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BILLINGS — Rapidly expanding wildfires across a broad swath of southern Montana have caused injuries and burned homes, buildings and vehicles, authorities said Thursday, as firefighters struggled to contain the flames amid hazardous conditions. The precise toll of the latest spate of fires to hit the state remained uncertain. But there were well over 150 homes threatened by blazes that in some cases burned unchecked. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Bob Zellar A pickup makes it out just ahead of the Rosebud fire Wednesday. R...
BILLINGS — Fire crews working in cooler temperatures Friday made gains on major wildfires threatening homes in central and southern Montana, but lightning continued to spark new blazes and the heat was expected return in coming days. A mandatory evacuation for 20 to 30 homes south of Columbus was downgraded to voluntary, and significant progress was reported on a fire north of Winnett. Meanwhile, crews scrambled to squelch several new small fires caused by lightning in Fergus County, along Ambrose Creek in the Bitterroot V...
BILLINGS — A proposed standard for federal cleanup of asbestos contamination in a Montana town concludes that even a tiny amount of the material can lead to lung problems — a benchmark far more rigorous than any in the past and one that the industry says could force expensive and unnecessary cleanups across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency's new proposal for the northwest Montana town of Libby, where asbestos dust has killed hundreds of people, would be 5,000 times tougher than the standard used in past cle...
BILLINGS — Fire crews working in cooler temperatures Friday made gains on major wildfires threatening homes in central and southern Montana, but officials warned more blazes were possible in coming days. A mandatory evacuation for 20 to 30 homes south of Columbus was downgraded to voluntary and significant progress was reported on a fire north of Winnett. Yet with the landscape dried out from recent hot weather and a high likelihood of new lightning strikes, conditions were considered prime for new fires to erupt. A...
ROUNDUP — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has extended his emergency declaration to include six counties and an American Indian reservation in eastern Montana threatened by wildfires. The emergency order signed Wednesday morning is for Musselsshell, Rosebud, Custer, Treasure, Yellowstone and Big Horn counties, along with the Northern Cheyenne reservtion. AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer Lights from a fire truck streak across a burning hillside in a time exposure as the Dahl fire burns, south of Roundup, overnight W...
BILLINGS — Candidates in Montana's three-way battle to fill the state's sole U.S. House seat are hoping a late push for the public's attention and an upcoming televised debate will help cut through the noise of other races dominating the airwaves. Republican businessman Steve Daines of Bozeman, Democratic state Sen. Kim Gillan of Billings and Libertarian restaurant consultant Dave Kaiser of Victor are vying to replace Republican Denny Rehberg. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Kim Gillan, the Democratic candidate for Montana's open U...
ROUNDUP — The big mining companies first came knocking on Ellen Pfister's door in the 1970s, ready to tap the huge coal deposits beneath her family's eastern Montana ranch. Pfister and others successfully fended them off, and as the coal industry retreated domestically, it appeared their battle might be won. But now, a fast-growing market in exporting coal to Asia has Pfister and other ranchers seeing their long-held fears become reality. AP Photo/Janie Osborne Signal Peak Energy President and CEO John DeMichiei, right, a...
SUN PRAIRIE — A conservation group said Tuesday it has bought a 150,000-acre Montana ranch in a major step toward its goal of a national park-caliber prairie wildlife preserve that is stoking fears of change in the heart of cattle country. Steve Page with Page Whitham Land and Cattle confirmed that the family-owned South Ranch near Glasgow had been sold for an undisclosed sum to the American Prairie Reserve. The Bozeman-based group aims to create a multi-million-acre grasslands wildlife complex around northeast Montana's C...
BILLIINGS (AP) — Montana's Little Shell tribe appeared poised to fade from history in recent years after it was denied federal government recognition, lost its financial support from the state and saw its elected leadership splinter. But the past year has brought a sharp turnaround for the 4,500-member landless tribe that long has existed on society's fringe. AP Photo/The Great Falls Tribune, Rion Sanders Henry Anderson, left, and James Parker Shield welcome people to the new Little Shell Chippewa Cree Visitor Center in M...
BILLINGS — The Montana Land Board leased 12 million tons of state-owned coal to a mine near Roundup on Monday, despite concerns about its worker safety record and potential environmental impacts. The five-member land board voted unanimously to accept a $3.6 million upfront bid for the coal from Signal Peak Energy. The owner of the Bull Mountain Mine offered the sole bid on the 640-acre tract. State officials estimated the 10-year lease will bring Montana more than $15 million in royalties and other revenues. Union r...
BILLINGS — Grass and freshly planted trees are sprouting in a new town park that sits atop the site of a vermiculite plant that once spewed asbestos dust across the mountain community of Libby — a welcome dose of normalcy for a city that has become synonymous with lung disease and death. It's a major milestone for the mining town of about 3,000 people near the Canadian border where an estimated 400 people to date have been killed by asbestos exposure. More than 1,700 have been sickened. Lethal dust from the WR. Grace and Co....
BILLINGS — Authorities say a West Virginia man who claimed to be a victim of a drive-by shooting along Highway 2 near Glasgow has confessed to shooting himself. Valley County Undersheriff Vernon Buerkle says 39-year-old Ray Dolin of Julian, W. Va., acknowledgement Thursday night. No charges were immediately filed against Dolin. The case remains under investigation and Buerkle says charges are possible. Dolin claimed he was hitchhiking along U.S. Highway 2 west of Glasgow when the driver of a maroon pickup pulled over and s...
