Kalispell Montana

A group of 27 state Republican legislators are asking federal lawmakers to hold a hearing on the federal Montana Water Rights Protection Act in Kalispell. The group includes prominent opponents to the legislation.

If passed, the bill would be the largest water-rights settlement agreement in history between the U.S. Government and a federally recognized tribe. The Montana Water Rights Protection Act would settle a decades-long dispute over thousands of water-rights claims filed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The Montana Supreme Court discriminated against religious schools when it invalidated a tax credit program that supported school choice, according to a ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

On Monday, Montana reported a total of 919 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 56 new cases since Sunday. That’s the biggest one-day spike since the pandemic started in March.

This spike has prompted some hospitals to tighten visitor guidelines.

Services for homeless people in the Flathead Valley that ramped up during Montana’s stay-at-home order are now winding down as the state reopens. An emergency homeless shelter in Kalispell closed down Friday.

Some hospitals and medical facilities in Montana are beginning to again provide elective surgeries and procedures.

Kalispell Regional Healthcare (KRH) started its phased-approach to providing in-person services Monday. KRH is starting with in-person medical services not requiring anesthesia at various locations.

A Kalispell congregation continues its in-person services, despite stay-at-home orders issued due to the coronavirus pandemic. That's generated complaints to the Flathead City-County Public Health Department. The comments come as some are calling for a physician affiliated with the non-denominational Christian congregation to be removed from the county health board.

A nondenominational Christian congregation in the Flathead Valley is holding in-person services that public health officials say violate Gov. Steve Bullock’s stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some worry that a viral video made by a Flathead county board of health member addressing churchgoers is helping sow misinformation and distrust in government social distancing directives.

Parts of Montana are about to get a winter blast the likes of which hasn’t been seen in over a decade. Northwest Montana could get intense snowfall, but everyone can expect drastically colder temperatures for the foreseeable future.

A fake bomb threat at the Kalispell Walmart Wednesday was initially labeled by law enforcement as swatting incident, where pranksters hijack phone numbers in order to report fake threats to police. But the bomb threat was actually part of a scam to extort money out of a Montana correctional officer.

After a rash of white supremacist activity in the Flathead Valley this fall, a community organization wants to create a coordinated response with the City of Kalispell and other stakeholders. The request for a new communication network is similar to one set up in Whitefish following a 2016 internet trolling campaign by white supremacists.