News you can use
News you can use
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HELENA (AP) — The Montana Board of Livestock voted unanimously to continue its requirement that milk sold in Montana be marked with a "sell-by" date no more than 12 days after it was pasteurized, executive secretary Christian McKay said. The board's decision Wednesday went against a hearing examiner's finding last October that there was no health reason for the 12-day "sell-by" date. A 21-day "use-by" date is common in other states. Attorney John Sullivan of Helena said the 12-day rule results in the "waste and destruction o...
MISSOULA (AP) — The NCAA is investigating the University of Montana's football program, which already is the subject of investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice. The Justice Department said this month it's reviewing how the university, its football team and the city of Missoula have responded to sexual assault and harassment reports by female students, with some cases involving football players. The federal Education Department has opened a similar investigation. The NCAA hadn't c...
HELENA — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a civil lawsuit against author Greg Mortenson, calling claims "flimsy and speculative" that the humanitarian and his publisher lied in his best-selling "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones Into Schools" books to boost sales. The lawsuit by four people who bought Mortenson's books claimed that they were cheated out of about $15 each because the books were labeled as nonfiction accounts of how Mortenson came to build schools in central Asia. They had asked U.S. D AP Photo/Central Asia I...
SIDNEY (AP) — Sidney officials were expecting thousands of people to gather Friday for the funeral of a high school teacher who was kidnapped at random and strangled in January. Funeral services for Sherry Arnold were set in the Sidney High School gymnasium where the 43-year-old math teacher taught along with her husband Gary, and where her two children go to school. The gym was built to hold 2,000 people and additional rooms were prepared to handle an overflow crowd. "I expect we'll hit capacity," Sidney Public Schools S...
HELENA — The Montana Republican Party is asking a state court to reverse a decision to dismiss the GOP's ethics complaint against Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Earlier this month, the commissioner of political practices tossed out the case against Schweitzer. The decision followed a preliminary recommendation that Schweitzer be penalized. Schweitzer, a Democrat, was accused of improperly using state resources to appear in a public service radio advertisement at the same time he was running for re-election in 2008. The governor h...
AP Photo/Michael Albans, File Montana head coach Robin Pflugrad watches his team against Western Oregon in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Missoula,on Nov. 5. Montana fired Pflugrad and athletic director Jim O'Day on Thursday, adding more uncertainty to a program already dealing with sexual assault allegations against two of its players. HELENA — The University of Montana fired football coach Robin Pflugrad and athletic director Jim O'Day on Thursday, adding more uncertainty to a program already dealing w...
HELENA — The panel charged with redrawing Montana's legislative districts said Wednesday during a stop on its statewide listening tour that public comment will be critical to crafting a fair political map for the state. The Districting and Apportionment Commission held its fifth meeting Wednesday and has a total of 14 meetings scheduled around the state through the middle of May. It is currently looking at four maps drawn by legislative staff, and one offered by Democrats. Former Montana Supreme Court justice Jim Regnier i...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Religious colonies of Hutterites in rural Montana are fighting the state's attempts to impose a labor law backed by businesses that complain they can't outbid the low cost of the communal workers. The Hutterites are Protestants similar to the Amish and Mennonites who live a life centered on their religion, but unlike the others, Hutterites live in German-speaking communes scattered across northern U.S. states and Canada. They don't pay wages, don't vote and don't enlist in the military. They make their o...
HELENA — The Montana attorney general's office filed new arguments Friday in the ongoing court battle over Montana's political spending restrictions, saying the state's ban on corporate campaign contributions is constitutional. The arguments come in one of three court cases challenging the state's campaign finance laws, an effort led by a conservative group that has been active with political attacks in Montana but argues that as an education group, it is not subject to state election laws. U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell...
BILLINGS — A Montana judge granted a restraining order Thursday blocking further relocations of Yellowstone National Park bison following objections from ranchers and property rights groups. State District Judge John McKeon's order came after Gov. Brian Schweitzer's administration transferred 62 Yellowstone bison to the Fort Peck Reservation on Monday. AP Photo/Ted Wood,TheStoryGroup This image provided by Ted Wood shows Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer speaking to members of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribe Wednesday on t...
BILLINGS (AP) — Federal and local authorities have raided a medical marijuana business in Billings and seized an undisclosed amount of marijuana and equipment. The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/HYxCYr) that agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and members of the City Drug Task Force on Friday executed a federal search warrant at the business on Enterprise Avenue. Task force member Sgt. Brian Korell says he couldn't provide additional details because it was a federal investigation. Montana Cannabis I...
BILLINGS — Sixty-five bison from Yellowstone National Park are due to arrive at the Fort Peck Reservation on Monday under a long-stalled initiative to repopulate parts of the West with the iconic animals. Robert Magnan with the Fort Peck Fish and Game Department says tribal and state officials signed an agreement late Friday allowing the transfer to take place. Magnan says the date of the shipment was kept quiet until it was underway to avoid a court injunction. A group of northeastern Montana landowners and property g...
