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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...
President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned citizens about the growth of a military-industrial complex before he left office. Zach White More than 50 years later, with multiple trillions of dollars pumped unquestioningly into bloated war efforts over the past few years, much of it going to defense contractors, who "coincidentally" have contributed billions in lobbying funds in that same time frame, it's hard to imagine what that crazy old coot was talking about. It's not like anyone questions the patriotism of an individual...
U. S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Wednesday that the U. S. government should require oil coming into the country through a proposed pipeline from Canada stay in the country. Tester said he believes the Keystone XL pipeline, to transport oil from the tar sands in northeastern Alberta to Texas, will be built, and he wants the oil that goes through the line to be sold here. Tester introduced an amendment Tuesday that would require just that. "Right now I've been that told all the oil that's going to be coming down the...
Courtesy photo U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., listens to a response Wednesday from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis during a hearing of the Labor, Health & Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee he chairs. A large group of U. S. senators, including the two from Montana, are moving to block a proposal from the U. S. Department of Labor that would limit what children could do on farms and ranches in the country. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., was an original co-sponsor of a bill proposed March 21 by Sen. John Thune,...
Editor: The numbers are staggering. Montana reported an average of 10 crimes related to domestic violence every day in 2010. According to the Montana Board of Crime Control, 3,732 Montanans — mostly women and children — suffered violence at the hands of members of their own families. The number of unreported crimes, of course, is much higher. This week in Washington, D.C., lawmakers are debating whether to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. The fact that a debate is even needed speaks volumes about the problems goi...
A flurry of activity in Washington has come through in the last few days with direct effects on north-central Montana. The action included a Senate committee passing a new farm bill to the floor and Montana's senior senator being appointed to the House-Senate conference committee to hash out a new highway bill. Dept. of Labor backs off on child farm work Along with this morning's announcement that a farm bill has passed out of committee and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has been appointed to the highway bill conference committee...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sharp questioning by the Supreme Court's conservative justices cast serious doubt Tuesday on the survival of the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul. Arguments at the high court focused on whether the mandate for virtually every American to have insurance "is a step beyond what our cases allow," in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy. AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren This artist rendering shows Paul Clement speaks in front of the Supreme Court i...
A bill intended to reform the U. S. Postal Service passed the U. S. Senate Wednesday, with Montana's senators praising amendments they sponsored or supported that they say will keep rural service running well in the future. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Montanans depend on the post office to deliver medications, to do business and to vote. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., praised the passage of the bill and amendments, including a proposal he sponsored with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to cut the salaries of top Postal Service...
Two people touting themselves as supporters of sports and recreation are traveling around the state trying to raise opposition to a bill granting sweeping powers to the U. S. Department of Homeland Security within 100 miles of the nation's borders. "I think everybody is in favor of a secure border. It's common sense, " Helena writer Ben Lamb said in an interview with the Havre Daily News Wednesday. "The question is, is this federal overreach? " Lamb, a former director of the Montana Wildlife Association and a board member of...
A high-profile issue has Rep. Denny Rehberg holding a meeting Saturday to hear people's views on Sen. Max Baucus' bill on managing the Rocky Mountain Front. Rehberg, R-Mont., set a listening session in Choteau to discuss the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, written by Baucus, D-Mont, and cosponsored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., whom Rehberg is challenging in this year's Senate race. Rehberg has been a critic of a bill sponsored by Tester that would mandate logging on U. S. Forest Service land and create new recreation...
Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson On Tuesday evening in the Duck Inn Olympic Room, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Tom Sawatzke opens a meeting with a Powerpoint presentation summing up reasons the bureau closed fishing access at the Fresno Dam spillway. While he made no promises, a U. S. Bureau of Reclamation representative told a Havre crowd Tuesday that there is a chance to move fishing closer to Fresno Dam. "I'm trying to tell you that we have a responsibility to provide a secure facility — that is kind of a gray definition ...
AP Photo/Michael Albans Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., left, listens with Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., in Big Sky on Saturday during the first debate of the 2012 election. BIG SKY — Montana voters heard clear differentiation and contrasts between their three candidates for U. S. Senate during the campaign's first debate, held at the Montana Newspaper Association annual conference in Big Sky Saturday. They also heard sometimes contentious digs at the two main-party candidates. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, Republican Rep. Denny Rehbe...
Montana's U. S. senators have their hackles raised over a proposal in a House appropriations bill that could impact biofuel research, development and production, including work being done at Havre's university. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, narrowly passed an amendment to the House military appropriations bill that would restrict the U. S. Department of Defense buying biofuel for use in branches of the military. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said in an interview Thursday that doing that would be a step backward. "Quite honestly,...
