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HELENA — Leaders of an American Indian tribe in Montana awaiting federal recognition say they are closer than ever to that goal. The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Council Chairman Gerald Gray spoke with Gov. Steve Bullock last week. Gray says recently proposed rule changes for recognizing American Indian tribes would put a nod from the U.S. government within their reach. Federal officials say the proposed rule changes are in the midst of a months-long finalization process. The landless tribe has been recognized by t...
BILLINGS — A former high school teacher who raped a 14-year-old student could be headed back to prison after the Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that his original one-month sentence was too short under state sentencing laws. The court ordered a new judge to re-sentence defendant Stacey Dean Rambold. Rambold was released after fulfilling the original sentence last fall, and is expected to remain free pending his reappearance in state District Court. (Full story in Thursday's Havre Daily News.)...
DEER LODGE - Montana's parole board has the chance to correct a mistake made when Barry Beach was sentenced to 100 years in prison without parole in the 1979 beating death of a high school classmate, his attorneys said Tuesday. Science and the courts had not yet realized that a juvenile criminal had capacity to change when Beach was convicted in 1984, attorney Terry Toavs told three members of the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole in a hearing in Deer Lodge. Beach and the...
HELENA — An order of nuns facing child sex abuse lawsuits wants to bring the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena back into state court, saying the diocese should have to pay part of any judgment against the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province. Attorneys for the Ursulines are asking a judge to lift a stay in legal proceedings that was granted to the diocese when it filed for federal bankruptcy protection earlier this year. A total of 362 people have sued the Ursulines and the diocese, alleging they were abused as children f...
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A defendant died after being shot by a U.S. marshal on Monday during an attack on a witness during a trial in a new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, the FBI said. Siale Angilau, 25, died at a hospital after he was shot in the chest as he rushed the witness with a pen in an "aggressive, threatening manner," the FBI said in a news release. Angilau was shot several times in front of a jury that had been selected on Friday. Angilau was one of 17 people...
HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an attempt by opponents of Medicaid expansion and Attorney General Tim Fox to rewrite the language of a proposed ballot initiative and void all the signed petitions that backers have gathered to date. The justices said in a unanimous decision that delaying signature-gathering for further court proceedings would have the effect of ruling for the plaintiffs because the sponsors have only until June 20 to gather 24,175 voter signatures to place Initiative 70 on N...
BILLINGS — Gov. Steve Bullock proposed a $45 million grant program Thursday to ease strains on water and sewer systems in eastern Montana towns that have struggled to keep pace with the demands of the fast-growing Bakken oil patch. The proposal needs approval from the 2015 Legislature. It would be paid for with state bonds — an aspect that's likely to run into opposition from some lawmakers. The Democratic governor last year vetoed a broader, Republican-sponsored measure that would have set aside money from mineral rev...
BILLINGS (AP) — An unarmed robbery suspect moved his hands six times in defiance of an officer's orders before the officer fatally shot him during a traffic stop, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said Wednesday. St. John said the actions captured on a police dash-cam video justified the officer's decision to draw his weapon and shoot Richard Ramirez, 38, three times. "I'm upset we had a tragic end to this," St. John said. "I'm confident we did things properly." A search of the car in which Ramirez was a passenger found d...
BILLINGS (AP) - A Billings police officer shot and killed a man being sought in a recent robbery after authorities say the suspect made a sudden movement while in the back of a car that had been pulled over, authorities said Tuesday. Billings Police Chief Rich St. John identified the deceased as Richard David Ramirez, 38, of Billings. No weapon was found on Ramirez, who was shot three times just a few blocks from his home. St. John said the officer was placed on...
HELENA — The Montana commissioner of political practices said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich broke state campaign laws by coordinating with and failing to report contributions from a conservative group during his 2010 primary election campaign. Commissioner Jonathan Motl said he intends to have a judge weigh his findings and decide whether Wittich's actions merit removal from the 2014 election ballot. "That would be the big penalty," Motl said. "Is this significant enough to establish a public trust v...
BILLINGS — U.S. transportation officials rebuked the oil industry Friday for not giving up information regulators say they need to gauge the danger of moving crude by rail, after several accidents highlighted the explosive properties of fuel from the booming oil shale fields on the Northern Plains. Department of Transportation officials told The Associated Press they have received only limited data on the characteristics of oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana, despite requests lodged by Secretary Antony F...
BILLINGS — Federal officials say their investigations into drug crimes in the Bakken oil patch have led to the arrests of 11 people linked to a ring that trafficked methamphetamine from southern California. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the arrests in Montana and California on Friday. The defendants will face drug conspiracy charges in Montana. The charges carry potential penalties of life in prison and fines of up to $10,000,000 each upon conviction. The defendants include four Montana residents, three from Los A...
