BILLINGS, Montana, June 25 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation issued the following news release: The Bureau of Reclamation will replace the aging suspension bridge located at Barrett's Diversion Dam, 8 miles south of Dillon, Montana in the fall of 2020. The pedestrian bridge was built in the late 1970's by the Youth Conservation Corps under the direction of Reclamation to allow access over the Beaverhead River and open up additional recreation areas on the east side   more

WASHINGTON, June 25 -- The National Gallery of Art issued the following news release: The National Gallery of Art announced the acquisition of I See Red: Target (1992) by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, the first painting by a Native American artist to enter the collection. Smith, an enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation in Montana, is one of the most highly respected artists of the past 40 years. An impressive 11-foot-tall mixed-media work on canvas, I See Red: Target  more

BILLINGS, Montana, June 25 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Kurt G. Alme, issued the following news release: A former Rocky Mountain Bank loan officer accused of approving loans to a bank customer while at the same time profiting from private, undisclosed loans to the customer pleaded guilty to fraud crimes, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said. Stephen Phillip Casher, 46, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and to money laundering. Casher faces a maximum 30 years in prison, a $1 million fin  more

BILLINGS, Montana, June 25 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Kurt G. Alme, issued the following news release: The Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) this week announced nearly $42 million in funding to support state-level law enforcement agencies in combating the illegal manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and prescription opioids. In the District of Montana, the Montana Department   more

BILLINGS, Montana, June 27 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Kurt G. Alme, issued the following news release: For the second straight year, murders, robberies and aggravated assaults in Missoula County have decreased as law enforcement continues investigating and prosecuting methamphetamine trafficking, firearms offenses and armed robberies through Project Safe Neighborhoods, announced federal, state and local prosecutors. Crime statistics show that in Missoula County, these vi  more

WASHINGTON, June 27 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the following news release on June 26: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Oklahoma and Montana have been approved to operate Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), a new program authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), signed by President Trump, which provides assistance to families of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals dealing with school closures. Background: Okla  more

WASHINGTON, June 23 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued the following news release: USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is providing $2.8 million in additional funding to support grasshopper and Mormon cricket suppression in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming as a result of higher than normal populations due to a warm, dry spring. APHIS had originally allocated approximately $2.6 m  more