Great Falls Tribune
U.S. launches new strikes around Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI – The United States launched new air strikes on Iranian targets on Sept. 1, quashing hopes that a recent exchange of fire might not herald a wider renewal of hostilities. Oil prices had already risen after that first exchange of direct attacks...
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Iran is still seeking negotiated end to war
DUBAI – Iran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the United States, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Aug. 31, a day after the two countries resumed hostilities for the first time since late July, driving oil prices up more...
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‘ISOLATED’
Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, flooding out festivals, canceling community events and keeping people indoors. They’re also evidence of how climate change isn’t just changing the environments we...
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Cattle ranchers fume over Trump plan
POWER, MT – When Tim Brunner was at an auction barn recently, he was surprised to see decent cows selling several hundred dollars cheaper than they were just a few weeks earlier. He largely blames President Donald Trump, and he’s not the only...
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Officials call USPS ballot rule impossible
Current and former election officials said it would take something close to “an act of God” for their states and localities to comply with a new U.S. Postal Service mail-in ballot rule just weeks before the midterm elections. The rule, which the...
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Glacier collapse may have triggered flood
The volume and speed of the wall of mud, boulders and debris that rushed more than 60 miles down a river through Nepal on Aug. 26 shocked even experienced researchers who study mountains, glaciers and waterways in the Himalayas. “The force of this...
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Colleges confront decline in reading
Anyone who has spent time on a college campus lately has probably heard laments from faculty about their students’ reading habits, or rather nonreading habits. Such complaints are more than an unfounded nostalgia for a bygone age. Reading – not just...
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LOVE, ALWAYS
Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country” singing and songwriting icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestone-encrusted outfits, has died. She was 80. Parton’s death was announced by her family on her social media pages and...
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Trump announces hike on Canada auto tariffs
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he’s doubling tariffs on imported automobiles and auto parts from Canada to a rate of 50%, further escalating a trade war with the United States’ northern neighbor that erupted over the weekend after...
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Embryo personhood debate gains notice
About 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in 2024, according to the most recent U.S. data. But IVF commonly involves trying to create multiple embryos, because success is never guaranteed. If unused, those embryos can be frozen,...
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Early access to Trump posts raises concern
President Donald Trump’s social media company is charging clients up to $100,000 a month for priority access to Trump’s own official announcements as well as other “market-moving” government news such as new tariffs and military actions. Just a few...
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Iran vows ‘devastating’ response to new threats
DUBAI – Iran said on Aug. 21 that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating” after Washington pledged to impose the toughest financial penalties in history with the aim of toppling the Iranian leadership. Washington prepared for...
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CLANCY TRIAL HINGES ON INSANITY DEFENSE
The question at the heart of a closely watched Massachusetts murder trial is not whether a mother killed her three young children, but whether mental illness means she can’t be held legally responsible. Lindsay Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts...
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Trump plan could hit science funding
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their...
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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Fans mourn singer Tyler during hearse procession in Wales
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Trump orders cuts to South Korea drills
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Aug. 16 instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul’s refusal to take part in actions against...
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DOJ pressed, dropped officer assault cases
Christian Garcia admits that he threw a water bottle toward officers guarding a federal building near Los Angeles during an immigration protest last summer. The plastic bottle was empty, he said, and hit no one but Garcia himself – the wind blew it...
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Family’s road trip veered off course
SHEBOYGAN, WI – Elvira BenitezSuarez was napping in the passenger seat when she heard a noise and woke up. What she saw on the GPS alarmed her. “What are we doing in Canada?” she asked her husband, Ricardo Chavez, who was driving. They were way off...
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Judge warns of penalties over the Epstein files case
WASHINGTON – A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit on the release of the Epstein files warned Justice Department lawyers on Aug. 13 that he could penalize them and put a stain on their professional records if they don’t comply with his orders. “I’m...
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Iran, U.S. both claim to control Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI – The Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” the recently appointed head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit said on Aug. 13, a day after President Donald Trump said the United States had “total control” of the strategic...
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Al-Qaida, Islamic State group adopting AI
Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. h It...
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Critics take aim at Trump vaccine order
President Donald Trump hailed his new order on childhood vaccines as a win for parental choice as doctors slammed the move, saying it could lead to greater risk of diseases that were rarely seen for generations. Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10...
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Officials seek to stop mail-in ballot rules
Less than 90 days out from the midterms, election officials are pleading with the Supreme Court to block the Trump administration from making changes that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to decide who gets mail-in ballots. And after the Postal...
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Military bases delay toxic PFAS cleanup
It’s been almost five years since Brandi and Brad Hyatt found out the well at their home next to an Army base in Washington is contaminated with “forever chemicals.” h They started using bottled water for everything from making coffee to rinsing off...
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Immigrants a key role in U.S. economy, experts say
For years, employers from Florida to Ohio have relied on immigrants taking part in a humanitarian program to staff hard-to-fill job openings for construction workers and home health aides. h In recent months, they warned, the Trump administration’s...
