West
Incoming GOP senator reveals how he will 'strap rocket-boosters' to Trump's agenda in new Congress
FIRST ON FOX: Fresh off ousting longtime Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, Republican Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy is outlining his priorities for the next Congress and outlining what his party’s agenda will look like in the Senate.
“I ran to make Montana affordable again and make America strong again,” Sheehy, who defeated Tester in Montana by seven points in a key race that helped Republicans flip the Senate, told Fox News Digital about his plans to move forward President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
“That means a secure border, safe streets, cheap gas, cops are good, criminals are bad, boys are boys, and girls are girls. For too long, status quo politics in Washington have led our country to the brink, and it is past time to rein in our runaway federal bureaucracy, cut waste, restore common sense, and build a transparent government that is actually accountable to everyday Americans.”
Sheehy said he plans to “strap rocket-boosters to the Trump agenda” when he takes office in January in order to “get our country back on track.”
JEFF BEZOS TELLS ELITE AUDIENCE HE’S ‘VERY OPTIMISTIC’ ABOUT TRUMP’S ANTI-REGULATORY AGENDA
Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy, right, told Fox News Digital he plans to “strap rocket boosters” to the Trump agenda. (Getty Images)
“My promise to every Montanan is simple: As your senator, I will always fight for Montanans, put America First, and do the right thing in office because it’s the right thing for Montana and America.”
Part of getting the country back on track, according to Sheehy, is immediate action at the southern border.
“We’ve got to seal the border on day one, and that’s exactly what President Trump has vowed to do,” Sheehy said. “In the Senate, we must support the America First agenda and pass enduring legislation that will finally put an end to the senseless border crisis that flooded our communities with drugs and crime the last four years.”
Republicans across the country campaigned on the economy and specifically the issue of inflation and raising costs, which Sheehy said would be a top focus for him in the Senate.
INCOMING GOP SENATE MAJORITY LEADER UNVEILS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S 1ST 30 DAYS
Then-Sentate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
“One of my top priorities is working to bring down prices for families and boost real wages for the hardworking Americans – farmers, miners, loggers, truck drivers, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters – who put food on our tables and keep our economy running,” Sheehy said.
“That means we must bring back our resource economy, especially in Montana, because we do it better, safer, and more efficiently here in America than anywhere else, and we must unapologetically put an end to the radical, job-killing Green New Deal agenda that has devastated our forestry, mining, and energy exploration industries. We must unleash American energy across the board.”
Sheehy told Fox News Digital that protecting public lands, a key issue in a state like Montana with large swaths of rural areas, will be at the top of the agenda.
“Another key priority will be protecting our communities and public lands from wildfires,” Sheehy explained.
“As recently as August, I was water-bombing fires and protecting our communities. I know firsthand the devastation wildfires can cause and have a unique perspective on how the federal government has failed on this issue. I will fight for Montanans to be able to better manage our own federal lands and ensure radical environmentalists aren’t steering our federal policy when it comes to public lands.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., arrives for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on the “Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the National Guard and Reserves,” in the Dirksen Building on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Tom Williams)
Sheehy, a combat veteran, told Fox News Digital that when it comes to foreign policy, it is critical for the military to focus on winning wars as opposed to social issues.
“As a combat veteran myself, who is married to a combat veteran, I know we must rebuild our military, ensure our forces are ready to fight and win wars, and prioritize combat lethality – not social initiatives – for our brave men and women in uniform to keep them and our great nation safe,” Sheehy said.
Republicans will head into the next Congress holding a 53-47 Senate majority along with razor-thin control of the House of Representatives.
Trump reportedly called into a Tuesday meeting to speak with the Republican senators as they discussed legislative priorities, as he will have to work closely with the chamber to move forward his own agenda.
“He was thrilled with his victory,” Sen. John Barrasso, R–Wyo., said of Trump’s call, the Hill reported. “We have a mandate and an opportunity to do the sorts of things that we campaigned upon in terms of lowering prices, in terms of the border, in terms of getting America back on track.”
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report
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Oregon
Recall issued for organic ice cream sold in Oregon over metal concerns
Learn about the Salem Saturday Market
The first Salem Saturday Market of 2026 opened March 7, featuring vendors offering handmade goods, fresh produce, baked items and artisan foods.
The Food and Drug Administration announced that Organic ice cream sold in Oregon is being recalled over concerns that the products could contain metal fragments.
California-based Straus Family Creamery issued a voluntary recall on May 14 for select flavors of its Organic Super Premium Ice Cream after identifying the possible contamination issue.
The recalled products were distributed to stores in Oregon and 16 other states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Which flavors are being recalled?
Affected flavors include vanilla bean, strawberry, Dutch chocolate, mint chip and cookie dough in multiple container sizes.
The recalled ice cream can be identified by best-by dates printed on the bottom of the containers. They include:
- Ice Cream Vanilla Bean
- Container Size: Pint
- Best By Date: December 23, 2026; December 28, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10030-6
- Ice Cream Strawberry
- Container Size: Quart
- Best By Date: December 24, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10097-9
- Ice Cream Strawberry
- Container Size: Pint
- Best By Date: December 25, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10095-5
- Ice Cream Cookie Dough
- Container Size: Pint
- Best By Date: December 26, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10104-4
- Ice Cream Dutch Chocolate
- Container Size: Quart
- Best By Date: December 27, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10012-2
- Ice Cream Mint Chip
- Container Size: Pint
- Best By Date: December 30, 2026
- UPC: 7-84830-10050-4
What should Oregonian do with their recalled ice cream?
