Montana/Region

Head of Yellowstone during 1988 fires dies

Published on Tue, 10/04/2016 - 5:16pm

BOZEMAN, Mont. — The man who oversaw Yellowstone National Park during the wildfires that burned across the park in 1988 has died.

Bob Barbee was 80. Family spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo says Barbee died at home in Bozeman on Sunday.

Barbee was superintendent of Yellowstone from 1983 to 1994. The 1988 Yellowstone fires were a defining event in his 42-year career of public service.

Audit: Montana breaks law by housing adults in youth prisons

Published on Tue, 10/04/2016 - 5:15pm

HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Corrections is breaking the law by housing youth and adult offenders in the same facility and by contracting to send girl offenders to a youth prison in Idaho, a recently released audit found.

Corrections director Mike Batista said he disagreed with the findings of the Legislative Audit Division, and the low inmate populations at the Pine Hills and Riverside youth correctional facilities required department officials to take action to maximize resources.

Montana Tech faculty seek changes after students expelled

Published on Tue, 10/04/2016 - 5:14pm

BUTTE, Mont. — Montana Tech faculty members want to revise the school's "academic dishonesty" policy and undergo safety training after a summer in which they battled organized cheating by dozens of Middle Eastern students.

The school announced in August that it had expelled 15 summer school students.

US says climate change threatens national park's insects

Published on Mon, 10/03/2016 - 3:43pm
Article Image Alt Text

BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. wildlife officials proposed greater protections for two rare insects in Glacier National Park on Monday, saying warmer temperatures caused by climate change are drying up the mountain streams where they live.

The western glacier stonefly and the meltwater lednian stonefly live primarily in streams fed by cold water from glaciers and snowfields.

Blood-streaked survivor recounts bear attack on Facebook

Published on Mon, 10/03/2016 - 3:42pm

HELENA, Mont. — A battered and blood-streaked survivor of a bear attack said in a video he shot on his way to the hospital that the animal attacked him twice as he played dead before hiking 3 miles to his truck to seek help.

Todd Orr, 50, posted the graphic video, along with photos and a written narrative, about Saturday's attack in southwestern Montana's Madison River valley on his Facebook page. The video shows Orr with blood streaming down his face from a deep gash on his head and what he described as "pieces of stuff" hanging from his mangled arm.

County considers what to do with stored human remains

Published on Mon, 10/03/2016 - 3:39pm

HELENA, Mont. — Lewis and Clark County is trying to figure out what to do with dozens of decades-old body parts still stored on county property after the longtime coroner died.

The Helena Independent Record reports that county officials are calling for a financial audit in the wake of Coroner M.E. "Mickey" Nelson's Sept. 11 death and asking that uncatalogued items be dealt with as deputy coroner Bryan Backeberg takes over.

Army Corps of Engineers gives coal terminal favorable review

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

BILLINGS, Mont. — A proposal to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming out of a port in Washington has received a favorable review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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
Article Image Alt Text

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.

Special Sections