Aaron Bolton

3 days ago | mtpr.org | Aaron Bolton

Bozeman Health this fall is expected to open a 14-bed unit for adults who need longer-term psychiatric care. Patients in a mental health crisis can get specialized care through the hospital’s ER now. But director of psychiatric services Nicole Madden says patients who need more than three-days of care have to drive more than a hundred miles. “The next closest mental health inpatient psychiatric unit is probably Billings, about 135 miles away,” she says.

3 days ago | mtpr.org | Shaylee Ragar |Ellis Juhlin |Aaron Bolton |Eric Dietrich

This special live episode of The Session was recorded on May 7, 2025, a week after the legislative session wrapped up. We review the major legislation, from tax policy, to education to health care in Indian country and more. MTPR's Shaylee Ragar, Aaron Bolton and Ellis Juhlin are joined by Tom Lutey, Eric Dietrich, Mara Silvers, Amanda Eggert, Alex Sakariassen and Nora Mabie from the Montana Free Press.

6 days ago | mtpr.org | Aaron Bolton

In 2023, BNSF Railway sued the Libby Center for Asbestos Related Disease, or CARD, Clinic over what it said were falsified Medicare claims. A jury sided with BNSF’s argument that the clinic erroneously diagnosed patients with diseases tied to asbestos contamination from a closed vermiculite mine. Earlier this year, the Lincoln County District Court gave the order to seize CARD Clinic property to pay for the roughly $3.1 million judgement.

1 week ago | mtpr.org | Aaron Bolton

Gayla Benefield lives just outside the town of Libby along the picturesque Kootenai River. Inside her home, it’s clear the 81-year-old isn’t in the best health. Benefield is constantly tethered to an oxygen machine with dozens of feet of tubing so she can walk from room to room. Benefield struggles to breathe because her lungs were scared by asbestos. She can remember the white dust on her father’s clothes when he came home from the local vermiculite mine. That dust was laden with asbestos.

1 week ago | mtpr.org | Aaron Bolton

MTPR reporter Aaron Bolton reported this story, which was not reviewed by anyone other than the MTPR News Director before it was published. President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday telling the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or CPB, to stop funding NPR and PBS. Trump’s order calls NPR and PBS’ coverage biased. Trump also says Americans have plenty of news options and government funding for NPR and PBS is outdated and unnecessary.