Montana Democrats launched a double salvo against Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Gianforte this week. A federal judge has ordered former luxury real estate mogul Tim Blixeth to pay $286 million to creditors of a Montana club for the ultrarich that he's accused of fleecing for personal gain. Montana is getting a $2 million federal grant to help clear its backlog of so-called rape kits.

The city of Bozeman is hiring a lobbyist to push for local sales taxes during the 2017 legislative session. This week the Department of Interior asked a federal judge to give them more time to respond to a lawsuit over cancelled oil and gas leases in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. A new budget analysis projects that the state’s general fund balance will fall by more than half by the end of 2017. That’s because state revenues are expected to continue declining into the next fiscal year.

An organization that advocates for abused and neglected children faces an uncertain future due to a lack of funding, but its work will continue. A high-ranking Democratic lawmaker opposes removing federal protections for Yellowstone-area grizzly bears without more stringent restrictions on future hunts for the animals. Wildlife advocacy groups are suing to force the U.S. government to study whether the hunting and slaughter of bison that wander outside of Yellowstone National Park threaten the

Government investigators are due in Yellowstone National Park tomorrow to look into an employee's claims of sexual exploitation of female workers, and financial misconduct. U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell says his agency is depending on partnerships with states and private organizations to manage 60 million acres in need of restoration because of staff and budget cuts. Authorities say a man lured two women into a Montana-based sex trafficking scheme, and had just recruited three teenage

The University of Montana announced preliminary fall enrollment numbers today. Robbie Knievel, the youngest son of late motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, has received a two-year deferred sentence for a drunk-driving crash in Butte. China is one of the top beef-consuming nations in the world. But American producers have been locked out of that lucrative market since a Mad Cow Disease scare 13 years ago. That changed this week.

Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch has accepted the Libertarian Party's replacement candidate for the U.S. House race. Montana is reopening the last closed segment of the Yellowstone River south of Livingston tomorrow. A House committee is investigating complaints of sexual harassment, bullying and other misconduct at national parks across the country, including Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.

Exxon Mobil Corporation has agreed to pay a settlement for a 2011 pipeline break that spilled 63,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River. The spill fouled an 85-mile stretch of the river starting upstream of Laurel. The Montana Standard has asked a judge to make negotiations on the Butte Hill Superfund site public after 14 years. A hearing on a request to move two Montana State Hospital patients held in an intensive treatment unit into the general population has been continued to

Mike Fellows, the Libertarian Party's candidate for Montana's U.S. House seat, was killed in a car accident last night returning from a candidate forum in Seeley Lake. Missoula County sheriff's officials say Fellows died in a head-on collision with another vehicle. Montana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percent to 4.3 percent in August. A small technology firm based in Polson has filed a lawsuit against oilfield services giant Halliburton, one of the world's

On Monday, Montana’s Supreme Court ruled on author Jon Krakauer’s request for University of Montana student records related to an alleged 2012 sexual assault. The Missoulian is reporting legendary Montana wildlife biologist John Craighead has died. A psychiatrist at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs says there's good reason for holding two patients in long-term isolation.

Four state psychiatric patients are suing the state health department and several employees alleging they violated their own policies, and state and federal laws, in their treatment of the patients. The U.S. Senate has approved a 420 million dollar water rights settlement with the Blackfeet Tribe as part of the larger Water Resources Development Act. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes today said they’ve modified their proposal to take over management of the National Bison Range.