News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1642 - 1666 of 2820
HELENA (AP) — A judge has ordered the Montana Department of Administration to release salary information for 14,000 state employees to a Bozeman-based think tank. Lee Newspapers of Montana reports District Judge Dorothy McCarter of Helena recently ruled in favor of the Montana Policy Institute, which advocates for free-market economic policies. Her ruling said citizens have the right to examine the operations of government agencies. Department of Administration Deputy Director Sheryl Olson said Monday agency officials were r...
HELENA (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says it will re-authorize a permit for a 57-year-old statue of Jesus that had been facing eviction from a northwestern Montana ski resort. The agency faced a firestorm of criticism from religious groups, the state's congressman and residents after it decided last fall to boot the Jesus statue from its hillside perch in the trees. The Forest Service said Tuesday will renew a 10-year special-use permit for the Knights of Columbus Council statue. Service supervisor Chip Weber says the d...
BILLINGS (AP) — Kevin Reski thought the "Dirty Jobs" staff from the Discovery Channel TV show had made a mistake when they called to ask him about filming an episode with his tower-building crew. "This is no dirty job, it just sucks," he said he told them. "Living on the road sucks. Staying in hotels sucks. Eating restaurant food sucks. The other guys in the crew suck. "They said sucky is good, we're down to sucky jobs." The episode ends the show's 50-state tour and airs on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Dramatic aerial video clips from t...
HELENA — State Sen. Jeff Essmann of Billings said that he is dropping out of the crowded Republican primary, indicating his presence in the race could detract from the GOP effort to take back the governor's office. Essmann sent a letter to supporters, dated Thursday, saying Republicans need to be united in their financial support for the primary winner if they hope to defeat Steve Bullock, the Democratic attorney general running for governor. The letter was released to the public on Friday. Essmann told supporter that "the c...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Montana State University plans to tear down about 55 so-called "Monopoly houses" that for decades housed students. "They're just wearing out," said Tom Stump, MSU director of auxiliary services, "The majority are already vacant. The floor joists are failing. They have asbestos siding, asbestos in the floors." The houses are scheduled to be torn down this summer as part of a $9.1 million project to save energy, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/yJZgMl). The school has been paying to heat the h...
BUTTE (AP) — A Butte justice of the peace who authorities say doctor-shopped to get multiple prescriptions for the painkiller methadone has been charged with 12 felony counts of fraudulently obtaining dangerous drugs. Robert "Bob" E. Lee was charged Friday in Anaconda District Court, The Montana Standard reported (http://bit.ly/wrF9jP ). Authorities allege Lee received simultaneous care from physicians through much of 2010 to get the prescriptions, and filled the prescriptions at different pharmacies. Earlier on Friday in a...
Montana's senior senator announced that today he will hold the first meeting of a special committee tasked with extending benefits that are hoped to help with the economic recovery. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, released an advisory Monday saying that the conference committee on payroll tax deductions, which he co-chairs with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., would meet today at 12:30 p. m. "Each member of this conference committee will bring a unique set of...
HELENA — Health care cooperatives being launched in eight states announced Tuesday they will be receiving a total of $638 million in loans from the Obama administration under the federal health insurance law. Eliza Wiley Independent Record John Morrison, President of NASHCO, the National Alliance of State Health Cooperatives, and former Montana Insurance Commissioner, annouces that $638,677,300 is being invested by NASHCO in seven health cooperatives serving eight different states, one of which is Montana, to support these i...
HELENA — A union covering about 300 state Department of Transportation truck drivers in western Montana warned Friday it may strike amid an ongoing dispute over pay freezes, while the state argues it can't raise pay since the Legislature didn't provide extra money to do so. The workers have been without a contract for more than a year, like many state bargaining units displeased with pay freezes since 2008. But members of Teamsters Local 2 recently authorized a strike if the state doesn't respond quickly enough as m...
MISSOULA (AP) — The state Board of Regents plans a system-wide look at the way it handles reports of sexual assault after an ongoing investigation uncovered reports of at least five recent attacks at the University of Montana. At Thursday's meeting in Helena, board members expressed concern about the sexual assaults at UM and made a commitment to work to prevent similar attacks on all of Montana's college campuses, the Missoulian reported. The regents called the attacks "intolerable" and affirmed their commitment to safe s...
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — Two suspects in the disappearance of a high school teacher requested an extradition hearing Tuesday that could delay their transfer from North Dakota to Montana to face aggravated kidnapping charges. North Dakota District Judge Josh Rustad on Tuesday set bonds of $2.5 million each for 47-year-old Lester Vann Waters and 22-year-old Michael Keith Spell. The two men have been held in Williston, N.D. since their apprehension last week in the Jan. 7 disappearance of math teacher Sherry Arnold of Sidney. D...
HELENA (AP) — Political practices commissioner Dave Gallik said Tuesday that he was resigning amid an escalating dispute with the office's four permanent staff members. The former Democratic legislator was appointed to the position last year by Gov. Brian Schweitzer after the Republican-led Senate rebuffed his first pick for the post. Gallik said he told the governor he would be resigning after he learned that office staff called the police with a complaint when he was out of the office talking to reporters. Gallik said t...
