News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1477 - 1501 of 2820
HELENA (AP) — Helena's Municipal Court judge says he's going to double the typical fine he gives to people who are caught texting or talking on a cellphone while driving, saying the $25 fine doesn't appear to be getting the message across. Under the city ordinance, a motorist ticketed for talking on a cellphone or texting can be fined from $25 to $100. Judge Bob Wood tells the Independent Record (http://bit.ly/KDcQMk) that people don't appear to be taking the $25 fines seriously, so he's increasing the standard fine to $50 b... Full story
LIVINGSTON (AP) — A trial to determine BNSF Railway Company's responsibilities for cleaning up plumes of fuel and toxic solvents beneath Livingston starts Monday in Great Falls. The trial is set to resolve a suit 165 Livingston plaintiffs filed in 2007, which alleges BNSF has neglected to adequately clean up pollutants the company and its predecessors dumped at the Livingston Rail Yard for decades. Pollutants migrated from the 90-acre rail yard into surrounding residential and business properties, exposing affected landowners...
BILLINGS (AP) — The state director for Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg says six windows and the glass door at Rehberg's office in Billings were broken early Saturday. Randy Vogel tells the Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/JbfV53) that someone probably used a crowbar or other metal tool to break the windows. An alarm went off at 4:43 a.m. but there is no sign anyone entered the office. Billings Police Sgt. Matt Brewer says there are no suspects. Rehberg spokesman Jed Link says the "unfortunate actions of one or two people s... Full story
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul. The decision means the huge overhaul, still only partly in effect, will proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care. The ruling also hands Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health i...
HELENA — A Montana investigation into allegations of sexual assault on mentally disabled patients at a state hospital found the hospital's chief investigator encouraged one woman to recant her accusation that a staffer raped her. Montana Developmental Center Chief Investigator Keith Reeder also reportedly discouraged another employee from driving the woman to a hospital or taking any action that would bring outside law enforcement into the investigation. Those details are included in a Department of Justice investigation r...
HELENA — Montana's budget picture continues to improve beyond the original expectations of the state Legislature, as lawmakers were told Thursday there could be close to $500 million in surplus when they convene in 2013. Budget staffers now predict there will be an extra $168 million in state coffers compared to what was first estimated for the two-year budget that began in July. The extra money means that lawmakers could go into session next year starting with a surplus exceeding $400 million — and perhaps much more. The...
HAVRE — The state's university system is unveiling a new policy for handling sexual assaults in the wake of a federal investigation at the University of Montana. The policy attempts to ensure that the universities comply with federal gender equity rules. The U.S. Justice Department earlier this month opened an investigation into the way the University of Montana and the city responded to sexual assault and harassment reports. There have been 11 reported sexual assaults involving students in the past 18 months. The u...
HAVRE (AP) — Leaders of the Montana college system unanimously approved Friday a new policy for handling sexual assaults, the latest response to a rape controversy that has subjected the University of Montana, its football team and even the city of Missoula to a federal gender equality investigation. AP Photo/Matt Gouras University of Montana President Royce Engstrom, left, and regent Pat Williams are shown on Friday, in Havre. Leaders of the Montana University System issued new policies Friday for handling claims of s...
HAVRE (AP) — The state's two-year colleges are getting new names aimed at advertising their expanding missions. The Montana Board of Regents approved the new names Friday. The regents have been expanding the colleges to offer more offerings for those looking to transfer to a four-year college. The rebranding initiative promotes the schools' development beyond just technology colleges. The names will be Bitterroot College UM for the Hamilton school; City College at MSU-B for the Billings campus; Gallatin College MSU for the s... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Authorities have identified a man killed by Billings police after he shot at officers who were attempting to arrest him at a gas station. Billings police spokesman Lt. Kevin Iffland says the man killed Thursday is 29-year-old Michael Brandon of Billings. Brandon was wanted on a felony warrant for parole violation. Officers say they spotted Brandon and tried to arrest him at the gas station at about 3:30 a.m. But police say he ran away and fired several shots from a semi-automatic handgun. Police say the s...
BILLINGS (AP) — Authorities have identified a man killed by Billings police after he shot at officers who were attempting to arrest him at a gas station. Billings police spokesman Lt. Kevin Iffland says the man killed Thursday is 29-year-old Michael Brandon of Billings. Brandon was wanted on a felony warrant for parole violation. Officers say they spotted Brandon and tried to arrest him at the gas station at about 3:30 a.m. But police say he ran away and fired several shots from a semi-automatic handgun. Police say the s...
BILLINGS (AP) — Fire officials say 19 horses died when a fire destroyed a large horse barn on the west end of Billings. AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer Billings firefighters battle a blaze at a barn on the 2200 block of 70th Street West, on Monday. Billings Fire Chief Paul Dextras says he did not believe any of the horses in the barn at High Plains Stables survived the Monday morning fire. About a dozen horses that were not in the barn survived the blaze. Fire crews responded at 5:22 a.m. and found the barn f... Full story
STIGLER, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Monday that a man has confessed to the 1987 shooting death of Haskell County Commissioner Leo Boyd Reasnor. Clifford Eagle walked into the Billings police department last Wednesday and confessed to killing Reasnor on June 25, 1987, according to the OSBI. Eagle, 54, who was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the case, was being held in the Billings jail pending extradition. Authorities did not know if he had an attorney and OSBI spokeswoman J...
