News you can use
News you can use
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MISSOULA (AP) — On May 22, 1970, a Carroll College graduate sat down with pen and paper and considered the draft, his future at Notre Dame and his reluctance to serve in the Vietnam War. He directed his letter to U.S. Sen. Mike Mansfield, asking for help, and waited for a response. Six days later Mansfield replied. He expressed his apologies for the situation in which the young man found himself, and vowed to continue his fight to end the draft and the war in Vietnam. "For my part, as you know, I voted against the e...
MISSOULA (AP) — A petition urging the governor and legislators not to confirm Pat Williams' appointment to the state Board of Regents is being countered by one that supports his appointment. University of Montana football fans started the first petition two weeks ago after Williams made comments to several news outlets saying the university recruited "thugs" to its football program. Petitioners called the statement damaging to the university. Williams said he was referring to former players who have been convicted of c...
HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock said Wednesday that federal money for Medicaid will create jobs in the state and help solve costs associated with uninsured patients, applying pressure to Republican legislative leaders to expand the program. Bullock unveiled his plan for Medicaid expansion Wednesday, a highly anticipated measure that aims to ensure that most of the state's residents have health insurance. It would extend coverage to as many as 70,000 Montanans with federal money. The state would pay only a small share, about...
HELENA (AP) — A Montana precious metals mining company targeted for takeover by a group that includes former Gov. Brian Schweitzer reported Wednesday that its profits dropped almost 62 percent in 2012. Stillwater Mining Company's year-end results showed the company had $55 million in net income, down from $144 million in 2011. Revenues for the Billings-based platinum and palladium miner fell 12 percent, to $800 million, as prices for the metals dropped through much of last year. Schweitzer and a New York-based hedge fund, t...
MISSOULA (AP) — Former University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson testified Wednesday that he did not rape the woman who accuses him of assaulting her last year as the two watched a movie. "I would never do that to anyone," he said. Johnson told jurors the sex was consensual and the woman never told him to stop, or he would have. "If somebody says no, you stop," he said. "You respect that." Johnson is charged with sexual intercourse without consent. A defendant is not required to testify at a criminal trial, and j...
BILLINGS — Montana's bolo tie-wearing former governor is teaming up with an unlikely ally — a New York hedge fund — to seek control of a precious metals mining company that has sunk more than $500 million into projects deemed questionable in Canada and Argentina. Democrat Brian Schweitzer says he's intervening to save Stillwater Mining Co. and its 1,500 employees from the same fate that befell Montana's legendary Anaconda Co. That copper industry giant cratered after the Chilean government took over much of its foreign asset...
HELENA — A Republican state senator launched a long-shot bid Thursday for a constitutional amendment that would require prior judicial experience for Montana Supreme Court justices. The proposal would require approval from 100 of 150 lawmakers before it could be sent to the voters, a tough hurdle to clear even if all 90 Republicans in the Legislature back it. But Fred Thomas, of Stevensville, said he thinks the measure has a "50-50" chance. As written, the measure would require candidates to have experience as a District C...
BILLINGS — A mining company plans to start exploratory work this spring on an estimated 400 million tons of coal beneath Montana's Crow Indian Reservation, adding to a spate of recent interest in the region's huge coal reserves despite flagging domestic demand for the fuel. Signal Peak Energy is eying a future mine on private property within the reservation's boundaries known as the Hope Ranch. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, David Grubbs, File Production at the Westmoreland Coal Mine northeast of Hardin is shown ojn May 9, 2...
BILLINGS (AP) — None of the Montana runners participating in the Boston Marathon were injured when two explosions rocked the area near the finish line, but several who were nearby described the chaos and relief they felt because they and their loved ones were safe. Rocky Mountain College cross country coach Alan King, 33, was eating lunch with his wife and 4-year-old son about a block from the finish line at the time of the explosions Monday afternoon. He was the 100th person to finish the race about 2 1/2 hours earlier a...
HELENA (AP) — Lawmakers are considering a measure that would require law-enforcement officers to have a reasonable suspicion before they can conduct strip or body cavity searches. The bill would allow such searches only in situations where a person is suspected of a crime, of carrying a weapon or of carrying contraband. Democratic Sen. Anders Blewett of Great Falls says Senate Bill 194 would provide needed clarification of when police can conduct searches. He presented the measure Friday in the House Judiciary Committee. M...
HELENA — A House panel heard a measure Friday that would remove an obsolete Montana law that criminalizes gay sex by labeling it a deviate sexual behavior on par with bestiality. Senate Bill 107 seeks to remove that language from the existing statutes, reflecting a 1997 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the law prohibiting gay sex is unconstitutional. The measure to strike the law has already passed the state Senate in a 39-11 vote, but now is before the House Judiciary Committee — the same panel that killed a sim...
HELENA — A House panel heard a bill Tuesday that would require companies to divulge the personal information they glean from consumers and to which entities they sell the information. House Bill 572 would give consumers the option to request the personal information an entity has collected about them. Rep. Bryce Bennett, D- Missoula, told the House Business and Labor Committee the data collected by companies belongs to the consumers. "The reality is ... there are these big companies that are doing this. They openly admit t...
