MONTANA

High stakes spur astronomical spending in Senate race

BILLINGS — Political groups fighting for control of the U.S. Senate have poured more than $118 million into the contest between Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican incumbent Steve Daines, a record shattering figure for the sparsely-populated state that dwarfs spending on a per-voter basis in all other Senate battleground states.

The cash deluge comes amid growing Republican worries they could lose control of the chamber, and as Democrats seek to reverse a years-long GOP surge in Montana including President Donald Trump winning the state by more than 20 percentage points in 2016.

For residents of Big Sky Country it means an unrelenting barrage of advertisements any time they turn on their computers, televisions and radios or open their mailboxes.

By the time it’s over, the two campaigns and outside groups that span the political spectrum — from the NRA Victory Fund to Planned Parenthood — are expected to spend a combined $184 on advertising for each of the state’s 729,000 registered voters.

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That figure does not include $6 million for mailers, door-to-door canvassing and other expenses that show up on Federal Election Commission filings from the groups.

The tally far exceeds the roughly $100 on ads per voter in Maine’s hotly-contested battle for the seat held by Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican moderate challenged by Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon.

And the Montana political ad spending is almost 10 times as much per voter being spent on ads in Colorado’s Senate contest between former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and first-term Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner.

WYOMING

Spring break canceled due to COVID-19 concerns

LARAMIE — Students at the University of Wyoming won’t be heading to Florida — or anywhere else — for spring break next March.

That’s because Wyoming’s only public four-year university in Laramie is following the lead of some in other states and canceling its traditional weeklong spring break, which was scheduled for March 15-19, 2021, in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The week will be converted into instructional days, Tami Benham-Deal, vice provost for academic personnel, told the UW Board of Trustees at a virtual meeting Oct. 14.

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The university will start the spring semester of 2021 on Jan. 25, which is a week later than usual.

Anne Alexander, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, said that while the decision to eliminate spring break has already been approved by UW President Ed Seidel, the university will close for Presidents Day in February.

The spring break scheduling change is one of many modifications the university has had to make since the onset of the pandemic in March, when it closed all in-person learning through the spring semester.

During the first weeks of the semester, classes were held almost completely online. A spike in cases early in the semester caused the university to pause its move into phase-two operations, which included some limited in-person instruction. On Sept. 28, UW moved to phase three, which includes more face-to-face instruction, as well as increased precautionary measures and surveillance testing.

Undergraduate students are tested twice a week, and graduate students are tested once a week. Students who do not comply will be asked to attend classes online.

NEBRASKA

Bankers survey sees surge in rural parts of 10 states

OMAHA — Bankers in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states are showing more enthusiasm for the state of their local economies than they have since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a new monthly survey of bankers in the region.

The Rural Mainstreet Survey’s overall index surged to 53.2 in October, up from 46.9. in September and well ahead of the 35.5 reading in March, when the index bottomed out as the outbreak began. Any score above 50 suggests a growing economy, while a score below 50 suggests a shrinking economy.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, credited recent improvements in agriculture commodity prices, federal farm support, and the Federal Reserve’s record low interest.

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“Still, more than one-third, or 35.5%, of bank CEOs reported their local economies were experiencing recessionary economic conditions,” Goss said.

Bankers were also asked this month to identify the industry in their area most harmed by the pandemic. More than eight of 10, named restaurants and bars as experiencing the greatest negative effects from the pandemic.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

NEW MEXICO

Utility, tribe to break ground on solar farm

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico’s largest electric utility is breaking ground on a 50-megawatt solar field that will provide power to Western New Mexico University, the city of Albuquerque and other large users that have signed on to a new program officials hope will serve as a model for boosting access to renewable energy.

As the third largest solar project on tribal land in the U.S., the array will be capable of producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of about 16,000 average homes for a year.

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Tribal officials gathered on the plains of the Jicarilla Apache Nation for a ceremony as others joined the Oct. 15 virtual watch party. Nearly a square mile of sagebrush and grassland will be cleared for the new solar field, which will provide 2 megawatts of electricity to the tribe as part of the partnership with Public Service Co. of New Mexico.

Jicarilla Apache President Edward Velarde said the project marks the next step for the tribe, as it already has its own utility authority and has built a transmission line and substation that links the community to the grid.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the electricity from the new venture will power over 50% of city government and will mark a big step toward the municipality reaching its 100% renewable goal over the next decade. Other sources come from solar panels that have been installed on fire stations, libraries and other city buildings.

The firm building the solr farm, Hecate Energy, is building two more projects on Jicarilla Apache land, including another 50-megawatt solar field and a battery storage facility that will help replace some of the lost capacity when a nearby coal-fired power plant goes offline in 2022.

ARIZONA

Researchers discover fossils of new species

PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK — Researchers have discovered fossils of a tiny burrowing reptile among a vast expanse of petrified wood in eastern Arizona.

The new species has been named Skybalonyx skapter, a part of a group known as drepanosaurs from the Triassic Period, about 220 million years ago.

Petrified Forest National Park outside Holbrook is considered one of the premier places to study plants and animals from that period, sometimes known as the dawning age of dinosaurs.

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The researchers say the ancient reptiles are strange because of morphologies that include enlarged second claws, bird-like beaks and tails with claws. They likely looked like a cross between an anteater and a chameleon.

They say the new species could be even stranger because it has claws that allow it to burrow, rather than climb into and live in trees, more like a mole or mole-rat.

The fossils were discovered in the summers of 2018 and 2019 by a team of researchers from the park, Virginia Tech, the University of Washington, Arizona State University, Idaho State University and the Virginia Museum of Natural History. They published their findings earlier this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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