News

New site under construction will house more than Taco Bell restaurant

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 2:17pm
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A 5,000-square-foot building under construction that will house a new Taco Bell restaurant next to Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply on Livingston’s south side will also have room for two more businesses, developers said.
Vista LLC, of Bozeman, is developing the site, which includes Murdoch’s. Tom Starner, a real estate agent with Gene Cooke Real Estate, also of Bozeman, is partnering with Vista on the project.

School district thanks landowner

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 2:14pm
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The Livingston School District said “thank-you” Thursday to a local family who have a long-standing tradition of offering access to the Yellowstone River for study and experiments. 
 

Log book

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 2:09pm
Here is a selection of calls answered by the Park County Sheriff’s Office and the Livingston Police Department in the past week. 
 
Sept. 7
• 4:37 a.m. — A Livingston Police Department officer reported he was with someone sweeping out in front of a South Main Street business. Everything was OK.  

Forest Service spends record $2B battling forest fires

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 1:01pm
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Forest Service has spent more than $2 billion battling forest fires around the country — a record as wildfires blacken the American West in one of the nation's worst fire seasons.

Wildfires have ravaged the West this summer with 64 large fires burning across 10 states as of Thursday, including 21 fires in Montana and 18 in Oregon. In all, 48,607 wildfires have burned nearly 13,000 square miles.

The fires have stretched firefighting resources, destroyed more than 500 homes and triggered health alerts as choking smoke drifted into major Western cities.

Lawmakers leave it to Montana governor to make budget cuts

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 12:54pm

HELENA (AP) — An interim legislative committee in Montana is leaving it to Gov. Steve Bullock to make budget cuts to account for lower-than-expected revenues and higher-than-expected firefighting and Medicaid expansion costs.

The Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee heard Thursday from budget advisers for the Legislature and governor and agreed the governor has the authority to make up to 10 percent in general fund budget cuts under state laws that require a balanced budget with a surplus.

Verizon terminating service of 900 eastern Montana customers

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 12:48pm

MISSOULA (AP) — Verizon has sent letters to hundreds of eastern Montana customers in the past few weeks letting them know their service will be terminated, which has prompted several U.S. senators from Montana to scold the company.

The Missoulian reported Thursday that Verizon told the rural customers they would no longer be able to use their phone number on a Verizon network after Oct. 17. The list of towns affected by the contract termination is in the dozens, from Alzada to Homestead to Zortman.

Montana's unemployment rate holds at 3.9 percent in August

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 12:47pm

HELENA (AP) — Montana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 3.9 percent in August.

Gov. Steve Bullock says payroll employment increased by 2,000 jobs in August, with retail trade and health care leading the way. The loss of self-employment and agricultural jobs led to a total employment increase of 400 jobs last month.

The national unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.4 percent in August.

Manhunt on after homemade bomb wounds 22 on London subway

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 7:59am
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LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of London police embarked on a massive manhunt Friday, racing to find out who placed a homemade bomb on a packed London subway train during the morning rush hour. The explosion wounded 22 people and ignited a panicked stampede to safety.

Witnesses described seeing a "wall of fire" as the bomb — hidden in a plastic bucket inside a supermarket freezer bag — went off about 8:20 a.m. while the train was at the Parsons Green station in southwest London.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft burns up in skies over Saturn

Published on Fri, 09/15/2017 - 7:56am
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's Cassini spacecraft disintegrated in the skies above Saturn early Friday in a final, fateful blaze of cosmic glory, following a remarkable journey of 20 years.

Confirmation of Cassini's expected demise came about 7:55 a.m. EDT. That's when radio signals from the spacecraft — its last scientific gifts to Earth — came to an abrupt halt. The radio waves went flat, and the spacecraft fell silent.

Cooke/Silver Gate gets biosphere designation

Published on Thu, 09/14/2017 - 5:17pm

The Park County Commission approved designating Cooke City/Silver Gate  part of the Yellowstone/Grand Teton Biosphere Area during a scheduled 10 a.m. session Tuesday.

The action follows a similar Sept. 5 commission designation for Gardiner. Both designations came at the request of Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk. It makes the communities part of UNESCO’s Man in the Biosphere Program.