News you can use
News you can use
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BILLINGS — A federal jury awarded creditors of a Montana resort for the ultra-rich a $9 million judgment against the wife of the resort’s founder after she was accused of helping conceal assets in the fallout from the club’s bankruptcy. The verdict against Jessica Ferguson was reached Tuesday and released Wednesday by U.S. District Court in Seattle. Ferguson is the wife of Tim Blixseth, who founded the posh Yellowstone Club near Big Sky that went bankrupt in 2008. Creditors represented by the Yellowstone Club Liqui...
BILLINGS (AP) — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Wednesday named a former state lawmaker from Helena as his third lieutenant governor in three years as Democrats sought to shore up the party's gubernatorial ticket ahead of the 2016 elections. Bullock announced the appointment of Mike Cooney to replace Angela McLean, who resigned last month amid tensions with the governor and his staff as revealed in their emails. Bullock said Cooney was a proven leader with a four-decade political track record. "I'm impressed by Mike's hard w...
ILLINGS — Federal regulators on Friday ordered a pipeline company to make major upgrades to a line that spilled almost 40,000 gallons of oil into Montana's Yellowstone River and fouled a local water supply. The order comes after Bridger Pipeline of Casper, Wyoming, announced plans to bury its line deeper beneath the Yellowstone to protect against future accidents. The Department of Transportation order would make that improvement mandatory and require identical action where the line runs beneath the Poplar River in n... Full story
BILLINGS — Thousands of people in Glendive were told Thursday they can resume using tap water after tests showed no further signs of contamination from a weekend oil spill into a nearby river, and water in Williston, North Dakota, also was deemed safe. The 6,000 residents of Glendive had relied on bottled water since Monday after elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene were found in the public water supply. The chemical came from 40,000 gallons of oil that spilled Saturday from a pipeline breach beneath the Yellowstone R...
BILLINGS — Montana officials said Sunday that an oil pipeline breach spilled about 50,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana, but they said they are unaware of any threats to public safety or health. The Bridger Pipeline Co. spill occurred Saturday night, said Dave Parker, a spokesman for Gov. Steve Bullock. The initial estimate is that 1,200 barrels of oil spilled, which is about 50,000 gallons, he said. Some of the oil did get into the water, but the area where it spilled was frozen over and t... Full story
GREAT FALLS (AP) — The Chippewa Cree Tribe is being required to pay up front for work on a $361 million water project after several tribal officials and companies were convicted on corruption charges related to the project, according to a federal official and the head of the tribal corporation building the project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation typically would release money annually for federally-funded projects such as the pipeline on Montana's Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. That changed about eight months ago in r... Full story
BILLINGS — A former Chippewa Cree tribal council member pleaded guilty Monday to embezzlement, tax evasion and other federal charges as part of a wide-ranging investigation into corruption within the northern Montana tribe. John "Chance" Houle entered the pleas during an appearance before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls. Morris set sentencing for March 19. The case emerged from a federal probe into the misuse of government stimulus money on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. Three felony charges against H... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Two more defendants in a sweeping corruption investigation into Montana's Chippewa Cree tribe have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, according to court documents filed Monday. Former Chippewa Cree tribal council member John "Chance" Houle agreed to plead guilty to bribery, theft and obstruction of justice, court documents show. Former Chippewa Cree tribal rodeo association vice chairman Wade Christopher Colliflower agreed to plead guilty to a single count of theft and aiding and abetting theft. U... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday that Montana can meet the Obama administration's goal of reducing climate pollution while protecting energy-related jobs and avoiding the closure of coal plants that generate the bulk of the state's emissions. The White House plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 has generated a backlash in many coal-dependent states. Republicans in Montana have sought to capitalize on the issue ahead of November's election, asserting the climate plan amounts t... Full story
LISA BAUMANN MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press HELENA - Democrats will be hard-pressed in quickly finding a strong candidate for Montana's U.S. Senate election after incumbent John Walsh's abrupt withdrawal from the campaign in a plagiarism controversy. Walsh's decision to quit the campaign Thursday gave an instant shot in the arm to Republicans nationally. A net gain of six seats in the Senate would give the GOP a majority in both chambers of Congress. And Montana Republicans... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Montana's U.S. House candidates claim to offer "all-of-the-above" solutions to the nation's energy problems— a familiar mantra among politicians keen to give equal attention to fossil fuels and renewables such as wind and solar. Yet stark differences in the details of their proposals reveal a wide divide. Republican Ryan Zinke is a staunch fossil fuels advocate who questions humanity's role in climate change. Democrat John Lewis touts the potential for renewables that he says could transform the state's ene... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — A private conservation reserve taking shape on north-central Montana's open prairie now spans more than 300,000 acres — or almost 470 square miles — with the addition of a large parcel south of Malta that was disclosed Thursday. American Prairie Reserve manager James Barnett said the group recently bought a 22,000-acre ranch in Phillips County that will be known as Sun Prairie North. The Bozeman-based group described the purchase as an important step in its goal to piece together more than 3 million acres... