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News you can use
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HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court is setting up a possible challenge to aspects of the high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted political speech rights to corporations. The state court decided Friday to restore Montana's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees. The lawsuit was prompted by U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year granting political speech rights to corporations. The Montana Supreme Court says the state has a "compelling interest" to uphold c...
HELENA — A Republican Montana state legislator said Wednesday he was talking about weapons of the mind in an online discussion with a tea party leader about stocking up on "ammo" to "attack" socialists. Rep. James Knox, of Billings, raised some eyebrows with a recent conversation on Facebook. Knox wrote that he wakes up early with a desire to "attack socialists!!!." The conservative first-term lawmaker goes on to ask a Billings tea party leader for some "ammo." Knox said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday t...
HELENA — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is asking the U.S. government to let his state set up its own universal health care program, taking his rhetorical fight over health care to another level. Brian Schweitzer Like Republicans who object to the federal health care law, the Democratic governor also argues his state should have more flexibility than the law allows. But Schweitzer says he wants to use federal Medicare and Medicaid money to create a state-run system that borrows from the program used in Saskatchewan. He says t...
BILLINGS (AP) — Two Billings attorneys are asking the Montana Supreme Court to stop workers' compensation investigators from practices that they say violate the privacy rights of workers' comp claimants. The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/oOF8ve) reports that Gene Jarussi and Michael Eiselein, along with 10 other attorneys across the state, filed the petition on Aug. 2, contending that Montana State Fund fraud investigators routinely share surveillance videos and other confidential information with doctors of workers' c...
KALISPELL (AP) — A skydiver who crashed into a retaining wall while attempting to jump into Washington-Grizzly Stadium before a University of Montana football game this fall is expected to make a full recovery but says he just feels lucky to be alive. The Daily Inter Lake reports (http://bit.ly/sEIEMi) that Blaine Wright, a 53-year-old rocket engineer and a veteran skydiver, is recuperating at home in Whitefish after the Oct. 29 crash in which a gust of wind blew him off course during the Silvertip Skydivers' popular p...
BILLINGS — Montana's newfound tolerance toward wild bison is heading to trial as cattle owners and local officials seek to prevent a repeat of last year's mass migration of hundreds of the animals out of Yellowstone National Park. State District Judge Wayne Phillips has been asked to settle a fundamental question: Are bison in Montana free-roaming wildlife, or should they be kept out to protect private property and public safety? AP Photo/Janie Osborne, File Bison Roam roam outside Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner on M...
BILLINGS — The state of Montana and Arch Coal, Inc. will line up together in state court Tuesday against environmental groups seeking to derail the company's plan to mine a 1.3 billion ton reserve within the most productive coal region of the country. St. Louis-based Arch has paid $159 million to the state and Great Northern Properties to lease the Otter Creek coal tracts, located near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. The deal has received strong backing from Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who wants to c...
HELENA — A statue of Jesus on U.S. Forest Service land in the mountains over a Montana ski resort faces potential eviction amid an argument over the separation of church and state. The Forest Service offered a glimmer of hope late last week for the statue's supporters by withdrawing an initial decision to boot the Jesus statue from its hillside perch in the trees. But as it further analyzes the situation before making a final decision, the agency warned rules and court decisions are stacked against allowing a religious i...
AP Photo/Michael Albans, File Montana quarterback Gerald Kemp scrambles against Northern Colorado during an NCAA college football game in Missoula. MISSOULA (AP) — Police officers used stun guns to subdue two University of Montana football players Sunday morning after the team returned following a game Saturday at Northern Arizo Sgt. Collin Rose said quarterback Gerald Kemp and cornerback Trumaine Johnson scuffled with police officers who responded to a noise complaint at about 2:40 a.m. Rose said one player struck an o...
AP Photo/Michael Albans, File Montana quarterback Gerald Kemp scrambles against Northern Colorado during an NCAA college football game in Missoula on Oct. 1. MISSOULA (AP) — Police officers used stun guns to subdue two University of Montana football players Sunday morning after the team returned following a game Saturday at Northern Arizona. Sgt. Collin Rose said quarterback Gerald Kemp and cornerback Trumaine Johnson scuffled with police officers who responded to a noise complaint at about 2:40 a.m. Rose said one player s...
BILLINGS (AP) — ?The Montana Board of Regents is meeting in Billings to pass the university system's annual budget. The board is meeting Wednesday and Thursday at Montana State University Billings to consider the $1.4 billion budget proposal. The proposal includes a 3 percent increase to $457 million in the unrestricted operating portion of the budget. The Billings Gazette reports that increase comes from a tuition hike to make up for a 3 percent decrease in state funds. Regents heard that overall enrollment in state s...
Sen. overseeing DUI reform cited, open container HELENA — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee overseeing sweeping reform to the state's drunk driving laws says a recent open container ticket resulted from poor judgment. Republican Committee Chairman Jim Shockley of Victor is also gearing up for a run at the office of Montana attorney general. Shockley says he was driving home from Helena last Friday when he stopped to buy a beer, his second of the evening. Missoula police pulled him over and issued an open a...
