The group that proposed a ballot initiative asking voters to regulate who can use a public bathroom based on a person’s sex at birth acknowledged today that they failed to get enough support to move forward.

The candidates for Montana’s seat in the U.S. House, Kathleen Williams and Greg Gianforte , have released their latest fundraising numbers, and Montana State University Political Science Professor David Parker says there’s a pretty big surprise in them. I spoke with him earlier today.

Secretary of State Corey Stapleton is asking the Montana Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that removed Green Party candidates from election ballots this November. The appeal notice filed Wednesday challenges a ruling earlier this month from a district court in Helena that sided with the Montana Democratic Party, which argued the Green Party illegitimately gained access to the ballot.

A state legislative committee is asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to work with Montana’s Congressional delegation to finalize a handful of water rights agreements. Montana’s Water Policy Interim Committee says federal help in two key areas will lead Montana to having one of the most legally complete set of water rights agreements in the West.

The Democrat challenging Greg Gianforte for Montana’s seat in the U.S. House criticized President Trump Tuesday for his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin the day before. Kathleen Williams joined all three members of Montana’s congressional delegation in rebuking the President.

The Kootenai National Forest is slated to start five salvage timber sales in areas that burned last year, and one more is pending.

Montana U.S. Senate candidates Matt Rosendale and Jon Tester are trading barbs over congressional confirmations. Monday morning Rosendale, the Republican challenger, publicized a new website he created hammering Democrat Tester for opposing judicial nominees put forward by President Trump.

The State’s fire fighting savings account started this month with the second lowest balance since it was created a decade ago. There’s only about $4 million in the fund’s reserves for this fire season. That’s about a fifth of what the state needs to cover an average fire season bill.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The head of the state health department says child protection workers in Billings are facing "crisis level caseloads" leading the Division of Child and Family Services to decide to close its Livingston office and move that office's caseworker jobs to Billings.

Montana’s Secretary of State plans to ask the state Supreme Court to overrule a lower court’s decision this week ordering the Green Party off this fall's ballots .