LIVINGSTON – Due to an imminent safety concern, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is closing the Yellowstone River from the Mayor’s Landing Fishing Access Site (FAS) to Sheep Mountain FAS, which is about an 8-mile stretch of the river and includes the Highway 89 Bridge FAS.

Mayor’s Landing FAS will remain open for take-out access for river users, and Sheep Mountain will remain open for launching.

FWP is working closely with the Montana Department of Transportation, which reports the railway bridge near U.S. Highway 89 that crosses the Yellowstone River east of Livingston is dangerously close to falling into the water.

The closure will remain in effect until the safety issues are resolved. For all restrictions and closures, look at the FWP website.

On July 22nd, recording artist and producer Adrian Jay will release his highly anticipated debut album, On a Tight Rope.

After launching a GoFundMe campaign in early 2021, Jay successfully raised $5000 to support the album’s production and hired a cast of esteemed local musicians to help him along the way.

Eddie T (bass), Alex Platt (drums), Josh Zaldonis (saxophone), and Orin Gunderson (trumpet) all contribute their eclectic musical magic to this unique listening experience.

Although the album consists of only 8 songs and is a mere 23 minutes long, On a Tight Rope manages to cover the whole landscape of human emotion. Love, adventure, faith, regret, and guilt are just a few themes explored on this album.

With its fusion of hard-hitting beats, gentle ballads, and jazzy flavors, On a Tight Rope undoubtedly raises the bar for the Bozeman music scene, and has the potential to make an impact beyond the borders of Montana.

On a Tight Rope by Adrian Jay will be available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and more this Friday, July 22, 2022.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XYzb0LVzlOByBkAv5uqoP?si=zueZVy8ZQTSsA-aynHqlXA
https://www.instagram.com/trademarkadrianjay/
https://www.facebook.com/TrademarkAdrianJay/

Bozeman, MT— Griffin Drive paving process continues the week of 7/18-7/22. Griffin Drive will be completely closed to through traffic, however, local access will be maintained throughout the whole week.

“We appreciate folks’ patience as we work to finish improvements to this integral east/west connection in our transportation network,” says Transportation Engineer Taylor Lonsdale, “We’re excited to see this corridor work better for everyone when it’s complete.”

Monday and Wednesday (7/18 – 7/20), Griffin Drive will be closed to through traffic from Rouse Ave to the east side of Manley Road. Access to Manley Road will be from N 7th Ave. Local business access will be maintained with possible short delays.

Thursday and Friday (7/21 and 7/22), Griffin Drive will be closed from the west side of Evergreen Drive through the intersection of Manley Road. The intersection of Griffin Drive and Manley Road will be closed. Access to Manley Road will be via a detour to McIlhattan Road. The detour will be signed from both N 7th Ave and Rouse Ave. The intersection of Griffin Drive and Evergreen Drive will also be closed. Access to Evergreen Drive will be via Nickles Drive or Gilkerson Drive.

BOZEMAN — When leading news organizations sought to understand the recent shooting death of a well-known Palestinian-American journalist, they turned to a Montana State University audio forensics expert whose research on the subject has engaged nearly a dozen undergraduates.

Following the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh during a gunfight in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11, investigations by The New York Times, CNN and other media outlets relied on analysis by Rob Maher, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering.

According to the news reports, several journalists were covering a raid in the city of Jenin when Abu Akleh was shot. Witnesses alleged the longtime television correspondent — who was wearing a vest that identified her as a member of the press — was targeted by Israeli forces, a claim disputed by Israel, which said the bullet could have come from Palestinian gunmen.

"The goal of my work is to provide an objective and scientific approach with findings that can stand up to scrutiny by other experts," said Maher, who wrote an authoritative book on audio forensics that was published in 2018. "When the international reporters contacted me, I wanted to be able to explain my measurements and methodology as clearly as possible."

