Montana internet/ Unemployment/ Tax Provisions

Missoulian:  USDA commits $30 million to rural Montana internet service
USDA Announces $349 Million in Funding for Rural Electric Infrastructure Projects including $17 Million in Smart Grid Technology
“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $349 million in funding for 15 rural electric infrastructure projects to build or improve more than 1,844 miles of transmission and distribution lines for rural electric cooperatives and utilities in 13 states.”

Missoulian: Montana's unemployment rate holds at 3.9 percent for June

Montana’s Unemployment Rate drops to 3.9 Percent
“Montana’s unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent in May, down 0.1 percentage points from April.  Employment levels in Montana are now over the half million threshold for the first time ever.  The U.S. unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5 percent.  New data from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry also showed that the state’s average annual wage increased to $38,875 in 2014, a 3.5% increase over last year.”

Missoulian: Senate panel votes to renew dozens of expired tax breaks
Description Of The Chairman’s Modification To The Chairman’s Mark Of A Bill To Extend Certain Expired Tax Provisions“The Senate Committee on Finance has scheduled a markup on July 21, 2015 of the extension of certain expired tax provisions. This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a description of the Chairman’s modification to the Chairman’s mark of a bill to extend certain expired tax provisions.”

Climate Change and Fires/ Cuban Relations

Missoulian: Missoula study: Climate change increasing length of wildfire seasons worldwide
Climate-induced variations in global wildfire danger from 1979 to 2013
“Climate strongly influences global wildfire activity, and recent wildfire surges may signal fire weather-induced pyrogeographic shifts. Here we use three daily global climate data sets and three fire danger indices to develop a simple annual metric of fire weather season length, and map spatio-temporal trends from 1979 to 2013. We show that fire weather seasons have lengthened across 29.6 million km2 (25.3%) of the Earth’s vegetated surface, resulting in an 18.7% increase in global mean fire weather season length. We also show a doubling (108.1% increase) of global burnable area affected by long fire weather seasons (41.0 s above the historical mean) and an increased global frequency of long fire weather seasons across 62.4 million km2 (53.4%) during the second half of the study period. If these fire weather changes are coupled with ignition sources and available fuel, they could markedly impact global ecosystems, societies, economies and climate.”

Missoulian: New era in ties begins as Cuba raises flag at embassy in US
Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez Hold A Joint Press Availability

Every Child Achieves

Missoulian: 5 Things to know about the House-Senate No Child rewrites
S.1177:  Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

Mining Near Yellowstone/ Darby Events/ Wisconsin Supreme Court/ Fallout Victims Seeks Recognition

Missoulian: Forest Service considers mining project near Yellowstone
Lucky Minerals Inc. Emigrant Project Plan of Operations for drilling activities
“Exploratory drilling to assess mineral presence at 9 sites on existing roads and 3 helicopter sites in Emigrant Creek area. Total ground disturbance of approximately 0.3 acres.”

Missoulian: Darby Ranger District hosting 'Tour of the Bitterroot' bike rides and 'Lake Como Triathlon'
Events Happening on the Forest in July

Missoulian: The Latest: Supreme Court cites free speech in ending probe
Francis D. Schmitz v. Honorable Gregory A. Peterson
“According to the special prosecutor, the purpose of the John Doe investigation is to root out allegedly illegal campaign coordination between certain issue advocacy groups and a candidate for elective office.  To further the investigation, the special prosecutor sought, and received, wide-ranging subpoenas and search warrants for 29 organizations and individuals, seeking millions of documents that had been created over a period of several years.”

Missoulian: 70 years after 1st atomic bomb test, residents want US help
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
“The United States conducted nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons development tests from 1945 to 1962. Essential to the nation’s nuclear weapons development was uranium mining and processing, which was carried out by tens of thousands of workers. Following the tests’ cessation in 1962 many of these workers filed class action lawsuits alleging exposure to known radiation hazards. These suits were dismissed by the appellate courts. Congress responded by devising a program allowing partial restitution to individuals who developed serious illnesses after exposure to radiation released during the atmospheric nuclear tests or after employment in the uranium industry: the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was passed on October 5, 1990. The Act’s scope of coverage was broadened in 2000.”

Iran Deal/ Darkode/ Internet Help

Missoulian: Highlights of the Iran nuclear deal
The Historic Deal that Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon

Missoulian: Feds say they have shut down Darkode malware marketplace
Major Computer Hacking Forum Dismantled

Missoulian: Obama to announce high-speed Internet help for homes

FACT SHEET: ConnectHome: Coming Together to Ensure Digital Opportunity for All Americans
“Today, the President will travel to Durant, Oklahoma, to announce ConnectHome, a new initiative with communities, the private sector, and federal government to expand high speed broadband to more families across the country. The pilot program is launching in twenty-seven cities and one tribal nation and will initially reach over 275,000 low-income households – and nearly 200,000 children – with the support they need to access the Internet at home.”

Yellowstone National Park/ Noxious Weeds/ Massachusetts Plan Crash/ Mission to Pluto!

Missoulian: Yellowstone National Park sees record attendance
 Steady Increase in Yellowstone Visitation for First Five Months of 2015

Missoulian: Public invited to Noxious Weed Blitz, online training
Join Us for an Outdoor Volunteer Day! at Pictograph Cave State Park - Saturday, July 27 at 9am
Noxious Weed Management
“Noxious weeds may be on the land or in the water. These so called, "invasive species" are a continuous threat to the quality of wildlife habitat, the state's fisheries, Montana's native plant species and to the aesthetic and recreational value of private and public lands.”
Noxious Weed ID Guide

Missoulian: NTSB finds engine issues with plane that crashed into house
Preliminary report
“On June 28, 2015, at 1745 eastern daylight time, a Beech A36, registration N5626D, was destroyed when it impacted a residence and terrain following a total loss of engine power near Plainville, Massachusetts. The commercial pilot and two passengers were fatally injured, and the airplane was consumed by post-crash fire. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated at Lancaster Airport (LNS), Lancaster, Pennsylvania about 1612, and was destined for Norwood Memorial Airport (OWD), Norwood, Massachusetts. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.”

Missoulian: Pluto close-up: Spacecraft makes flyby of icy, mystery world
NASA's Three-Billion-Mile Journey to Pluto Reaches Historic Encounter
“After a decade-long journey through our solar system, New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto Tuesday, about 7,750 miles above the surface -- roughly the same distance from New York to Mumbai, India – making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth.”

Camping Too Long/ Iran Talks

Missoulian: Some campers overstaying their welcome in Bighorn National Forest
Dispersed Camping Areas

Missoulian: Iran talks hit final stage but deal remains elusive
Updating the EU/P5+1 Ongoing Negotiations With Iran