Edward O'Brien

The University of Montana lost its longest living, and one of its most respected alumna this weekend. MTPR's Edward O’Brien takes this look back at the life and legacy of 107-year-old Emma Lommasson.

Winter weather is rolling into Montana this evening. Montana is sitting smack dab in-between two developing weather systems. How it will affect you depends on where you are and where you’re traveling this holiday week.

The federal government announced a new initiative to both reduce gun violence and enforce national firearms laws. Part of the plan draws on existing strategies to curb gun violence.

Montana U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte and U.S. Agriculture Department Undersecretary Jim Hubbard spearheaded a roundtable this week in Missoula focused on forest and wildland fire policy.

Gianforte called for greater collaboration among stakeholders. Some stakeholders, however, were noticeably absent from the event.

Of the no less than eight cases of poaching Montana wildlife officials are currently investigating, some of the game animals were killed and left to rot where they fell. Others were found decapitated, but otherwise untouched.

One Montana educator has spent years researching poachers and has found they’re motivated by many different factors.

Montana’s communal, agrarian Hutterite colonies are unfamiliar to many outsiders, but a first-of-its kind study shows the religious sect’s statewide economic impact can’t be ignored.

Hutterite communities pack an economic wallop, even in non-Hutterite sectors of Montana’s economy. That’s according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of Montana and Montana State University.

Elouise Cobell, the Blackfeet woman who spearheaded a lawsuit alleging rampant federal mismanagement of Indian trust funds, would have been 74-years-old Tuesday.

The lawsuit she championed ended with a $3.4 billion settlement, providing money for an Indian education scholarship fund and a land trust program.

A lawsuit to block a temporary ban on flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products in Montana is now in the hands of a judge in Hamilton.

Ravalli County District Judge Jennifer Lint Friday said the lawsuit challenging implementation of the Bullock administration’s emergency rules to block the sale of flavored vaping products is officially now at the top of her to-do list.

The Bullock administration appeared in State District Court in Hamilton Wednesday to defend its order to temporarily halt the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the state. A Montana vaping industry association is challenging that order, and a state judge has allowed the continued sale of flavored vaping products until a final ruling is made.

Montana Public Radio's Edward O'Brien was at the courthouse Wednesday and joins us now.

Wildland firefighting is a team effort. California has helped Montana during wildfire crises, and now Montana is returning the favor.

California’s fires have consumed tens of thousands of acres and forced thousands to flee their homes. With their resources stretched thin and firefighters battling fatigue, incident commanders reached out for help Sunday.