Montana/Region

Rosendale chides health insurers for raising rates after subsidies stopped

BOZEMAN (AP) — Montana’s insurance commissioner chided two companies for raising rates on health insurance policies offered under the Affordable Care Act after federal subsidies ended, despite earlier telling them they could modify their rates if circumstances changed, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.

Senate candidate accused of illegally purchasing hunting licenses

BOZEMAN (AP) — U.S. Senate candidate Troy Downing paid non-resident taxes and referred to California as “home” on social media during the same period when authorities allege he illegally purchased Montana resident hunting or fishing licenses, according to an investigation.

Regional News Briefs

Company raises money to look for gold near Yellowstone

BILLINGS — (AP) — A Canadian mining company says it’s raised more than $2 million from an outside investor to help fund its pursuit of a gold mine north of Yellowstone National Park.

Wyoming lawmakers mull tax hike to bolster tourism efforts

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A legislative panel tasked with finding ways to raise revenue for the cash-strapped state is considering a new tax to pay for Wyoming’s efforts to promote tourism.

The Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee is drafting a bill that would impose a 1 percent tax on purchases at hotels, restaurants, bars and other leisure and hospitality establishments around the state.

Judge delays trial start for Bundy, sons

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trial was postponed at the last minute Tuesday for Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, two of his sons and a co-defendant accused of leading an armed uprising against government agents in 2014, amid questions about whether federal prosecutors in Las Vegas turned over complete evidence records to defense teams.

Special session slated to address deficit

HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock called the Montana Legislature into special session next week to address a projected $227 million budget shortfall.

Montana News Briefs

Bozeman hunter shoots, kills 900-pound female grizzly bear

GREAT FALLS (AP) — Montana wildlife officials say a Bozeman hunter shot and killed a female grizzly bear after it charged at him.

The Great Falls Tribune reports the initial investigation by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks shows the Saturday shooting was in self-defense.

Trial for rancher Cliven Bundy gets under way in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trial opens Tuesday in Las Vegas for Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, two of his sons and a co-defendant accused of leading an armed standoff in 2014 against government agents in a decades-long cattle grazing dispute.

US OKs 1st phase of contested new mine in northwest Montana

KALISPELL (AP) — The federal government has approved the first phase of a proposed copper and silver mine in northwestern Montana, But it won’t consider approving full development of the operation until later.

The U.S. Forest Service plans to allow Hecla Mining Co., based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to build an entrance for the Rock Creek Mine and conduct an environmental evaluation, the Flathead Beacon reported Friday.

The changing faces of 4 central Montana ghost towns

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GREAT FALLS — For the miners who found gold along Warm Spring Creek Canyon in 1879, the toughest part may have been keeping silent about their find while they wintered in Junction City along the Yellowstone River.

“They kept an absolute lid on this thing,” historian Jerry Hanley of Maiden said. Hanley’s grandfather came to Maiden in 1895, a socialist active in the miner’s union, who worked his own mines and who ran an assay office.