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A sentencing date has been set for a Washington state man who pleaded guilty to beating and stabbing his 3-year-old son to death in a field in southwestern Montana, possibly while under the influence of an overdose of a prescribed stimulant. The Montana Standard reports Jeremy Cramer of Lacey, Wash., is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4 in District Court in Anaconda. Cramer pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide in December for the July 8 death of Broderick Cramer. The boy's body was found the next m...
HELENA (AP) — Author Jon Krakauer is asking a judge to order the release of records in the 2012 rape case against University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson. Krakauer attorney Mike Meloy says in a petition filed Feb. 12 that the "Into the Wild" author is working on a new book that deals in part with how the university and the commissioner of higher education resolved a student complaint of sexual assault against Johnson. Krakauer is seeking records concerning any actions the commissioner's office took in 2012 f...
HELENA — Two Washington, D.C.-based advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing a U.S. House candidate in Montana of illegally coordinating with the political-action committee he created. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 allege television advertisements by Special Forces for America PAC that support Ryan Zinke's House bid include photographs that appear to come from the Zinke campaign. The groups say republishing campaign materials is an in-kind contribution that federal l...
HELENA (AP) — A Helena attorney submitted a ballot initiative proposal Tuesday that would change Montana law to take away the governor's power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies and instead require special elections. The process was in the spotlight last month when Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock named his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. Republican legislative leaders criticized Bullock's selection, saying it was done in secrecy and with no input from the public. The proposal by attorney J...
OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett says it's clear that railroad tank cars carrying crude oil need to be updated because oil from certain regions has the potential to be more dangerous than previously thought. Buffett appeared on CNBC this morning after releasing his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders Saturday. Buffett owns BNSF railroad and a manufacturer of tank cars. Buffett says the crude oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and Montana and the Eagle Ford oil field in south Texas has proven m...
BILLING (AP) — Advocacy groups said Friday that a yearlong investigation of Montana's corrections system found "systemic" mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners, including their placement in solitary confinement for months or even years and the routine denial of needed medicines. The findings were detailed in a letter to state officials from the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and Disability Rights Montana. The ACLU warned it will sue the state if changes aren't made. ACLU attorney Anna Conley said the problems w...
BILLINGS (AP) — Attorneys for a former Montana teacher who raped a 14-year-old student argued Friday that his 30 days in prison were enough punishment, even as a judicial oversight panel sought the censure of the judge in the case over what it called an unlawful sentence. Prosecutors want to send freed rapist Stacey Dean Rambold of Billings back to prison. They say he should have served a minimum of four years after pleading guilty last year to sexual assault without consent. In a legal brief setting up their appeal, l...
HELENA — The Montana Judges Association wants to make it more difficult for people with cases before district courts to substitute one judge for another simply by filing a statement that they believe the judge would not be fair or impartial. The Copper King-era rule was enacted in 1903 to guard against judicial corruption but it has led to abuse in modern times, with 1,188 judicial substitutions from 2011 to 2012, the association's petition to the Montana Supreme Court said. Some attorneys have used the rule in an attempt t...
BILLINGS (AP) — BNSF Railway Co. said Thursday it intends to buy a fleet of 5,000 strengthened tank cars to haul oil and ethanol in a move that would set a higher safety standard for a fleet that's seen multiple major accidents. The voluntary step by the Texas-based subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. comes as railroads in the U.S. and Canada are under intense pressure to improve safety for hazardous materials shipments. There's been a string of recent train accidents involving oil and ethanol, punctuated...
BILLINGS — A Montana judge who said a 14-year-old rape victim appeared older than her chronological age has waived formal proceedings and asked the state Supreme Court to decide his punishment. District Judge G. Todd Baugh said in a court filing Tuesday that his actions appeared improper and failed to promote public confidence in the courts. He says he is waiving the pending proceedings before a judicial oversight panel. The Montana Judicial Standards Commission filed a complaint against the Billings judge earlier this m...
BILLINGS — Severe turbulence during a United Airlines flight from Denver to Billings sent five people to hospitals in Montana on Monday, an airline official said. Three crew members and two passengers were injured, United Airlines spokesman Luke Punzenberger told The Denver Post. The captain declared a medical emergency as the Boeing 737 approached Billings, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told the Billings Gazette. Flight 1676 left Denver International Airport around noon and landed without incident j...
BILLINGS (AP) — At least 10 times since 2008, freight trains hauling oil across North America have derailed and spilled significant quantities of crude, with most of the accidents touching off fires or catastrophic explosions. The derailments released almost 3 million gallons of oil, nearly twice as much as the largest pipeline spill in the U.S. since at least 1986. And the deadliest wreck killed 47 people in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Those findings, from an Associated Press review of U.S. and Canadian accident r...
HELENA - Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid it was "none of your damn business" who the Democratic governor appointed to fill Montana's vacant U.S. Senate seat. Refuting claims by state Republican Party officials that his appointment of John Walsh last week was a ploy to give Democrats an advantage in retaining the seat in November's election, Bullock said he spoke with no other senators, White House officials or political party...
