News you can use
News you can use
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GREAT FALLS (AP) — Nearly 55,000 people attended this year's Montana State Fair in Great Falls. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/1DxOQd6 ) that Saturday, July 25, had the best turnout of the nine-day fair with just more than 9,000 paying visitors. In their release of this year's profits and attendance, the Montana State Fair says the return of horse racing led to the highest grossing days for concessionaires, which raked in more than $662,000. The Mighty Thomas Carnival also saw an increase in total s...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Montana's largest landowner is proposing a new land exchange with the federal Bureau of Land Management after a previous one met opposition from hunters. Farris Wilks and his brother, Dan, who own the NBar Ranch at Grass Range in Fergus County, are proposing, on a preliminary basis, to give 5,200 acres of their land to the BLM in return for 4,900 acres of BLM land. About 3,400 acres of the Wilks property that would be exchanged is inside the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument and 640 acres is a...
HELENA (AP) - An 18-year-old man accused of shooting a family that stopped to help him on a Montana roadside was released from a Wyoming jail two weeks earlier while facing unrelated burglary and drug charges, a court official said Friday. Jesus Deniz, also known as Jesus Deniz Mendoza, made his first court appearance Friday on a murder warrant in U.S. District Court in Billings. The Worland, Wyoming, man is accused in the shooting deaths of Jason Shane, 41, and his wife,...
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON — Nonprofit co-ops, the health care law’s public-spirited alternative to mega-insurers, are awash in red ink and many have fallen short of sign-up goals, a government audit has found. Under President Barack Obama’s overhaul, taxpayers provided $2.4 billion in loans to get the co-ops going, but only one out of 23 — the one in Maine — made money last year, said the report out today. Another one, the Iowa/Nebraska co-op, was shut down by regulators over financial concerns. The...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Farmers are harvesting what remains of their winter wheat after hailstorms in a northern Montana county earlier this month destroyed an estimated $7.5 million in crops. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/1Ko6nDM) almost 182,000 acres were impacted by hailstorms that Hill County Farm Service Agency executive director Les Rispens says were probably the most significant to hit the state in years. Rispens said about 20 percent of the affected cropland is a total loss, with more than 50,000 a...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Hotels and campgrounds in Glacier National Park are flooded with calls from worried tourists canceling their reservations or asking whether the Montana landmark will stay open as a wildfire sweeps through a popular part of the park. Hotel owners are trying to talk callers out of changing their plans, while Glacier officials emphasized that only a small part of the 1,718-square-mile park is closed as the flames chew though parched conifer-topped ridges on its eastern side. The blaze has shut down nearly h...
HELENA (AP) — A Helena man has filed to run for Montana governor in 2016. Casey Filler says he entered the race Monday after his horse-riding business went under this year. The 49-year-old Filler says he wants to aid small businesses and downsize the "free gravy train" of social welfare programs in Montana. He grew up on ranches in Ennis and Harden. He lived in Hawaii for 12 years while working for the U.S. Coast Guard and moved to Helena in 1999. Filler married his wife, Ayrne, in 2012 and is stepfather to an 8-year-old b...
MATT VOLZ Associated Press HELENA - A wildfire driven by gusting winds swept down Glacier National Park's most popular roadway toward a small community at the park's eastern entrance, sending visitors packing and residents scrambling to protect their homes and businesses. Officials evacuated the small community of St. Mary and homes along nearby St. Mary Lake Wednesday afternoon as a precaution against the approaching fire. "We're kind of in the direct line right now," said...
MATT VOLZ Associated Press HELENA - Wildfires in Montana have forced the closure of Glacier National Park's most popular roadway and prompted the evacuation of homes in the central part of the state. Drought conditions mixed with lightning passing through the area Tuesday have increased the fire threat in western Montana. National Park Service officials closed the entire eastern side of the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road because of a wildfire near Grizzly Point about 6 miles...
ALISON NOON Associated Press HELENA — Montana’s Public Service Commission decided Tuesday to sue CenturyLink for failing to promptly restore out-of-service landlines. The five-member panel voted unanimously to file a lawsuit in a Montana district court sometime before Sept. 1, citing slow response times and service lapses for geographically isolated customers. “I am very disappointed at the place we’re at right now, and I do think we need to send a very strong message,” Commissioner Roger Koopman said before the voice vote. T...
MISSOULA . (AP) — The suggestion by Sen. Steve Daines that the U.S. Treasury put the face of Jeannette Rankin on the $10 bill is being welcomed by advocates of the nation's first female congresswoman. Betsy Mulligan-Dague, director of the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, said the development is exciting. "It's a huge step forward for women to be taken seriously in the world," Mulligan-Dague said. "It's way past time." Rankin would serve as a fitting figure for the bill and for further advancing the achievements of women, Mullig...
GLENDIVE, Mont. (AP) — Heavy rainfall has caused some flash flooding in parts of Wibaux, Prairie and Dawson counties in eastern Montana. The National Weather Service reported low land flooding along rivers and streams in the Yellowstone River Valley on Saturday morning. Flooding also occurred in parts of Powder River and Carter counties in southeast Montana after an estimated 3 to 7 inches of rain fell. In both cases, the flooding was in mainly rural areas and was expected to subside Saturday....
