Keith Schubert
![Sen. Osmundson appointment to budget director poses constitutional question](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2021/09/Ryan-Osmundson.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Sen. Osmundson appointment to budget director poses constitutional question
The recent appointment of sitting Sen. Ryan Osmundson by Gov. Greg Gianforte to lead his administration’s budget office has again raised the question about the constitutionality of appointing mid-term legislators to civil office.
![Montana leads 18-state effort to overturn federal bump stock ban](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/05/knudsen.jpeg?w=980&q=75)
Montana leads 18-state effort to overturn federal bump stock ban
Montana’s Attorney General Austin Knudsen is arguing governmental gun-control overreach in leading an effort urging an appeals court to strike down a federal ban on bump stocks — a device that allows semiautomatic machine guns to fire more rapidly.
![Canadian border set to open to fully vaccinated Americans on Monday](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2021/07/border.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Canadian border set to open to fully vaccinated Americans on Monday
The border officially opens up at 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, and all travelers must download the app ArriveCan to submit their travel information. If you’re fully vaccinated for at least 14 days prior to arrival, you will not have to quarantine.
![Tribal, conservation groups plan lawsuit against DEQ over Hecla mining dismissal](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/08/zortman-ponds.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Tribal, conservation groups plan lawsuit against DEQ over Hecla mining dismissal
According to the news release from tribes and conservation groups, Baker and his former company Pegasus Gold Corp dumped $32 million in cleanup costs on Montana taxpayers after going bankrupt in 1998 and upended several gold-mine operations.
![Gianforte appoints Grubich to fill Cascade County judge opening](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2021/07/Capitol.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Gianforte appoints Grubich to fill Cascade County judge opening
Gov. Greg Gianforte has appointed the first judge using a new judicial selection process created by recently enacted legislation that abolished the Judicial Nominating Commission and gave the governor the wide latitude to fill judicial vacancies.
![Judge temporarily blocks law changing judiciary, political efforts on college campuses](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/05/court.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Judge temporarily blocks law changing judiciary, political efforts on college campuses
A district judge said on Monday he plans to temporarily block two sections of a bill that prohibit some election activities on public university campuses and requires judges to recuse themselves from cases for accepting specific campaign contributions.
![California bans state-funded travel to Montana over anti-LGBTQ laws](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2019/06/Pride-2-scaled.jpg?w=980&q=75)
California bans state-funded travel to Montana over anti-LGBTQ laws
Critics warned about the possibility of a hit to tourism in the state, one of Montana’s leading industries. More than 12 million tourists visited Montana and spent $3.8 billion in 2019, according to the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.
![Conservation groups threaten lawsuit if wolf trapping, snaring laws remain unchanged](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2018/05/radioCollaredGrayWolf.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Conservation groups threaten lawsuit if wolf trapping, snaring laws remain unchanged
A handful of groups is threatening legal action against the state if it does not revise recently passed legislation that makes it easier to hunt gray wolves in the state, saying the new laws would violate the Endangered Species Act by leading to the accidental taking of federally protected species.
![Opponents to Montana birth certificate change: ‘This is a life and death matter’](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2021/03/montana-capitol.jpeg?w=980&q=75)
Opponents to Montana birth certificate change: ‘This is a life and death matter’
In a Zoom meeting temporarily hijacked by racist comments and trolling music, medical professionals said a proposed rule requiring a judge’s order and proof of surgery to change the designated gender on a birth certificate would harmfully impact transgender people.
![Montana regents, AG’s office make case to judge on block of campus carry law](http://townsquare.media/site/1098/files/2017/05/Guns.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Montana regents, AG’s office make case to judge on block of campus carry law
The Montana Board of Regents and the Attorney General’s Office faced off in court Monday, making their case to a district judge who will decide whether to continue blocking a policy signed into law in February to allow for firearms to be carried on college campuses.