News you can use
News you can use
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HELENA (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court said Tuesday that a judge was wrong to release Barry Beach from prison two years ago and order a new trial in the 1979 slaying of a teenage girl. The Supreme Court's 4-3 ruling reversed a Lewistown judge's 2011 decision that found new evidence raised doubts about Beach's guilt. Beach had been in prison since the 1980s since his original conviction for the murder of a 17-year-old girl on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. A long list of advocates persistently argued he had been wrongly co...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana Supreme Court justice and a Billings district judge are being recommended to fill two open federal judgeships, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' office said Monday. The Montana Democrat will recommend that District Judge Susan Watters take U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull's Billings seat and that Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris replace U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon of Great Falls. "Judge Watters and Justice Morris are exceptionally qualified and highly respected individuals who I have no doubt will s...
HELENA (AP) — A power struggle that has splintered the Blackfeet Indians' governing council and divided the tribe is moving beyond the reservation's boundaries. The intra-tribal political feud has been escalating for nearly a year, leading to the dismissal or suspension of several members of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and leaving just five of its nine members to make decisions for the governing body. The division has led to accusations of corruption by supporters of both factions and street protests outside t...
HELENA (AP) — A power struggle that has splintered the Blackfeet Indians' governing council and divided the tribe is moving beyond the reservation's boundaries. The intra-tribal political feud has been escalating for nearly a year, leading to the dismissal or suspension of several members of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and leaving just five of its nine members to make decisions for the governing body. The division has led to accusations of corruption by supporters of both factions and street protests outside t...
HELENA (AP) — An advocacy group told a judge Thursday that a new voter-approved law unconstitutionally requires state agencies to determine who is an illegal immigrant and turn them over to federal authorities. The plaintiffs led by the Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance asked District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock to block the law, which requires proof of citizenship or legal standing from any applicant for state services, such as unemployment benefits and assistance for crime victims. The law, which was approved by nearly 80 p...
HELENA (AP) — A new voter-approved Montana law that requires an individual to provide proof of citizenship to receive state services does not apply to the university system, an associate commissioner for higher education said Wednesday. The state constitution gives the Board of Regents exclusive authority to manage and control the university system, including setting policies and regulations, Kevin McRae said. The new law that requires proof of citizenship or legal residency for services infringes on that constitutional a...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana's top education official urged school leaders Friday to review their emergency plans and procedures in the wake of a Connecticut school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults. Every public school in Montana is required to have a plan to respond to all kinds of emergencies, from an intruder to a fire to a bomb threat. Such a plan is meant to minimize the risk of a tragedy such as the one that unfolded Friday morning in Newtown, Conn. But there is no requirement or set process for M...
HELENA — The public response to the plans for this year's wolf hunt in Montana has been staggering: A whopping 6,500 comments have been received on the proposal set for approval Thursday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. That far outnumbers the 1,500 comments received on the 2011 wolf hunt plan and just about doubles the comments FWP took on last year's hotly debated proposal to relocate Yellowstone National Park bison, agency officials said. AP photo/Eliza Wiley, Independent Record Randy Newberg, with Headwaters S...
HELENA — A new Montana law eliminating medical marijuana sales and implementing strict checks to verify a patient's condition is unconstitutional and must be blocked before it takes effect next month, an attorney for an industry group suing the state argued Monday. The law passed by state lawmakers earlier this year will effectively put commercial growers in Montana out of business by barring pot providers from making a profit and limiting them to a maximum of three patients. It also places additional checks on conditions f...
HELENA — Two Montana groups are trying to do what has only been done once in 18 years: block a bill by petition. One proposes to prevent sweeping changes to the state's medical marijuana law. The other wants to block a law that gives utilities the power of eminent domain. If they get signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in 34 districts, a referendum will be held in the 2012 general election. If they get the signatures of 15 percent from 51 districts, they can suspend the bill from becoming law until that e...
HELENA — Montana officials on Friday approved the relocation of 68 quarantined bison from Yellowstone National Park to two Indian reservations amid intense debate over whether the animal that once populated the American West has a place on today's landscape. The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission gave its permission to move the animals once agreements are negotiated with Fort Belknap and Fort Peck tribal leaders over monitoring for disease and how to prevent the animals from escaping to neighboring land. Ownership of the a...