HELENA — Lawmakers aiming to crack down on drunk driving made it clear Wednesday that the state's relatively lax laws on driving drunk very likely could get a makeover over the next several months. The spotlight on repeat drunk driving has intensified over the past couple of years following some high-profile deaths and a promise from policymakers to do something about it. House and Senate committees meeting Wednesday and Thursday were looking over 17 proposals that included everything from tougher penalties to more t...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Montana ranchers are speaking out against a proposed increase in grazing fees for state lands. A study done for the Montana Land Board found the state was charging far less for grazing fees than private landowners. The board proposed increasing the fee from around $6.50 to $12.88 per animal unit month, which is the amount of forage needed by a cow and her calf for a month. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/qW0zA3 ) that ranchers argued Tuesday that they have more expenses when leasing state g...
HELENA — An ambitious list of priorities for new House Republican leaders is topped by a plan to boost the natural resource industry by limiting lawsuits filed against development projects, along with plans to spur business growth in several other ways. New House Speaker Mike Milburn, a former Air Force pilot and rancher from Cascade, told The Associated Press that the goals will provide a roadmap for the new GOP majority. The list crystalizes and improves upon ideas conservatives have favored for years, and leaders think t...
BILLINGS (AP) — A convicted murderer who was freed without bail while awaiting a new trial enjoyed his first hours of freedom by swimming in a hotel pool and eating at McDonald's. Barry Beach, 49, said food smells and tastes totally different outside Montana State Prison, where he has spent nearly 29 years serving a 100-year sentence for a murder he says he didn't commit. District Judge E. Wayne Phillips ordered the new trial last month, and on Wednesday released Beach pending those proceedings, which have not been s...
AP Photo/Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer Barry Beach emerges from the Fergus County jail after his release by District Judge Wayne Phillips in Lewistown on Wednesday. BILLINGS (AP) — A convicted murderer who was freed without bail while awaiting a new trial enjoyed his first hours of freedom by swimming in a hotel pool and eating at McDonald's. Barry Beach, 49, said food smells and tastes totally different outside Montana State Prison, where he has spent nearly 29 years serving a 100-year sentence for a murder he says he d...
HELENA (AP) — Conservation groups are appealing a federal judge's decision to throw out their challenge to the Bureau of Land Management's plan for the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. Three groups totaling six plaintiffs filed appeals on Monday. They are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to agree with their argument that the BLM management plan does not go far enough to protect the 590-square-mile monument, created in 2001 by President Bill Clinton. The conservation groups argue the plan is i...
HELENA — An advocacy group is defying the state medical board's ban on using video teleconferences to examine people seeking medical marijuana cards, saying the medium is necessary for people who don't have access to a doctor. The Missoula-based Montana Caregivers Network connects doctors with would-be patients by using the Internet video service Skype in what the advocacy group calls TeleClinics. The state Board of Medical Examiners ruled in November that those examinations alone do not meet standards of care for c...
HELENA — Montana's 62nd Legislature opened for business this week, with lawmakers offering more than 1,900 ideas for bills so far. Most won't survive the journey into law, but they do show what's on legislators' minds. High on the list is regulating Montana's booming medical marijuana industry, cracking down on repeat DUI offenders, cutting business taxes, scaling back environmental regulations and cutting the costs of Montana's health care and worker's compensation systems. That list reflects the agenda of many Republican l...
MATT GOURAS,Associated Press HELENA Mon,t. (APThe Montana Legislature opened Monday the way it is likely to finish: with Republican lawmakers sparring with a strong-willed governor's office over budget priorities. Republicans coming off huge election wins in November made it clear that they are eager to put forward ambitious plans to put their imprint on state government now that they hold firm control of both chambers. But Gov. Brian Schweitzer, an independently minded Democrat made it clear to the GOP that he thinks there i...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Public Service Commission's first meeting stalled Monday over the new Republican majority's attempt to pick one of their own as a chairman — leaving the panel without a leader and the GOP with a very public internal fight on its hands. New Republican commissioner Travis Kavulla of Great Falls said he won't vote for veteran GOP commissioner Brad Molnar unless the sometimes confrontational Molnar signs a code of conduct. Molnar rejected the offer — and called Kavulla "extremely arrogant" for m...
HELENA — A former public school discipline officer and elementary school principal is bringing that skill set to the Montana House of Representatives as the new sergeant-at-arms this session. Russell Bean tells the Independent Record his goal is to make life as easy as possible for the 100 state representatives. Bean is a former state representative, serving one term for House District 17 as a Republican. He didn't run for re-election in November, but says he wants to get back into the Legislature eventually. Former House s...
MISSOULA — A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says the Democrat plans to reintroduce his forest bill that would create new wilderness areas in parts of the Montana, increase logging requirements and establish permanent recreation areas. Spokesman Aaron Murphy tells the Missoulian that the bill will be introduced at the start of the 112th session of Congress. He says the bill will be in the same form as it appeared in the final days of the 111th Congress when it was added to a huge catchall spending measure. That spending m...
HELENA — Montana Republicans in dominant control of the Legislature start work this week on an ambitious plan to tackle everything from medical marijuana to the way the state takes federal money to run its programs. The Legislature's sole constitutional duty is to adopt a balanced budget. Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer has proposed a plan that meets that bar — but Republicans want to go further and cut spending to match what they perceive as an austerity mandate from voters. And there will be no shortage of issues bey...