AP Photo/Gregory Bull, file A man walks back to his temporary housing unit outside of Williston, N.D. in July 2011. With what many are calling the largest oil boom in recent North American history, temporary housing for the huge influx of workers, known as "mancamps," now dot the sparse North Dakota landscape. In the wake of the kidnapping and brutal murder of a Montana teacher, law enforcement from across the Northern Plains including portions of Canada gather to prepare for an expected influx of 20,000-30,000 new workers...
This past week, I joined hundreds of fellow afterschool program directors, as well as afterschool students (including my daughter Emily) and other advocates from across the country spending two days in Washington, D.C., for the 11th annual Afterschool for All Challenge, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance. I was there to learn from and share with colleagues and also to bring a message to members of Congress about the importance of making sure our children get the support they need in the out-of-school-time hours. Tim...
Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson Tuesday, Ron Surber, left, and Mike Rider of Havre Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co. clean out the pockets of dirty coveralls, some belonging to Bakken oil fields workers, before the clothes are laundered. The company has seen a jump in business with cleaning — and supplying — specialized clothing to employees in energy industries in the area. What the boom of energy development in the Bakken — and development and exploration west and south of Havre — eventually will bring is unknown, so local leaders...
Courtesy Williston Herald Traffic backs up along a thoroughfare through Williston, N.D. Havre leaders are looking at how to prepare for, and take advantage of, possible impacts if rapid expansion due to oil production in the Williston area ends up spilling over to this area. No one knows what effect increased energy development eventually will bring to Havre and the surrounding region. Work in the Bakken formation and the Shelby area west of Havre already is bringing some changes to the area, and local political, business and...
Montana's senior senator has announced an initiative that will help train people for energy development in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, with the university in Havre and the community college in Miles City leading the effort. Montana State University-Northern Chancellor James Limbaugh talked about the initative Friday at a meeting to start planning for effects of the Bakken oilfield developments in Havre. He said he had been working on a task force created last fall for energy workforce development. He had met in...
INGOMAR (AP) — The top U.S. Postal Service official on Thursday took his case for rural post office closures straight to the people it will hurt most, telling residents in Montana's capital and in one of its smallest towns that up to 3,600 small post offices around the country need to be shuttered as part of cost-cutting moves. Rural residents who traveled to Helena to meet Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe answered right back, saying cuts should be made elsewhere because their post offices provide a much-needed lifeline. A...
Montana State University-Northern Chancellor Jim Limbaugh announced at a meeting at Bear Paw Development Corp. Friday morning that Havre's university is joining Miles Community College in Miles City in two separate actions that will work to tie into the oil development of the Bakken. "The key here for Havre is the lead institutions are Northern and Miles City, because we've convinced them that geographically, culturally, historically, our two institutions are the ones that should be out in front," he said. Limbaugh said at...
Politico, the website that is the go-to place for political junkies looking for their fix, has been paying a lot of attention to Montana in recent days. Every month, Politico lists the top 10 most closely watched U. S. Senate races in this November's elections. Once again in July, Montana's donnybrook between incumbent Jon Tester and U. S. Rep. Denny Rehberg was third on the list, trailing only Massachusetts and Virginia. Tester "won" July, Politico declared, based on his success with his campaign ads claiming that Rehberg...
HELENA — The governor on Monday dropped Montana's lawsuit against the Defense Department over plans to move the Montana National Guard's F-15s to California since the administration has postponed the cost-cutting initiative behind scheduled aircraft transfers. The move came after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta assured the state's senators last month that the Air Force will halt scheduled transfers of National Guard planes until Congress finalizes 2013 budget plans later this year that could prevent those transfers. The t...
Sparks are flying between one of Montana's U. S. senators and its sole member of the House of Representatives as Congress leaves work behind and goes into August recess. The campaigns of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, who are squared off in this year's race for Tester's seat, have been shooting off multiple releases daily bashing each opponent. The August recess is scheduled to run from Monday through Sept. 7. Both houses of Congress are taking shots at the other for legislation not passing...
Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson, file photo Lush trees surround the front entrance of Donaldson Hall at Montana State University-Northern in this July 2008 photo. A major grant is coming to Havre that will help with two problems: preserving and renovating a historic university building and consolidating and expanding the operations of the local community health center. Cindy Smith, the executive director of Bullhook Community Health Center, said the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services notified the center staff that...
The chair of a local Native American tribe was in Washington Tuesday to urge support for a bill Montana's U. S. senators wrote to provide money for rural water projects. "If I could leave the members of this committee with one impression, it would be for you to understand how difficult life is when you have no assurances that when you turn the water on in your house that water will in fact come out of the tap or be safe to drink, " Bruce Sunchild Sr., council chair of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Indian...