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Reports: U.S. missile supply badly depleted
The war on Iran has severely depleted key U.S. missile stockpiles and left the nation and its allies in a vulnerable position for potentially years to come, several experts and reports say. U.S. missile stockpiles were low before President Donald...
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Iran issues warning to Persian Gulf states
Iran has made a concerted diplomatic push with Persian Gulf states, warning them explicitly that Tehran will hit their oil, power and water plants unless they convince President Donald Trump to end U.S. strikes on Iran and instead seek a negotiated end...
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Gunshot detection tech ignites controversy
When gunshots ring out on America’s streets, bystanders face an instant, high-stakes dilemma. h Do I call the cops? Were those even gunshots? Maybe it was just fireworks. h Every moment of hesitation risks a delay in medical treatment or gives a...
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Man arrested for arson in WA wildfires
Authorities in Washington have arrested a man in connection with one of the major wildfires devastating the eastern part of the state, which has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to flee. Aaron F. Farinacci, a 37-year-old...
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Wildfires in Washington force 60,000 to evacuate
About 60,000 people have evacuated from the Spokane, Washington, area as wildfires fueled by strong winds and dry conditions destroyed hundreds of buildings and knocked out power across the region, officials said. Three wildfires, collectively...
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Primary wins, GOP attacks draw attention to the left
Ahead of a challenging midterm election, Republicans have seized an opportunity to castigate their opponents as extremists after democratic socialists won Democratic congressional primaries in New York City, Colorado and Washington, DC. GOP leaders...
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GRAND CANYON STARTS TO RECOVER
Ranger Matt Baldwin left two aspiring junior rangers at the information booth window and trotted to a white government pickup to retrieve his signature wide-brimmed hat. h There was no line of visitors behind the kids waiting for his help. Nearly a...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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GOP lawmakers seize on Fauci diary entries
Republican lawmakers have seized upon Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary in making renewed attacks against the immunologist who became the public face of the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic – most recently, upbraiding him at a July 29 Senate...
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Different kinds of justice
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett likes to note that the black robes she and her colleagues wear show that the nine justices are “united symbolically.” h Despite different personalities, legal philosophies and backgrounds, the robes...
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Officials, family mourn Sen. Graham
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump eulogized the late Sen. Lindsey Graham as a “giant of the United States Senate” and a “true American original” with a “magnetic personality” at a July 28 memorial service at Washington National Cathedral. The South...
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Iran appears to test latest U.S. pause
DUBAI – Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on July 27, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put President Donald Trump’s latest strategic U-turn to...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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Auto class opens high schoolers to potential careers after changes in standards fueled curriculum shift Trained, prepared, licensed
DETROIT – Tiffany Goldstraw had just finished her first oil change. It wasn’t the only job she’d completed in her Michigan high school’s automotive repair class, or the hardest, which involved a serpentine belt. The oil change was “relatively cut and...
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U.S. strikes shipping point on Red Sea
DUBAI – U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran, reaching as far as its Caspian coast, on July 24 after President Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the war to a second major shipping...
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PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Shatner reveals he and daughter Melanie fought cancer at same time
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NATO steps up security in Arctic
EVENES, Norway – During a frozen morning in Arctic Norway, a group of British and Norwegian soldiers padded softly through a snow-blanketed birch forest. They were on a simulated NATO reconnaissance mission, among some 30,000 troops who took part in a...
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Trump hits Canada with new 50% tariffs
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump took executive action on July 20 to impose a new 50% tariff on a wide range of imports from Canada in retaliation for what his administration called “discriminatory” Canadian trade practices in certain industries...
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Pentagon IDs service members killed in war
A 17th U.S. service member has been killed in the war with Iran, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X, in northern Iraq July 18 during the controlled detonation of an “unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.” That service member...
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Experts explain surge of lung transplants, lawsuits
If you walk into a Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s and order a countertop for your kitchen renovation, the store will likely contract with a local fabrication shop, instructing them to make one from a material called engineered stone. h Often marketed as...
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A SECOND CHANCE FOR CHESTNUTS
The American chestnut tree was once the giant of the forest in the eastern United States – taking root in early American life and lore before being nearly wiped out by a blight. Now, scientists say they’ve found a way to resurrect the storied species....
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Trump revisits election claims
President Donald Trump in a July 16 prime-time address sought to further sow distrust in U.S. elections, claiming broad vulnerabilities with voting systems and potential for interference from other nations. Trump specifically pointed to China,...
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Blanche faces resistance at confirmation hearing
President Donald Trump’s pick for the highest law enforcement position in the nation might not be able to be confirmed for his job until he meets with women who say Jeffrey Epstein abused them. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said July 16 that he...
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Social media shaping kids’ career dreams
A second grader in Norway drew a YouTube logo when my colleagues and I asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. When we asked why, the child explained that YouTubers are famous and make lots of money. When we asked second graders in Wisconsin...