BILLINGS — A man was injured Friday during a run-in with a black bear that was later killed in the remote Bob Marshall Wilderness in northwest Montana, wildlife officials said. The unidentified man was hurt early in the day in an area known as Black Bear Creek. It was unclear what provoked the attack, but officials said the man sprayed the animal with bear spray during the encounter. The victim was taken to Kalispell Regional Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. A hospital administrator told The Associated Press...
BILLINGS — A voter survey released Thursday shows Montana's U.S. Senate candidates running just about even in a high-stakes race that polls suggest has budged little despite more than $15 million in campaign spending. The Montana State University Billings poll found Republican Denny Rehberg, a six-term member of the House, supported by almost 43 percent of respondents. Incumbent Democrat Jon Tester had 40 percent. The difference was within the survey's margin of error, making the race a statistical dead heat. It's also consis...
BILLINGS — A two-person Montana town near Custer's famous "last stand" at Little Bighorn goes up for public auction Wednesday, with bids starting at $250,000 for an eight-acre site on the doorstep of one of America's most famous battles. Garryowen is being sold by Christopher Kortlander, who came to Montana from California almost 20 years ago. About 50 miles southeast of Billings, within the Crow Indian Reservation, he built an 18,500-square-foot, Custer-themed compound on a frontage road along Interstate 90. It includes a p...
A man hitchhiking across the country and writing a memoir called "The Kindness of America" was injured in a random drive-by shooting along a rural highway near northeastern Montana's booming Bakken oil patch, authorities said Monday. Ray Dolin, 39, of West Virginia, was shot in the arm as he approached a pickup Saturday evening thinking the driver was offering him a ride, said Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier. The shooting took place just west of Glasgow along U.S. Highway 2. A 52-year-old Washington man, Lloyd Christopher...
BILLINGS — Montana's state schools superintendent race was headed for an expected recount as incumbent Democrat Denise Juneau held on to a slim lead of about one-third of 1 percent Friday with most votes tallied. Republican Sandy Welch was preparing to ask for a recount that would span all 56 Montana counties. The prospects for a recount grew increasingly likely as late votes out of Yellowstone County finally trickled in over the last few days. Welch can't submit her request until after the vote is canvassed and certified ...
BILLINGS — The shooting of collared gray wolves from Yellowstone National Park is prompting Montana wildlife commissioners to consider new restrictions against killing the predators in areas near the park. Wolf trapping in Montana kicks off Dec. 15. It's the state's first such trapping season since the animals lost their federal protections last year after almost four decades on the endangered species list. But hunting already is under way for the predators in Montana and neighboring Idaho and Wyoming, and at least seven of Y...
BILLINGS — The shooting of collared gray wolves from Yellowstone National Park is prompting Montana wildlife commissioners to consider new restrictions against killing the predators in areas near the park. Wolf trapping in Montana kicks off Dec. 15. It's the state's first such trapping season since the animals lost their federal protections last year after almost four decades on the endangered species list. But hunting already is under way for the predators in Montana and neighboring Idaho and Wyoming, and at least seven of Y...
BILLINGS — Government workers are set to begin hazing hundreds of wild bison back into Yellowstone National Park after capturing a small group of the animals for use in a birth control study. Montana state veterinarian Marty Zaluski says 10 bull bison were captured Tuesday near West Yellowstone. Seven were later released and three turned over to U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers. The government is studying whether birth control can rein in the park's burgeoning buffalo herds and reduce its rate of disease. T...
BILLINGS — Negotiations are under way for the voluntary return of a man accused of shooting himself then claiming to be the victim of a drive-by shooting, a Montana prosecutor said Friday. Suspect Ray Dolin, 39, of West Virginia has been charged with evidence tampering, making false reports and obstructing an officer in Valley County. He was last reported to be under the care of a Veterans Affairs hospital in Wyoming. His phone was not accepting messages. Under a proposal being negotiated with Dolin's attorney, the d...
BILLINGS (AP) — A Montana sheriff says a man mauled to death by two brown bears at a state wildlife casting agency suffered extensive wounds that make it impossible to determine if he was conscious prior to the attack. The head trainer at Animals of Montana had speculated that 24-year-old Benjamin Cloutier, formerly of York Haven, Penn., fell and hit his head prior to being killed. The mauling took place Sunday at the company's facility north of Bozeman. Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin Monday Cloutier died of m...
BILLINGS — Citing voting machine errors and other alleged Election Day problems, Republican Sandy Welch requested a manual vote recount Monday in the race she narrowly lost for Montana schools superintendent. Official results had Democrat Denise Juneau leading Welch by 2,231 votes out of more than 468,000 cast in the Nov. 6 election. An elections expert said the margin of difference appeared too large for Welch to overcome. But Welch, a Martin City education consultant, said voting glitches in Lewis and Clark, Yellowstone a...
BILLINGS — The size and role of federal government took center stage Tuesday in a Montana U.S. House debate as Democrat Kim Gillan and Republican Steve Daines challenged each other on spending cuts, taxes and the role of environmental regulations. The hour-long face-off at Montana State University-Billings — the second of three debates scheduled in the race — had a more confrontational tone than the candidates' initial meeting as the Nov. 6 election nears. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Casey Page U.S. House candidates, Repub...
BILLINGS (AP) — The fierce but elusive wolverine got a last-minute reprieve Friday from a trapping season due to start this weekend in Montana, after a state judge issued a restraining order sought by conservationists who say climate change threatens the predators' long-term survival. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock said the potential for trapping to damage the species' population outweighed the loss of any recreational harvest opportunities. Montana is the only state in the Lower 48 that allows wolverine trapping. Up to f...
