A fire broke out on the north side of Great Falls this afternoon, but after burning down several unoccupied structures, it’s now under control. The Lewis and Country Sheriff’s office will announce this evening if it is safe for people near the Lookout Fire to return home, or if a mandatory evacuation must be put in place. A fire on the flank of Lolo Peak is throwing up a smoke plume visible from many locations. A federal report says gray wolves killed a record number of livestock in Wyoming last

New fires are cropping up and emergency officials are preparing for potentially dangerous fire weather over the weekend. The chair of Montana’s utility regulators violated state ethics during the 2016 election, according to a decision released Friday by Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices. Montana may have to run its one-of-a-kind Medicaid expansion program for a third of the cost if lower-than-expected state income triggers budget cuts next month.

Senator Jon Tester is ripping the new Senate health care bill; Senator Steve Daines says he needs more time to study it. In western Montana, nearly 200 firefighters are battling the Lazier Creek 3 Fire, located south of Highway 2 and west of the Thompson River Road. It’s hot outside, and as many as 3,000 people could be without water in a week due to a severe shortage on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation.

Additional crews and fire engines have arrived to fight five separate fires in the Highway 2 corridor in northwestern Montana. Missoula County is suing the owner of an industrial site near Frenchtown over more than $1.2 million in overdue property taxes. Montana’s Republican Commissioner of Securities and Insurance won’t say he’s going to challenge Democrat Jon Tester for Montana’s Senate seat that's up in 2018 – but Matt Rosendale also isn’t saying he won't run. The Associated Press is

Fire officials are now investigating whether a person is responsible for starting the big fire burning near Zortman. Montana’s health insurance companies are asking for rate increases for 2018 ranging from two percent to 23 percent. Montana's chief political watchdog says the state Republican Party has failed to comply with an earlier ruling requiring it to provide better detail about electioneering activities in last fall's legislative elections. Yesterday Glacier National Park announced that

Montana’s backlogged sexual assault evidence kits will undergo lab testing beginning this month. Several large fires continue to burn across Montana following a weekend of record-breaking heat and dry lightning fires. The Montana Supreme Court has adopted an interim rule allowing accommodations for breastfeeding mothers while taking the state bar exam. Police in Billings say they're now investigating the case of a missing man as a possible homicide.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to streamline the process for oil and gas development on federal lands. A lot of Montanans were shaken at about 12:30 this morning by an earthquake with an epicenter about six miles south-east of Lincoln. The Phillips County Sheriff's office has ordered a mandatory evacuation for the town of Landusky due to the nearby July Fire burning in Phillips County, just south of the Fort Belknap Reservation.

Fire activity is increasing across the state as the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning today for high temperatures, gusty winds and low humidity for a large portion of central and northeastern Montana. An autopsy confirmed the body of a 23-year-old Nebraska man has been recovered from a the Flathead river downstream of the SQK dam on the Flathead Reservation. FBI agents seized bomb-making materials, seven guns and ammunition from the Montana home of a man they suspect of carrying

Gas and diesel prices ticked up over the weekend as a new state tax went into effect. The new tax will increase every July 1 for the next six years, to fund maintenance on bridges and roads across the state. Montana students who participate in a five-state regional medical school program are being asked to commit to work in Montana for three years or pay additional fees. Lewis and Clark County officials have identified the victim of a fatal weekend shooting in Helena. Coroner Bryan Backeberg

The Montana Supreme Court has ordered a temporary stop to Marsy’s Law, the constitutional amendment approved by voters last fall. Fire season is off to a slow start this year, but state officials say drought conditions in Eastern Montana and rising temperatures across the state could change that. The Montana health department has issued temporary emergency rules for the state medical marijuana program. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is designating 15 North Dakota counties as primary natural