Matthew Brown, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, left, testifies during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Montana’s Supreme Court dismisses misconduct case against the state’s attorney general

December 31, 2025

Montana’s Supreme Court has dismissed a misconduct case against the state’s Republican attorney general after he openly defied court orders in a dispute with justices. A court-appointed panel last year found that Attorney General Austin Knudsen repeatedly attacked the integrity of the justices in his defense of a 2021 law permitting the state’s Republican governor to directly fill judicial vacancies. Justices said Wednesday that Knudsen had violated rules of conduct for attorneys but said the panel violated his due process rights. Knudsen said in a statement Wednesday that the compliant was nothing more than a political stunt.

FILE - A monarch butterfly feeds on milkweed, July 15, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, file)

Trump administration revives rollbacks of species protections from first term

November 19, 2025

President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to roll back protections for imperiled species and the places they live. Trump’s Interior Department on Wednesday proposed reviving a suite of changes to Endangered Species Act regulations first made during the Republican’s first term. Those changes were reversed under former Democratic President Joe Biden. Energy companies, ranchers and many Republicans have long viewed the 1973 law as an impediment to development.

US rejects bid to lease coal from public lands in Utah as sales in western states fall flat

October 16, 2025

Federal officials have rejected a mining company’s bid for 1.3 million tons of coal beneath a national forest in Utah. It’s the third proposed coal sale from public lands in the West to fall through this month despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost production of the fuel. The Interior Department says it received only one bid for the lease near central Utah’s Skyline Mine and that it did not meet the requirements of a law that requires companies to pay fair market value for coal from public lands. The department last week rejected a bid for 167 million tons of coal in Montana, then indefinitely postponed an even larger sale in Wyoming.

FILE - A haul truck is seen after being loaded with coal by a mechanized shovel at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal on public lands for less than a penny per ton

October 14, 2025

Federal officials have rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton. It would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade. The failed bid underscores a continued low appetite for coal among electric utilities that are turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar. President Donald Trump has made reviving coal a centerpiece of his agenda to increase U.S. energy production. But economists say Trump’s attempts to boost coal are unlikely to reverse its yearslong decline.

A mechanized shovel loads coal into a haul truck at the Spring Creek mine, in this Nov. 15, 2016 photo, near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Company bids less than a penny per ton in biggest US coal sale in over a decade

October 6, 2025

A Navajo tribe-owned company has bid $186,000 to lease 167 million tons of coal on federal lands in southeastern Montana. Monday’s offer from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. came in as the biggest U.S. coal sale in more than a decade. The lease is located next to the company’s Spring Creek mine near Decker, Montana. No one else submitted a bid. President Donald Trump is pushing to mine more coal from public lands. But it’s uncertain if there will be customers for the fuel in coming decades. Data analyzed by The Associated Press shows power plants served by Spring Creek are scheduled to quit burning coal altogether within 10 years.

Izzy Zalenski, right, walks Paul outside the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Meth burn by FBI smokes out Montana animal shelter

September 12, 2025

Workers at a Montana animal shelter were evacuated and sent to the hospital after smoke from two pounds of methamphetamine incinerated by FBI agents started to fill the building. City of Billings Assistant Administrator Kevin Iffland said the incinerator is primarily used to burn the carcasses of animals euthanized by animal control officers. But every couple of months law enforcement officers use it to burn seized narcotics. Iffland says fourteen workers from the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter went to the hospital as a precaution following Wednesday’s smoke incident that happened when the exhaust system didn’t work as usual. He says some of the shelter workers reported feeling unwell.

FILE - Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Trump administration wants to cancel Biden-era rule that made conservation a ‘use’ of public land

September 10, 2025

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wants to cancel a public land management rule that sought to put conservation on equal footing with industry. Wednesday’s announcement comes as President Donald Trump seeks to open more taxpayer-owned tracts to drilling, logging, mining and grazing. The land rule was a key part of efforts under former President Joe Biden to refocus the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management. The agency oversees about 10% of all land in the U.S. and has long concentrated on development. The rule adopted last year allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

FILE - In this April 4, 2013, file photo, a mining dumper truck hauls coal at Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek strip mine near Decker, Mont. AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Republicans move to lift drilling and mining restrictions in Western states

September 4, 2025

Republican lawmakers in Congress are moving to eliminate limits on energy development in several Western states. That would clear the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to sharply expand mining and drilling on public lands. House Republicans on Wednesday night voted to repeal development restrictions across large areas of Alaska, Montana and North Dakota. The repeals would reverse land use plans adopted in the closing days of former President Joe Biden’s administration that were meant to curb climate-warming fossil fuel emissions. Republicans want to create more jobs and revenue. Democrats had urged the rejection of the repeals. The Republican-majority Senate must still approve the House action.

This image made from video provided by the Anaconda Deer Lodge County Justice Court shows Michael Paul Brown, who is accused of killing four people in a bar, during a virtual court appearance, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Montana. (Anaconda Deer Lodge County Justice Court via AP)

Montana man charged with shooting four people at a bar pleads not guilty

September 3, 2025

A Montana man suspected of killing four people at a bar then evading capture for a week has been charged with additional crimes, including attempted arson. State District Judge Jeffrey Dahood ordered Michael Paul Brown to be held without bail during a Wednesday court appearance. The defendant’s attorneys said mental illness could be an issue in the case. Brown’s family has said the 45-year-old former soldier long struggled with mental illness before allegedly shooting a bartender and three patrons in Anaconda, Montana. Court documents say he also lit objects on fire in the bar and stole a vehicle after the shootings. Brown’s defense attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all charges.