HELENA — The Montana Legislature inched closer Tuesday to finding a fix for its beleaguered pension system when a committee decided to advance both of the major proposed fixes. But the Joint-Select Committee on Pensions opted to leave the big decision to the House, which will have to choose between a plan to fix the current system and one to end it in favor of a defined-contribution plan. Analysts say Montana's public pension system, which includes both state and local government employees, faces a roughly $4 billion s...
HELENA — A measure aimed at undermining any potential federal ban on assault weapons was endorsed by the Montana Senate on Tuesday as it speeds toward the governor's desk. House Bill 302 would prohibit local authorities from enforcing any federal ban on certain semi-automatic weapons. Supporters argue it is needed to send a strong message to Congress that the state does not want such a ban. "I view this bill basically as pushback to the discussion in Washington, D.C.," said state Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls. "...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana House has moved to increase from one to three the number liquor licenses that business owners may possess. Senate Bill 120 would allow the purchase of up to three liquor licenses, but restrict a person from owning more than half the licenses allotted to a single area. The bill previously passed the Senate 29-19 and was carried in the House Monday by Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick. The Republican from Great Falls says the measure is pro-business and would allow successful chains to acquire the necessary l...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana Supreme Court justice and a Billings district judge are being recommended to fill two open federal judgeships, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' office said Monday. The Montana Democrat will recommend that District Judge Susan Watters take U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull's Billings seat and that Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris replace U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon of Great Falls. "Judge Watters and Justice Morris are exceptionally qualified and highly respected individuals who I have no doubt will s...
HELENA — A panel of lawmakers is set to vote on the state's budget this week after three days of public testimony on the best way to spend more than $9 billion over the next two years. "I think that we've made great progress," Dan Villa, the governor's budget director, told the House Appropriations Committee last week. "I don't think I've ever seen an executive and legislative branch be this close this quickly in the process." At the moment, the governor's requested budget and House Bill 2, the Republican-led appropriation s...
HELENA – Montana-based data security experts have teamed up with a legislator to make sure individuals' private information does not fall into the wrong hands. Eric Fulton knows the risks that come with collecting data. He hacks into government agencies' and corporations' networks to find weaknesses in their systems and improve security. Information that's stolen or sold to a third party can have detrimental effects on people's lives, often without their realization, he said. Take, for example, the discount cards consumers sw...
HELENA (AP) — A federal judge said Friday that the state properly gave a federal grand jury documents dealing with a secretive conservative group. The ruling comes in a case surrounding the disputed files connected to American Tradition Partnership. ATP and a conservative consultant who they belonged to have been seeking their return, arguing that the documents were stolen in Denver in 2010 before someone sent them to the Montana commissioner of political practices. State District Judge Nels Swandal sided with the group in D...
BILLINGS — Federal officials say they anticipate finishing by late 2014 a risk study to guide the cleanup of a contaminated Montana mining town where hundreds have died from asbestos exposure. That comes after a panel of scientists recently backed a draft study that said even minuscule amounts of asbestos from a W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine outside Libby, Mont. can lead to lung problems. The risk study will determine when Libby's cleanup can end. It has so far has cost more than $447 million over more than a decade. E...
HELENA (AP) — A proposal to expand the state's wolf hunt is being fast-tracked through the Legislature and shortly will be sent to the governor's desk for his signature. The Montana Senate on Thursday suspended its rules so it could take initial and final votes on the same day on the measure that already had overwhelmingly cleared the House. The Senate backed it 45-4. House Bill 73 lets the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks increase the number of wolves one hunter can take, allows for electronic calls, and removes a r...
NYE — Shareholders of Montana's largest public company elected former Gov. Brian Schweitzer and three other outsiders to Stillwater Mining Co.'s board Thursday after alleging mismanagement by the current directors. But the shareholders also re-elected four current board members, including CEO Frank McAllister, meaning the two sides now have even numbers and will be forced to work together after an acrimonious struggle for control of the company. AP Photo/Matthew Brown This photo shows Stillwater Mining Co. Chairman and C...
HELENA — The Montana National Guard brigadier general who ordered an investigation into the state's Disaster and Emergency Services was fired last year after he rehired a woman who was suing the state over her dismissal from the troubled agency. Brigidier Gen. Joel Cusker said he was given no explanation for his dismissal, but he concluded from meetings and conversations with then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer's chief of staff and Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger that it was over the decision to rehire a person who had shown such "...
MISSOULA (AP) — The jury hearing the rape trial of former University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson has begun their deliberations. The seven-woman, five-man jury heard closing arguments Friday and were sent to deliberate shortly after 1 p.m. Johnson is charged with sexual intercourse without consent. Both Johnson and his accuser testified that they had been kissing and had removed some of their clothing while watching a movie at her residence on Feb. 4, 2012. The woman said at some point, Johnson's demeanor changed a...
MISSOULA — A former University of Montana quarterback was acquitted Friday in a rape trial that has played out amid NCAA and federal investigations into how the city and school respond to rape allegations on campus. The accusations against Jordan Johnson, 20, have drawn much attention in Montana, where UM football is the top sports attraction. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours. Johnson led the University of Montana to a successful 2011 season as starting quarterback before being accused of assaulting a woman as they...
