Montana/Region

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Two Illinois residents were killed when the motorcycle they were riding struck a deer in central Montana, went off the road and hit several trees.

The Montana Highway Patrol says the crash was reported at about 11 a.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 89 southeast of Great Falls, near Armington Junction.

Trooper Michael Flood tells the Great Falls Tribune that the man who was driving and his female passenger died at the scene. Neither was wearing a helmet. Their names, ages and hometowns were not released.

KALISPELL, Mont. — The Weyerhaeuser Company is closing the doors on its lumber and plywood mills in Columbia Falls, which will result in more than 70 workers losing their jobs.

The Flathead Beacon reports that Weyerhaeuser representative Tom Ray says production will cease Aug. 19.

Weyerhaeuser's medium-density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls and its two mills in Evergreen will continue to operate.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A trade group for the energy industry accused federal officials Thursday of illegally canceling or postponing the sale of more than two dozen oil and gas leases over the past two years.

The Western Energy Alliance sued the Obama administration in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, seeking to force officials to hold lease sales four times a year as required under the federal Mineral Leasing Act.

The group said sales have been called off in Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

KALISPELL, Mont. — Montana wildlife officials say the bear that attacked and killed a mountain biker near Glacier National Park was an 18- to 20-year-old male grizzly that had been previously captured.

Brad Treat, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer, surprised the bear June 29 while riding his bicycle along a trail with limited sight distances, leaving little time to react.