Montana Free Press

The Tuesday ruling leaves transgender advocates and the state health departments in another legal standoff.

The Legislature began its 68th session with partisan speechifying and a minor rules fight.

After a year of unsuccessful requests, election critics in the Montana Legislature will get a special committee focused on election security.

The GOP-led committee approved the report on party lines after chair Sen. Greg Hertz stripped language accusing the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court of lying.

House Bill 702 had barred employers from mandating vaccines or requiring employees share their vaccine status. U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy ruled that it was unconstitutional and conflicted with federal law.

Preliminary fall data from OPI show another year of K-12 student growth following pandemic-era decline.

The Montana state health department has expanded its contract with a private consulting group hired to oversee the struggling Montana State Hospital and other public health care facilities. The amended agreement with Alvarez & Marsal went into effect Oct. 1.

The order also temporarily prohibits the use of snares and lowers the bag limit to bring 2022-2023 regulations closer to the regulations in play before the Montana Legislature passed a suite of laws increasing the number of wolves hunters and trappers can kill.

The Republican beat Democrat Monica Tranel by four points to conclude the state’s highest-profile race of the 2022 election cycle.

Montana’s fire season has wound down, and while it was milder than land managers predicted, data indicate continued drought and high temperatures could lead to more intense fire seasons in the years to come.