Montana
Bozeman airport expansion to be largest in Montana history
![Bozeman airport expansion to be largest in Montana history Bozeman airport expansion to be largest in Montana history](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bdbb943/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3408x1789+0+0/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd5%2F08%2F24e75b2c422e94ef370d9e96a4c9%2Fbzn-construction.png)
BOZEMAN — July was Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport’s busiest month, so a four-and half-year plan is now in place to help with the growing pains.
Susan Sanders was visiting her family in Billings and said that Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) is her preferred place to travel.
“With the change, you have to expand and accommodate for that, whether it’s expanding the airport and the footprint or expanding the availability and the options for people to get in and out,” Sanders says.
The airport handled 1.5 million passengers in 2019 and expects to handle 2.6 million passengers this year.
Brian Sprenger, chief executive officer for BZN, says that with more travelers comes the need for the expansion.
“Overall, we expect this project to cost about 180 million dollars. It will be the largest airport project in Montana history,” Sprenger says.
They noticed challenges with parking, security checkpoints, and continual problems at baggage claim.
“As we continue to grow, we will continue to have challenges in the future if we don’t provide the infrastructure,” Sprenger says.
The airport plans to expand the baggage claim area with three high-capacity carousels, add a second security checkpoint on the east end, and build a third floor for airport administration offices.
“On the second level, the goal is to add three additional gates to take us to 15,” Sprenger says.
Also, with a plan to add more BZN markets, restaurants, and lounge areas, don’t expect to see a Chili’s or an Applebee’s anytime soon.
“A lot of what we focus on here at the airport is local branding, and we focus more on the airport rather than a national base,” Sprenger says.
As the plan unfolds for the next four and a half years, Sprenger says it won’t impact travelers too much.
“We don’t have to go put baggage claim outside like some airport projects have, so it will all be inside. But the biggest constraint will be at baggage claim, where it will have lost some of our space for queuing and circulation,” Sprenger says.
And what about gates?
“We will lose two gates during construction. But luckily, those are utilized only in the peaks,” Sprenger says.
Sanders is excited to keep catching flights at BZN airport amid the changes.
“I knew it way back in the day, and I’ve seen what it’s become, and I understand it’s expanding, so I am sure it’s going to be wonderful,” Sanders says.
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Montana
Who's in, who's out among Montana connections as NFL teams announce 53-man rosters
![Who's in, who's out among Montana connections as NFL teams announce 53-man rosters Who's in, who's out among Montana connections as NFL teams announce 53-man rosters](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/26a3aee/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2300x1208+0+299/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fd3%2Fdfc7a41d4276b3c588cd69f5b29d%2Fap24232120227031.jpg)
BILLINGS — Tuesday was final cut-down day in the National Football League as teams were required to reach an initial 53-man roster limit for the 2024 season.
Some with Montana connections were locks to make their respective squads. Others fighting for jobs weren’t quite as fortunate.
Those that made teams — and figure to again be featured prominently this season — include Dillon product and former Montana State star Troy Andersen, Bozeman High grad Will Dissly, and ex-Montana State standouts Alex Singleton and Daniel Hardy.
Andersen, a second-round draft pick in 2022, is beginning his third season as a linebacker with the Atlanta Falcons. Dissly, a tight end, signed with the L.A. Chargers in the offseason and is embarking on his seventh NFL season after a six-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks.
Singleton, a linebacker, is back with the Denver Broncos for the third straight year, his sixth season in the NFL. Hardy, a defensive end who played in six games with the L.A. Rams in 2022, made the 53-man roster with the Chicago Bears.
Meanwhile, Butte High grad and former Montana offensive lineman Dylan Cook will begin the 2024 season on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ reserve/injured list with a foot injury. He could be activated later in the year.
Those who were waived on Tuesday included Seahawks linebacker Patrick O’Connell and safety Ty Okada. O’Connell, a Kalispell Glacier alum and former Montana Grizzlies All-American, appeared in one game with the Seahawks last season while Okada, a former All-Big Sky performer at Montana State, played in five games.
Alex Gubner, the 2023 Big Sky defensive player of the year with the Griz, was let go by the Kansas City Chiefs. Former Montana State offensive lineman Lewis Kidd was waived by the San Francisco 49ers.
Bozeman High graduate and former Bobcat wideout Lance McCutcheon was also waived Tuesday by the New York Jets. McCutcheon played 10 games with the Rams in 2022 and spent time on the Houston Texans’ practice squad last season.
Former Montana and Nebraska wide receiver Samori Toure was let go by the Green Bay Packers. Toure played in 22 games with Green Bay over the past two seasons, catching a touchdown pass in a game at Buffalo in 2022.
Players who did not make initial 53-man rosters are eligible for waiver claims, and can be added to practice squads or sign with other NFL teams.
Montana
VIDEO: Mama bear and cubs wander around in Uptown Butte
![VIDEO: Mama bear and cubs wander around in Uptown Butte VIDEO: Mama bear and cubs wander around in Uptown Butte](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/daa66cd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x672+0+24/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc4%2F64%2F7bdf55564a2a8e4bbd544fc9bb52%2Fbearsss.jpg)
A black bear sow and her two cubs were spotted in the area south of Park Street and west of Excelsior Street in Butte on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks had set up baited traps to catch the bears and then take them out of town.
MTN reporter John Emeigh has been following the story and captured the video of the trio (see above).
