News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1023 - 1047 of 2820
HELENA — A Montana judge has blocked part of a voter-approved law that requires proof of citizenship or legal standing to receive state services, but he left most of it intact to "preserve the intent of the people." The law approved overwhelmingly by voters in November requires a person to provide proof that he or she is eligible for services from unemployment benefits to crime-victim assistance. Immigration-rights attorneys challenged the law in December, saying Legislative Referendum 121 violated constitutional rights to pr...
HELENA — A plan to simplify income taxes was endorsed in the Montana House on Thursday as lawmakers continued to advance plans aimed at reducing taxes. House Bill 581 would reduce the seven different rates that range from 1 percent to 6.9 percent, and replace them with three rates ranging from 1 percent to 6 percent. The measure would also abolish most state credits and deductions. It was endorsed in a 67-33 initial vote in the House, even though it would get rid of credits dealing with everything from adoption to energy e...
HELENA (AP) — Supporters of a bill that would criminalize the death of a fetus say the measure would offer the unborn legal protection but would not interfere with women's access to abortions. House Bill 104 adds the term "unborn child" to the existing deliberate homicide statute — which would add to the homicide charges if a person kills a pregnant woman and her fetus. The measure would also allow a homicide charge if a woman survives an attack but her injuries lead to the termination of her pregnancy. Republican Rep. Kei...
HELENA — A proposal to allow people to salvage roadkill for food is in the fast lane to the Montana governor's office after the state Senate gave its initial backing. The measure calls for law-enforcement officers to issue permits to remove the carcasses of elk, deer, antelope and moose off the state's roadways. An earlier version would have allowed fur-bearing animals, upland game birds and migratory game birds to be scraped up, too. Supporters say the measure would stop good game meat from going to waste. Opponents q...
BILLINGS (AP) — The chief executive of a Montana mining company urged shareholders on Wednesday to reject a takeover by a group that includes former Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Stillwater Mining CEO Frank McAllister said a takeover could hurt the company's growth at a time when it's well-positioned to profit from anticipated increases in platinum and palladium prices. The comments came as the state's largest publicly traded mining company kicked off a six-week campaign to stall the takeover bid ahead of a May 2 annual shareholders...
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — The suspect in the fatal shooting of another man outside a Williston bar over the weekend has been apprehended in Billings, Mont. Authorities say the Montana Highway Patrol arrested 46-year-old Jonathan Peter Horvath Monday afternoon. Rod Ostermiller, the U.S. Marshal's Service Chief Deputy for Montana, told the Williston Herald that Horvath was taken into custody after being spotted in a field west of Billings. Authorities say 28-year-old Derrick Siegel, of Williston, died at a hospital after the s...
HELENA (AP) — A measure allowing people to carry concealed firearms without a permit in Montana's cities and towns is a logical addition to state law, Rep. Krayton Kerns told a legislative panel Monday. The Laurel Republican said his "permit-less conceal carry bill" would give city dwellers the same privileges as rural residents, who already can carry a weapon underneath a coat without a permit. "Right now I can walk down Main Street Laurel and I can carry a gun in my hand. I can carry it in my briefcase. I can carry it in m...
HELENA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Max Baucus helped block a bipartisan effort to increase restrictions on gun sales. The Senate voted Wednesday to reject expanded background checks to more gun sales, instead of just those handled by licensed firearms dealers. Baucus said Montanans have told him "loud and clear that they are overwhelmingly opposed to new gun control laws." The six-term senator says the Obama administration needs to do a better job of enforcing current laws. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester voted in support of the background c...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Senate has rejected a measure that would have made it illegal for doctors and caregivers to help terminally ill people kill themselves. House Bill 505 was struck down Monday in a 27-23 floor vote after senators removed it from the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was stuck after failing to get a majority of support. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that nothing in state law prohibits assisted suicide, effectively making Montana the third state to allow it. The Legislature previously f...
HELENA (AP) — A bipartisan measure backed by Gov. Steve Bullock hoping to force more disclosure on money in politics is hitting a roadblock. A Republican-controlled House committee tabled Senate Bill 375 on Monday. Supporters who argue it is needed to crack down on so-called dark money political groups were hoping the measure could be resuscitated with a longshot vote later on the House floor. Opponents argue anonymity is an important part of political speech in the country, and say the measure won't really solve any p...
HELENA, — A secretive conservative group that targeted moderate Republicans in the last two Montana elections and caused an upheaval in the state's election laws has revealed its board of directors for the first time. Doug Lair, Geoff Goble and Peter MacKenzie submitted a legal document to state district court last month identifying themselves as American Tradition Partnership directors. The filing was in response to state attorneys' demand for proof that ATP's new attorney had the authorization to represent the group in a l...
HELENA (AP) — Bipartisan foes of the so-called dark money behind many political attack ads ran into some opposition Thursday as they try to shepherd a lengthy reform proposal though the Legislature. Republican state Sen. Jim Peterson and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock are teaming up on the measure that aims to force more disclosure about third-party money in politics. Their bill had its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. State Sen. Art Wittich, of Bozeman, a key GOP Senate leader, used the hearing to criticize t...
HELENA — Employers would be prohibited from requesting the username and password of an applicant or employee's social media account under a measure presented Thursday to the House Business and Labor Committee. Bill sponsor Sen. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, said the proposal would fill a void in Montana law to prevent employers from requesting the "keys to someone's personal life" on social media websites such as Facebook and personal email accounts. In 2009, the city of Bozeman requested that potential employees r...
