Montana

Browning family's home burns in electrical fire

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2024

John and Carol Murray left their home in Two Medicine earlier this week for the Blackfoot Confederacy Conference in Wyoming. Once they arrived, they received a call from their grandson telling them their home and everything in it had been lost in a devastating fire.

Browning family’s home burns in electrical fire

Married for 51 years, the two have spent decades working to preserve tribal culture. John serves as a Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, and was awarded the Governor’s Humanities Award in 2017, and was inducted into the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2023.

Carol previously served as the President of Blackfeet Community College, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Montana for her commitment to preserving Native American heritage through education.

Five days after the fire, John and Carol are now traveling back to Two Medicine from their trip to Wyoming, not having seen what remains of their family home.

John and Carol’s grandson Myles also lives in the home with his girlfriend and their young daughter. They were home when the house caught on fire the night of September 30th.

They managed to escape with their lives, barreling through the toxic smoke, but could save nothing in the process.

John Murray says, “Myles called and said smoke was coming out from under the house. He tried to fight the fire, you know, with the hose, and it was just too much. We realized that material things can be replaced, and we just will be forever grateful that they didn’t get trapped in there”.

The fire is suspected to have been an electrical fire, and volunteer fire departments and law enforcement from Heart Butte, Browning, and Glacier County worked to subdue the fire.

Angela HeavyRunner

John and Carol Murray’s home in Two Medicine

John and Carol’s daughter, and Myle’s mother, Angela HeavyRunner lived close by, and was on the scene as the home burned.

She explains, “The smoke was so thick. And we’ve been trying to understand what the feelings are that we felt…and the helplessness, the helplessness and and still being hopeful at the same time was what we were initially feeling”.

John and Carol are nervously anticipating their return to the site of their home, to assess the damage, and figure out what to do next.

Carol says, “I’m kind of anxious to get home, so that it’s real. I’ve been involved in ceremony for many, many years. And one of the things that was taught to me was to be calm, and to be patient, and to let the creator know what I’m afraid of, and that things will all work out for us.”

John and Carol’s friends and family members set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to collect donations that go toward clothing, blankets, and basic necessities to help with their traumatic loss.

Carol says, “People who anonymously are donating, we don’t even know who they are, but we just really appreciate it, because we have to build a new house. I want to express my appreciation for people that are very concerned and helping”.

Click here if you would like to make a donation.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

10 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

22 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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