The Banyan Tree is closing and it's not just a store that's going to disappear. The owner talked about a bond with the customers and how important it is to the community. So many relationships with people throughout the Billings community, said Jana Pennington, who owns the store that opened in 2015. She has enjoyed the connection with the customers who have chosen The Banyan Tree as the best boutique for the last nine years and the best gift store for the last three. But after the COVID closures, sales have decreased.  Having to shut down, that maybe some of our customers buying habits c ..read more

Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the consumer level steadily cooled from its 9.1% peak in the middle of that year. Consumers have had some relief as the rate of cost increases for food and energy, two key components of most budgets, has eased greatly. But auto insurance and car ownership costs have become a sticking point for consumers and the Federal Reserve in its battle to rein inflat ..read more

A family in Quebec is searching for answers after discovering that their father's remains didn't make it to Canada from Cuba, where he died while on vacation, and they instead received the remains of another man. Funerals for Faraj Allah Jarjour were scheduled for Sunday and Monday. Instead, his daughter Miriam Jarjour had been desperately calling and emailing as many officials as she could, trying to find his body. "Up until now we have no answers," Jarjour said. "Where is my father?" Jarjour said she was swimming with her 68-year-old father in the ocean near Varadero, Cuba, during a family v ..read more

A shift in the weather will bring rain and mountain snow for weekend lingering through Monday. But not everybody will see much needed moisture. There is a chance for precipitation each day from Thursday through Monday. This will fall as mainly rain for the lower elevations and snow above 7000 feet. Afternoon highs will stay above normal on Thursday, with mainly 60s from Billings westward and to the south, and low to mid-70s east of Billings. Highs for the rest of the weekend will be in the 50s and 60s, with a few low 70s in the eastern plains Friday. The best chance for thunderstorms will be c ..read more

The rat hole is gone. A Chicago sidewalk landmark some residents affectionately called the rat hole" was removed Wednesday after city officials determined the section bearing the imprint of an animal was damaged and needed to be replaced, officials said. The imprint has been a quirk of a residential block in Chicagos North Side neighborhood of Roscoe Village for years, but it found fresh fame in January after a Chicago comedian shared a photo on the social platform X. The attention, however, quickly grew old for neighbors who complained about visitors at all hours, sometimes leaving coins and ..read more

With primary ballots set to go out to Montana voters starting May 10, fundraising is heating up in the states races for U.S. House. The crowded race to replace U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale in the eastern congressional district now has eight Republicans and four Democrats actively running including three candidates whove now put hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into the campaign. In the Republican primary, State Auditor Troy Downing reported raising more than $602,000 during the first three months of 2024, including $200,000 in a personal loan to his campaign. He had previously ..read more

Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against fake electors. Seven others were indicted, but their names were blacked out of records released by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes. Her office said the names will be released after they're served with the charges. Joe Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged his victory in t ..read more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says dairy cows that are moving between states will have to be tested for the presence of H5N1 avian flu. In a Tuesday order, the agency said any lactating cow that is moved from one state to another will first have to register a negative test result for influenza A virus. Officials said they would be able to perform tens of thousands of tests a day if necessary, which could help them build a better picture of how H5N1 is distributed and may spread. The new order was issued one day after testing showed fragments of H5N1 viral material in the U.S.' milk supply ..read more

Hall of Fame NFL wide receiver Andre Reed visited the Yellowstone County Boys and Girls Clubs Wednesday to share his story. Reed, who ended up playing in four Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills, relied heavily on his local Boys and Girls Club growing up and attributes much of his success to that support. "You know, I'm a club kid and have been all my life," Reed said. "I just want to put myself in their shoes, because at one point, I was in their shoes." Reed said his goal is to visit a Boys and Girls Club in all 50 states. Currently, he's been to 48 of them with Yellowstone County being his m ..read more

The Federal Trade Commission issued a rule Tuesday to ban a corporate practice that prevents employees from jumping to work for competitors, known as noncompete clauses. In Montana, the new rule impacts many industries, especially healthcare, because it means more freedom for doctors and physicians to change jobs across the country and here in Billings. Dr. Eric Arzubi of Frontier Psychiatry in Billings said that patients don't usually realize that most doctors are under rigid noncompete clauses. If you were to leave the organization, you could only practice medicine if you delivered care outs ..read more