$15M WIRED grant aims to train rural workers. Montana towns, colleges to be engaged in developing alternative fuels

In an effort to train workers for jobs in alternative-fuels development and production, state and national officials unveiled a project Tuesday targeting communities and colleges in central and Eastern Montana.

Called WIRED, the three-year project is funded with a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The funding was announced in February.

Touting "the vast potential of the land to produce alternative fuels," Emily Stover DeRocco, U.S. assistant undersecretary of labor, said the grants could be used to create infrastructure for high-paying jobs.

"This will help workers get the skills they need for new technologies," she said.

By JIM GRANSBERY
Of The Gazette Staff

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/05/17/news/state/30-grant.txt

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Paul Tuss of Havre and Adam de Yong of Helena to administer WIRED grant in Eastern Montana http://www.matr.net/article-19190.html

Governor Schweitzer Announces $15 Million Economic Development Grant for Eastern MT. -Full Project Narrative http://www.matr.net/article-17958.html

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DOCUMENTARY EXAMINES STATE’S ENERGY RESOURCES

MISSOULA—

The pieces are there, but can Montana join old and new energy resources to generate an affordable energy future?

"Montana’s Energy Puzzle," an hour-long television documentary produced by The University of Montana’s award-winning Student Documentary Unit, addresses that question by examining current high-priced energy and how it is distributed and reporting on alternative ways to create electricity, home heating resources and automobile fuel.

The documentary will air on Montana PBS stations KUFM-TV in Missoula and KUSM-TV in Bozeman at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 23. It will repeat at noon Wednesday, May 31. UM’s Student Documentary Unit is celebrating its 20th year of producing programs of interest to Montanans. Since 1986 UM broadcast journalism and production students have tackled subjects ranging from substance abuse and gambling to sex education, sales taxes and trade.

UM Professor Bill Knowles and Joe Durso Jr., former radio-television department chair and acting dean of the University’s School of Journalism who died in 1998, created the capstone class. This anniversary marks Knowles’ final time at the helm of the Student Documentary Unit. He announced his retirement earlier this year.

For more information about "Montana’s Energy Puzzle" and UM’s Student Documentary Unit, go online to http://www.umt.edu/rtv/studentdoc.