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As numbers of new COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to creep up - including in Montana - President Joe Biden's administration says the U.S. is headed for "a lot of unnecessary loss of life" if Congress fails to provide billions more dollars to brace for the pandemic's next wave. Yet the quest for that money is in limbo, the latest victim of election-year gridlock that's stalled or killed a host of Democratic priorities. That comes as numbers of new cases again...
The Associated Press HELENA (AP) - On his Facebook page, 18-year-old Jacob Bachmeier has the usual selfies, including one cuddling his baby sister and another showing him in the great outdoors with a huge backpack. But these days, the recent high school graduate is trying to depict a more serious image, wearing suits and ties, as he makes a bid to become the youngest member of the Montana Legislature. Two weeks after graduating high school, Bachmeier beat retired English...
HELENA — The U.S. Army War College revoked Democratic Sen. John Walsh's master's degree after an investigation completed Friday concluded he plagiarized a research paper required to graduate, a college spokeswoman said. The Carlisle, Pennsylvania, college assigned an academic review board to the probe in August after The New York Times published a story showing Walsh borrowed heavily from other sources for the paper he wrote in 2007. Walsh was pursuing a Master of Strategic Studies degree at age 47, a year before he became M...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. MSU-NORTHERN COACH RESIGNS: HAVRE — Montana State University-Northern officials say Mark Samson has resigned as the Lights' head football coach. Wednesday night's announcement came a day after school officials confirmed the 10-year coach had been placed on administrative leave for an undisclosed personnel issue. The statement from the university did not give a reason for Samson's resignation or why he was placed on leave. Defensive c...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. DEMOCRATS LOOK AT STEPS NEEDED FOR NEW SENATE CANDIDATE: Sen. John Walsh hasn't made a public appearance since the weekend, and Montana Democrats are reviewing the steps they would need to take to replace him with another candidate if he decides to withdraw from the Senate race. Walsh's campaign has been silent about whether he plans to keep campaigning amid allegations that he plagiarized a research paper while studying for a master's...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS LIKELY TO STICK THROUGH ELECTIONS: Officials say a court decision on whether individuals and political parties can give unlimited amounts of money to state candidates likely won't be made until after the Nov. 4 elections. Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl says the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may schedule oral arguments months after a September legal brief is filed, which would push back...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. PRAIRIE RESERVE GROWS TO 300K ACRES: A private conservation reserve on north-central Montana's open prairie now spans more than 300,000 acres with the addition of a large parcel south of Malta. American Prairie Reserve manager James Barnett says the group's recent purchase of the 22,000-acre ranch in Phillips County marks an important step in the reserve's goal to piece together more than 3 million acres of public and private lands....
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. HEARING SET ON PROPOSED EPA RULE: More than 400 people plan to speak at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing on proposed rules to cut pollution from power plants in Denver on Tuesday and Wednesday. They include representatives from coal mines, electric utilities, labor unions, environmental groups, renewable energy companies, government agencies and other organizations from across the West, including Montana. The EPA is holding...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. INVESTIGATION OPENS INTO WALSH PLAGIARISM ALLEGATIONS: The U.S. Army War College says a group of faculty will investigate whether Montana Democratic Sen. John Walsh plagiarized a research project he submitted in 2007. The college posted a statement on its website that says it determined there was reasonable cause to refer the case to the school's academic review board. Walsh will be allowed to submit material to the review board and...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. WALSH SAYS ALLEGATIONS WON'T HURT ELECTION CHANCES: Sen. John Walsh said his extensive, unattributed use of others' work in his master's thesis was not plagiarism, but "a few citations that were unintentionally left out of a term paper" that he blamed in part on post-Iraq war trauma. He says the plagiarism allegations first reported by The New York Times should not harm his campaign to keep his seat in the race against U.S. Rep. Steve...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. JUDGE CENSURED OVER RAPE VICTIM COMMENTS: The Montana Supreme Court censured District Judge G. Todd Baugh over comments suggesting a 14-year-old rape victim shared some of the responsibility for the crime. Baugh did not address the court after his reprimand, and he faces suspension in December before he retires from the bench. VANDYKE CLEARED FOR BALLOT: The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in a 4-3 decision that former state solicitor...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. JUDGE TO BE CENSURED OVER RAPE VICTIM COMMENTS: The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday will publicly reprimand a judge who gave a lenient sentence to a rapist after suggesting the 14-year-old victim shared some of the responsibility for the crime. District Judge G. Todd Baugh of Billings is scheduled to appear before the court in Helena, where one of the justices will read a censure statement prepared in advance. Baugh will likely have an...