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Morning Newscast 11-24-15

MTPR Morning Newscast
Josh Burnham
MTPR Morning Newscast

The Interior Department told a federal judge yesterday that they intend to cancel a long-suspended oil and gas drilling lease on Forest Service land in the Badger-Two Medicine area near Glacier National Park. The land is considered sacred to the Blackfeet tribes of the U.S. and Canada. Interior says its preliminary determination is that the lease was improperly issued, in part because a 1981 environmental study did not consider the effects of drilling on the tribes' religious values.

Four media organizations say a public-records lawsuit pending before the Montana Supreme Court could have national consequences.

Montana State football coach Rob Ash has been fired after the team went 5-6 this season, including just 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference. Athletic director Peter Fields said Monday that the team didn't meet expectations.

Federal prosecutors want until July 1 to decide if they will seek the death penalty for an 18-year-old Wyoming man accused of killing a husband and wife on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek said in a court filing that a decision will not be made before defendant Jesus Deniz Mendoza has a chance to offer the government any relevant evidence. A status conference in the case is set for today.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock have a little extra riding on Saturday's Football Championship Subdivision playoff game between South Dakota State University and the University of Montana. Daugaard has wagered a six-pack of Crow Peak beer and a pheasant dinner against Montana steaks and a six-pack of Montana microbrew put up by Bullock.

A judge has ordered a Billings tobacco shop to stop operating its machines that allow customers to roll their own cigarettes.

A storm moving into Montana and Wyoming is expected to bring snow and strong winds, creating hazardous travel conditions in the days before Thanksgiving. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning from 11 this morning through 11 tomorrow night for western Montana and into the central part of the state.

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