In a smartphone video of the incident taken by an eyewitness and provided to Maher by reporters, he immediately recognized two distinct sounds per gunshot — a sharp "crack" as the supersonic bullet passed near the smartphone’s microphone followed by the gun's muzzle blast traveling at the slower speed of sound. By viewing the audio waveform using specialized software, he could precisely measure the milliseconds of delay.

"That blew the minds of the reporters," said Maher, who aided The Times in 2019 with audio analysis that corroborated the identify of a prominent Islamic State militant. He was contacted the day of the May shooting by CNN and Bellingcat, an independent news organization based in the Netherlands, and later by The Times. Four other news reports, including one by The Jerusalem Post, cited Maher's analysis.

Knowing the speed of the munitions commonly used by both sides of the conflict, Maher could estimate the distance that the shooter was from Abu Akleh at the time of her death. The published news investigations, which included eyewitness accounts, determined that the distance Maher measured matched the location of the Israeli forces who, the reports say, almost certainly killed Abu Akleh.

Maher recently completed a series of audio forensics research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. The latest, backed by a $200,000 grant, focused on analyzing gunshots and other phenomena in smartphone recordings. Working with three MSU undergraduate researchers, Maher recorded MSU police officers firing several types of firearms and developed software that can streamline analysis of audio recordings. The work was published in 2021 in a paper he co-authored with two of the students.

"There's an educational aspect to this, working with students," said Maher, who estimates his forensics work has involved roughly 10 undergraduates in recent years. "And there's also a service aspect, which fits with MSU being a land-grant university serving the public interest."

"This was a tragic incident," Maher said, "but having reporters know that they can receive professional advice, it's an important role that we have as a university."

On July 16, 2022, at 4:24 p.m., Gallatin County dispatch received a call from a Park County Sheriff’s Office deputy seeking assistance from Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue for a rescue on Emigrant Peak.  The patient was in a group of hikers that were 800’ from the summit of Emigrant Peak.  The patient was having respiratory issues with heat-related complications.  The other hikers were unsuccessful in trying to descend with the patient and needed professional assistance.   Due to the medical condition, and the time it would take to perform a ground-based rescue, it was determined a short haul would be the most expedient means of getting the patient to a higher level of care.

Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue Heli Team and Comms Team volunteers, along with a Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office deputy, responded to the call. The Comms Team and GCSO deputy provided mission support and liaised with Park County.  The Heli Team deployed from Gallatin County to a landing zone near Emigrant Peak staffed with a Park County Sheriff’s Office deputy and Livingston Fire and Rescue personnel.  After a reconnaissance flight, the team located the patient and was lowered to perform a medical assessment.  The team stabilized and packaged the patient and then short hauled them to the landing zone.  The patient was turned over to awaiting medical personnel.

Sheriff Dan Springer would like to recognize the Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue volunteers, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and Park County deputies, and medical responders that assisted in this mission.  Through teamwork and clear communication, teams from two different counties were able to work together to provide aid to a citizen in need.

Photos courtesy of Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.

Good ol’ email remains a handy marketing tool. Even despite the fact that according to statistics, normal email recipients view no more than 15% of their inbox. Approximately every fifth message is blocked by the mail service or lost due to faulty addresses and clogged up user inboxes!

Much of the deliverability issue is related to routing. While this is not a common problem for outgoing messages, it is more challenging to organize flexible routing of incoming mail. As a result, up to 45% of incoming email traffic is identified as spam!

This is a serious deal-breaker for any company focused on aggressive marketing. Those that care about a stable connection with clients, users, etc. in general. Without this connection, even the most well-thought-out newsletter campaign loses its meaning. And the business is losing money. How to tackle this issue?

Your best bet is to start using a mail tester that allows you to dramatically improve email deliverability through a range of email routine optimization and monitoring tools. In this quick guide, we walk you through the steps you need to take to ensure that your customers do not miss out on all the email stuff you send them.