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. MONTANA DROUGHT Gov. Steve Bullock has announced a pilot project meant to better manage the impacts of drought in Montana. Bullock says a new partnership will bring the resources of seven federal agencies to watershed groups and communities already working on drought issues. The project will take place on the upper Missouri River Basin above Fort Peck Reservoir. BILLINGS-AREA SHOOTINGS Police say a 52-year-old man arrested Tuesday...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. AGREEMENTS SIGNED TO SET UP LAND BUY-BACK PROGRAM IN MONTANA: The U.S. government has signed agreements to extend a $1.9 billion land buy-back program to three Montana reservations. The agreements between the Interior Department and leaders from the Crow, Fort Belknap and Fort Peck reservations pave the way for the government to buy fractionated land parcels from their multiple owners and give them to the tribes. SAGE GROUSE HUNT UP FOR...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. DAM SALE PUBLIC HEARING BEGINS: Montana regulators are holding a public hearing to help determine whether a $900 million proposal by NorthWestern Energy to purchase 11 hydroelectric dams is in the public interest. The Public Service Commission has scheduled two weeks for the hearing starting Tuesday morning at the state Capitol. DERAILMENT CLEANUP PROGRESSING SLOWLY: A Montana Rail Link spokeswoman says specialized machinery is pulling...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. JUDGE-OBAMA EMAIL BILA group of American Indians wants a court to preserve and eventually release an investigative file containing inappropriate emails sent by a federal judge, including a racist message involving President Barack Obama. Their attorney said the contents of the emails will show if retired District Judge Richard Cebull made biased decisions from the bench in cases. MURDER FOR HIRE A Polson man who was charged with trying...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. RAPE SUSPECT FACES NEW DRUG CHARGE: A Bozeman man who is charged with trying to rape a former girlfriend in February and then escaping from police custody for three weeks now faces a drug charge. Gallatin County prosecutors charged 28-year-old Kevin Anthony Briggs with criminal possession of dangerous drugs. County Attorney Marty Lambert says a syringe found in Briggs' backpack had traces of a drug called etizolam, which has amnesic,...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. NEW TRIAL DATE IN EXCHANGE STUDENT SLAYING: The trial date for a Missoula man charged in the shooting death of a German exchange student has been moved up to December after District Judge Ed McLean last week scheduled a Jan. 5 trial date for 24-year-old Markus Kaarma in the death of 17-year-old Diren Dede. Dede was shot while he was in Kaarma's garage early on April 27. Kaarma has claimed self-defense. Dede's defense attorneys had...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. NEW SETTLEMENT TALKS IN CHURCH SEX ABUSE CASE: A Helena judge has postponed a church sex-abuse trial so attorneys for an order of nuns and hundreds of plaintiffs can try to work out a settlement. The first three of hundreds of plaintiffs who say priests and nuns abused them as children in western Montana had been scheduled to go to trial July 14. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock pushed that date to December on Thursday after the sides...
BC-MT--5 Things to Know in Montana-Wednesday/341 Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. FUNERAL FOR THREE FORKS FIRE CHIEF: A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Three Forks for fire chief Todd Rummel, who died last Thursday in a collision that also killed a family of five from Townsend. The service will be held at the town's high school. Investigators say they are being meticulous in their effort to determine what caused the fiery crash between the fire engine...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. CHARGES IN FATAL AUGUSTA SHOOTING: An Augusta man has been charged with deliberate homicide in the shooting death of a neighbor. Joseph Campbell was charged Monday in the Oct. 18 slaying of Timothy Newman following years of legal disputes between Newman, Campbell and other neighbors over access to public land. Campbell has said he shot Newman in self-defense. CRASH VICTIMS IDENTIFIED: Authorities say a 4-year-old boy and 3-year-old...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. PSC SAYS NO TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONSULTANT: Montana utility regulators have dropped a proposal to spend $3,000 to hire a former University of Montana law professor to point out constitutional problems with proposed federal regulations to reduce carbon dioxide pollution. Public Service Commission member Roger Koopman withdrew his proposal to hire Rob Natelson after other commissioners said constitutional questions are a matter for the...
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) — The bride was having second thoughts eight days after the wedding, sparking an argument between the newlywed couple that carried from their Kalispell home to a popular trail in Glacier National Park. Only Jordan Graham left the park alive the night of July 7. Now it will be up to a jury to decide what happened and whether the 22-year-old woman should be convicted of murder in the death of Cody Johnson. Graham's trial begins Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula with jury selection and is expected to last o...
HELENA — The Chippewa Cree Tribe has declared a financial disaster due to the federal government shutdown. Spokesman Wade Colliflower said Tuesday if the budget stalemate in Congress isn't resolved by Thursday, the tribal government will completely shut down. The exception will be the Rocky Boy's reservation's police department and health clinic, which will be fully staffed. Colliflower says senior citizens will receive meal deliveries, propane and firewood as the weather turns colder. But nearly all other tribal offices a...