John Hooks
Southwest Montana ReporterJohn joined the Montana Public Radio team in August 2022. Born and raised in Helena, he graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Media Arts and created the Montana history podcast Land Grab. John can be contacted at john.hooks@umt.edu
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Everywhere you look in Montana, there are places to gamble. Odds are good you've seen machines in bars, liquor stores and of course, gas stations. How did Montana end up with so many "casinos," and what does it have to do with bingo? The only sure bet is that The Big Why team has the answers.
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A District Court judge has limited the information the Office of Public Instruction can collect before public charter schools open this fall. The City of Kalispell says one of its public water wells exceeds federal standards for PFAS, a family of chemicals that are known to cause cancer and other health issues.
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A circus elephant briefly escaped onto a busy street in the middle of Butte.
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Montana legislators are urging Congress to help fund a program to extract rare earth minerals from the contaminated waters of Butte’s Berkeley Pit. The Environmental Quality Council is penning a letter asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold off on approving a clean-up plan for a superfund site in Columbia Falls.
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A trial over whether BNSF Railway is liable for contaminating the Libby area with asbestos began Monday. Conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday over the agency's decision to deny endangered species protections for gray wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
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Montana Highway 41, from Dillon to Twin Bridges is closed indefinitely to through traffic. The University of Montana and U.S. Justice Department reached a settlement on violations over access to the university's Adams Center for persons with disabilities.
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In the coming days, property owners in nearly all Montana counties will find increased property-tax bills in their mailboxes.
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Montana forest managers are planning prescribed burns this month in the Bitterroot valley.
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Montana will need an extremely wet spring to avoid widespread drought once summer arrives. Scientists are skeptical that the needed moisture will arrive.
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Federal officials have closed public comment on plans for how the government should restore grizzly bears to the Bitterroot ecosystem.