Configuring DNS Records for Email Server

In order for emails to reach the right mailboxes, proper authentication must be enabled in the domain from which they are sent.

This is a set of methods aimed at providing reliable information about the origin of messages by checking the ownership of a domain by Message Transfer Agents (MTAs). Unfortunately, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) does not grant this feature, so fake sender addresses in emails are widely used in phishing.

To combat this, we recommend going to the DNS edit page in the control panel of the company to which the domain is trusted and configuring the following:
      1. Sender Policy Framework (SPF), also, add Domain Key Identified Mail
         (DKIM) to view Mail eXcanger (MX) records.
      2. DKIM signature ─ TXT record with a name (host, subdomain). With its help,
         the recipient can make sure that the letter came from a verified sender.
      3. Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and
          Conformance (DMARC). This is a technical specification for combating
           spammers who spoof sender addresses.
      4. Compile a list of IP addresses and use record testing tools.

All these efforts also help maintain a solid online reputation for your company. And of course, you need to use a proven hosting, such as AWS or Cloudflare.

Your Email Test Service

Providers rank your online reputation by the number of user complaints that may indicate you as a spammer. Email deliverability speed depends on this, so it is important that your ESP supports feedback loops (FBLs).

By default, abuse reports (ARF) are sent automatically to the sender from many services, including Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, and others. In Gmail’s email checker, this is only available for ESP, since this service does not support ARF. So be sure to analyze the following features of your ESP:
      1. Analyze the allocation of your mailbox and postmaster;
      2. Check where your emails are going via an email delivery test, IP information
           tracking, and blacklists checking;
      3. Use predictive analysis of your customers' spending patterns. Predicting
           behavior will also help retention;
      4. Schedule email sending, choose a sufficient number of emails and optimal time
          to send a newsletter (e.g., when your TA is most active).

Support appropriate dedicated IP allocation for inbound email

Adding a dedicated IP address is extremely necessary when the number of incoming messages is very high (say, if it exceeds 100 thousand per month). This is important for expanding your advertising campaigns, so we recommend maintaining an appropriately scaled email infrastructure.

On top of that, fix issues that are lowering your sender rating. To do this, make sure of the following:
• Your letters are desirable (legitimate) for both your email provider and your recipients;
• Your contacts are real;
• All the addresses are correct;
• Your content is in demand among potential recipients.

You need to make the provider's email test service filters believe that your IP address can be trusted. At the first sign of blockage or other issues, immediately demand clarifications and solutions. And better suspend any newsletter sending until the problem is solved. This way, you may stay transparent and legitimate with all your newsletter routines.

Better than email delivery test: building trust with SPF

It is highly unlikely that your emails will end up in spam after setting SPF. This record validates the sender's address by checking the "From" field and matching it against the address specified in the DNS record. Simply put, this is a security system that prevents scammers from sending emails on your behalf.

Thanks to this feature, the recipient's email checker (more precisely, their email server) can know for sure that this is your email and it is legit. SPF determines which IP addresses you have given permission to send emails. The receiving server recognizes them as allowed and does not refuse delivery.

All settings are made in the DNS of your domain. You need to create a text entry that looks something like this:
• Host/Name: @ (place a symbol below the host or name category);
• Value: v=spf1 a mx include:_spf.elasticemail.com ~all.

If the entry has not yet been installed after this, you will see a notification. SPF will help you deal with spam filters, get the necessary authorization and authority among the servers of your target clients. To improve deliverability, we also recommend setting up a PTR record for DNS reverse query.

Optimize Inbound Opt-in Process

Total email deliverability largely depends on the way you collect contacts and their interest or even dedication to your offers. There are usually two ways to set up an email contacts database:
• Single opt-in ─ subscription without confirmation. Subscribing recipients to your email newsletter without requiring their confirmation has but one drawback - non-existent, incorrectly typed, and random people's addresses, may get into the database.
• Double opt-in - subscription confirmation using a relevant link in the email. A more transparent and error-free approach is to subscribe only those truly interested to your newsletter by requiring their confirmation.