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — Authorities renewed calls Monday for landowners near the northern North Dakota-Montana border to look for signs of a missing Montana teacher's buried body, while documents revealed one of the two suspects in her disappearance has spent time in prison. At a news conference Monday, authorities asked that "landowners and landowners only" help look for the body of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold, a math teacher from Sidney, Mont., who has been missing since Jan. 7 and is presumed dead. AP Photo/The Billings Gazet...
HELENA — A conservative group asked a federal judge Thursday to undo Montana's campaign contribution restrictions, even as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a related case. Virginia-based American Tradition Partnership is headlining a group that wants the federal court to immediately undo Montana's donation limits for individuals, political action committees, political parties and others. It also wants to do away with state laws that require disclaimers on attack ads, and ban false statements in those attacks. ATP is joined i...
BUTTE (AP) — Hunters in Butte want more wolves, black bears and mountain lions killed to increase deer, elk and moose numbers. Hunters told Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists last week that more predator control is needed so more game species are available for hunting. The Montana Standard reports (http://bit.ly/ytKdTW) that the agency has been holding meetings to discuss the 2012-2013 hunting season proposals the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission adopted earlier this month. Pat Flowers of F...
HELENA — Jon Tester isn't likely to have President Barack Obama in the state helping him — or hurting him. In 2008, President Barack Obama contested the state, helping lift many Democrats to victory. It brought a rare presidential contest into the state. AP Photo/Reed Saxon/FILE) Democrat Jon Tester, right, celebrates with Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer as Tester declares victory in his election battle for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Conrad Burns in Great Falls on Nov. 8, 2006. But this year, Montana doe...
SIDNEY (AP) — Two men charged in the kidnapping of a high school math teacher were extradited Tuesday to Montana, where they appeared in court less than a mile from where Sherry Arnold disappeared during her morning run. Sidney City Judge Gregory Mohr told Lester Van Waters, 47, and Michael Spell, 22, that they could face the death penalty if convicted of aggravated kidnapping. The judge set a Feb. 28 appearance in Montana district court. AP Photo/Elijah Nouvelage Lester Van Waters Jr., one of two suspects charged with a...
MISSOULA (AP) — The judge who ruled that state law doesn't shield medical marijuana providers from federal prosecution says he thinks the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down a state law banning corporate spending on campaigns. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy offered his personal opinions Monday during a lunch discussion at City Club of Missoula, the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/wMwYAe ) reported. "You can get up and leave if you want," Molloy said before beginning his talk, "but I am not going to talk about wolves." Molloy m...
BILLINGS (AP) — Authorities say they have seized 26 starving horse from a Carbon County ranch and the woman using the ranch has been charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty. The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/Ar8lVb) that Wendy Rehard was charged Thursday in Carbon County District Court. Authorities say the ranch had 63 horses and 26 in the worst shape were moved to another ranch after being examined by veterinarians. Authorities say they began investigating after a person reported giving Rehard hay, p...
BILLINGS (AP) — The city of Billings says it spent nearly $21,000 defending itself against a lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg and his wife that alleged negligence by the city's fire department in 2008 led to more damage after a wildfire at the Rehberg Ranch Estates subdivision. The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/x3by3q ) reports the city released the information Tuesday at the request of the campaign of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who is being challenged by Rehberg in the 2012 election. The Rehbergs dropped t...
HELENA — An investigation into the second of two fatal grizzly bear attacks last summer at Yellowstone National Park was unable to conclude if the same bear was responsible for both deaths, a report released Monday said. But DNA tests show the bear that killed California hiker Brian Matayoshi in July fed on Michigan hiker John Wallace with one of her cubs in August, and evidence of two other bears in the area where Wallace's body was found much farther away — 65 feet and 492 feet from the body. The report indicates there is...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Ryan Leaf will stay in jail in Great Falls a while longer while Texas prosecutors work with their Montana counterparts to revoke the ex-quarterback's probation on 2010 drug charges. Probation and Parole Office regional administrator Dawn Handa tells the Great Falls Tribune (http://bit.ly/HU9rIL0 ) that the 30-day hold gives authorities the time they need to send information between states. The former Washington State and NFL quarterback was arrested last Friday and Monday on separate allegations that he b...
HELENA — A large Democratic field running for Congress faces a difficult task: First survive a crowded primary battle, and then retake a seat Democrats haven't won in 18 years. The field seems to be solidifying into two groups as the March 12 filing deadline approaches: Three fundraising front-runners seeking to prove they can win in November — and several others with little financial backing who are nonetheless hoping to appeal to the party's liberal base. Democrats haven't mounted a strong challenge for the seat since 200...
HELENA — The Montana Department of Corrections on Friday retracted its request for bids to build a new 120-bed medium security prison — just a week after originally saying the new multimillion dollar project was needed. The agency said it decided to suspend the plans for a privately run correctional facility in order to better assess population trends. Last week, the agency unveiled its request for proposals asking companies to submit bids to build and operate a new facility. Corrections officials said at the time the new fac...
HELENA (AP) — Montana's chief federal judge apologized for forwarding an email to his friends that contained a joke involving bestiality and President Barack Obama's mother, but said the incident stemmed from his dislike of the president, not from racism. Judge Richard Cebull, of Billings, forwarded the email from his chambers to six people on Feb. 20, The Great Falls Tribune reported. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, James Woodcock Chief Judge Richard F. Cebull makes a speech during a Naturalization Ceremony at the James F. B...
