Woman Viciously Attacked by Otter While Tubing, Loses Half Her Ear

Otters have a reputation for being cute, playful animals that are often the star attraction at many zoos. But in reality, these mammals are carnivorous apex predators that are capable of becoming aggressive to humans if they feel that their food resources or young are being threatened.  One Montana woman learned this lesson at the near risk … Read more

Montana Considers New Wave of Legislation to Loosen Vaccination Rules

When Deb Horning’s youngest daughter was 5, she got her measles, mumps, and rubella shot like many other kindergartners. But unlike many other moms, Horning had to stay away from her daughter for a week after the shot. Horning, 51, was diagnosed in 2014 with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive cancer — the five-year survival … Read more

Schools Struggle With Lead in Water While Awaiting Federal Relief

PHILIPSBURG, Mont. — On a recent day in this 19th-century mining town turned tourist hot spot, students made their way into the Granite High School lobby and past a new filtered water bottle fill station. Water samples taken from the drinking fountain the station replaced had a lead concentration of 10 parts per billion — … Read more

Information Blackout Shrouds New Reports of Deaths, Injuries, and Abuse at Montana State Hospital

BUTTE, Mont. — Jennifer Mitchell remembered getting a call nearly two years ago that her 69-year-old husband, Bill, had crashed his car and had been committed to the Montana State Hospital, the state-run psychiatric hospital for adults about 20 miles from their home in Butte. Physicians thought Bill Mitchell had dementia and could be a … Read more