Latest Montana Headlines

All the headlines from our Montana Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Montana Court Approves $43 Million Asbestos Deal

Oct 3 2011 // A Montana judge has approved a $43 million settlement for people sickened by exposure to asbestos from a mine, with a large part of that amount to be paid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, court documents...

Court Approves $43 Million Montana Asbestos Settlement

Sep 19 2011 // A Montana judge has approved a $43 million settlement for people sickened by exposure to asbestos from a mine, with a large part of that amount to be paid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, court documents...

Lawyers Claim Montana Workers’ Comp Investigators Violate Privacy

Sep 19 2011 // Two Billings attorneys are asking the Montana Supreme Court to stop workers’ compensation investigators from practices that they say violate the privacy rights of workers’ comp claimants.The Billings Gazette...

Hub Acquires Montana’s Mountain West Insurance

Sep 8 2011 // Chicago-based Hub International Ltd. has acquired some of the assets of Mountain West Insurance & Financial Services LLC, a Missoula, Mont.-based retail brokerage firm. Terms of the acquisition were not...

Lawyers Claim Montana Workers’ Compensation Investigators Violate Privacy

Aug 30 2011 // Two Billings attorneys are asking the Montana Supreme Court to stop workers’ compensation investigators from practices that they say violate the privacy rights of workers’ comp claimants.The Billings Gazette...

More Montana Counties Added to Federal Disaster List

Aug 26 2011 // BILLINGS, Mont. _ Homeowners and businesses in fifteen more Montana counties and the Fort Peck Reservation can apply for federal help to recover from severe storms and flooding that swept the state this...

Flood Aid to Montana Reaches $2.4 Million

Aug 12 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has so far approved $2.4 million in flood disaster aid in Montana.Unusually heavy rain and a late-melting snowpack resulted in rising water and flooding across the state this...

Montana Supreme Court Rules in Aluminum Baseball Bat Case

Aug 1 2011 // The Montana Supreme Court has awarded $850,000 to the family of a 18-year-old pitcher who was killed by a baseball hit off an aluminum bat.The aluminum baseball bat was not designed defectively, but the manufacturer should...

Montana Reminds Farmers to Buy Hail Insurance

Jul 29 2011 // Montana’s Department of Agriculture is reminding farmers that there is a state hail insurance program, and that the deadline to purchase the state insurance is fast approaching, news outlets in the state are...

Disaster Aid for Montana Approved

Jul 29 2011 // The federal government is approving Montana’s request for disaster assistance. Gov. Brian Schweitzer says that he has been notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that areas his with flooding since April...

Ratings Recap: Kuwait Re, Optimum, Montana Re (cat bonds)

Jul 18 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of...

Probe Into Montana Oil Spill Cause to Take Months

Jul 18 2011 // A federal safety official says it will probably be months before investigators know what caused an ExxonMobil oil pipeline to rupture near Billings, Mont., spilling about 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone...

Exxon Says 40 Montana Properties Damaged by Oil Spill

Jul 7 2011 // About 40 Montana landowners have reported contamination of their property by crude oil spilled from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline into the flood-swollen Yellowstone River over the weekend, the company said Wednesday.As...

Feds to Require Safety Plan for Restart of Exxon’s Montana Pipeline

Jul 6 2011 // U.S. pipeline safety regulators on Tuesday said Exxon Mobil must make fixes to its ruptured Montana oil pipeline and submit a restart plan before oil can flow again.The U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and...

Exxon Spill on Yellowstone River Disrupts Montana Ranches

Jul 6 2011 // Environmental officials scrambled Tuesday to assess the extent of contamination from a weekend oil spill that has fouled water supplies and ranch lands along a scenic and otherwise pristine stretch of the Yellowstone River...

Exxon Claims Mont. Oil Spill Damage Limited, Gov. Doubtful

Jul 5 2011 // An oil pipeline that spewed tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into Montana’s Yellowstone River was temporarily shut down in May because of concerns over rising waters, and regulators last year warned Exxon...

Montana Reviewing Pipeline Safety Following Exxon Spill

Jul 5 2011 // Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Monday said authorities will review safety of all oil and gas pipelines that cross waterways in the state and close those that did not meet standards.“We’ll make the decision...

Ratings Recap: PartnerRe (notes), Mariah Re (notes), Montana Re (notes)

Jun 15 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of “bbb” to the $325 million 7.25 percent Series E cumulative preferred shares of Bermuda-base PartnerRe, Ltd. ,with a stable outlook. The proceeds from the issuance...

Montana Cuts Workers’ Comp Costs

Jun 6 2011 // Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen has approved a 22.4 percent reduction in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs, which will translate to lower premiums for employers. The lower...

Montana State Fund Cuts Rates 20%

Jun 6 2011 // As predicted by Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen, the board of Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, has cut its rates by 20 percent. The move is...