The double opt-in is a mandatory requirement of most email providers. This and a good spam checker can help you avoid sending emails to spam traps. Until the user clicks on the link, they will not be subscribed to the newsletter. Thus, the addresses of real people who have a desire to receive emails from you get into your database, boosting the overall deliverability percentage.

We recommend optimizing this process further. Double or triple (preferably regularly) check if your followers are committed to you and your content. This is the only way to ensure that your messages do not end up in the junk box and that you do not have problems with the provider's distrust.

Filter your email lists, check recipient details and customer base addresses. Otherwise, you may experience high bounce rates, which will result in your IP address being flagged as "naughty" and banned.

Send Quality Content

Focus on providing content that appeals to your target email readers and solves their problems in some way. Each of your messages should relate to the leads you are targeting.

When conducting an email delivery test, pay attention to formatting, because people appreciate beautiful layouts. At the same time, it is important to check the structural semantics of the HTML text. Spare your email from superfluous words. EPS usually checks for spam words automatically. So even if you come up with a genius promotional message but it contains a forbidden word, your campaign’s success will be undermined.

Make sure your HTML elements conform to accepted standards. The fact is that the correct structure of the text is very important, so check headings, lists, and other elements thoroughly. Also, do not insert oversized images inside your email copy to avoid upload issues. All in all, do not be intrusive, send content to those who wish to receive it and you should be gold.

Bottom Line

The above are only the basics of getting your email deliverability rates in hand. If you wish to go further and optimize your email success rates inside-out, turn to specialized professionals.

Folderly is a well-tried-and-tested email test service folderly.com that helps boost deliverability and optimize email campaigns via AI-powered tools.

Bozeman, MT - Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts announces The Bite of Bozeman is going on hiatus this year. Several reasons have contributed to the Festival’s decision, chief among them an inability to procure the number of food vendors needed to give the community the top-notch event they should expect from Sweet Pea. In its heyday, The Bite of Bozeman had 50 local restaurants and food vendors participating in the annual event. This year, the number of food vendors able to commit to the event was much lower. Of those who declined to participate, most cited a lack of staffing as the main reason for their inability to participate. Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts Executive Director Kris Olenicki states, “We will take this next year to reimagine and revamp The Bite of Bozeman. We believe this is a great opportunity to bring something new and exciting to Bozeman. Although it has been a much-anticipated summer event for many years, we are simply unable to host The Bite of Bozeman the community has come to know and love. We already have begun the process to create a new event for next year that is true to our mission—“where (food as) art and community meet.”  Vendors that did sign up to participate will receive a full refund, and the Downtown Bozeman Association has offered to try to fit any committed vendors into the August 4^th “Music on Main” event should they wish to participate.  

ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS:

                The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. Festival dates are always the first full weekend in August with other events, such as Chalk on the Walk starting off the festivities of Sweet Pea Week.  The festival includes everything from music, theatre and dance, to children’s activities, an Artist Marketplace with vendors from Bozeman and around the country, and workshops. The Sweet Pea Festival is committed to its mission statement of “promoting and cultivating the arts.”

Hundreds of volunteers run and organize this annual event, a testament to the community’s desire for its ongoing success. All monies raised above what is needed to operate the festival are given back to the community in the form of grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area. “Where art and community meet.”

A big part of our perception of fashion and style comes from what we see in the media. Instagram influencers, images on Pinterest, singers, and actors – all affect our taste and preferences, especially regarding clothes. So no wonder such a huge Ukrainian pop star like Nadya Dorofeeva is also looked up to in terms of stylish ideas. Besides being a singer and songwriter, she also is a designer herself, which makes her fashion choices even more thought through. Nadya, a Ukrainian star, has 5.3 million followers on Instagram which makes her a huge media influencer. And that’s why it is so valuable when people with this kind of coverage get to talk about important issues and spread awareness or knowledge about something. Especially in such tough times for Ukraine, it’s important that people can learn more about the country, its culture, state, and what it has to offer.

