Latest Montana Headlines
All the headlines from our Montana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Montana Law to Raise Some Highway Speed Limits to 80 Mph
May 7 2015 // Speed limits on rural interstate highways in Montana will increase to 80 mph this fall, but the cost of a speeding ticket will go up, too. Gov. Steve Bullock signed Senate Bill 375 on Monday. The new law will increase...
Some Asbestos to Remain in Montana Town Under Final EPA Plan
May 7 2015 // Federal regulators’ long-delayed final cleanup plan for a Montana mining town where thousands have been sickened by asbestos contamination would leave some of the deadly material where it sits, in the walls of...
Verisk Expands Wildfire Risk Service to 3 More States
May 5 2015 // Verisk Insurance Solutions has added Montana, Oklahoma and Wyoming to its FireLine wildfire risk management service. FireLine provides information to insurers to analyze wildfire risk at the individual address...
Montana State Fund Lowers Rates for Upcoming Policy Year
May 4 2015 // Montana State Fund’s board of directors announced an average overall 5 percent decrease in workers’ compensation rates for 2016. The decrease is for any policy with an effective date in policy year 2016, which...
Higher DUI Fines OK’d by Montana Senate
Apr 20 2015 // Montana senators have endorsed a proposal to double DUI fines. Seven Democrats joined 20 Republicans Saturday to approve House Bill 488 on a 27-23 vote that reversed the Senate’s Friday opinion against the bill. The...
Montana Man Sentenced to 5 Years for 13th DUI
Apr 16 2015 // A 67-year-old man with a series of drunken driving convictions in three states dating back to 1985 has been sentenced to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections for his 13th conviction of driving under the...
Minor Quake in Montana Reported by USGS
Apr 13 2015 // The U.S. Geological Survey reported a minor earthquake struck southeast of Kalispell, Mont. over the weekend There were no reports of damage from the 3.6 magnitude earthquake that struck about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. The...
Montana Supreme Court Upholds $4M Work Injury Verdict
Apr 6 2015 // The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a default judgment that led to a nearly $4 million award for a man who was seriously injured while unloading logs at a Frenchtown pulp mill in 2008. As part of Smurfit-Stone Container...
Bill to Up Montana Highway Speeds Proposed
Mar 23 2015 // Montana lawmakers on Friday heard the session’s fourth proposal to increase highway speed limits. Republican Rep. Art Wittich proposed a ballot referendum Friday for voters to decide whether to raise highway speed...
Montana Supreme Court Upholds $4M Work Injury Verdict
Mar 20 2015 // The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a default judgment that led to a nearly $4 million award for a man who was seriously injured while unloading logs at a Frenchtown pulp mill in 2008. As part of Smurfit-Stone Container...
Former Miss Montana Gets 5 Years’ Probation For Insurance Fraud
Mar 17 2015 // A former Miss Montana USA who was convicted of defrauding her insurance company while her historic mansion was undergoing repairs has been sentenced to five years on federal probation. The Missoulian reported U.S. District...
Safety Probe Underway of Montana Plant Fire That Burned 3
Mar 3 2015 // Wyoming workplace safety officials say they’re investigating a fire that burned three men at a chemical plant that manufactures explosives near Cheyenne. The fire happened Thursday morning at the Dyno Nobel plant a...
Man With Four Times BAC in Montana Crash Admits to 10th DUI
Mar 3 2015 // A man who caused a wreck in Billings, Mont. in December while driving with a blood alcohol concentration four times the legal limit has pleaded guilty to his 10th DUI. David South also pleaded guilty to felony criminal...
Montana Man Sues University Alleging Harassment, Discrimination
Feb 24 2015 // A former janitor at Montana State University is suing the college over how he was treated by co-workers. Akram Zahran filed the lawsuit this past week in Gallatin County District Court against MSU, two co-workers and a...
Montana Licensed 34 Captive Insurance Companies in 2014
Feb 23 2015 // State insurance department officials report that Montana licensed 34 new captive insurance companies in 2014, bringing the state’s total number of licensed captives to 177. In addition to the 34 new captive insurance...
Montana Bill Would Add Tree Wells As ‘Risk Of Skiing’
Feb 17 2015 // The Legislature is passing a bill that would include tree wells as one of the risks of skiing in Montana. Senate Bill 164 will go to Gov. Steve Bullock next for his consideration. Sponsored by Republican Sen. Brian Hoven...
Montana Lawmakers Consider Ban on Cellphones While Driving
Feb 10 2015 // Lawmakers are expected to consider a bill that would ban the use of cellphones by motorists across the state. Montana is the only state in the country that does not ban at least some drivers from texting. Several Montana...
Montana Man’s 11th DUI Gets 50 Years
Feb 9 2015 // A 49-year-old Helena, Mont. man who has been convicted of 11 drunken driving offenses has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. District Judge Kathy Seeley sentenced Shawn Kevin Smaage in late January, saying he would have...
Montana Licensed 34 Captive Insurance Companies In 2014
Feb 3 2015 // State insurance department officials are reporting that Montana licensed 34 new captive insurance companies in 2014, bringing the state’s total number of licensed captives to 177. In addition to the 34 new captive...
Montana Oil Spill Is Latest Involving Wyoming Pipeline Company
Feb 2 2015 // The Wyoming company whose pipeline leaked 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River in Montana and its sister company have had multiple pipeline spills and federal fines levied against them in the last decade,...
