Kaufer, Regional Publisher of Hagadone Media Montana. October...

Time to Pivot

The recent op-ed by the Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) is a valuable contribution to the ongoing conversation about protecting Flathead Lake. They correctly point out that the proposed wastewater treatment technology, which the Lakeside...

America’s Go-To Diner Chain, According to New Data

A new Coventry Direct report analyzed Google Trends data from all 50 states, comparing searches for 30 popular diner dishes and 10 leading diner chains over the past year. The research revealed that Americans’ diner preferences blend national...

Mississippians to Protest Trump at ‘No Kings’ Rallies in 8 Cities Saturday

Big crowds of protesters are expected across the United States, including in eight Mississippi cities, against what opponents call authoritarian practices by President Donald Trump. Saturday marks the second “No Kings” protest and the third mass...

Silencer Central sues FedEx for ending direct-to-consumer deliveries

Brandon Maddox is used to being the vulnerable prey. As owner of Silencer Central, the largest retailer in the nation for gun sound suppressors, he’s familiar with what he calls “political discrimination” against his lawfully obtained commerce....

Georgia and at least 26 other states turned over sensitive data about food stamp recipients to USDA

Chesney wrote in her 25-page order the states are likely to succeed in their claim that “USDA, in demanding such data, acted in a manner contrary to law,” and “states are likely to show the SNAP Act prohibits them from disclosing to USDA the...

Comcast closing its West Division, cutting 302 jobs in Colorado

Comcast Corp., owner of the nation’s largest cable TV and broadband provider Xfinity, informed the state on Wednesday that it will eliminate 302 positions at its West Division office in Centennial, Colorado, at the end of the year. The company,...

In rural Nebraska, a $50,000 job is waiting. Is a college degree worth leaving for?

This story is a collaboration between Flatwater Free Press and Open Campus. Kimball, Neb. — Growing up on a reservation in Montana, the career path for Tyse Rogers seemed obvious. Kids would turn 16, get their GEDs and go straight to work at the...

Educators urge updating bear-resistant measures now

This is the time of year for humans to take simple steps or extra precautions to protect their black bear neighbors by strapping down trash cans, picking fruit from trees in yards, keeping bird feeders in storage or attaching metal siding to stop...

The Feculent Bucket of the Culture War

“So, why a news organization dedicated just to covering public lands?” Since RE:PUBLIC’s website debuted on September 10, this is the most frequent question I’ve fielded from journalists and friends alike. I have several answers. For starters,...

Elmhurst native wins Nobel Prize for work on immune systems

An immunologist born in west suburban Elmhurst is among the trio of researchers awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for their research on how the human immune system determines its targets. Fred Ramsdell, an Elmhurst native, shared the...

Rural Districts Embrace Four-Day School Weeks as Teacher Shortage Persists

On Mondays through Thursdays, the campus of the Questa Independent School District in rural Taos County, New Mexico, buzzes with activity. But on Fridays, the schools are quiet. The district, which serves around 315 students from Kindergarten to...

Blackfeet Tribal Council bans Kratom sales and use on reservation

Mara Silvers and Nora Mabie • Montana Free Press The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council has banned the sale, use and possession of kratom, an unregulated plant-derived substance that can have addictive properties from the tribe’s reservation in...