Montana
Tester advocated for Montana tech executives who donated to campaign – Washington Examiner
![Tester advocated for Montana tech executives who donated to campaign – Washington Examiner Tester advocated for Montana tech executives who donated to campaign – Washington Examiner](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/jon-tester-holds-out-endorsing-kamala-harris.webp)
Executives at two technology companies met privately with Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and donated to his reelection campaign as he helped secure federal funding for their tech hub in Montana.
The leadership team of defense-focused artificial intelligence company Reveal Technologies and venture capital firm Next Frontier Capital, part of a consortium focused on defense technology, gave nearly $30,000 in personal donations to the Tester campaign and an affiliated joint fundraising committee, according to federal fundraising records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
The donations, given in small increments across a two-year time frame, coincided with a series of meetings Tester held with the executives and their lobbyists as he helped Headwaters Hub, a Montana business tech consortium, receive federal accreditation and ultimately $41 million in grant money approved through the federal CHIPS and Science Act last month.
Tester has long made clear his support for the consortium. In February 2023, he held a roundtable to encourage the Biden administration to designate Headwaters as a regional tech hub and, once that designation was granted, urged officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to award it next-phase funding.
But the donations have raised ethics concerns as Tester, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, runs for a fourth term in the Senate.
Richard Painter, a chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and former Democratic House candidate, said Tester was no “different than the rest of them,” referring to other politicians who accept campaign donations from companies that stand to benefit from their advocacy.
But he called the contributions “indicative of what’s wrong with our campaign finance system.”
“I think we need to really tighten up, to say they shouldn’t be meeting with people who can make contributions at all,” Painter said. “This is the type of thing that doesn’t promote public confidence in the government.”
Tester joined other members of the Montana congressional delegation advocating the tech hub, hailing the grant as a chance to bring cutting-edge jobs to a rural state. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), his Republican counterpart in the Senate, also voted for the CHIPS and Science Act, lobbied for Headwaters to get funding, and claimed credit for its grant.
But Daines did not receive campaign donations from Reveal or Next Frontier; neither did any other member of the Montana delegation besides Tester, outside of a one-time $50 contribution Reveal made to Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) in 2022.
“Sen. Tester worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation that will help America outcompete China and allow a rural state like Montana to lead the nation in critical technological innovation,” a Tester spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “He is proud to have worked with Republicans like Sen. Steve Daines on this bipartisan bill to bring good-paying jobs back to the United States, secure our domestic supply chains, and develop next-generation technology right at home in the Treasure State.”
Tester’s office did not address questions about whether he was aware of the donations from Reveal Technologies and Next Frontier Capital. The spokesperson noted he “played no direct role” in which companies were chosen for the Headwaters Hub, while his campaign declined to comment and directed the Washington Examiner to his Senate office.
Tester’s relationship with Reveal extends back to at least March 2022, when Tester held a call with Reveal CEO Garrett Smith. Smith began donating to Tester a month later with a $1,000 contribution to his campaign.
Over the next year, from July 2022 to July 2023, Smith made periodic donations to Tester’s campaign totaling $3,550. On at least two occasions around the same period, in March and August 2023, Tester issued public press releases urging the Biden administration to select Montana to create the tech hub consortium that would become Headwaters.
In October 2023, the tech hub was ultimately awarded $500,000 in funds to establish itself.
Most of the meetings, listed on Tester’s public schedule, occurred after the creation of Headwaters, while the majority of the donations from executives began this year.
In January, Tester met with Smith, Reveal Director of Business Development Dave Caudle, and registered Reveal lobbyist Dan Sennott. Later that same month, Next Frontier founder and General Partner Will Price became his company’s first executive to donate to Tester’s reelection with a $500 contribution.
Headwaters submitted its grant application for $75 million in February. That same day, Tester publicly called for the administration to select them.
From March until the $41 million was granted to Headwaters on July 2, Smith, Caudle, and other Reveal executives, including Chief Operating Officer Andrew Dixon and Chief Product Officer John Laxson, contributed another combined $11,650 to Tester or his affiliated joint fundraising committee.
Over the same period, Next Frontier leadership gave $13,200 by way of three contributions from Richard Harjes, another founder and general partner.
All of the men extended donations in the days and weeks leading up to a June 24 meeting between Reveal, Next Frontier, and Tester that included representatives from the Air Force and Space Force. One of the donations occurred on the same day as the meeting.
The donations, in aggregate, are small compared to the tens of millions of dollars raised by the Tester campaign. But Painter said the donations present a possible conflict of interest and could be construed as an attempt to gain access to the senator.
“They want someone in Washington, and they give money, and then they get meetings, and then whatever happens, happens,” he said.
It’s unclear if or how much Reveal and Next Frontier stand to gain from the grant, or how the funds will be divided among the 27 companies, associations, or public higher-education schools that comprise Headwaters. A breakdown was neither provided in the group’s funding application nor in its award.
Headwaters did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Not all of the companies stand to receive the funding, according to other company members of Headwaters. Nonetheless, Reveal was referenced in Headwaters’s grant bid, touting the company’s “innovations in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) remote sensing technology, as reflected by Reveal Technologies’ rapid growth.”
Smith, its CEO, also thanked elected officials for helping secure the award in a press release on the day of the grant’s announcement.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Reveal declined to comment about its donations and meetings with Tester, in addition to how much of the grant it expects to receive. Next Frontier did not respond to requests for comment.
Headwaters was one of 12 consortiums selected to receive additional funding out of the 31 regional hubs established across the country.
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