Independent

The Missoula Independent is no longer on its own.

Billings area real estate broker Sam Rankin is trying to jump into the U.S. Senate race for 2014. But rather than mixing into the state Democrat and Republican parties, Rankin has decided to run as an independent, which means he'll have a lot of work to do to get on the ballot.

After a year-long court battle over wanting to take a peek at some state documents, the Missoula Independent is stuck having to foot the bill for their court fees even though they won the right to look at the documents in question.