Crews have contained a wildfire burning in the Ashland Ranger District. The Stag fire started on Sunday and has burned about 1,230 acres within the area where another fire of the same name burned in 2000. "The fire's cold now," district spokeswoman Kim Frasier said on Thursday morning. "It's really mopped up nice." Fire crews do not yet know what ...

MILES CITY — Wayne Roger Eddy Jr., 55, of Miles City, died Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at VA Nursing Home, of cancer. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, May 21, at United Methodist Church. Interment will follow at Eastern Montana State Veterans Cemetery. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.

Daryl D. Jerke of Billings passed away on May 13, 2012, after a long struggle with cancer. He was the eighth child born to Edward and Mathilda (Kramlich) Jerke on May 10, 1939, in Worden. He graduated from Shepherd High School in 1957. He was an outstanding basketball player and it was his passion. He was enrolled in Lincoln Center in Billings where ...

Legislative districts get redrawn every decade in Montana. On Tuesday night, the proposed map boundaries quickly became battle lines between Republicans and Democrats, despite their similar objectives. Through two hours of testimony before Montana's District and Apportionment Commission, locals said they wanted legislative districts that reflected com ...

MISSOULA — Montana wildlife officials have kicked off a statewide tour to gauge public opinion on the reintroduction of wild bison to public lands, even as a court order blocking efforts to restore the animals was appealed Tuesday to the state Supreme Court. Dozens of people turned out in Missoula to weigh in on the potential for bison to be returned ...

MILES CITY — Laraine "Babe" Malley, 77, of Miles City, died Saturday, May 12, 2012, at Holy Rosary Health Center. Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Custer County Cemetery.

MILES CITY — Albert Ottoy, 85, of Miles City, died Saturday, May 12, 2012, at his home. Visitation will be Thursday, May 17, at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home, with family receiving friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Funeral mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 18, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Rite of committal will follow at Eastern Montana State Vete ...

MILES CITY — Anne Teresa Potter, 95, of Miles City, died Friday, May 11, 2012, at her home. Visitation will be Thursday, May 17, at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home, with family receiving friends from 4 to 6 p.m., with prayer service following at 6 p.m. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, May 18, at First Baptist Church. Interment will follow ...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Robert Brent Murray died Sunday, May 13, at Davis Hospice Center. Brent was born in Miles City, Mont., on March 31, 1949 to Robert and Helene Prevost Murray. On Sept. 4, 1976, he married the love of his life, Colleen Whittle Murray in Billings; together they have shared the last 35 years with laughter, love and adventure. Before mov ...

MILES CITY — June Reukauf, 86, of Miles City, died Sunday, April 22, 2012, at Cottonwood Care Home. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, May 14, at Grace Bible Church. Burial will follow at 2:30 p.m. at Prairie County Cemetery in Terry. Stevenson and Sons Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.

MILES CITY — Elton G. Helland, 91, of Miles City, died Thursday, May 10, 2012, at Holy Rosary Hospital in Miles City. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, May 14, at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Custer County Cemetery.

With foodborne illnesses sickening 1 in 6 Americans every year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will crack down on contaminated meat, although one Montana butcher is skeptical. John Munsell sold his Miles City butcher shop in 2005 after a three-year battle with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service over E. coli, a sometimes deadly b ...

LAUREL — Virginia Lee Claire Gauthier, 86, passed away May 9, 2012, at the Tender Nest in Laurel. Virginia was born three miles north of Forsyth on Feb. 22, 1926, to Chester (Slim) and Marie Leary. She went to the Hammond School and Forsyth High School. She graduated from the Presentation School of Nursing as a R.N. She worked in Aberdeen, S.D., Mil ...

MILES CITY — Robert (Bob) Nelder Muri passed away Sunday, May 6, 2012. Bob was born in Cartersville, Mont., on the home ranch Feb. 19, 1920. Bob was the son of RP and Nellie (Johnson) Muri. He was raised at Cartersville and graduated from Custer County High School and Junior College. He entered the Army in 1943 and was honorably discharged in 1946. Du ...

Before anyone outside Montana ever heard of Montana pioneer photographer L.A. Huffman, Douglas Kenyon was collecting his work. For 40 years, Kenyon, an art curator and dealer in Steamboat Springs, Colo., put together what he says is the largest collection of original Huffman photographs. On Saturday, a big part of that collection — about 150 pieces ...

Rick Braley, a Vietnam veteran, has donated more than 1,500 hours and logged in excess of 10,000 miles chauffeuring Montana veterans to their medical appointments. To ask him why is, as he would suggest, a stupid question. “Because I’m a vet and I enjoy helping veterans,” said Braley, 67, of Columbus. “Is there any other reason? These people helped ...

The Montana Farmer's Union will be offering classes on all things oil and gas Tuesday in Glendive and Wednesday in Miles City. The class will help landowners evaluate lease agreements for oil and gas, while also covering rights of property owners above drill sites. The meeting will focus on business opportunities in the booming oil economy. Both class ...

WOLF POINT — The sign along U.S. Highway 2 proclaiming Wolf Point the official home of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame has become a bitter reminder to residents of this northeastern Montana town of what might have been. The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center announced last Monday that Big Timber has been selected as the new home ...

MILES CITY — Helen Jean Lindley, age 81, of Miles City, passed away on May 4, 2012, at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings. Memorial services will be held on Wednesday, May 9, at 11 a.m. at the Valley Drive Baptist Church in Miles City, Mont. Interment will be held at a later date. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Miles City is in charge of the arr ...

BOZEMAN — Shirley Lee Luhrsen, 89, of Bozeman, passed away Thursday, April 28, 2012. She was born Oct. 16, 1922, in Owatonna, Minn. Her mother Donna Rosebrock raised her in Owatonna and being a Librarian, encouraged Shirley's passion for reading, which provided her lifelong enjoyment. Following Shirley's graduation from high school, she earned a degree ...