MISSOULA (AP) — University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson has been served with a temporary restraining order sought by a woman who alleges he sexually assaulted her. A Missoula Municipal Court judge granted the request March 9. A court official says Johnson was served through his attorney Monday. Court records say the order was granted to the victim of an alleged sexual assault. No charges have been filed against Johnson. The order says Johnson cannot threaten or harass the woman and must stay at least 1,500 feet a...
HELENA ((AP) — A federal judge has approved a government antitrust settlement involving two Montana health insurers after one of the companies was broken up. U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull approved the settlement on Thursday, saying that it was in the public interest. State and federal prosecutors filed the lawsuit against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana last year after the state's largest insurer offered $26.3 million to five hospitals if they switched their employees' insurance coverage. The five hospitals are o...
HELENA — Attorney General Steve Bullock continues to lead in the money race among the field of candidates seeking the governor's office, according to the latest campaign finance reports that also show Republican front runner Rick Hill maintaining his edge in the GOP field. Bullock's supporters gave him another $100,000 in the first two months of the year, and he rolls toward the June primary as the presumptive nominee for the Democrats with about $440,000 in the bank. On the Republican side, former Congressman Rick Hill m...
HELENA — Former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill appears well-positioned financially to hold off a half-dozen other Republican hopefuls for Montana governor in the final run-up to the party's June 5 primary. But the competition remains confident, particularly two former state senators who have been able to compile meaningful amounts of money as well. Hill announced his candidacy more than a year ago with plenty of institutional support — although that didn't stop six other Republicans from also pursuing the office. Hill does have a def...
BILLINGS (AP) — The Montana Highway Patrol says a suspect in an attempted murder apparently shot himself to death when law enforcement officers tried to pull him over near Reed Point. Lt. Col. Butch Huseby says officers had been asked to keep an eye out for a suspect in an attempted deliberate homicide reported in Bozeman earlier Thursday. Huseby says a trooper spotted the vehicle near Reed Point at about 1 p.m. Thursday and he, another trooper and a Stillwater County sheriff's deputy tried to pull him over. Huseby says t...
MISSOULA (AP) — As the University of Montana investigated reports of sexual assaults involving students, a suggestion that student-athletes be required to take a course on relationships was rejected by the assistant athletic director. Emails released to the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/NOcjs3) on Wednesday show football coach Robin Pflugrad agreed with a suggestion from the university's Counselor Education Department that athletes take its "Intimate and Family Relationships" course. Jean Gee, however, said she thought it was a...
KALISPELL — An injured soldier who struggled daily to overcome the physical challenges left by an explosion in Iraq died early Sunday morning in his sleep, just two weeks before a home being built for him and his family was due to be finished. Sgt. Kevin White, 29, leaves behind his wife, Juliane, and a 15-month-old son, Liam, who now will move into their new home without him. AP Photo/Daily Inter Lake, Brenda Ahearn An emotional Juliane White, center, gets a hug from her mother, Ann, and a kiss from her father, O. T. G...
HELENA — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to approve an antitrust settlement involving two Montana health insurers now that one of the companies has been broken up. U.S. Justice Department attorneys filed their request Monday asking U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull to sign the final judgment in the case against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. The order would end the lawsuit that charged Blue Cross with being anticompetitive in its $26.3 million buyout of New West Health Service's approximately 11,000 h...
MISSOULA AP) — Contracts for former University of Montana football coach Robin Pflugrad and former athletics director Jim O'Day indicate the school still owes them at least $147,000. UM President Royce Engstrom announced last Thursday that he was not renewing the contracts of Pflugrad and O'Day and relieved them of their duties immediately. Pflugrad's contract included a provision allowing him to be terminated without cause, meaning he could be relieved of his duties but he would still be paid for the remainder of his contrac...
DEER LODGE — The family of a Canadian on death row in the United States tearfully pleaded with the Montana Parole Board on Wednesday to give him clemency, saying he has changed and deserves to live. Equally emotional relatives of two Blackfeet cousins killed by Ronald A. Smith argued the "scum of the earth" criminal should be put to death. The case pits Blackfeet tribal members from both sides of the border who want the death sentence upheld against a Canadian government that is asking Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who u...
HELENA — A broad legal challenge to Montana's campaign finance laws narrowed Wednesday to focus on corporate contributions to political committees, with conservative groups telling a federal judge that a state ban on such contributions amounts to a restriction on free speech. State attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell to reject the groups' request that the judge remove the ban on those corporate contributions, saying the century-old law is still needed to keep corrupting influences out of elections. "It's a l...
HELENA — Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested again on Monday and is accused of committing another burglary two days after he posted bail on charges that he broke into a friend's home and stole prescription painkillers, a drug task force commander said. Leaf has been jailed in the Cascade County Detention Center and is facing new charges of burglary, theft and two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs. He also is being detained on a probation violation. "It's based on a burglary that happened yesterday aft...
MISSOULA — A federal prosecutor says the U.S. Justice Department has opened a civil investigation into how Missoula police, prosecutors and the University of Montana respond to sexual assault and harassment claims. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said Tuesday the investigation was opened after his agency learned of complaints late last year that allegations were not being properly handled. Perez says the federal investigation will look at all 80 sexual assaults reported by women in Missoula over the past three y...
