5 things you should know about Montana

Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.

SOME MEASURES WON'T MAKE BALLOT:

The sponsors of at least two proposed ballot measure say they haven't gathered enough signatures to make November's ballot, while others acknowledge it will be a struggle to meet Friday's deadline. Former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger says response has been poor to his plan to bar state government officials from conducting warrantless searches, and Helena attorney James Brown says time was too short to collect enough signatures for his proposal to fill U.S. Senate vacancies by election. Sponsors of measures to ban trapping on public lands, ban marijuana and expand Medicaid say they are still hoping to meet the deadline.

BISON RELOCATION DOWN TO FIVE CANDIDATES:

Montana wildlife officials have come up with a short list of five entities that could receive bison from Yellowstone National Park under an experimental program to establish new herds. The groups are the Fort Peck Indian Reservation's Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Prairie Reserve.

DAM PURCHASE QUESTIONED:

A consulting company is questioning NorthWestern Energy's planned $900 million purchase of 11 hydro-electric dams, including whether NorthWestern's plan budgets enough money for operations and maintenance of the dams. But NorthWestern Energy says the consultants hired by the Montana Public Service Commission raised unfounded concerns.

SME REORGANIZATION GETS TENTATIVE OK:

A federal judge has given tentative approval to a reorganization plan for the bankrupt Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative. Some of the cooperative's creditors had objected to the plan. Southern Montana manager Scott Sweeney says their concerns were resolved through a recent settlement. Details have not been released.

83-YEAR-OLD ACCUSED OF HITTING MAN WITH TRUCK:

Ravalli County authorities say 83-year-old Thomas Esley Day of Hamilton has been arrested on suspicion of trying to kill another man by hitting him with a pickup truck. Day was booked into jail Saturday night and was being held without bond on suspicion of attempted deliberate homicide. Authorities say the 64-year-old victim is in stable condition and had been staying with the suspect at his residence north of Hamilton.