Big Sky News

BOZEMAN - Two brothers cleaning up the site of a deadly natural gas explosion in downtown Bozeman for the last month say owners of the businesses housed in the half-block hole on West Main Street had little use for most of the materials they salvaged.

You could call it a bit of "Top Gun" over the Big Sky. Multimedia "There's always some bragging.

BILLINGS - A woman who escaped from the Montana Women's Prison in Billings in May 2008 has been returned to the prison and placed in maximum security.

BIG TIMBER - A bus carrying children at a church camp went off the road south of Big Timber Tuesday, injuring 19.

SAINT IGNATIUS - A home in Saint Ignatius was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning.

SHEPHERD - A funeral Mass for Sgt. Terry Lynch, who was killed in Afghanistan, is scheduled Thursday morning at St.

BILLINGS - A Billings woman is accused of passing counterfeit checks in Miles City, Billings and Bozeman using stolen identities.

As a burgeoning landscape artist, East Glacier's Roger Rink found the perfect complement to his artistic ambitions: construction work.

Organizers of a tribal youth summit are looking for participants. The Montana Wyoming Tribal Youth Summit will be held July 28-31 at Luccock Park Camp, 9 miles south of Livingston.The summit's purpose is to eliminate the Native American graduation gap by 2018.

WORDEN - Voters in the Huntley Project school district will be asked to approve a $9.75 million bond to build a new junior and senior high school.

BILLINGS - After competing for the title four times, Billings livestock auctioneer Ty Thompson has been crowned world champion by the Livestock Marketing Association.

BILLINGS - A young black bear that took up residence in a tree on the west end of Billings has been tranquilized and relocated to the Pryor Mountains.

Saturday marked the second day of the inaugural Under the Big Sky Arts and Crafts Festival, which has brought artists to the Western Montana Fair Grounds in Missoula.

RED LODGE - The Montana State Historic Preservation Review Board recently nominated four properties for the national register.

WEST GLACIER - The entire Going-to-the-Sun Road is open for vehicle access Glacier National Park officials have announced.

They say the best way to shrink a fish is by ruler, but the best way to grow a fish is with a beer.

HELENA - The Montana Highway Patrol said two people riding a motorcycle were killed in a collision with a pickup truck east of East Helena .

MISSOULA - Missoula police say a 67-year-old woman who was struck by a pickup truck while walking her bike through a crosswalk has died of her injuries at a Seattle hospital.

MISSOULA - Missoula police are investigating the death of a 31-year-old woman who died while in custody at the Missoula County jail.

GLENDIVE - Brittany Wiser of Bozeman is the new Miss Montana. Wiser claimed the 60th annual crown Saturday night.