BILLINGS, Montana, May 12 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation issued the following news release: Reclamation's May forecasts of the April through July runoff predicted for the Bighorn River Basin are as follows: * Bighorn Lake - Bighorn River April through July inflow to Bighorn Lake is forecasted to be approximately 1,235,000 acre-feet (af). Approximately 289,000 af of the forecast volume was accumulated during April, which is 163% of the April average. As of May 1,  more

BILLINGS, Montana, May 11 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation issued the following news release: Reclamation announces lifting the closure of Reclamation lands on and adjacent to Joe's Island on the south side of the Yellowstone River in Dawson County, 15 miles north of Glendive, Montana. The temporary closure was in place to ensure public safety during the construction of the Lower Yellowstone Fish Passage Project. Construction of the fish passage project was recentl  more

GREAT FALLS, Montana, May 11 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Jesse Laslovich, issued the following news release on May 10, 2023: An East Glacier man was sentenced today to 11 years and eight months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, after he admitted to murdering a man by shooting him after a birthday party on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Dillon James Wippert, 27, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to second de  more

GREAT FALLS, Montana, May 12 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Jesse Laslovich, issued the following news release on May 11, 2023: A Great Falls woman accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from two businesses while working as a bookkeeper appeared for arraignment on May 9 on fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today. Tara Durnell, 63, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging her with 13 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. If convicted of the m  more

BILLINGS, Montana, May 12 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Jesse Laslovich, issued the following news release on May 11, 2023: A Billings man who admitted to selling methamphetamine to an undercover agent was sentenced on May 10 to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today. Edward George Allen, 41, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession with intent to distribute meth. U.S. District Judge Susan P.  more

BILLINGS, Montana, May 11 -- The U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Jesse Laslovich, issued the following news release on May 10, 2023: A Missoula man who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine in the community after law enforcement seized approximately seven pounds of the drug that were associated with him was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. James Allyn Batterton, 25, pleade  more

HELENA, Montana, May 13 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service - Montana Field Office issued the following news release: MONTANA HIGHLIGHTS Winter wheat production in Montana, based on conditions as of May 1, 2023, is forecast at 77.00 million bushels, according to the May 1 Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. This forecast is 30 percent above last year's produ  more

LAKEWOOD, Colorado, May 9 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service - Mountain Regional Field Office issued the following news release: County-level estimates for 2022-2023 cattle inventories are now available, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. The estimates, based primarily on surveys conducted with farmers and ranchers in January, can be accessed using the QuickStats online database, found here: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Q  more