Montana Associated Technology Roundtable

DeFlock is an open-source, volunteer-powered project for identifying and documenting automated license plate readers. The map is powered by OpenStreetMap. Camera locations come from volunteers and the OpenStreetMap community, not a private company or government agency.

The Missoula Chamber of Commerce advances the quality of life in Missoula by advocating for a healthy, responsible & diverse business environment & by providing resources that help businesses succeed. Contact Sharon Morren, Director of Membership, to join.

A $7 million gift marks the largest single donation in FVCC’s history. Kalispell philanthropist Jerome Broussard donated $7 million to Flathead Valley Community College to support the expansion of its Trades Institute. This contribution is a pivotal part of a broader $16 million fundraising campaign aimed at modernizing and enlarging the institute’s facilities.

When Bill Gates warned of the dangers posed by A.I. this week, he also weighed in on a somewhat obscure debate among politicians and economists about the best way to tax the technology. Gates suggested taxing A.I. tokens. This month, Representative Greg Casar of Texas, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, proposed a bill that would create such a tax. DealBook spoke with him about the plan and how A.I. has become a hot political topic. At a basic level, how would it work?

The United States has never been one of the most ambitious countries when it comes to tackling climate change, but it has long maintained a program that funds innovative clean energy technology. This program is known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, or ARPA-E, and over the past 15 years it has doled out more than $4 billion to universities and startups that are trying to change the way we produce energy.

President Trump is authorizing new legal measures to let farmers and ranchers process and sell their own beef, challenging industry norms. This move, announced Friday, seeks to disrupt the concentrated control in the food-processing sector and could reshape market access for Wyoming producers. The administration plans to roll out related initiatives starting Monday, aiming to expand interstate sales and support smaller processors by easing regulations.

The first phase of a nationwide effort to return passenger rail service to southern Montana is about 95% complete, but officials said this week the federal program has been paused to review its policies.

The Missoula Chamber of Commerce advances the quality of life in Missoula by advocating for a healthy, responsible & diverse business environment & by providing resources that help businesses succeed. Contact Sharon Morren, Director of Membership, to join.

Businesses that could be affected by construction for a multi-year street project that will redesign the downtown Missoula road system could secure grant money to help them maintain operations through the work period, officials said Thursday. The Missoula Downtown Foundation raised $275,000 over the last four months from 20 Missoula-area organizations to help limit the economic impact of the Missoula Downtown Safety, Access and Mobility (SAM).

Currently, more than 31 percent of the ecosystem has been degraded or lost to development. At the same time, data shows the local climate has warmed by 2.3°F since 1950, and snowpack has declined by 25 percent. Rivers have warmed so significantly that summer fishing is routinely restricted to “hoot owl” hours.