Public land access advocates are celebrating a ruling Thursday by the Montana Supreme Court upholding the state's stream access law and clarifying the public's rights to use historic rights-of-way.

In a case involving a group of roads near the Ruby River in Madison County, the high court sided with the Public Lands Access Association and against the county and an out-of-state landowner -- James Cox Kennedy, chairman of media conglomerate Cox Enterprises -- who had blocked access to the river through parts of his 3,000-acre ranch.

The suit first began in 2004, whtn the PLAA sued Madison County claiming that property owners had put fences along public roads, blocking access to the river.

The court said that right-of-way on a road established by "prescriptive use" -- that is, by use of the route over time, whether or not the county formally designated it a county road -- was not limited to just that historic use but also included foreseeable public uses, including recreation.

MORE>>>KBZK

Montana ranks ninth best among the 50 states for its overall fiscal condition in the 2012 budget year, a new study published for a George Mason University center concluded.

That overall ranking was determined after using four “solvency indices” in the study by Sarah Arnett. It was published by the university’s Mercatus Center, a market-oriented think tank. 

Here are the rankings by solvency indices for fiscal 2012, along with Montana’s ranking for each:

— Cash solvency, a liquidity measurement that takes into account the cash that a state can easily access to pay its bills in the near term: Montana ranked fifth best.

— Budget solvency, which measures a state’s ability to come up with enough revenue to cover its expenses over a fiscal year. Montana ranked eighth.

— Long run solvency, which is a measurement of a state’s ability to use incoming revenue to cover all its expenditures, including guaranteed pension benefits and infrastructure maintenance. Montana ranked ninth.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette

6:19 a.m. A Willow Glen Drive resident reported finding what he imagines to be a stolen car at the end of his driveway.

7:53 a.m. Reportedly, the reckless driver of a little Ford Focus ran a logging truck off the road.

8:24 a.m. An abandoned husky was found on Paradise Hills Drive.

8:37 a.m. A Columbia Falls man reported that his brother hit him. He did not need medical assistance and did not wish to pursue charges.

9:05 a.m. A Kalispell woman reported that someone stole her husband’s backpack.

12:23 p.m. A local business owner reported that someone stole two cups of coffee. He was able to provide video footage as evidence of the crime.

1:39 p.m. A local bartender reported that her boyfriend stole nearly $1,000 from the “shake-a-day” jar.

2:01 p.m. An employee of a local gas station reported that an intoxicated man was wandering around the store, talking about purchasing guns.

3:22 p.m. A woman on White Rabbit Lane returned home to find that a cat and silver-plated cutlery had gone missing.

MORE>>>Flathead Beacon

"Eighteen miles up the Pintler Scenic Highway is one of the best under-the-radar ski areas in the Northern Rockies — Discovery, or Disco to the locals,” reads the article. “The only thing missing — in town, the surrounding mountains, or the wide ranching valleys sprawling out below — are crowds.

At Disco, Ciche Pitcher, vice president of operations, said he thinks it’s great that Philipsburg and the ski area are getting national attention.

“We love seeing Philipsburg talked about in that vein, as a ski town, describing it as a recreational community, getting that stuff out about it to people who don’t know about it,” he told The Montana Standard in a phone interview Tuesday.

But Pitcher doesn’t think Disco is discovered.

“We’ve found over the years, nothing that comes out in those publications is ever going to be significant to change what’s going on here,” he said. “It’s nice when you see it written up like that: people are noticing it’s a good experience to ski here.”

For Philipsburg, like so many small towns around the nation enduring declining populations and trying to diversify and attract young families, any news is good news, however.

“It’s totally awesome, phenomenal and great to be featured in National Geographic. It’s the real deal,” said Bill Dirkis, president of the Philipsburg Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Sunshine Station restaurant.

“Any time you get publicity like that it’ll be good for the town,” he said. “I really wish we had better snow right now, but I think (National Geographic readers) will plan their vacations for next year.”

Articles like this are coming fast and furious for the area. Discovery was recently featured by the Los Angeles Times as one of the most family-friendly and affordable ski areas in the West. Food Network Magazine recognized the Sweet Palace’s dark chocolate Moose Drool truffle in its November 2013 issue.

MORE>>>Independent Record

It's 6 am on Saturday morning, and you've decided to load up your gear and head to the mountains for an exhilarating day of skiing. How do you decide where to go? Sure, you could boot up your computer and click through website after website, checking out the different snow reports for your favorite spots - but that can cut into the precious time you should be spending knee-deep in fresh powder. Wouldn't it be great if you could access real-time, detailed snow reports for practically all of Montana's ski resorts with one easy touch of your mobile phone?

 Well, your winter wish has come true. The Montana Office of Tourism's Ski Montana website (http://skimt.com) aggregates the individual snow reports from Montana's ski resorts so you can compare the latest new snow fall, summit depth, and number of lifts in operation.

 "We're excited to be able to offer Montanans this resource," said Commerce Director and avid skier Meg O'Leary. "Snow is an essential part of winter tourism and stimulates economic activity. Having immediate, real-time updates for all of our ski resorts in one spot is priceless."

Courtesy of MATR Newsletter

A new population estimate of mountain lions in the southern reaches of the Bitterroot suggests there are at least twice as many animals as wildlife managers initially thought.

Researchers from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the University of Montana released results of the DNA-based estimate of adult mountain lions this week.

The research team used cutting-edge population modeling techniques coupled with DNA sampling collected from both live and hunter-harvested animals to develop estimates that predicted a population of 85 adult lions in the West Fork and 82 in the East Fork.

Those numbers did not include juveniles or kittens.

The research project followed initial findings from a large-scale, three-year Bitterroot elk study that showed mountain lions were the main predator of elk calves in the southern portion of the valley.

“When mountain lions started turning up as a major cause of elk calf mortality in their first year of life, we wanted to establish a baseline for the lion population in the valley,” University of Montana researcher Mark Hebblewhite said Wednesday.

DNA samples of mountain lions were collected from Dec. 12, 2012, through April 2013 under the direction of FWP’s Kelly Proffitt and Hebblewhite.

MORE>>>Ravalli Republic