News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1057 - 1081 of 2820
HELENA — When Jennifer Strickley first learned she had ovarian cancer, it was Planned Parenthood that detected the disease. She had been going to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Billings for about a decade, as the discounts on Pap tests, contraception and regular checkups provided an essential break for the single mom working without health insurance as a waitress to support her two kids. So when she found lump on her abdomen in 2011, that's where she went to get it checked out. Strickley is one of 26,000 Montanans who rely u...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law a measure that prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for cancer patients participating in clinical trials. Bullock signed Senate Bill 55 Monday flanked by Republican and Democratic lawmakers in a ceremony at Bozeman Deaconess Cancer Center, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/ZTH06K ) in a story published Tuesday. Center manager Spencer Green said there are between 30 and 40 patients participating in clinical trials at the hospital, many of w...
HELENA (AP) — Two Montana parents are suing the state schools superintendent over the agency's refusal to provide tuition assistance for their daughter to attend a Christian preschool. Eric and Kelsi Wilson filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court Thursday after an administrative hearing officer dismissed their complaint with the Office of Public Instruction. Agency officials have cited federal regulations and a Montana Constitution clause that say education funds can't be used for religious instruction or to aid c...
HELENA (AP) — Tavern owners faced off against craft brewers at the Capitol Tuesday, arguing the upstart competition has been allowed to unfairly flourish with too few restrictions. Both sides packed a state House Business and Labor Committee hearing looking at two bills. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Rep. Roger Hagan introduces his bill to place limitations on the expanding retail craft brewing industry on Tuesday in Helena. One brought by the tavern owners, House Bill 616, would put new licensing requirements on the brewing i...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock has vetoed six bills, including a proposal to restrict bison relocation in the state and another that would end same-day voter registration. The anti-bison measure, House Bill 396, would have required all future bison relocations to be approved by county commissioners in the county where the potential moved is planned. In a letter to Republican leadership, Bullock said the measure wasn't "sound public policy" and would interfere with already established laws that manage wildlife and control d...
HELENA — Supporters of former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams easily outnumbered opponents at a packed hearing on his Board of Regents nomination — but opposition included former allies who argued Williams went too far when he said the University of Montana had recruited thugs. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Former U.S. Rep. Pat William speaks before a state Senate committee asking for support for his nomination to the Board of Regents on Wednesday in Helena Williams outraged some of the school's football fans earlier this year with the comment...
HELENA — Gun rights measures that include a plan to push back against potential federal restrictions on assault rifles were endorsed Thursday in the Montana House, despite criticism they may thwart law enforcement or lead to constitutional showdowns with the federal government. The Republican-led chamber endorsed the three gun-rights bills in an initial vote, which drew most of their opposition from Democrats. Supporters said the state needs to ban police from enforcing any future federal assault-weapons ban in the state. T...
BILLINGS (AP) — Attorneys for asbestos victims in a Montana mining town are seeking more than $4 million in fees and costs out of a legal settlement with chemical company W.R. Grace that was set up to cover the victims' ongoing medical costs. State District Judge James Wheelis has ordered a March 1 fairness hearing on the request, recently submitted by a group of lawyers who said they sunk more than 16,000 hours of work into the case over 11 years. Last year's settlement followed decades of asbestos exposure from a Grace m...
HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock is disputing a Republican argument that his budget proposal spends too much. The Democratic governor told reporters Tuesday his budget only increases state spending in agency budgets by about 2 percent. He says Republican legislative leaders have shown themselves to be the big spenders with a proposal to increase their own legislative division's budget by 11 percent. Senate Republicans recently said they want to keep the budget increase — including federal money — at about 2 percent. The G...
HELENA (AP) — The House is advancing a bill that would let landowners haze or shoot wild bison that come onto their property. The measure was endorsed Thursday in a 62-38 vote. The state estimates it could lead to the destruction of more than 100 bison a year. Supporters said it is necessary to give landowners a way of removing wild bison that can injure people and damage property. They said destruction of the bison would be a last resort. Bison management has long been the focus of conflict, particularly around Y...
HELENA, — Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled bipartisan legislation Thursday aimed at shedding light on so-called "dark money" in politics — an issue that could split some Republican lawmakers. Bullock and Republican state Sen. Jim Peterson said the "comprehensive" proposal will force groups that mention candidate names to disclose how they are spending money and where it comes from. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Gov. Steve Bullock, left, and state Sen. Jim Peterson of Buffalo unveil bipartisan legislation aimed at shedding light on dar...
HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock has overhauled the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks panel by replacing three members and naming a new chairman. The commission oversees hunting and fishing regulations and is a lightning rod on many issues, including wolf and bison management. Bullock on Tuesday named Richard Stuker of Chinook, Matthew Tourtlotte of Billings and Lawrence Wetsit of Wolf Point as new commissioners. They replace Ron Moody, Shane Colton and A.J. Stafne. The only holdovers from former Gov. Brian Schweitzer's term a...
HELENA — Montana Democrats left little question Saturday night what their top priority is: elect party leader Sen. Max Baucus to a seventh term in 2014. Democrats are coming off a 2012 election cycle that saw a lot of successes — topped by re-electing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and putting Steve Bullock in the governor's office. The party held its annual Mansfield-Metcalf fundraising dinner Saturday and the focus was all about Baucus, the top Democrat up this election cycle. AP Photo/Matt Gouras U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, left, and U.S....
