Our oceans are full of plastic  an estimated 200 million metric tons, according to The Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving oceans. And around the world, organizations large and small spend endless hours trying to keep us from making the problem worse. Each plastic bottle, shopping bag or piece of an old toy threatens marine life and habitats. This garbage collects in floating patches in oceans around the world. The largest of them, in the Pacific, is estimated to be three times the size of France. But its the tiny, microscopic plastics that could be an even bigger threa ..read more

The U.N. labor organization warned Monday that over 70% of the world's workforce is likely to be exposed to excessive heat during their careers, citing increased concern about exposure to sunlight. It also warned of air pollution, pesticides and other hazards that could lead to health problems including cancer. In a new report, the International Labor Organization suggested ways that governments can improve their legislation and help cope with the rising effects of climate change on workers. Its clear that climate change is already creating significant additional health hazards for workers, sa ..read more

BOZEMAN According to court documents, last week a New York man was allegedly caught using stolen credit cards to buy thousands of dollars worth of retail items around Bozeman. Most people don't come in and drop that kind of money and walk out with that many items, says Dave Berghold, the owner of The Last Wind-Up. I met Berghold at the Law and Justice Center. He was checking on the 6 watches purchased last Thursday that were being held for evidence. They made multiple purchases, apparently using multiple cards. I dont think any of the cards were actually present, which was a red flag says Dave ..read more

NASA engineers have completed a promising round of tech support on the Voyager 1 space probe, correcting an issue with one of its computers and moving it closer to being ready to transmit science data again. In November of 2023, NASA started receiving corrupted data from the probe.  Engineers determined a small section of memory in one of the probe's computers was faulty. That computer ran the code that prepared data for transmission back to Earth. If it couldn't execute its code properly, Voyager wouldn't be able to send readable data home. The team determined they would h ..read more

A state senator and former broadcast meteorologist was arrested on suspicion of burglary early Monday in the northwestern Minnesota city of Detroit Lakes, police said. Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, of Woodbury, was being held in the Becker County Jail on suspicion of first-degree burglary. Formal charges were still pending Monday afternoon, Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve Todd said. Mitchell did not immediately return a call left on the jail's voicemail system for inmates. It's not clear if she has an attorney who could comment on her behalf. The police chief said he didn't k ..read more

Eva Evans, a TikTok star who created the comedic web series "Club Rat," has died at 29 years old.  The content creator's sister, Lila Joy, announced the news in an Instagram post Sunday, saying the family had been told the day before that Evans had died. "After 24 hours, I still find myself in a constant cycle of denial and acceptance, so I know how unbelievable and hard to process this news will be," the post read. "I wish I had Eva here now to refer to because she would have better words and know how to say what I don't." View this post on Instagram A post shared by lila joy (@lilajoyfu ..read more

For the last few years, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has been working with schools to help them identify and respond to sources of lead in their drinking water. Now they're helping take on a far wider inventory of lead in water systems. This is a much bigger undertaking, said Greg Montgomery, DEQs Lead and Copper Rule coordinator. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has updated its Lead and Copper Rule, which requires water systems across the country to take steps to control these metals in drinking water. As part of that, they are giving systems until October to make a ..read more

Morgan Wallen is speaking out about an incident at a Nashville bar earlier this month that ended with him in handcuffs.  The country singer is currently facing multiple charges stemming from his April 7 arrest, which occurred after he threw a chair off the rooftop of Eric Church's six-story Chief's Bar. Those charges include three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. An arrest report for Wallen said the chair hit the ground feet away from where some Metro Nashville police officers were standing. Their review of footage showed the 30 ..read more

BOZEMAN The Gallatin Association of Realtors released its latest report on housing here in Gallatin County, which they say paints a much more optimistic note on the status of the housing market. We are seeing changes in the overall housing market, says Joanna Harper, Gallatin Association of Realtors Housing Report Committee Chair. Harper says the biggest change in the housing market is more retirees moving and buying. We think of Montana State as a draw, bringing a lot of young people into our community. But we're also seeing people who are retiring, says Harper. With the median home price in ..read more

Their childhood memories are vivid: warnings against drinking or cooking with tap water, enduring long lines for cases of water, washing from buckets filled with heated, bottled water. But the children of the Flint water crisis set in motion April 25, 2014, when the city began drawing water from the Flint River have turned their trauma into advocacy. They know Flint still struggles: Its population has fallen by about 20,000 in the past decade, leaving abandoned houses frequently targeted by arsonists. More than two-thirds of children live in poverty, and many struggle in school. But young acti ..read more