Montana News

A Montana Roman Catholic diocese is filing for bankruptcy protection as part of an unfolding settlement with 72 people who filed sex abuse claims. Darren Eultgen is Chancellor of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. Eultgen says the diocese and its insurance carriers would contribute to a fund to compensate victims and set aside additional money for those who have not yet come forward:

Zebra and quagga mussels are aquatic invasive species, quick to colonize and very difficult to get rid of. They’ve caused millions of dollars of damage since they started popping up in Great Lake states in the 1980s, and they have a lot of people in the Flathead Valley concerned right now.

A mail-in ballot bill that could impact how Montanan's select their next congressman , is likely dead after a party line vote Wednesday morning. Democrats forced a vote on the bill in a House committee hearing, a move that blindsided some Republicans, who criticize the minority party’s tactics.

Senator Jon Tester says he'll push for an extension of the troubled Veterans Choice healthcare program on the Senate floor Thursday. Tester is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs committee. He co-sponsored the original, bi-partisan Veterans Choice bill in 2014. It was a $10 billion response to revelations that some veterans were being harmed by having to wait for long periods to get healthcare through the VA.

A tax increase on cigarettes and chew took a step forward today in the Montana Senate. The proposed tax expansion would for the first time include e-cigarettes.

It’s springtime in Montana and that’s keeping Glendive-area farmer Dena Hoff plenty busy these days: "Oh yes, we’re lambing. It’s been crazy," Hoff says. Hoff, an irrigated farmer on the Yellowstone River, is also keeping tabs on the Trump administration's activities in Washington D.C. Hoff is particularly disappointed by the President’s decision last week to approve a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline :

Governor Steve Bullock's office warned lawmakers Tuesday that they’re risking a special legislative session and budget cuts if they rely too much on new, more optimistic state revenue projections to fund the state budget .

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Wednesday signed orders implementing measures President Trump wants to take to roll back restrictions on fossil fuel production. The 14-month old Obama-era moratorium on new coal leases on federal land ended Wednesday with the stroke of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s pen.

A Montana legislative panel has rejected a bill that called for a statewide vote on whether to bar transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that don't match their gender at birth. The House Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 against the bill today. It is likely dead, though it could be revived if enough votes flip in the committee or if a majority of representatives blast it to the House floor.

Montana Democrats are saying Republican U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte’s former company ran into tax trouble with Indiana. Republicans say that may be true, but has absolutely nothing to do with Gianforte. Accusations of financial chicanery are flying in Montana’s U.S. House race.