Nadya, being a true Ukrainian girl, is now doing a lot of things that help show her followers and the entire world what Ukraine is really like. The singer also takes an active part in numerous projects, one of them being ARMWOMENNOW. This initiative is dedicated to helping arm women in the Ukrainian forces and give them proper military uniforms. Dorofeeva also spreads awareness through her music. She actively shares both popular and traditional Ukrainian songs, which in these trying times helps a lot with uplifting the general spirit of people. As you can tell, the singer is now actively using her status and authority to popularize Ukrainian culture. However, it doesn’t come down only to Nadya’s singing and activist performance. As a designer, she also spreads the word about unique Ukrainian brands. 

Linen Dresses – a Go-to Outfits for This Summer

Recently Nadya posted a photo of herself wearing a gorgeous and interesting linen dress with sleeves. The gown is one of the designs of the famous Ukrainian brand Sleeper. The brand initially became known for its exceptional pajamas with feathers – an outfit that can take from the bed to a party in split seconds. However, having gained popularity, the brand decided to push its boundaries and introduce more diverse designs. That’s when Sleeper started making its elegant linen dresses, which soon became an epitome of effortless beauty. So, it’s no surprise that being a fashion-lover herself, Dorofeeva too became interested in this fashion label.


The design that caught Nadya’s eye is an Opera linen white dress by Sleeper. This loose-fit button-up gown can rightfully be said to bring out one’s natural beauty. If you look at a picture of Nadya wearing this outfit, you just can sense her Ukrainian free-spirited beauty being communicated through her look. The dress also features an embroidery-like detail on the tapered sleeves and along the length of the dress. This recalls the embroidery on Ukrainian traditional clothes, which could also be the factor that influenced Dorofeeva’s choice of this particular design. Undoubtedly, the dress became a perfect match for her. The puff-sleeves brought off the shoulders perfectly underlined her sensuality. When Nadya chose to wear this linen white dress by Sleeper, not only did she prove to have an amazing sense of style, but she also showed her support of Ukrainian fashion. This support is beneficial for several reasons, and we will explain why.

Nadya Dorofeeva and Sleeper: What Connects the Two?

As we have mentioned before, Drofeeva became one of those influencers who uses her powers and media coverage to spread awareness about important issues. She shares the news and helps with benevolent projects and start-ups. She also uses her amazing voice to help introduce people to Ukrainian culture. A gifted singer, Nadya turns her views into donations to the army and charities. And that’s where she and Sleeper find their touchpoint. As a fashion brand, Sleeper might not have gotten enough authority to spread information about the state of its country of origin. However, that didn’t stop it from thinking of ways to help those in need. And that’s how the fashion label decided to turn its profits into something more beneficial. So, Sleeper organized something like a fundraizer: it collected the proceeds from the sales and turned them into donations to help children in Ukraine. As well as Nadya Dorofeeva, the label chose its main focus and it became Okhmadyt – the biggest children’s hospital in Kyiv. So, when Nadya put on that linen dress with sleeves, she also showed her support for Sleeper’s initiative. In the end, what truly ties together both Sleeper and the Ukrainian singer is their big heart and strong social stance. They don’t skip a chance of being helpful. 

Nadya Dorofeeva – A Singer, Designer, and a Wholesome Soul

Dorofeeva is a woman who worked hard enough to get what she wanted. She was a part of a singing duo called “Vremia and Steklo”. Throughout her career, the Ukrainian singer proved times and times again to be an extremely talented artist and creator. Nadia’s artistic skills are also reflected in her other undertakings. In 2016 she opened her clothing line called «It's My DoDo». Moreover, the Ukrainian creator then also opened a store called «So DoDo» in Kyiv. There were gathered the greatest pieces from Korean brands as well as Dorofeeva’s clothing line itself. We may see more of Nadia’s collaborations with Ukrainian brands in the future too. Who knows, maybe someday you will see the beloved Sleeper’s pajamas with feathers hanging there as well. Nadya agreed that fashion, as well as singing, is one of her weaknesses. And that’s why she decided to start her brand.

