The University of Montana campus police department has met federal requirements to improve its response to reports of sexual assault. U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter said today an independent reviewer determined that campus police met the goals of a May 2013 agreement by improving its policies, practices and training. That’s led to more reliable sexual assault investigations. He says they've also improved their communication with university officials and Missoula police.
A man who says he was raped while being held at a Montana jail is suing Jefferson County. Audemio Orozco-Ramirez filed the complaint Thursday in federal court arguing inadequate staffing, failure to respond to allegations of assault and general negligence caused serious harm and violated his due process rights.
Montana wildlife officials have tightened trapping regulations outside Yellowstone and Glacier national parks to reduce the chances that threatened Canada lynx will be accidentally caught. The changes include restrictions on the types of traps, snares and bait that can be used in special protection zones outside the parks.
Environmentalists say a Canadian company's request to explore for gold and other elements south of Livingston puts the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem at risk. Lucky Minerals Incorporated wants to explore a 6-square-mile area for copper, molybdenum and gold in Emigrant Gulch in the Custer Gallatin National Forest and on private land nearby. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition says the exploration process itself would have significant environmental impacts.
Montanans now have more than 8,200 acres of new national forest land in the central part of the state. U.S. Forest Service officials and others celebrated the completion of the eight-year acquisition effort today at the state Capitol in Helena.
Air quality is "Moderate" in the Flathead Valley, Libby, Frenchtown, and Missoula. Montana DEQ predicts weekend air quality to range from "Moderate" to "Good" in most places, with northwest Montana facing the most significant smoke impacts.
Attendance at Glacier National Park soared last month, making it the busiest June on record. The Flathead Beacon reports that 414,000 visitors came to the park last month. According to National Park Service data, visitation was up 24 percent from June 2014.
A grizzly bear and her two cubs are being relocated after killing about 10 sheep near Lake Frances. An audit says Xerox Corporation will be six years past its renegotiated deadline by the time it completes an $84 million state contract for a new computer program to manage Medicaid payments.
The federal government is preparing to launch a new round of research into ways to prevent wild horses and burros from overpopulating Western rangelands.The U.S. Bureau of Land Management this week announced 21 research projects involving wild horses and burros. Among them is new research to improve the effectiveness of contraceptive drugs for wild mares.