The 40th Swank Variety Plot Tour on Monday, July 19, will be held at the Swank farm north of Poplar. This event has two pesticide applicator points available. Beginning at 5 p.m. at the Swank test plots, introductions by Dr. Chengci Chen, EARC superintendent, will lead into presentations by four invited plant breeders and new varieties of durum, spring wheat and pulse crops. From MSU-Bozeman,

The Montana Motor Vehicle Division will offer new hours of operation at the Wolf Point Driver Exam Station. Beginning July 13, the office will be open every Wednesday and Thursday from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. All current service offerings will be available. The exam station is located at 400 Second Ave. S. For appointments or more information, contact

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has announced that Head Start programs across Montana will receive a total of $5,302,892 in grant funding to help support in-person, comprehensive services this fall. “Montana Head Start programs are critical to helping ensure our kids are all on even footing, and that everyone in our state has an equal opportunity to thrive,” Tester said. “These American

The Bureau of Land Management is inviting the public to comment on its Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for a bison grazing proposal on BLM-administered lands located in Phillips County. A virtual public meeting is planned for Wednesday, July 21, 1-4 p.m., via Zoom to provide the public an opportunity to comment about the Draft EA and FONSI. Pre-registration

So far, four individuals have announced their intentions to run for the new U.S. House of Representatives’ seat in Montana. The position resulted after the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the state’s increase in population was enough add a second seat. U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, is currently the state’s lone U.S. representative. The boundaries for the new seat is yet to be determined.

The delta variant of coronavirus, a more transmissible strain that is quickly becoming dominant in the U.S., has been documented in Gallatin County. Two cases of the variant were reported in Gallatin County on Wednesday, July 7, by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Safety. Cascade County has also confirmed its first case of the Delta COVID-19 variant strain. The Cascade

Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) are teaming up to introduce a bipartisan bill aimed at improving the Veterans Crisis Line’s staff training, management and response to highrisk veteran callers at risk of suicide. The Senators’ Revising and Expediting Actions for the Crisis Hotline for Veterans Act would implement key recommendations

Fort Peck Community College was recently selected as a grant recipient of the American Indian College Fund’s Community-Based Learning and Sharing Grant. FPCC was awarded $20,000 for this one-year grant to help support the development and implementation of Native arts community workshops and/or academic courses in traditional Native arts and/or contemporary Native arts. “FPCC’s Community-Based