BOZEMAN AP) — A former student is suing Montana State University for hiring a convicted sex offender as a music professor, saying the school's negligence allowed Shuichi Komiyama to manipulate and rape her. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1AOAgwj ) that the judge has not yet ruled on the student's request for a partial summary ruling in her favor. No trial date has been set. MSU argues that the student willingly consented to a sexual relationship, suffered no emotional distress and that her own n...
ALISON NOON Associated Press HELENA - Technology entrepreneur Greg Gianforte said Tuesday he is considering running for Montana governor in 2016, confirming for the first time widespread speculation that he is mounting a challenge to incumbent Democrat Steve Bullock. Gianforte said in an interview with The Associated Press that he will confer with his primary adviser - his wife, Susan - before making a final decision. "It's a very big decision," he said. Gianforte, 53, is a...
HELENA (AP) — Health insurers selling individual policies on Montana's Affordable Care Act marketplace say rate increases are likely next year. The Missoulian (http://tinyurl.com/o2ww2nb ) reports companies are now filing requests for higher rates. Montana's insurance regulator, state Auditor Monica Lindeen, said Friday that her office has just begun reviewing the requests and that she'll likely object to parts of the increases, and it's possible insurers are overestimating some expected costs or other factors. Health i...
HELENA (AP) — Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock's appointments to a Medicaid expansion panel include a spot for the Republican sponsor of the new law. Bullock's office announced Friday the appointments of two hospital representatives, two state officials and a doctor to the committee that will oversee the implementation of a new health care law. Bullock also made the sponsor of the new law, Republican Sen. Ed Buttrey, one of the panel's four non-voting members. Four lawmakers on the committee will be joined by Benefis Health S...
MATT VOLZ Associated Press HELENA — A Montana Catholic schoolteacher fired for having a baby out of wedlock can’t sue because she led her classes in prayer and participated in other religious activities that prevent her from filing a discrimination claim, attorneys for the school said. Former Butte Central teacher Shaela Evenson, formerly of Havre, is accusing the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena of pregnancy discrimination, sex discrimination and breach of contract. She was fired in January 2014 after dio...
LISA BAUMANN Associated Press HELENA — Lawmakers in the House are wrestling with a $150 million state infrastructure bill that’s keeping them from ending the legislative session. Representatives defeated Senate Bill 416 twice Saturday morning with a final vote of 60-34 before they agreed to reconsider it again today. The bill requires 67 votes to pass because it involves bonding. Lawmakers have been debating the measure since Thursday when they initially endorsed it on a 70-30 vote. On Friday, several Republicans unsuccessful...
HELENA - Montana senators confirmed Jonathan Motl Friday as the state's commissioner of political practices. Eight Republicans joined all 21 Senate Democrats in a 29-21 vote to confirm Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock's appointment. Motl's term will end Dec. 31, 2016. Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, voted to confirm Motl while Sen. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, voted against his confirmation. Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, joined in the unanimous Democratic approval. Motl has...
HELENA (AP) — Lawmakers in the House are wrestling with a $150 million state infrastructure bill that's keeping them from ending the legislative session. Representatives defeated Senate Bill 416 twice Saturday morning with a final vote of 60-34 before they agreed to reconsider it again Monday. The bill requires 67 votes to pass because it involves bonding. Lawmakers have been debating the measure since Thursday when they initially endorsed it on a 70-30 vote. On Friday, several Republicans unsuccessfully tried to alter it t...
HELENA (AP) — Montana senators confirmed Jonathan Motl as the state's commissioner of political practices on Friday. Eight Republicans joined all 21 Senate Democrats in a 29-21 vote to confirm Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock's appointment. Motl's term will end Dec. 31, 2016. Motl has decided 120 campaign practice cases since he was appointed by Bullock in 2013. The Helena attorney has come under fire during those two years for what opponents call a bias against Republican candidates. "It's our duty to cast a vote that is not i...
Press release Montana Healthcare Foundation is offering more than $1 million in grants to address key health challenges, and is asking for grant proposals to address the state’s most pressing health problems. The foundation expects to issue more than $1 million in grants under this call. The deadline for submitting grant proposals is June 30, and information about how to apply can be found at the Foundation’s website, www. mthcf.org. Grants offered under the foundation’s first call for proposals will address key health chall...
Press release Anderson ZurMuehlen is hosting the Second Annual Advanced Accounting Issues for Nonprofits seminar in Bozeman Thursday, May 14. The full-day seminar includes topics on cost allocation, in-kind gifts, accounting for fundraising, fraud, and industry updates for Montana nonprofits. It is designed for nonprofit chief financial officers, controllers and others who record and report financial transactions. The cost is $195 for the first participant and $150 for additional attendees. Continuing professional education...
Press release State and local public health officials said they are concerned about a recent increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs. In 2014, Montana’s gonorrhea cases nearly doubled, to more than 400, and the number of chlamydia cases increased to more than 4,100. Many STDs are easy to cure; however, if undiagnosed and untreated, complications can occur. “I can’t emphasize enough that these particular STDs are all preventable,” said Judy Nielsen of the DPHHS STD-HIV Prevention Section. “In addition,...
From VA Montana Health Care System FORT HARRISON — VA will host a Veterans Honoring Ceremony May 1 at the parade ground on Fort Harrison from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. A medical center open house with exhibits for veterans will follow, ending at 3 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The ceremony honors all veterans and is the culminating event for the weeklong, U.S. Navy Reserve- and VA-hosted, annual Tribal Veterans Representative Training Conference. The conference informs leaders of American Indian nations from across the U...
