Montana/Region

Gianforte pours another $1.5 million into his campaign for governor

Published on Mon, 10/03/2016 - 3:38pm

HELENA, Mont. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte is pouring more of his own money into his campaign to unseat Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock.

Campaign finance reports filed Monday show Gianforte wrote his campaign three $500,000 checks over the reporting period from Aug. 28 to Sept. 26.

The Bozeman businessman has donated $3.1 million of his personal wealth to the campaign stretching back to the primary election campaign.

NorthWestern seeks $10.9 million natural gas rate increase

Published on Mon, 10/03/2016 - 3:37pm

HELENA, Mont. — NorthWestern Energy is asking the Montana Public Service Commission to approve a $10.9 million natural gas rate increase for its customers.

PSC officials say it is the company's first gas rate case since 2012.

Chairman Brad Johnson said in a statement Monday that the commission will be thorough and judicious in considering the request.

NorthWestern officials say a typical residential customer using 100 therms per month would see a 6.77 percent bill increase under the rate hike.

Endangered ferrets released on Montana's Crow Reservation

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:25pm
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PRYOR, Mont. — The 5,000-square-mile Crow Indian Reservation south of Billings welcomed its newest residents with a cattail to represent the Platte River.

The 18 black-footed ferrets were transported to the Crow Reservation on Wednesday, where biologists and wildlife officials hope the endangered species will eventually establish a breeding population.

Attorneys general cast doubt on Utah land push

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:20pm

SALT LAKE CITY — A new legal analysis from a group of Western attorneys general casts doubt on many of the arguments Utah has put forward in its push to gain control of millions of acres of federal land.

The report, based on two years of work, doesn't address every argument Utah has floated, but it points out decisions by the Supreme Court and other federal courts that could put Utah on shaky ground if it sues the U.S. government for control. The analysis was drafted by lawyers from seven Republican attorneys general, three Democrats and one independent.

Highway Patrol official under investigation for bison photo

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:19pm

CASPER, Wyo. — A high-ranking official with the Wyoming Highway Patrol is under investigation for posing for a photo near a bison at Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating Highway Patrol Major Keith Groeneweg after he posted a photo on Facebook that looks like he is violating park rules that people must stay at least 25 yards from wildlife, The Casper Star-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2djbaNh).

Secretary of state calls for automatic voter registration

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:12pm

HELENA, Mont. — Secretary of State Linda McCulloch is asking state lawmakers to pass an automatic voter registration bill in the next legislative session

Five states have passed laws or regulations that automatically register eligible citizens who have driver's licenses.

McCulloch says the measure would expand voter rolls and save the state money.

McCulloch proposed the measure Thursday during her first and last State of the Elections address.

Lawmaker seeks Bullock's emails as attorney general

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:10pm

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Senate judiciary chairman is asking the state Department of Justice to find out what happened to former Attorney General's Steve Bullock's emails when Bullock left that office to become governor.

The request by Republican Sen. Scott Sales comes after Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth was denied a wide-ranging demand for emails from Bullock's time as attorney general between 2009 and 2013.

FBI mum on case of Montana woman found dead in car trunk

Published on Fri, 09/30/2016 - 4:02pm

HELENA, Mont. — The FBI is awaiting lab results before releasing any more information about the death of a woman who reported being kidnapped at a Montana rest stop and spending hours in the trunk of her car.

The Helena Independent Record reports investigators are trying to determine how 47-year-old Rita Maze, of Great Falls, ended up shot to death in the trunk. She was found dead Sept. 7 with a handgun and two spent shell casings at her side.

CALL IN THE WILD: Cellphones spill into Yellowstone's backcountry despite park plan

Published on Thu, 09/29/2016 - 4:16pm
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BILLINGS, Mont. — Adventure seekers encounter untamed wilderness when they enter the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Howling wolves. Deadly grizzly bears. Steam-spewing geysers as seen nowhere else on earth.

A refuge from ringing cellphones? Not so much anymore.

In the popularity contest between Yellowstone's natural wonders and on-demand phone service, park administrators appear to have lost ground on a 2009 pledge to minimize cellphone access in backcountry areas.

Democrats release audio of Gianforte proposing sales tax

Published on Thu, 09/29/2016 - 4:10pm

HELENA, Mont. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte once called replacing Montana's income and capital gains taxes with a sales tax an "ideal solution" that would draw high-tech businesses to the state, according to an audio clip released by the state Democratic Party leader Thursday.

Gianforte is in a close race against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in the Nov. 8 election, and the timing of the release was meant to influence Montana voters who have twice before rejected initiatives to institute a statewide sales tax.