BOZEMAN (AP) — A Montana couple who say they would have terminated a pregnancy if they had known their daughter would be born with cystic fibrosis can move forward with their lawsuit against their health care providers, a state judge has ruled. District Judge Mike Salvagni ruled Monday that Kerrie and Joe Evans' claims should be heard in court, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/MH9eL1 ) Thursday. The lawsuit, filed in October, names several health care providers, including Livingston HealthCare and nurse P...
MISSOULA (AP) — A former University of Montana strength coach has filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau alleging his contract wasn't renewed because of health problems and his claim that a female staff member was sexually harassed. Scott Kirchmann filed a complaint in late March alleging school officials discriminated against him due to neck problems that required surgery. It said school officials informed him on Oct. 10 they would not renew his contract. Just a day before they made the announcement, K...
BILLINGS (AP) — Vandals have once again broken windows at the Billings congressional office of Rep. Denny Rehberg. The Republican's state director Randy Vogel tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/JmPcpI ) the building alarm went off about 3:46 a.m. Friday, and the office windows and glass front door were found broken. The glass was replaced by noon. Six windows and a glass door at the same office were broken April 28. Vogel says Rehberg's staff has ordered a security camera for the office.... Full story
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A flyover by World War II bomber planes, Chinese visitors and a memorial ceremony with four Doolittle's Raiders helped mark the 70th anniversary of the daring U.S. air attack on Japan. Thousands of people flocked to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton for the events, part of a four-day observance. The four Raiders looked up into blue skies Wednesday as 20 B-25 planes similar to the ones they used flew just before a memorial service that included the placing of a wreath at the memorial h...
MISSOULA (AP) — University of Montana quarterback Gerald Kemp has been dismissed from the football team for what school officials say was a violation of team rules, but did not offer details. Interim Athletic Director Jean Gee told the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/MtsHME) that Kemp's dismissal is not related to his arrest in October when police used a stun gun to subdue him and another player, cornerback Trumaine Johnson, as officers tried to break up a party. Both pleaded no contest in December to disorderly conduct charges. T... Full story
MISSOULA — Six gay couples who are suing Montana for the benefits that married couples have asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to rule that denying those benefits is an unconstitutional violation of their equal protections. The couples' attorney, James Goetz, said his clients are not asking to for the right to marry, but they are entitled to make the same decisions about their families' health care and finances as married couples under the Montana Constitution. The state's refusal to expressly provide those rights is d... Full story
HELENA — Fire response coordinators in Montana will use the social media website Twitter this year for the first time as a way to update residents of wildfire developments such as road closures and evacuation notices. A state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation committee spent 15 months examining a wide range of social media before deciding on Twitter because of its simplicity and popularity, agency spokesman John Grassy said. After seeing the success of Twitter updates in states such as Washington and C... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Beleaguered fire crews in southeastern Montana are keeping a wary eye out for new blazes after lightning strikes were spotted in the area. Smoldering embers from the strikes could be fanned by temperatures expected to rise Tuesday into the triple digits and 20 mph wind gusts. Fire managers on the five-blaze Southeastern Montana Wildfire Complex report that Monday's lightning sparked at least one fire about 18 miles away from Fort Howes. Firefighters were able to quickly contain the blaze. The Ash Creek Fire, t... Full story
WOLF POINT — The sign along U.S. Highway 2 proclaiming Wolf Point the official home of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame has become a bitter reminder to residents of this northeastern Montana town of what might have been. The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center announced last Monday that Big Timber has been selected as the new home for the hall of fame, a decision that reverses the state Legislature's 2003 designation of Wolf Point as the site. AP Photo/Jeff Tucker This photo provided by Jeff Tucker shows t... Full story
MISSOULA (AP) — Former University of Montana running back Beau Donaldson plans to plead guilty to sexual intercourse without consent after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, his attorney said Tuesday. Defense attorney Milt Datsopolous' announcement followed a court hearing in which he and prosecutors confirmed the plea deal. Prosecutors said Donaldson raped a female acquaintance while she slept on his couch after drinking alcohol at a party in September 2010. Court records say he acknowledged the assault during a m...
HELENA — Old emails indicate former congressman Rick Hill's agreements to lease office space to the state could have benefited from his wife's position in former Gov. Judy Martz' office, helping support a competitor's allegation that the GOP gubernatorial front-runner got a "sweetheart deal." An Associated Press analysis of emails originally received a decade ago in a records request on another matter help shed light on recent attacks from Corey Stapleton, a former state senator from Billings. Hill is considered the f...
HELENA — Republicans see a golden opportunity to retake a governor's mansion after nearly eight years of living under the shadow of Brian Schweitzer — but first the party has to pick a nominee from a crowded and increasingly contentious primary battle. Former congressman Rick Hill, considered by many in the party to be the front-runner for the nomination heading into Tuesday's primary, is being targeted by the other candidates. At the same time, the candidates are getting into a war with increasingly large job creation pro...
