Federal regulators approve $161 million loan for Montana-Canada transmission line

$161M loan for Montana transmission line approved

Federal judge says Yellowstone-area grizzly bears must stay on threatened list

Judge keeps Yellowstone grizzly on threatened list

Northwest MT logging projects challenged; enviros say grizzly bears could be harmed

MT logging projects challenged over bears

BILLINGS, Mont. — An environmental group is seeking to stop three logging projects on several thousand acres in northwest Montana, arguing that the timber sales would harm the area’s fledgling grizzly bear population.

Arch makes deal for vast SE Mont. coal tracts, putting pressure on state to lease its reserves

Arch signs deal for southeast Montana coal tracts

Libby official wants EPA to pay for city buildings demolished during asbestos cleanup

Libby official: EPA must pay for lost buildings

Yellowstone bison could go to Ted Turner’s Montana ranch after other options fall through

Yellowstone bison could go to Turner’s Mont. ranch

Federal officials say changes to bureaucracy for Indian tribe acknowledgment will take time

Feds pledge overhaul of tribal recognition system

Montana issues 1st industrial hemp-growing state license to Bozeman woman

1st Mont. license to grow hemp issued to woman

Bureau of Indian Affairs won’t give federal recognition to Montana’s Little Shell Tribe

Indian Affairs won’t recognize Little Shell Tribe

Calif con man whose Mont. jail plan fizzled says he intends to build military training center

BILLINGS, Mont. — A convicted con artist from California who roiled a southeastern Montana community with his unlikely bid to take over its empty jail said he intends to return to the state and pursue a military training center.

Calif con man says he still has plans for military training center in MT

BILLINGS, Mont. — A convicted con artist from California who roiled a southeastern Montana community with his unlikely bid to take over its empty jail said he intends to return to the state and pursue a military training center.

Rising metal prices help Montana mining company weather loss of General Motors as a customer

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Montana mining company that warned of possible layoffs after General Motors Co. canceled a major contract says higher platinum and palladium prices have made up for the lost business.

Montana keeps wolf quota at 75 but closes area near Yellowstone after 9 animals killed

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana wildlife commissioners shut down gray wolf hunting Tuesday in backcountry adjacent to Yellowstone National Park after nine of the predators were killed there in recent weeks.

Wolf quota could change in Montana after 9 shot near Yellowstone; Idaho reports 37 kills

BILLINGS, Mont. — Wildlife officials in Montana will consider changes to the state’s inaugural wolf hunt after nine of the predators were shot in just three weeks along the border of Yellowstone National Park.

Man found dead in Montana garbage truck, may have been sleeping in garbage bin

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana police say a man who may have been using a large garbage bin as shelter from the cold was apparently crushed when the bin was emptied.

Calif. company run by ex-con drops plan to take over jail, run police force in Montana city

BILLINGS, Mont. — An obscure California company run by an ex-convict with a history of fraud has dropped its effort to take over a beleaguered Montana jail, days after state officials launched an investigation.

Feds say ruling that put bears back on threatened list actually puts them in greater danger

BILLINGS, Mont. — Federal officials say a court ruling that returned Yellowstone grizzly bears to the threatened species list has unexpectedly put the animals at increased risk.

Secret Service veteran named as Montana jail operator had 2004 theft conviction

BILLINGS, Mont. — A former Secret Service agent named as the would-be operator of a Montana jail and law enforcement training center served 14 months in prison for stealing money from the government.

Montana attorney general launches investigation of jail deal with Calif company

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana’s attorney general launched an investigation Thursday into a California company that wants to take over an empty jail in the rural city of Hardin, following revelations that the company’s lead figure is a convicted felon with a history of fraud.

Montana AG launches investigation of jail deal with Calif. entrepreneur who has checkered past

BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana’s attorney general has launched an investigation into a California company’s plan to take over the city of Hardin’s $27 million jail, following revelations that the company’s lead figure is a convicted felon with a history of fraud.

California entrepreneur promising to revitalize rural Montana town has checkered past

BILLINGS, Mont. — Michael Hilton showed up in Hardin, Mont., last week, presenting himself as an economic savior, the man who would take over the town’s $27 million jail — empty since it was built as a development project in 2007 — and provide 200 new jobs in the process.

CA entrepreneur promising to revitalize rural MT town has checkered past

BILLINGS, Mont. — Michael Hilton showed up in Hardin, Mont., last week, presenting himself as an economic savior, the man who would take over the town’s $27 million jail — empty since it was built as a development project in 2007 — and provide 200 new jobs in the process.

Shovelnose sturgeon proposed for federal protection

BILLINGS, Mont. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing federal protection for the shovelnose sturgeon to help protect the endangered pallid sturgeon.

Prosecutors say Montana man shot and paralyzed his neighbor in dispute over barking pit bull

BILLINGS, Mont. — Prosecutors say a Montana man shot and paralyzed a neighbor who complained about his pit bull puppy’s barking.

Feds again delay Montana tribe’s recognition request; application pending since 1978

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Department of Interior has again delayed its long-stalled decision on whether a landless Montana Indian tribe deserves federal recognition.

Citing climate change, federal judge says grizzlies still threatened

BILLINGS, Mont. — Facing the combined pressures of climate change, hunters and lax protections, 600 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park are going back on the threatened species list under a federal court order issued Monday.

AP ENTERPRISE: Questions emerge about company promising to bring inmates to small Montana town

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.