HELENA (AP) — The woman who led the court battle to strike down a Montana law that made gay sex illegal knows that having the unconstitutional law struck from the books is a symbolic act. All the same, Linda Gryczan began to cry when the state House finally brought the issue to the floor on Monday. She tells the Great Falls Tribune she didn't realize until then how important it was to remove the law from the state code. The bill striking the law passed a final vote in the House Wednesday. It now goes to Gov. Steve Bullock. G...
HELENA (AP) — Montana Department of Military Affairs leaders are asking their employees to participate in a workplace assessment after a study found distrust and dysfunction within the division responsible for emergency preparedness. The Department of Administration is conducting the survey. A link to an online questionnaire was sent to employees last week, with responses due April 17, Adjutant Gen. Matthew Quinn told a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday. A state human resources team will discuss the results with staffers a...
MISSOULA — Elouise Cobell had a way of sorting through complex Native American land ownership tangles and combing out what's right. It's part of the legacy the leader from the Blackfeet tribe left behind when she died in 2011, and one that still resounds with Terry Payne. "Elouise had a voracious appetite for justice, and she was an inspiration to me and so many other people," said Payne, a Missoula businessman whose family was the lead donor for construction of the Payne Family Native American Center on the University of Mon...
FLORENCE (AP) — A western Montana school board is considering holding a special meeting to discuss the future of the superintendent following an act of plagiarism. Florence-Carlton School District Board of Trustees chairwoman Pat Appleby tells The Ravalli Republic a decision will likely be made at their regular meeting Tuesday. Superintendent John McGee apologized earlier this year for copying the work of Fulton County School System Superintendent Robert Avossa after an anonymous blogger posted a link to the Georgia o...
HELENA — The Montana House has endorsed a bill that would repeal an obsolete state law criminalizing gay sex a day after voting to bypass the committee that tabled the measure. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Republican Rep. Duane Ankney, left, of Colstrip, speaks on the House floor Tuesday, in Helena. Ankney joined the chamber in voting to repeal an obsolete law that criminalizes gay sex. The House gave its initial approval Tuesday to Senate Bill 107 on a 64-36 vote. It needs to pass a final vote before facing Gov. Steve Bullock. The S...
HELENA — The Montana House is moving forward with a measure that would repeal an obsolete state law that criminalizes gay sex, despite a committee's decision to table it. Rep. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula, made the motion Monday to take Senate Bill 107 out of the House Judiciary Committee and place it on the agenda for a House vote. Bennett, who is gay, said the law emphasizes inequality and pointed to the 1997 Montana Supreme Court case that ruled the language criminalizing gay sex was unconstitutional. "Under this law, I am c...
On House Bill 96: Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, voted no. Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D_Box Elder, voted yes. On House Bill 138: Jergeson and Windy Boy voted no. HELENA (AP) — The Senate is backing Republican proposals to reduce taxes on business equipment and energy production. The 3 percent equipment tax would be cut in half on the first $10 million of property under Senate Bill 96. It was endorsed 34-16 on Friday. Supporters say it will help spur economic development by making Montana competitive with other states on tax s...
The Hi-Line's state senators, Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, and Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, voted for the legislation. HELENA (AP) — School coaches could face more stringent rules when dealing with student athletes who suffer concussions under a new bill that is advancing in the Montana Legislature. The Montana Senate on Friday endorsed, in a 33-17 initial vote, a plan that aims to better protect high school athletes from the dangers of concussions. It has been adopted in 43 other states, supporters said. Senate Bill 112 w...
MISSOULA — More than 150 potential jurors packed a hotel ballroom Friday for the rape trial of a former University of Montana quarterback, as attorneys attempted to seat an impartial panel in a town where Griz football is king. AP photo Jordan Johnson and his defense tea, sit at the defense table awaiting the state iof his rape trial on Friday. Jury selection in the trial of Jordan Johnson took place at the Holiday Inn after District Judge Karen Townsend said no courtroom was large enough to hold the massive jury pool. The h...
HELENA (AP) — A state senator whose absence led to an uproar is back in attendance. AP Photo/Matt Gouras State Sen. Shannon Augare looks at a vote tally after returning to the Montana Senate on Saturday. Augare's unexplained absence a day earlier led to a parliamentary showdown as minority Democrats were foiled in their attempts to kill GOP bills with procedural moves. State Sen. Shannon Augare of Browning returned to the Senate early Saturday morning as the chamber resumed voting. A day earlier Democrats attempted to halt a...
HELENA (AP) — The state House has given initial approval a measure that would provide $2.5 million in private school scholarships and public school grants. Senate Bill 81 would give tax credits to people who donate to organizations that provide scholarships to private schools and grants for new programs at public schools. Supporters say it gives students more educational options. Republican Rep. Cary Smith of-Billings says it would help disabled and low-income students. Critics say the measure is unconstitutional because i...
HELENA (AP) — The state House has given initial approval a measure that would provide $2.5 million in private school scholarships and public school grants. Senate Bill 81 would give tax credits to people who donate to organizations that provide scholarships to private schools and grants for new programs at public schools. Supporters say it gives students more educational options. Republican Rep. Cary Smith of-Billings says it would help disabled and low-income students. Critics say the measure is unconstitutional because i...
