A deadline for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to submit an Endangered Species finding for the Greater Sage Grouse has been extended for one week from today by a judge in Boise, Idaho, at the request of the Wildlife Service, after agency director Sam Hamilton died in an avalanche last weekend. A lawsuit by Western Watersheds Project, an Idaho group, seeks EPA protection of Sage Grouse.

DNA evidence, in the 1979 San Francisco stabbing death of 23 year old Mary Bennett, who grew up in Deer Lodge, has matched a sample belonging to 79 year old David Joseph Carpenter, a California death row inmate, now in San Quentin State Prison, convicted of killing seven hikers in a San Francisco park. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to file new charges against Carpenter.

Butte Senator Steve Gallus has proposed building a new Montana Historical Society Museum in the mining city, and pay for it with state natural damage funds from a lawsuit against Atlantic Richfield Co. The Governor likes the idea, and Historical Society Director Richard Sims calls it an interesting proposal that merits further study by the Society's board.

Wyoming National Guardsmen Jeremiah Eaton, Dusty Scott and Nathan Harvey comprise the Joe Speed Band whose single “Cowboy Soldiers” has quickly become the #1 song on the GI Jams website.

Read the heart warming full story about how the song came about www.gijams.com

Support our Troops, please send them a beer.

At 113, the oldest man in the world, Walter Breuning, who lives in Great Falls, has been officially presented with a Montana Ambassador's pin and a letter welcoming him into the 180 member organization that promotes the state of Montana. Created 26 years ago, the Montana Ambassadors chose to make Breuning an honorary member, not just because he's 113 years old, but for bringing a lot of visibility to Montana and Great Falls.

Montana has been awarded a $25,000 grant to help more low income students pay the fees to earn college credits, by taking Advanced Placement Tests. Students who are eligible for free or reduced price school lunches are eligible. A record 16.6% of Montana high school seniors took college level AP classes in 2009.

An overpayment to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana of $2.5 million has been discovered, after an internal audit of the state's Health Care and Benefits Division, caused by an incorrect formula being used to calculate per-person administration fees on one of four health insurance options available to state workers, two of which are from Blue Cross.

Governor Brian Schweitzer has returned from a weekend meeting of the nation's governors, having told them because of Montana's pre-recession surplus, Montana won't be feeling nearly as much pain as other states, although Montana is one of seven states that saw tax revenues drop by more than 10% in the fourth quarter.

Marty Zaluski, Montana's State Veterinarian, is pushing for Brucellosis vaccinations for all sexually intact female calves, arguing that the move is necessary to control disease, and keep Big Sky cattle marketable, bringing Montana in line with measures already taken in Wyoming nad Idaho. The Montana Stockgrowers Association and Montana Farm Bureau Federation oppose the plan as unnecessary.