JTN LOCAL
State news. Closer to home.
Reporting from the states.
A place for the public facts.
The state desk
The latest from Montana
Some updates are delayed. The Center Square reporting may be older; available reporting remains below.
Reporting from The Center Square
The Heritage Foundation has released its 5th annual Education Freedom Report Card , and the divide between states in our region is increasing. The separation is not based on how much they spend on education, but on how much authority they give families over their students' learning.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Attorneys general from two Republican-led states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Twenty-two state attorneys general are questioning taxpayer funding of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine amid what the AGs call the group’s “sham”-like “independent review” of its much debated reference manual’s climate science chapter that was removed due to public concerns of political bias.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The National Rifle Association launched its first national bus tour Thursday as the group tries to get gun owners to vote in the 2026 midterm elections.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Sixteen state attorneys general are calling on the “Big Four Accounting Firms” by letter for accountability over their actions that prioritize Environmental, Social, Governance investment strategies and climate goals, which will prove to be detrimental to consumers, the officials say.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) - South Carolina leads the nation in home ownership for young people, according to a new report.
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – When Congress returns from recess in September, senators will have to decide whether to advance an aircraft safety bill that could also provide a tax haven for private jet owners.
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Reporting from The Center Square
A new study from consumer spending site WalletHub recently ranked the “Best States to Live” across the country, with Idaho grabbing the top spot in the study. The other Mountain States scored relatively well, with Wyoming coming in sixth and Montana 14th, though Washington state ranked in the bottom half at 33rd.
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Reporting from The Center Square
Newly released data shows that two out of the top three states for average hourly wage growth in the nation are in our region. This is good news for consumers when considering regional purchasing power.
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Reporting from The Center Square
The Mountain West has become one of the nation's fastest-growing regions, but the latest labor market data show that neighboring states are taking different paths and seeing different outcomes.
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Reporting from The Center Square
Montanans have long benefited from an abundance of affordable, reliable electricity. That advantage has powered homes, supported manufacturers and agricultural producers, and helped make Montana an attractive place to live, work, and invest.
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Reporting from The Center Square
What if the best report card for state government wasn’t a poll or an election? What if it was a moving truck?
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Reporting from The Center Square
(The Center Square) – A watchdog group wants the Department of the Interior to investigate whether the National Wildlife Federation misused federal grant money tied to political spending in Montana’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.
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