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Blaine County saw some of the impacts of the recent flooding that is devastating areas in southwestern and central Montana and led to a disaster declaration for the state, with more storms and precipitation increasing concerns in those areas. Flooding levels in Clear Creek were dropping this morning and no precipitation is in the forecast for this part of Montana, but a new storm brought more snow to areas of Montana where hundreds of people have been left cut off by swollen...
A wind-chill warning is in effect for the Hi-Line through noon Sunday, with predictions of temperatures as far as minus 28 degrees tonight. The Weather Channel predicts a high of minus 5 Saturday. The University of Montana, all Missoula County public schools and many other western Montana schools were closed today based on the weather and a forecast that includes a blizzard warning stretching from Glacier National Park to south of Hamilton. Some sections of Montana highways were closed this morning as well. The National...
Staff and wire reports HELENA— Gov. Steve Bullock has named Board of Regents chairwoman Angela McLean as lieutenant governor. McLean will replace John Walsh, whom the Democratic governor appointed last week as interim U.S. senator. The appointment will also mean that Havreite Paul Tuss, presently Regents vice chair, will be elevated to the chairmanship of the board that oversees colleges and universities in the Montana University System. Tuss is executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp. Bullock's office announced M...
The Montana Ranchers Paying It Forward reached their goal of 40 head as of Nov. 19 to add to the successful fund to aid the South Dakotan ranchers who suffered severe losses in their stock due to winter weather in October. Rene Brown and Alisha Burcham organized an effort to gather livestock donations to give to South Dakotans in October. Brown said they hoped they would get their goal of 40 head of cattle at the time, but was unsure that they would achieve it. “I figured if we has a horse trailer-full we would be doing g...
The number of Native Americans in the Hill County Detention Center became a topic at a meeting between Ravalli County officials and Confederated Salish and Kootena tribal leaders. The comments of the Ravalli County Planning Commission has created a stir around the state. Ravalli County commissioners oppose the tribes' plan to put 58 acres of tribally owned land into trust with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying the county would lose $808 in annual property taxes. The meeting ended on a sour note when county planning...
Gov. Steve Bullock has declared an emergency in Hill and Blaine counties and on the Rocky Boy's and Fort Belknap Indian reservations. Bullock's order includes 13 other counties in central Montana. Bullock signed an executive order Wednesday that allows state resources to be used in response. Bullock's office says Department of Military Affairs and Disaster and Emergency Services officials are coordinating with local agencies. The flooding is the result of recent rainfall that is more than some areas see in an average year....
BILLINGS — U. S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus are asking federal health officials to lift security restrictions on the bacteria that causes a disease found in wildlife in and around Yellowstone National Park. The Montana Democrats said Tuesday that the restrictions are making research into a possible vaccine for the disease brucellosis more difficult and expensive. Brucellosis can cause pregnant livestock and wildlife to miscarry. Human infections are uncommon and can be treated. The government lists the bacteria as a p...
U. S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is telling the postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, that he should visit rural Montana post offices before making any decisions to close some of them. The U. S. Postal Service announced last year that it would be closing three mail processing facilities in the state, perhaps leading to a net loss of 11 jobs in the state. The agency says cuts are needed to meet budget demands exacerbated by a 25 percent decline in mail volume since 2006. Not long after the processing consolidation, USPS said it...
BROWNING (AP) — A pair of rare winter wildfires fueled by 60 mph gusts burned buildings and forced hundreds from their homes overnight on Montana's Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but better weather conditions on Thursday helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes. The two blazes started around sundown Wednesday and together grew to 16,000 acres by early Thursday, said tribal spokesman Wayne Smith. At least 300 people were evacuated from homes and a boarding school, though no injuries had been reported. "It's probably t...
BROWNING (AP) — A pair of rare winter wildfires fueled by 60 mph gusts burned buildings and forced hundreds from their homes overnight on Montana's Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but better weather conditions on Thursday helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes. The two blazes started around sundown Wednesday and together grew to 16,000 acres by early Thursday, said tribal spokesman Wayne Smith. At least 300 people were evacuated from homes and a boarding school, though no injuries had been reported. "It's probably t...
Decrying the state of American education, President Barack Obama this morning said states will get unprecedented freedom to waive basic elements of the sweeping Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, calling it an admirable but flawed effort that has hurt students instead of helping them. Obama's announcement could fundamentally affect the education of tens of millions of children. It will allow states to scrap the requirement that all children must show they are proficient in reading and math by 2014 — a cornerstone of the l...
DURANT, Okla — An Oklahoma judge has sentenced a man to three life imprisonment terms, plus five years, for child abuse and moving the remains of his 12-year-old daughter from Oklahoma to Havre to Oregon. District Judge Mark Campbell imposed the life terms Thursday on Abel Wolf for enabling child abuse and child abuse by neglect. Wolf received five years for unlawful removal of a dead body. Wolf and his wife, Denise, were arrested in 2009 in Havre after local authorities received a tip from an Oklahoma detective. C...
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train loaded with grain has derailed in a remote canyon in Idaho, about 18 miles east of Bonners Ferry. BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas says 24 cars derailed Sunday afternoon as the train with four locomotives and 97 loads of grain headed from Castle Point, near Glasgow, to Kalama, Wash., at about 18 mph. This morning two of the cars had been rerailed. The other 22 are going to be shoved off on the side of the track to allow traffic to resume and will be removed over the next three weeks....
WASHINGTON — The House has rejected a proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, seen by many as the only way to force lawmakers to hold the fiscal line and reverse the flow of federal red ink. The 261-165 vote was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment. Democrats, swayed by the arguments of their leaders that a balanced budget requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs, overwhelmingly voted against it. AP Photo/Harry Hamburg M...
HELENA — The Montana Senate agreed in an initial vote Friday to authorize the state to borrow about $100 million for projects around the state, including $7.9 million for a major revamp to the automotive-diesel center at Montana State University-Northern. The big bonding bill received a 36-14 vote, just clearing the two-thirds threshold required for the state to borrow money. If it passes a final vote, the measure will return to the House, which has approved a version of the bill. Senators increased the economic trigger r...
HELENA — The Montana Senate agreed in an initial vote Friday to authorize the state to borrow about $100 million for projects around the state, including $7.9 million for a major revamp to the automotive-diesel center at Montana State University-Northern. The big bonding bill received a 36-14 vote, just clearing the two-thirds threshold required for the state to borrow money. If it passes a final vote, the measure will return to the House, which has approved a version of the bill. Senators increased the economic trigger requi...
Survey finds structurally deficient Montana bridges MISSOULA — A new survey finds one of every 13 highway bridges in Montana is structurally deficient, and that an average of 80,000 motorists a day cross what the report ranks as the top three busiest bridges in the state that are in that category. The report released this week by Transportation for America said federal guidelines peg a bridge structurally deficient if it has a major defect that requires significant maintenance or replacement. "Drivers in Montana are regularly...
The U.S. Census figures released this morning showed that Montana's population increased 9.7 percent over the last decade. Despite the increase, it will continue to have only one member of the House of Representatives. The district, represented by Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., will remain the second largest district in the nation geographically, behind Alaska, which also has one representative. It will, by far, have more people than any other district in the nation. U.S. Census data released this morning put Montana's population...
