The State-Tribal Relations Committee is pressing Montana’s Congressional delegation to do more to increase public input and tribal consultation on the Keystone XL pipeline. A journalism union based in Wyoming is criticizing executive leadership for recent layoffs at the Billings Gazette. The mortality rate of grizzly bears in northwestern Montana has prompted a group of bear researchers to challenge whether the grizzly should be removed from federal protection.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission has decided to seek public input for easing crowding on the scenic Madison River in southwestern Montana. The Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee has decided to postpone a gubernatorial candidate debate it had planned to sponsor in Helena later this month until all three candidates can attend.

Montana lawmakers are meeting for a week in January to study whether the state legislature should meet every year. Former Madison County Sheriff Roger Thompson was found guilty of misconduct in Virginia City Thursday. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on perjury and evidence tampering charges. First-time visitors to Yellowstone National Park become more frustrated by perceived crowding problems the longer they stay, according to a new National Park Service study.

Two more cases of lung injuries associated with vaping products were confirmed in Montana on Thursday. The Montana Public Service Commission has approved a $6.5 million rate increase for NorthWestern Energy customers, less than 20 percent of the increase the utility initially sought.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is offering a reward for information about four trophy mule deer bucks poached north of Hardin. Lewis and Clark County will no longer have partisan elections for leadership offices.

A fourth Republican is entering Montana’s primary race for secretary of state. An early-morning fire burned a commercial building and two homes in West Yellowstone.

Five Montana hospitals are settling a lawsuit that claimed they made a deal with an insurer to inflate employee health coverage prices in return for $26 million. Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity, meaning many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government could eventually disappear. The city of Helena has reached a $100,000 settlement with a teacher who suffered hearing damage during an active shooter drill.

Montana Public Radio Evening Newscast for Nov. 1, 2019.

Montana State University Billings and Northwest College in Powell, Wyo. are 90 miles apart, but the two institutions are working to shorten that distance academically. The Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday about whether BNSF Railway can be held liable for exposing Libby residents to asbestos that was in shipments of vermiculite it transported before the local mine shut down in 1990.

The state of Montana has spent more than $2 million on snow plowing so far this year surpassing what costs were this time over the last two years. With snow on the ground in Montana, fire agencies around the state are sending 20 engines and 72 firefighters to California to help battle wildfires there.