HELENA (AP) — Montana lawmakers brokering budget deals Saturday restored federal family planning money sought by Democrats, and gave Republicans a permanent cut of 500 vacant state jobs. The Republican-controlled chamber endorsed the state's main $9 billion budget bill - a combination of state and federal money - in a 30-20 vote after an all-day session. It covers services big and small: schools, driver's licensing, Medicaid, law enforcement and much more. Fiscal conservatives voiced displeasure, including the majority leader...
HELENA (AP) — Democrats are offering to pay for the damage caused when they pounded mugs on their Senate desks during last week's attempt to drown out a floor session. Legislative Services Executive Director Susan Fox says the scratches and ring marks on the desks are an easy fix that will likely be made after the session ends. Fox did not have an estimate of the cost. The legislative standoff began last Friday when Democrats announced they wanted to make a motion to halt proceedings because of one of their senators was a...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A bill that would require student-athletes to be removed from play after they show signs of having a concussion is headed to Gov. Steve Bullock's desk. The Senate passed Senate Bill 112 on Thursday. It is named for Dylan Steigers, a former Missoula Sentinel star who died after suffering a concussion at an Eastern Oregon football practice. Democratic Sen. Anders Blewett, the bill's sponsor, tells the Great Falls Tribune he expects Bullock to sign the measure into law. "It was great to see the legislation p...
HELENA — When voters went to the polls last November, they noticed several measures they do not typically see. The three referendums on the ballot came directly from the 2011 Legislature, and current lawmakers are aiming to do more of the same in 2014. They are running up against a deadline next week to propose referendum bills. So far, Republicans have made at least 15 requests on topics ranging from property taxes to sex education. "It is a good way to have people engaged with the legislative process," said Rep. Keith Regie...
HELENA (AP) — The state Board of Regents says it will agree to freeze tuition rates and reward schools for improving graduation rates if the2013 Legislature appropriates enough money to cover inflation and employee pay raises for the next two years. The regents on Thursday gave a unanimous voice vote in favor of the College Affordability Plan, or CAP — a deal negotiated with Gov. Steve Bullock and key legislators. The proposed "performance funding" would allow the regents to divide up about 5 percent of the system's sta...
BOZEMAN (AP) — A judge has found Bozeman police intentionally erased a portion of an audio recording made during a welfare check on a man who claims officers used excessive force against him. Soheil Jesse Verdi claims the officers caused him to fall and injure his skull when they used a stun gun against him in 2007. One of the officers was wearing a microphone. Attorneys for U.S. District Judge Richard Anderson agreed with Verdi in a ruling last month the segment was intentionally erased. The judge says he will instruct a j...
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Officials in Fremont County say two men who walked away from a Montana pre-release center were apprehended in southeastern Idaho while driving a pickup truck that had been reported stolen. The Idaho State Police says 22-year-old Jerron Michael Mitchell-Fuller of Glendive, Mont., and 29-year-old Christopher Lee Etheridge of Billings, Mont., were arrested early Thursday afternoon after a high-speed pursuit on U.S. Highway 20. Shortly before 11 a.m., the Idaho State Police was notified of two w...
MISSOULA (AP) — A Missoula police detective who investigates Internet sex crimes has filed a lawsuit against the police department alleging a female officer sexually harassed him. Missoula City Attorney Jim Nugent told the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/WNfB1Z ) the state Human Rights Bureau denied Detective Chris Shermer's claim against Lt. Sandy Kosena. Nugent said the contact allegedly began when Shermer flipped off the lieutenant that same day. Shermer's lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges Kosena grabbed him on the left b...
BILLINGS — What happened to bear 726? That's the number researchers assigned to a collared grizzly bear that disappeared from an agricultural research station along the Montana-Idaho border. Citing the unsolved disappearance, environmentalists Thursday called for renewed efforts to find out if it was illegally killed and studies on whether the federal facility is harming the region's protected bears. Three weeks after the 392-pound male grizzly was last located, its tracking collar was found roughly a mile away. It had b...
HELENA (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg is ruling out another political run as he leaves Congress after 12 years. Rehberg said Thursday on a radio program that he won't run for office again. Rehberg said on the Northern Broadcasting Network's "Voices of Montana" that he has had a good run and now plans to return to his Billings-area ranch that his wife has been running. The Republican lost his bid in November to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Republican businessman Steve Daines will be sworn in Thursday to r...
BILLINGS (AP) — A woman posing as a health care worker at a Billings hospital accompanied doctors on multiple patient checks, leading Montana health officials to warn employees at other facilities to be on the lookout for an impostor wearing scrubs or a lab coat. The woman has breached security at Billings Clinic an undetermined number of times, prompting Billings' other hospital, St. Vincent Healthcare, to circulate surveillance photos and a warning memo to employees. "She is a talented liar and will invent all sorts of s...
HELENA — Federal prosecutors say two Montana hospitals will pay $3.95 million to settle allegations they gave doctors incentive payments for patient referrals. The hospitals received reimbursements for those payments through Medicare, which is prohibited. The settlement released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice involves payments by St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings and Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City between 2003 and 2010. The hospitals are operated by Denver-based Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health S...
