News you can use
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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...
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...
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...
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File An oil spill crew worker for Oil Mop Emergency Response stepping out of a ring of absorbent pads along a flood plain of the Yellowstone River on July 11, where oil was found collected, near Laurel. Exxon Mobil agreed Thursday to pay the state of Montana $1.6 million in penalties over water pollution caused by this pipeline break last summer that fouled dozens of miles of shoreline along the scenic Yellowstone River, a state official said. BILLINGS (AP) — Exxon Mobil agreed Thursday to pay the s...
HELENA — Montana officials gave their initial approval Thursday to a plan that would let hunters kill bison that stray beyond designated areas north of Yellowstone National Park and from the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian reservations. The plan is to remove bison that wander outside of defined "tolerance areas" beyond the park and where wild Yellowstone bison have been slated for transfer, such as the two northeastern Montana reservations. AP Photo/The Livingston Enterprise, Garrett Cheen, File Mounted Yellowstone N...
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...
Authorities investigating the reported death of a Montana school teacher asked landowners in parts of Montana and North Dakota to check vacant farmsteads for signs of disturbed soil or matted grass, saying her body might be buried at such a site. As new details about 43-year-old Sherry Arnold's mysterious disappearance emerged, law officers released the names of two men being held in the case and planned to hold a news conference at midday Monday. Lester Vann Waters Jr., 47, and Michael Keith Spell, 22, both of Parachute,...
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...
BILLINGS (AP) — The Yellowstone County Sheriff says a deputy is on administrative leave and a man is dead after a shooting Saturday night in Lockwood near Billings. Sheriff Mike Linder tells the Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/zwVmjO) that the cause of the death is under investigation. Linder says deputies were called to a home just before 10 p.m., and that the first deputy to arrive called for backup after shots were fired. Details of the shooting, the name of the man who died or deputy placed on leave have not been r...
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...
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has ordered two suspects in the disappearance of a Montana math teacher to be moved to Montana for trial. District Judge David Nelson ordered the extradition of 47-year-old Lester Vann Waters Jr. and 22-year-old Michael Keith Spell during Tuesday hearings in Williston, N.D. Waters and Spell are charged with aggravated kidnapping in the disappearance of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold of Sidney, Mont. Arnold disappeared Jan. 7 shortly after she left her home for a run. Authorities have s...
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered the extradition of two men from North Dakota to Montana to face kidnapping charges in the disappearance of a high school math teacher who is believed to be dead. Judge David Nelson ordered Lester Vann Waters Jr., 47, and Michael Keith Spell, 22, to be extradited during separate hearings in Williston, a city in northwestern North Dakota near the Montana border. They were to be transported about 45 miles to the southwest later Tuesday, to Sidney, Mont., where the missing t...
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...
BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) — No immediate discipline is planned for any Dickinson State University employees in the wake of an audit determining the school awarded hundreds of degrees to foreign students who didn't earn them, the chancellor of North Dakota's university system said Saturday. AP Photo/The Dickinson Press, Dustin Monke Dickinson State University President D.C. Coston speaks on Friday, at the Badlands Activities Center in Dickinson, N.D. According to an audit report, the university awarded hundreds of degrees t...
HELENA — State regulators are examining a $1.5 million proposal by an Oregon insurer to take over a portion of Montana's third-largest health insurance company as part of a government anti-trust settlement. Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the proposal by PacificSource Health Plans to buy New West Health Service's commercial business. The hearing will examine whether the deal is fair and protects the estimated 9,000 New West policyholders who will be affected, said L...
HELENA — A Helena judge said Monday that Gov. Brian Schweitzer's vetoes of some local infrastructure spending were unconstitutional. Schweitzer responded by calling the decision "a sad day for Montana" by restricting the ability of the governor to intervene in legislative spending. Schweitzer said a decision whether to appeal would come later. Six local governments sued the Democratic governor last year to undo the governor's vetoes of funding for their bridge and water projects. The local governments argued that S...
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...
HELENA — The commissioner of political practices dismissed the ethics case against Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Thursday, prompting a strong reaction from the Montana Republican Party, which promised to continue pursuing the case. 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. Last summer, a hearings officer recommended that Schweitzer pay a $4,100 fine for violating state laws that ban e...