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Most ICE vehicle stops in U.S. halted
The fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer of a Colombian man in Maine was the latest incident renewing calls for investigations and scrutiny of immigration operations around the country. The man, identified by lawmakers as...
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Trump: U.S. aims to control Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said the United States is reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and will seek operational control of the Strait of Hormuz after several days in which he declared the ceasefire over, and the United States and Iran...
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Heat waves turn homes dangerous for all ages
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors. When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters...
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Trump says Iran requests to continue negotiations
President Donald Trump said July 10 that Iran had asked to continue negotiations despite a recent escalation of hostilities and that the two sides were talking, while stressing that the June ceasefire between the two nations was over. However, Iran’s...
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Platner exit leaves Dems in disarray
Democrats are racing for the reset button in the pivotal U.S. Senate battle in Maine after Graham Platner announced he will suspend his campaign, throwing the party into a frantic search for a replacement nominee to take on Republican incumbent Susan...
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Program gives struggling artists $1,000 a month
Though artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to produce images, music and text, the technology is also making it harder for the people who have traditionally produced this work to earn a living. A photographer who once was commissioned...
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PLATNER WEIGHS THE FUTURE OF SENATE BID
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the head of Senate Democrats’ midterm operation, told Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, to immediately withdraw after a woman said he...
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Safety issues beset Silicon Valley defense startup
Ayear ago, Ryan Tseng, the head of U.S. defense tech startup Shield AI, announced his company had turned a new page. h After a gory incident that partially severed a U.S. Navy official’s fingers during a test of its V-BAT drone, Shield AI had addressed...
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About this series
This story is part of the Iconic Brands series, a USA TODAY Network project showcasing the companies and brands that helped shape the nation’s identity, economy and culture. The series celebrates American ingenuity with a deeply reported examination of...
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Some try to beat the heat without AC
As temperatures outside her Düsseldorf, Germany, apartment exceeded 100 degrees in June’s heat wave, Liza Ebbecke found an unusual way to keep her family cool: aluminum foil. Ebbecke, a native of Richmond, Virginia, who has lived abroad with her...
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Trump will not renew trilateral trade pact
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is not renewing a trilateral trade pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico that he hailed as a “colossal victory” for American workers when he announced it in 2020 during his first term. Facing a July 1...
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Recreational fishing outpaces estimates
One of the United States’ largest fisheries is hiding in plain sight. Recreational freshwater anglers in the lower 48 states catch – and keep – far more fish than any official body has estimated, according to new research from our team of North...
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Supreme Court upholds transgender athlete ban
WASHINGTON – States can ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams, the Supreme Court ruled June 30 in addressing a major cultural and political flash point before adjourning for the summer. The decision is another setback...
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Mediators try to ease the tensions in Iran
DUBAI – Iranian and U.S. technical teams working on the implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, a source told Reuters on June 29, after titfor-tat weekend strikes threatened to derail the fragile...
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AI can lead to false arrests and wrongful convictions
In Baltimore County, Maryland, on Oct. 20, a 17-year-old student named Taki Allen was sitting outside his high school after football practice when an artificial intelligence-enhanced surveillance camera falsely identified the Doritos bag in his pocket...
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‘Star-Spangled Banner’ was a controversial choice
ASBURY PARK, NJ – “My County ’Tis of Thee” is easier to sing. “America The Beautiful” is more picturesque. And easier to sing. Yet “The Star-Spangled Banner” is our national anthem. Love it or not – and many people, through the years, have done...
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Trump sees wins on immigration, guns
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump victories in two immigration cases June 25. In the divide between gun rights and gun violence, the justices struck down another state law, this one in Hawaii, aimed at curbing guns in public...
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Strait of Hormuz traffic nears normal
DUBAI – Oil prices fell to prewar levels on June 25 as the United States said flows through the Strait of Hormuz were nearing normal and its top diplomat wrapped up a Gulf tour aimed at winning support for a preliminary Iran deal. Energy Secretary...
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‘NURTURE HOPE’
A teenager scrolls through their phone at the dinner table, barely looks up and answers questions with one-word replies. For many adults, that image has come to stand for a larger fear: that today’s young people are disconnected from others and may be...
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Trump: Iran agreed to inspections
DUBAI – President Donald Trump said on June 23 that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into “infinity,” despite Tehran’s denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States. Washington...
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Fire transforming West’s public lands
Wildfires are affecting our public lands at an accelerating scale and increasing intensity. Yet how fire affects recreation has remained poorly understood. Colorado’s two largest fires on record, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires, burned...
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Scenic trips to celebrate AMERICA’S BIRTHDAY
America is turning 250, but some of its greatest treasures don’t sit behind museum glass. h The awe-inspiring scenes that take your breath away and remind you of the beauty of our nation are hidden along winding roads, tucked into mountain valleys,...
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Obama Center opens while Trump looms
Remember hope and change? The sun-splashed, star-studded dedication of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on June 18 was designed to echo the sense of excitement and possibility that surrounded former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 −...
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