Reporter Emilie Ritter

States may get a second chance at adopting an insurance exchange to avoid one run by the federal government.  11 states have started the process of setting up state-run insurance marketplaces which are a key part of the Obama Administration’s health care overhaul.  As Emilie Ritter reports, the Montana legislature rejected bills to launch this state’s exchange…

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Montana’s senior Senator Max Baucus was recently named to a bipartisan committee charged with cutting roughly $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit.  It’s been dubbed the “supercommittee”, and you’ll likely hear that word a lot between now and Thanksgiving.  Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter has this profile…

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The Montana University System could end up fighting new legislation that reshapes the way the state leases cabin sites.  The University System indicated a potential lawsuit in a letter to the Montana Land Board.  As Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter reports, the University System relies on money from those leases and says the new law unconstitutionally sets minimum prices too low.

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A student group at the University of Montana has settled its lawsuit against the University, four years after the case began.  UM’s chapter of the Christian Legal Society sued the Law School because it was denied funding by the Student Bar Association back in 2007.  Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter reports…

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As the price of gold soars, local businesses are not seeing a decline in business.  The price of an ounce of gold is marking new milestones on a near weekly basis, the latest Wednesday as gold for December delivery shot to a record $1,801 an ounce before backing off those highs to finish at nearly $1,785.  Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter has more from the Capitol.

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The winter wheat harvest is underway across Central and Eastern Montana.  Record breaking rainfall earlier this year had farmers and even the Governor predicting huge crops.  But as Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter reports, all that moisture could have done more harm than good. 

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State and federal officials say most of the toxic compounds in an estimated 50,000 gallon oil spill evaporated quickly after last month’s Exxon Mobil pipeline break on the Yellowstone River.  The state and the Environmental Protection Agency each released their own sample analysis from water, soil and air tests.  Montana Public Radio’s Emilie Ritter has more…

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The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling involving a proposed power transmission line.  The Mountain States Intertie, or MSTI, is a Northwestern Energy line that would run from southwestern Montana to Idaho.  As Emilie Ritter reports, several counties in the area say they haven’t been adequately involved in the process….

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Governor Brian Schweitzer says the state has an “historic” amount of cash in the bank, but adds he can’t do anything to shore up budget cuts made during the legislative session.  As Emilie Ritter reports from the Capitol, the Governor used a nearly 40 minute press conference to boast about Montana’s finances, while delivering a sharp message to politicians in Washington DC.

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RAW AUDIO:  Governor Brian Schweitzer called a press conference Thursday to boast about Montana’s financial position while at the same time delivering a sharp message to politicians in Washington, DC who are dealing with the debt crisis. Here’s audio from the full press conference…

No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to Montana Public Radio.