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Disclosures from railroads about volatile oil shipments from the Northern Plains show dozens of the trains passing weekly through Illinois and the Midwest and up to 19 a week reaching Washington state on the West Coast. The Associated Press obtained details on the shipments Tuesday under public records requests filed with state emergency officials. Details on the shipments were turned over to states under an order from the U.S. Department of Transportation. That came after fiery accidents including an oil t... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Montana Republicans resolved Saturday to close their primary elections to nonparty members and adopt a runoff system for the general election, following a fierce internal debate that underscores lingering divisions within the party heading into the general election season. The proposals were adopted by a voice vote taken of roughly 200 delegates at the party's election-year convention in Billings. The changes will not go into effect automatically. They would have to be approved by the state Legislature or i... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — The remaining defendants in a corruption scheme on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation have avoided prison, after a judge rejected the prosecution's claims of significant financial damages. Former Crow historic preservation director Dale Old Horn, his son, Allen, and Shawn Talking Eagle Danforth were convicted of theft, fraud and other charges. The case stemmed from cultural monitoring work they did for the tribe and private companies. Prosecutors asserted the defendants gouged companies out of roughly $... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — A White House plan to address climate change by reducing carbon dioxide pollution would have a magnified impact in coal-rich Montana and consequences for both mining and electricity generation. Draft rules for power plants unveiled Monday call for Montana to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 21 percent by 2030. Montana has the largest coal reserves in the U.S. — almost 120 billion tons of the fuel. It's also home to the second largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi at Colstrip, a 2,1... Full story
BILLINGS — The chairman of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee says he wants the Obama administration to address the "dysfunction" that is hobbling Native American health care and causing rising dissatisfaction over poor and delayed care on reservations. Chairman Jon Tester has invited tribal leaders from Montana and Wyoming to a Tuesday field hearing in Billings to air grievances about the U.S. Indian Health Service — a $4.4 billion agency that provides health care for 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The...
BILLINGS (AP) - Montana is joining North Dakota and South Dakota as states that plan to curtail sage grouse hunting in response to a continued decline in the game bird's population. Montana wildlife commissioners on Thursday gave tentative approval to a proposal to cancel or scale back a two-month hunting season slated to open in September. Hunting advocates strongly oppose a closure, and Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion says less drastic measures are... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Prosecutors say they no longer will pursue the death penalty against a Colorado man suspected of killing a teacher in eastern Montana's oil patch. Tuesday's move by Richland County Attorney Mike Weber comes after psychiatrists determined 25-year-old Michael Keith Spell is mentally disabled. Spell is charged with killing 43-year-old Sherry Arnold, who disappeared while jogging along a Sidney street in 2012. Weber cited a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said executing mentally disabled criminals c... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — A judge says a mentally disabled Colorado man is fit to stand trial in the killing of a Montana teacher who disappeared after she went jogging in the Bakken oil patch. District Judge Richard Simonton in a Friday ruling cited testimony from a state psychiatrist that the mental disabilities suffered by 25-year-old Michael Keith Spell are not so severe to make him incompetent. Spell is charged with the attempted kidnapping and murder of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold. The Sidney High School math teacher disappeared i... Full story
BILLINGS — A high school teacher who served one month in prison for raping a 14-year-old student is asking the Montana Supreme Court to reconsider a decision that could send him back to prison for at least two more years. The high court in April ruled that the original sentence given to former Billings teacher Stacey Dean Rambold was illegal. Justices cited in part comments from Judge G. Todd Baugh, who said during Rambold's sentencing that the victim shared control over the situation. Under state law, children younger t... Full story
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.)... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Defendants in a corruption case on a Montana American Indian reservation won't have to repay most of the money they received through a fraudulent billing scheme, federal prosecutors said Friday. Seven defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial after authorities said they diverted roughly $500,000 from tribal accounts while doing cultural monitoring work for the Crow Indian Tribe. Prosecutors pursued the case only on behalf of the tribe — not the outside companies that sought the monitoring work. As... Full story
Creeping landslide devouring part of Wyoming town MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — What's happening in this Wyoming resort town might be better described as a land creep than a landslide, but the lack of speed has not hindered the sheer power of the moving earth. Over the past two weeks, a piece of East Gros Ventre Butte has slowly collapsed toward the west side of Jackson — shearing one hillside home in half, threatening to devour several others and loo... Full story
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... Full story