Oregon consumers are urged not to eat the recalled ice cream. The company said the products should not be returned to the store but instead should be thrown away. Customers can then fill out a form with Straus Family Creamery for a replacement voucher by visiting strausfamilycreamery.com/recall/.
For questions, Oregonians can contact Straus Family Creamery at support@strausmilk.com or 1-707-776-2887.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval is a lifelong Oregonian who covers trending news, entertainment, food and outdoors. She can be reached at GSandoval@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
Utah
‘Preserving the art of Utah culture’: Utah-artist museum opens in Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY — A new art museum located in the historic B’nai Israel Temple in downtown Salt Lake City, dedicated to preserving Utah culture and providing a platform for Utah artists, is opening.
The Salt Lake Art Museum, 249 S. 400 East, aims to highlight both historic and contemporary Utah artists while also promoting thoughtful conversations on modern topics. It is the first new art museum to open in the city in more than 40 years.
“Opening the Salt Lake Art Museum is a defining moment for our state’s cultural landscape,” said Chris Jensen, museum executive director.
While the official grand opening of the museum isn’t until July 24, it has already begun hosting events and programming, including an interactive “Make Your Mark” installation where community members can trace their silhouettes onto the walls.
“The project serves as both an introduction to the museum and a living time capsule capturing the voices and identities of the community in the weeks leading up to the grand opening,” a statement from the museum said.
The Salt Lake Art Museum was founded by Micah Christensen, a distinguished art historian based in Salt Lake City. About a year ago, Christensen contacted Jensen, who has a background in nonprofits and cultural and historical preservation, to discuss purchasing the B’nai Israel Temple to create a museum.
The focus of the museum would be to elevate Utah artists, Utah art collections and art created in Utah.
“Utah is home to an incredible number of artists, yet we’ve long lacked a dedicated space to fully celebrate their work. This museum changes that. It’s a place where Utah artists are centered, their stories are elevated and our community can come together to experience the power of art,” Jensen said.
The museum began its programming with a Utah Master Series, which celebrates Utah’s most influential visual artists and recognizes their contributions to the state’s cultural legacy.
“It’s almost like a hall of fame of Utah artists,” Jensen explained.
The first three artists to be part of the exhibition were Galina Perova, Stanley Wanlass and Ben Hammond. Each artist had a dedicated night at the museum, where their work was displayed and they discussed their art-making process and the arts in Utah.
One of the museum’s opening exhibitions will be on Albert Bierstadt, a famous painter in the late 1800s who painted the American West. He spent three weeks painting in Utah and the museum will display 25 of his approximately 30 Utah landscapes he created.
To make the gallery extra special, the museum will have modern pictures of the same landscapes alongside each painting.
“It’s really a tale of how human interaction changes landscape and how our landscapes in Utah have changed since the 1800s. So that is really exciting and it’s the first of its kind on Albert Bierstadt,” he said.
The museum will also have exhibits on Pilar Pobil, a Spanish-born immigrant who self-taught herself painting and sculpture and died in 2024, and a show on the Julia Reagan billboards and how they intersected with pop culture and art in Utah.
Additionally, the museum’s opening exhibitions will include a gallery on the history of the B’nai Israel Temple, which was completed in 1891, two years before the Salt Lake Temple was finished.
Museums preserve the culture of whatever they are targeting, Jensen said. The Salt Lake Art Museum aims to preserve Utah’s art culture and its communities, he added.
There are many great artists from Utah who are famous around the world but unknown within their home state, and this museum hopes to change that, Jensen said.
“We have more artists here per capita than anywhere in the U.S., and it’s time that we shine a light on it and celebrate it. And that goes all the way from arts and crafts up to fine art,” he said.
He hopes people are proud of how much quality art comes from our state. When people come to the museum, they support great Utah artists and have a chance to learn more about the place they call home.
Art can be a great avenue to discuss modern issues, such as immigration, climate change and discrimination, through both historical and contemporary lenses, Jensen said. For example, the Salt Lake Art Museum plans to do a show soon on the Great Salt Lake and host a plein air competition at the lake.
“I want people to think of everything that’s happening in our modern world when they come through here and to see themselves reflected in that and how they should be reacting to it,” he said.
Overall, Jensen hopes people appreciate and support art museums as they “tell the story of us as a species.”
“When you go to a museum, it’s a chance to reflect on what we were and what we have become — things lost and things improved. So I really think it’s important because it tells us the greater story of humanity,” Jensen said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Washington
NOAA outlines why Washington’s snowpack fell short after a brutal winter
SEATTLE — It was a brutal winter for the snowpack in the western states, including Washington, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
That has current snowpack levels beyond bleak.
ALSO SEE | Pass travelers to encounter wintry driving in the Cascades this weekend
A map from NOAA shows the percentage of typical moisture in the snowpack across the West. It’s based on the median of the last 35 years.
An 8-14 day precipitation outlook. (NOAA)
Parts of the Cascades have just 13 to 27 percent of the water we could expect in our snowpack this time of year. The Olympics are at just 10 percent.
It was hoped that snowfall in April and May in some areas would offset the snow deficit, but that didn’t happen.
A dry snowpack is going to be a strain on agricultural water use this summer and will boost fire danger during the hottest months of the year.
What comes next?
Fin, Win, and their uncle Shawn were surprised and delighted by the unexpected April snowfall in the Cascades. (KOMO)
According to the 8-14 day precipitation outlook from NOAA, our state can expect equal chances of the typical amount of wetness over the next 2 weeks.
At the same time, government forecasters are expecting a 33 to 40 percent chance of above normal temperatures.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (4)
Forecasters are hoping for a surge of spring rain to at least delay a spike in the fire danger, but without a healthy snowpack heading into the summer months, water supplies could be bleak in parts of our state.
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