Make or Break Weekend for Montana Snow Sports

Montana's ski operators will be watching the skies instead of the Thanksgiving table this weekend, as they're hoping a forecasted turn to colder, snowier weather will finally get the season underway. 

While only Big Sky is scheduled to open on Wednesday, that's only because of snowmaking operations with 110 acres of terrain ready, but still only 13" of snow at Lookout Ridge. Lookout Pass has 6" at the summit and plans to open "as soon as conditions allow."

Whitefish Mountain is still closed, but with 9" of snow through last night, and up to a foot of snow in the forecast, that could change quickly. In fact, Lookout and Whitefish stand to benefit the most from the incoming storms. 

Red Lodge Mountain has postponed its opening to Friday, December 12th, and that's also Bridger Bowl's target.

     🎿 Discovery and Great Divide had planned openings this weekend, but are monitoring conditions. 

Missoula acquires key piece of land

Missoula leaders say they've been able to reach an agreement to acquire a key piece of property along the Clark Fork River, which gives the city surety for a variety of public service operations, but will also save the city thousands in lease payments. 

The city says it's reached an agreement to close on the "Clouse Property", a 182-acre tract which includes the city's wastewater poplar farm, a segment of the Milwaukee Railroad corridor, and important wildlife habitat. That means the city will save up to $30,000 in lease fees.

     The Clouse family will trade for a 2.6-acre site on Mullan Road. 

Shooting leads to "shelter in place" order for Missoula

Missoula Police placed downtown under "shelter in place" orders for a time yesterday evening, while they dealt with a report of shots being fired on Ryman Street. 

MPD says officers found a 27-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Because the scene wasn't secure, EMTs couldn't enter the area, and police took the man directly to the hospital. Police say they did recover a gun from the scene and were still looking for others who were involved, but they said there was no immediate threat to the public late last night. 

UPDATE: All Suspects Located in Missoula Shooting

Men arraigned for Rocky Boy murder

Two Box Elder men are pleading their innocence on charges of killing another man during an attempted robbery on the Rocky Boy Reservation in July 2024. 

29-year-old Levi Terrance Olson and 30-year-old Brandon Lee Weaselboy were arraigned in Great Falls on Monday. They're charged with conspiracy, attempted aggravated robbery and burglary, second-degree murder, and firearms possession for the holdup that killed the man whose name has not been used in court documents. 

You'll have to prove citizenship to vote in Montana

Montana election officials are going to crack down to make sure only U.S. citizens are voting in the state's future elections by comparing voter rolls with federal citizenship data.

Secretary of State Christi Jacobson announced the partnership with the Trump Administration and the Homeland Security Department this week. She says the use of the SAFE program through the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services will provide direct access to the citizenship data at no cost.

Noting polls that she says show Montanans favor only citizens should be voting, Jacobson notes her staff's focus on keeping accurate voter rolls, requiring more maintenance, but also making it easier for families to cancel a voter registration when someone passes away and "reducing the number of undeliverable ballots."

     There's no immediate information as to how the system will integrate with same day voter registrations.

How many bison in Montana?

We hear a lot about the growing number of Bison under the "Big Sky", but you might be surprised to learn there are two other states with more of the big animals, as Nick Northern reports.