No one can argue, that it’s a great opportunity to be represented by people like Nadia. Being a smart hard-working woman she continues to gain popularity and use it for the greater good. 

Bozeman, MT—For the first time in history, Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts is hosting a Dog Parade. This year’s Dog Parade will take place within the Festival’s annual parade, occurring Saturday morning during the Festival. The Parade follows the Sweet Pea Run and Children’s Run. Earlier this year, Sweet Pea representatives met with local company West Paw, to find out how best to incorporate Bozeman’s canine friends into the Festival. While understanding that dogs are not permitted at the Festival itself, West Paw suggested the inclusion of the dogs in the Parade and volunteered to sponsor it. The entry fee is $20 per dog with proceeds benefiting “Working Dogs for Conservation,” the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization. Sweet Pea encourages canine participants to come dressed in their most creative finery; donning the Festival’s namesake flower is a bonus. This year’s Dog Parade is a trial run. If successful, the Festival hopes to make the Dog Parade an annual event replete with prizes. Dogs must be well-behaved, able to withstand the stimulus of a large crowd, and tolerant of other dogs. For a complete list of rules and regulations, or to register your pooch for this year’s Dog Parade, please visit the Festival website at www.sweetpeafestival.org

ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS: The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. Festival dates are always the first full weekend in August with other events, such as Chalk on the Walk and The Bite of Bozeman starting off the festivities of Sweet Pea Week. The festival includes everything from music, theatre and dance, to children’s activities, arts and crafts vendors from Bozeman and around the country, and adult painting workshops. The Sweet Pea Festival is committed to its mission statement of “promoting and cultivating the arts.” Hundreds of volunteers run and organize this annual event, a testament to the community’s desire for its ongoing success. All monies raised above what is needed to operate the festival are given back to the community in the form of grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area. “Where art and community meet.”

WILSALL – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in collaboration with the Custer Gallatin National Forest, will begin a project this month to conserve native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the upper Shields River watershed.

This year’s phase of the project includes removing brook trout from several tributaries to the Shields River: Clear Creek, Scofield Creek, Turkey Creek and an unnamed tributary near Lodgepole Creek.

From July 18 through 22, the Custer Gallatin National Forest will have an area closure on the Upper Shields River Loop, just past the Sunlight Trailhead Junction for National Forest System Road No. 844 and all associated spur roads, recreation sites and amenities along the upper Shields River Loop. This includes Crandall Creek Cabin, Shields River dispersed camping sites and Turkey Creek Trailhead.

“Brook trout invaded the upper Shields River watershed in recent decades and have become a primary threat to headwater populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout,” said Carol Endicott, FWP’s Yellowstone cutthroat trout conservation biologist in Livingston. “The project area is a stronghold for a core conservation population of Yellowstone cutthroat trout at high elevation and the northernmost extent of their range.”

The brook trout will be removed from the project area using a plant-derived fish toxicant called rotenone. Rotenone is routinely used in fisheries management and breaks down quickly in the aquatic environment. It offers an effective means of removing fish species that are incompatible with the management goals of a fishery without endangering the surrounding habitat.

Crews will collect Yellowstone cutthroat trout from these tributaries before beginning the project and return them to the streams when the project is complete. Detoxification stations will be set up to ensure there are no negative effects to gill-breathing organisms downstream.

FWP published a draft environmental assessment for this project in May, hosted public meetings and solicited public comments through June 23. All comments received were in favor of the project. FWP has issued a decision notice to move forward with the project.

To learn more about the project, visit go.usa.gov/xSrhY.