Latest Montana Headlines
All the headlines from our Montana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lawyers Claim Montana Workers’ Compensation Investigators Violate Privacy
Aug 30 2011 // Two Billings attorneys are asking the Montana Supreme Court to stop workers’ compensation investigators from practices that they say violate the privacy rights of workers’ comp claimants. The Billings Gazette...
More Montana Counties Added to Federal Disaster List
Aug 26 2011 // BILLINGS, Mont. _ Homeowners and businesses in fifteen more Montana counties and the Fort Peck Reservation can apply for federal help to recover from severe storms and flooding that swept the state this...
Flood Aid to Montana Reaches $2.4 Million
Aug 12 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has so far approved $2.4 million in flood disaster aid in Montana. Unusually heavy rain and a late-melting snowpack resulted in rising water and flooding across the state...
Montana Supreme Court Rules in Aluminum Baseball Bat Case
Aug 1 2011 // The Montana Supreme Court has awarded $850,000 to the family of a 18-year-old pitcher who was killed by a baseball hit off an aluminum bat. The aluminum baseball bat was not designed defectively, but the manufacturer...
Montana Reminds Farmers to Buy Hail Insurance
Jul 29 2011 // Montana’s Department of Agriculture is reminding farmers that there is a state hail insurance program, and that the deadline to purchase the state insurance is fast approaching, news outlets in the state are...
Disaster Aid for Montana Approved
Jul 29 2011 // The federal government is approving Montana’s request for disaster assistance. Gov. Brian Schweitzer says that he has been notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that areas his with flooding since April...
Ratings Recap: Kuwait Re, Optimum, Montana Re (cat bonds)
Jul 18 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of...
Probe Into Montana Oil Spill Cause to Take Months
Jul 18 2011 // A federal safety official says it will probably be months before investigators know what caused an ExxonMobil oil pipeline to rupture near Billings, Mont., spilling about 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone...
Exxon Says 40 Montana Properties Damaged by Oil Spill
Jul 7 2011 // About 40 Montana landowners have reported contamination of their property by crude oil spilled from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline into the flood-swollen Yellowstone River over the weekend, the company said Wednesday. As...
Feds to Require Safety Plan for Restart of Exxon’s Montana Pipeline
Jul 6 2011 // U.S. pipeline safety regulators on Tuesday said Exxon Mobil must make fixes to its ruptured Montana oil pipeline and submit a restart plan before oil can flow again. The U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and...
Exxon Spill on Yellowstone River Disrupts Montana Ranches
Jul 6 2011 // Environmental officials scrambled Tuesday to assess the extent of contamination from a weekend oil spill that has fouled water supplies and ranch lands along a scenic and otherwise pristine stretch of the Yellowstone River...
Exxon Claims Mont. Oil Spill Damage Limited, Gov. Doubtful
Jul 5 2011 // An oil pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into Montana’s Yellowstone River was temporarily shut down in May because of concerns over rising waters, and regulators last year warned Exxon...
Montana Reviewing Pipeline Safety Following Exxon Spill
Jul 5 2011 // Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Monday said authorities will review safety of all oil and gas pipelines that cross waterways in the state and close those that did not meet standards. “We’ll make the decision...
Ratings Recap: PartnerRe (notes), Mariah Re (notes), Montana Re (notes)
Jun 15 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of “bbb” to the $325 million 7.25 percent Series E cumulative preferred shares of Bermuda-base PartnerRe, Ltd. ,with a stable outlook. The proceeds from the issuance...
Montana Cuts Workers’ Comp Costs
Jun 6 2011 // Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen has approved a 22.4 percent reduction in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, which will translate to lower premiums for employers. The lower...
Montana State Fund Cuts Rates 20%
Jun 6 2011 // As predicted by Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen, the board of Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, has cut its rates by 20 percent. The move is...
Tornado Touched Down in Montana
May 24 2011 // The National Weather Service says a tornado touched down south of Terry, Montana snapping a tree and damaging two small barns. No one was injured in the twister, reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday about eight miles...
Montana State Fund Cuts Rates 20%
May 23 2011 // The board of Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, cut its rates by 20 percent, in a move that some hope will help the business community and encourage more job creation and...
Ratings Roundup: Aviva/Delta Lloyd, Montana Re (cat bonds), Montpelier Re (notes), Arab Orient
May 9 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has commented that the ratings for the UK’s Aviva plc and its subsidiary companies remain unchanged as a result of Aviva’s announcement to sell a portion of its...
Mont. Governor Vetoes Workers’ Comp Tax
May 6 2011 // Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has used his line item veto power to strike a a 2.75 percent workers’ compensation premium tax on insurance sold by the Montana State Fund to pay for continuing claims for workers...
