Snow Closes Yellowstone Park Roads

Yellowstone National Park roads south of Mammoth remain temporarily closed today due to multiple weather-related traffic incidents.

The roads were closed yesterday afternoon when rangers had to respond to more than 30 accidents, stranded vehicles, and slide-offs because of the snowy roads. Road crews were working today to clear the roads of snow and ice, and then determine when they can reopen.

     The road to Cooke City remains open.

Drivers were dealing with a little snow in some of the mountain passes this morning, but most of the impacts were early in the day. Montana Highway Patrol dealt with crashes around the Marias Pass, and MacDonald Pass also received snow, but largely most of the snowfall was limited to the high country above 5000 feet.

Another out-of-state visitor killed in Montana plane crash

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will be working on a report trying to figure out what caused another small plane to crash in Montana over the weekend, the third fatal aviation accident involving an out-of-state pilot in the past week.

Family members say it was a Spokane auto dealer who was killed in a small plane crash in Lincoln Friday night.

The Spokane Spokesman Review reported that Nadine Arrota posted on social media Sunday that the victim was her husband, Dan Arrota, who was on his way to a weekend hunting trip with his brothers. The Cirrus SR22T went down half a mile from the Lincoln airport in the woods and caught fire.

Arrota owned both a Mitsubishi dealership and an RV dealership in Spokane.

Woman killed in crash near Big Sandy

Montana State Patrol troopers are saying speed was likely a factor in the crash that killed a 31-year-old Harlem woman on Friday afternoon in Chouteau County.

The accident happened on U.S. 87 near Big Sandy, when the "Chevrolet Classic" the 23-year-old woman was driving went off the road, overcorrecting and coming back onto the road, when the collision happened with a GMC pickup. The driver was injured and taken to the hospital in Havre, as was the driver of the pickup. But the victim, who was riding in the Chevy, died at the scene.

Stockman Bank explains options for federal workers

Officials at Stockman Bank are continuing to help federal workers impacted by the government shutdown. But Senior Banking Executive Wayne Nelson says that also extends to the bank's business customers, who may also be impacted by slow payment in government contracts or other issues.

"We can come in and get loan programs, working capital loans, defer payments, interest only, whatever, because they may have a relationship where they're a business and they have either federal workers or federal agencies that may owe them money, and they can't cut them checks for whatever reason," Nelson explains. "We can bridge the gap, whether it's an individual or a business."

Nelson says Stockman has more flexibility in lending because of the tools available to a locally-owned bank, and that helps with individual customers, too.

"We defer payments. We can do loan extensions. We can allow accumulated overdrafts.

"Just a lot of creative stuff to help bridge the gap. It's customized, so you come in, you tell me what the issue is. You're trying to buy groceries, pay your bills, make payroll, whatever, then we're gonna find a financial solution that fits that particular need."

DOC showing appreciation for help during the prison water crisis

Leaders at the Montana Department of Corrections are expressing thanks to its employees, and a long list of community partners and businesses that have been helping the Montana State Prison weather major water problems.

Most of those problems have now been repaired, with only one housing unit still being serviced. As we reported earlier, DOC is accelerating long-term plans to upgrade the infrastructure at the prison, using money allocated by the Legislature last spring.

DOC also notes other agencies that have helped with the contingency plans, including the City of Deer Lodge, Powell County, Columbus, Roberts, and Red Lodge fire departments, the Montana National Guard, and the Montana DNRC, among others.

READ MORE: Water Problems Plague Montana State Prison