Latest Montana Headlines

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

Montana Fire Suppression Efforts Expected to Grow

Aug 22 2008 // Residential development is adding to the costs of fighting wildfires in Montana, with a recent study showing that most years federal, state, tribal and county governments spend millions of dollars suppressing wildfires and...

Montana Supreme Court: Claims for Bodily Injury Can Cover Injured Plus Observer

Aug 4 2008 // The Supreme Court of Montana ruled that even a bystander’s claim for bodily injuries can be covered in an insurance policy.According to court documents in Allstate Insurance Co. v. Terry Wagner-Ellsworth and Tiffany...

Montana Hail Insurance Deadline is August 15

Jul 16 2008 // Montana is reminding farmers and ranchers that the deadline to purchase state hail insurance is Aug. 15, 2008.Montana is the only state to offer state-administered hail insurance, which for many farmers supplements crop...

Montana Supreme Court: Claims for Bodily Injury Can Cover Injured Plus Observer

Jul 15 2008 // The Supreme Court of Montana has ruled that even a bystander’s claim for bodily injuries can be covered in an insurance policy.According to court documents in Allstate Insurance Co. v. Terry Wagner-Ellsworth and...

Montana Announces Proposed Asbestos Settlement With W.R. Grace

Jun 11 2008 // Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comment on a proposed settlement agreement with W.R. Grace & Co. that would provide the agency more than $5 million for costs related to the cleanup of...

Montana Doctor Settles Three Malpractice Lawsuits

Jun 11 2008 // A Billings, Mont., physician and anesthesiologist who treated patients with chronic pain has recently settled three medical malpractice lawsuits that claimed the doctor’s negligence resulted in death.Dr. David...

Montana High Court Rejects Compensation Board’s Lawsuits

Jun 9 2008 // The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s rulings against the state Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board. The board had sued four insurance companies for compensation for more than $2 million in...

Montana State Fund Launches Young Worker Safety Campaign

Jun 6 2008 // Nearly 1,000 young Montana workers ages16 to 24 year old are injured on-the-job each year, according to the Montana State Fund. The state workers’ compensation insurer’s statistics show that that same age group...

Montana’s Insurance Regulator Wants to Open Insurer Data

Jun 2 2008 // Montana’s insurance regulator John Morrison, said he wants to give consumers information on the conduct of insurance companies.Morrison said consumers could check to see how often a company cancels policies, delays...

Montana State Fund Says Workers’ Comp Rates to Drop Next Year

May 19 2008 // The Montana State Fund is cutting workers’ compensation insurance rates by an average of 3 percent next year, the agency’s board said.This is the second year in a row the State Fund, a semiprivate branch of...

Northwestern Montana Flooding Predicted as Temperatures Rise

May 13 2008 // Some northwestern Montana rivers and streams are likely to flood by next weekend as temperatures rise and part of the mountain snowpack melts, the National Weather Service says.Emergency-services workers met May 9 in...

Montana Auditor To Negotiate Insurance in China

May 12 2008 // Montana State Auditor John Morrison will represent U.S. insurance regulators in the U.S.-China Insurance Dialogues in Hangzhou, China, this week. The dialogues, part of trade negotiations between the two countries, are...

Montana State Fund Says Workers’ Comp Rates to Drop Next Year

May 12 2008 // The Montana State Fund is cutting workers’ compensation insurance rates by an average of 3 percent next year, the agency’s board said.This is the second year in a row the State Fund, a semiprivate branch of...

Appeals Court Sides with Forest Service in 2000 Montana Backfires

Apr 29 2008 // U.S. Forest Service firefighters have the discretion to determine the best way to fight fires and cannot be sued for negligence for setting a backfire in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley in 2000 to try to stop an...

New Markets

Apr 21 2008 // The following markets were selected from the MyNewMarkets database of 25,000 coverages and programs. To find additional markets, or to submit markets, go to www.MyNewMarkets.com.Liquor Liability Coverage Nuts & Bolts:...

Montana Republican Criticizes Bush Administration Proposal

Apr 4 2008 // The Republican candidate for Montana state auditor and insurance commissioner is criticizing plans by the Bush Administration for the federal government to take over regulation of the insurance industry.Duane Grimes says...

Montana Files Brief with Supreme Court in Insurance Lawsuit

Apr 3 2008 // Montana State Insurance Commissioner John Morrison has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a legal dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court over an insurance company’s dual role of paying disability benefits and...

Fire Report Warns Montana Towns Will Burn Without Changes

Apr 2 2008 // A draft legislative report warns it’s likely Montana towns will burn and people will be injured or killed if the state does not change the way it deals with wildland fires.The report was released by the Fire...

Feds Hint at Compromise with States over Real ID National License

Mar 24 2008 // There are signs of a potential compromise to end the Bush administration’s standoff with states resisting new standards for driver’s licenses. For people who live in those holdout states, the dispute raises the...

Six Seek Interim Director Position at North Dakota Workers’ Comp Agency

Mar 18 2008 // Six people, including a one-time Fargo mayor and a former vice president at Montana’s workers’ compensation fund, have applied to be the interim chief executive officer of North Dakota’s Workforce Safety...