Latest Montana Headlines
All the headlines from our Montana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Smart Insurance Solutions in Montana Merges With Leavitt Great West
Jan 27 2015 // Smart Insurance Solutions in Kalispell, Mont. has merged with Leavitt Great West Insurance Services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The merger expands the Leavitt Group’s footprint in Montana. Leavitt...
Montana Man’s 11th DUI Gets 50 Years
Jan 27 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. The Independent Record reported District Judge Kathy Seeley sentenced Shawn Kevin Smaage last...
Montana Smelting Company Says Atlantic Richfield Concealed Pollution
Jan 26 2015 // American Smelting and Refining Co. said in a Montana lawsuit filed earlier this month that Atlantic Richfield Co. concealed pollution-related documents during the sale of Atlantic Richfield’s zinc fuming plant to...
Judge Approves Montana Diocese $16.4M Sex Abuse Settlement
Jan 16 2015 // A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a reorganization plan for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena in Montana that includes a $16.4 million settlement for hundreds of people who sued over clergy sex abuse from the...
Employees at Montana Firm Get $7.3M in Settlement awards
Dec 22 2014 // As many as 200 former employees of Vann’s Inc. will split $7.3 million under a settlement agreement in a lawsuit against former corporate officers. The Missoulian reported that the notice of settlement of the...
Ammo Company in Montana Sued Over Lead Exposure
Dec 8 2014 // Eight former and current employees of a Bozeman, Mont. ammunition company fined for safety violations have filed a lawsuit saying they were exposed to dangerous levels of lead. The lawsuit was filed last week against USA...
Largest Dividend Paid by Montana Workers’ Comp Fund
Dec 1 2014 // Many Montana businesses will share a $20 million windfall from the state workers’ compensation fund. The Montana State Fund’s board in November approved its largest dividend ever for most of its 27,000 business...
Montana’s Lindeen Elected NAIC President
Nov 20 2014 // Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) have elected 2015 officers who will assume their duties on Jan. 1, 2015. President: Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance...
Plan to Settle Abuse Claims Offered By Montana Catholic Diocese
Nov 20 2014 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that proposes a $16.4 million settlement for hundreds of people who said clergy members sexually abused them for decades while the church...
Largest Dividend Paid by Montana Workers’ Comp Fund
Nov 17 2014 // Many Montana businesses will share a $20 million windfall from the state workers’ compensation fund. The Montana State Fund’s board on Friday approved its largest dividend ever for most of its 27,000 business...
Magnitude 4.0 Quake Shakes Parts Of Montana
Nov 13 2014 // A magnitude 4.0 earthquake shook parts of northwest Montana on Tuesday afternoon, but no damage was reported. The U.S. Geological Survey picked up the earthquake at about 3:33 p.m. The temblor’s epicenter was 31...
Montana Governor Pushes EPA to Wrap Up Libby Asbestos Study
Nov 12 2014 // Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is pressing federal regulators to wrap up a long-delayed study of asbestos dangers in a northwestern Montana mining town where hundreds of people have died from exposure to the hazardous...
Montana Jury Awards $4.3M in Train Crash Lawsuit
Oct 24 2014 // A Cascade County, Mont. jury has awarded $4.3 million in damages to a BNSF Railway employee who was injured in a July 2011 train collision caused by a switching error. The Great Falls Tribune reported conductor Michael...
Prinzing Joins Leavitt Group in Montana
Oct 23 2014 // Nick Prinzing has joined Leavitt Great West Insurance Services in the Great Falls, Mont. location and will focus on employee benefits. Prior to joining the agency, Prinzing worked as an advisor customizing comprehensive...
Montana Court Hears Arguments in Jury-Award Cap Case
Sep 29 2014 // The Montana Supreme Court heard arguments Friday in an appeal of a case that could determine whether the state’s $10 million cap on jury awards for punitive damages will stand. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported...
Montana Judge Approves $73M Punitive Award Against Hyundai
Sep 23 2014 // Hyundai Motor Co. must pay $73 million in punitive damages to the families of two Montana teenagers killed in 2011 crash blamed on a steering defect, a judge said. Lake County District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher...
Barley Crops in Montana, Idaho Rain Damaged
Sep 22 2014 // That rain on the plain that saturated Montana’s malt barley crop in late August could be tears in the beer of American brewers in 2015. Heavy late-August rains have damaged crops in the nation’s largest...
Montana Crops Besieged by Floodwaters
Sep 16 2014 // The round hay bales in the Saco flats have turned dark with mud and mildew. The high-water mark rises halfway up these slumping, soggy bales – thousands of which dot the fields along U.S. Highway 12 – bearing the ruin...
Leavitt Group Brings on Schiff in Montana
Sep 12 2014 // Leavitt Great West Insurance Services has hired Gwen Schiff to coordinate the stop loss procurement, placement, and claims oversight for partially self-funded clients. Schiff has 30 years in the insurance industry with an...
Barley Crops In Montana, Idaho Rain Damaged
Sep 10 2014 // That rain on the plain that saturated Montana’s malt barley crop in late August could be tears in the beer of American brewers in 2015. Heavy late-August rains have damaged crops in the nation’s largest...
