U.S. transportation officials have finalized long-delayed measures meant to prevent pipeline spills and deadly gas explosions, but didn’t address recommended steps to lessen accidents once they occur. A Montana mine company has laid off dozens of workers, but could hire again as it aims to prevent acid rock drainage. Starting Tuesday, pharmacies in Montana will need to see identification from patients picking up prescriptions for opioid painkillers like hydrocodone or oxycodone.

Gov. Steve Bullock declared an emergency Sunday for areas hit by an early-season storm. Gov. Steve Bullock is applying to be the first Democrat in the presidential primary who accepts public financing for his campaign. Montana's minimum wage will increase 15 cents an hour to $8.65 in January.

The Montana Human Rights Network this week warned of anti-Semitic fliers showing up on doorsteps and car windshields in Helena. The material targeting Jewish people and Israel was dropped in neighborhoods near the state Capitol building a week before the celebration of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish new year.

Residents in parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are preparing for an early season snow storm while their neighbors to the south are under a red-flag warning for critical fire conditions. Montana wildlife officials have been unable to locate a grizzly bear that mauled an Ohio hunter in southwestern Montana. Montana wheat farmers say they’ve been given a “glimmer of hope” with an initial trade deal reached this week between the U.S. and local grain growers’ largest buyer - Japan.

The Trump administration's public lands steward has recused himself from work involving dozens of former clients. An environmental group says the U.S. government is refusing to provide details of a cattle grazing program in six Western states, including Montana, that could be harming habitat and endangered species. The director of Montana's Department of Corrections is denying allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation made in a lawsuit filed by a former employee.

A former Montana Department of Corrections employee alleges she lost her job after refusing sexual advances by the agency director. Montana’s congressional delegation is reacting in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement today that the House will move forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. A conservation group trying to create the largest nature reserve in the Lower 48 states is scaling back its request to expand bison grazing on public lands.

A woman says backlash over her lawsuit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is forcing her family to move from their Havre home. A Billings man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a state highway worker in October of last year. Wildlife officials have ended their search for the grizzly bear or bears responsible for back-to-back attacks on hunters in the same area of southwestern Montana earlier this week.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has filed two citations against the person believed responsible for starting a wildfire north of Helena that burned nearly 8 square miles of forestland. Officials in Lewis and Clark County are investigating a homicide after the body of a missing Helena man was found near Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Snow is anticipated across the higher elevations of south central Montana and northern Wyoming this weekend which could impact the Beartooth Highway.

The attorney for a Montana lawmaker who successfully sued the state over an ethics law says House Majority Leader Brad Tschida will use the $75,000 he was awarded to pay his legal fees. The Federal Communications Commission says Montana needs to return $2 million to the state's 911 account. An Ohio resident died Monday in a two-vehicle crash outside Glacier National Park, according to Montana Highway Patrol.

Three hunters were injured in two separate grizzly bear attacks in the same area of southwestern Montana less than 12 hours apart, wildlife officials say. The U.S. Forest Service has begun prescribed burn projects for thousands of acres within the Lolo National Forest. Top indy films from around the country will play in Billings this week.