Montana man who evaded authorities for a week after bar shooting faces four counts of murder

August 30, 2025

A man suspected of killing four people at a Montana bar faces four counts of murder. Defendant Michael Paul Brown lived next door to The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, where a bartender and three patrons were shot and killed Aug. 1. He evaded capture for a week in the nearby mountains and is now being held on $2 million bond. A state court website on Saturday detailed the charges he faces. The case previously had been sealed by a state judge. Authorities have not commented on a potential motive for the 45-year-old former soldier. A niece says Brown long struggled with mental illness.

Protester carries an upside down American flag during a protest against U.S. strikes on Iran, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Americans react to US strikes on Iran with worry as well as support for Israel

June 24, 2025

Across the U.S. Americans are expressing a mixture of support, apprehension and anxiety over President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb nuclear sites in Iran. Administration officials say the strikes give Iran the chance to return to negotiations over its nuclear program. Yet if the conflict spirals, it could test Trump’s foreign diplomacy skills and his support at home. At Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the B-2 bombers that participated in the weekend strikes returned home on Sunday. Nearby retired Air Force veteran Ken Slabaugh said he was “100% supportive” of Trump’s decision.

FILE - A firefighter carries a drip torch as he ignites a backfire against the Hughes Fire burning along a hillside in Castaic, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Trump moves to merge wildland firefighting into single force, despite ex-officials warning of chaos

June 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has told government agencies to consolidate their wildland firefighting into a single program. Thursday’s executive order comes after former federal officials warned that such a consolidation could be costly and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes. The move is meant to centralize duties now split among five agencies and two Cabinet departments. Officials have not disclosed how much the change could cost. The Trump administration in its first months sharply reduced the ranks of firefighters through layoffs and retirement offers. The personnel declines and reshuffling of agencies come as global warming makes fires more severe and destructive.

FILE - A view of the suburbs of Las Vegas from atop the Stratosphere tower looking west down Sahara Ave., towards the Spring Mountains, Feb. 9, 2005. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta, File)

Utah Republican proposes sale of more than 2 million acres of US lands

June 12, 2025

More than 2 million acres of federal lands would be sold to states or other entities under a budget proposal from Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. The draft provision in the GOP’s sweeping tax cut package comes after after a similar proposal was narrowly defeated in the House. Montana Sen. Steve Daines said in response that he opposes public land sales. Lee says the sales would target isolated parcels that could be used for housing or infrastructure. Conservation groups reacted with outrage, saying it would set a precedent to fast-track the handover of cherished lands to developers.

FILE - A sign is set up ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to the Chuckwalla National Monument, Jan. 7, 2025, to the Coachella Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

US Justice Department says Trump can cancel national monuments that protect landscapes

June 10, 2025

Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s administration say he has the authority to abolish national monuments meant to protect historical and archaeological sites. That includes two monuments in California created by former President Joe Biden at the request of Native American tribes. A Justice Department legal opinion released Tuesday disavowed a 1938 determination that monuments created by previous president can’t be revoked. The finding comes as the Interior Department under Trump has been weighing changes to monuments across the nation as part of the administration’s push to expand U.S. energy production.

Trump plans to merge wildland firefighting efforts into one agency, but ex-officials warn of chaos

May 20, 2025

President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to merge the government’s wildland firefighting efforts into a single agency. Some former federal officials warn the change could sow chaos and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes with fire season already underway. Trump’s budget would centralize firefighting efforts now split among five agencies into a single Federal Wildland Fire Service under the U.S. Interior Department. The Trump administration in its first months sharply reduced the ranks of firefighters through layoffs and retirement offers. The personnel declines and reshuffling of agencies come as global makes fires more severe and destructive.

A dirt road in Sweet Grass County leading into the Crazy Mountains is seen Saturday, May 10, 2025, near Big Timber, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

National Guard helicopter crew landed on Montana ranch and trespassed to take antlers, citations say

May 16, 2025

Three Montana Army National Guard members face trespassing charges after authorities say they landed a Black Hawk helicopter in a mountain pasture on a private ranch to take elk antlers before flying away. A sheriff says Thursday that a game warden tracked down the guardsmen and they turned over two antlers and an elk skull with antlers attached. Authorities say a witness saw the May 4 landing and the property owner later reported it to officials. Elk antlers grow and drop off male animals annually and can be sold and collected. A Montana National Guard official says the case is under investigation and that misuse of military equipment erodes trust with residents.

FILE - Respiratory therapist Vernon Johnson, left, conducts a pulmonary test at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Asbestos clinic forced to close in Montana town where thousands have been sickened by dust

May 8, 2025

An asbestos screening clinic in a Montana town where thousands have been sickened dust from a nearby mine has been shuttered by local authorities. The move follows a Wednesday court order to seize the clinic’s assets in order to pay off a judgment to railroad BNSF. Courts in Montana have said BNSF contributed to the asbestos pollution in Libby when it brought contaminated material through town. But the railway prevailed in a 2023 lawsuit alleging the clinic fraudulently made some patients eligible for government benefits when it knew they were not sick. The railway says it’s owed $3 million.

Matthew Brown.