News you can use
News you can use
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HELENA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester isn't happy about a Republican attack advertisement portraying him with all five fingers on his left hand — even though he lost three fingers in a childhood accident with a meat saw. The ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee portrays Tester, a Democrat, as cozy with Washington, D.C., lobbyists. It shows a photo of Tester greeting President Barack Obama. But the edited photo erroneously shows Tester's left hand with all five fingers. Republicans say someone else's left han...
HELENA — The deadline is Friday for organizers to turn in signatures for proposed ballot initiatives that aim to repeal new state laws restricting medical marijuana and expanding eminent domain powers. Rose Habib, coordinator for a proposed initiative referendum sponsored by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, said Thursday that the group has met the requirements required to put the question to voters in the 2012 general election. That meant gathering more than 24,337 voter signatures from at least 34 legislative d...
HELENA — The deadline is Friday for organizers to turn in signatures for proposed ballot initiatives that aim to repeal new state laws restricting medical marijuana and expanding eminent domain powers. Rose Habib, coordinator for a proposed initiative referendum sponsored by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, said Thursday that the group has met the requirements required to put the question to voters in the 2012 general election. That meant gathering more than 24,337 voter signatures from at least 34 legislative d...
HAMILTON (AP) — One of two Hamilton men charged in a phony investment scheme surrendered to Ravalli County officials after learning there was a warrant for his arrest. District Judge James Haynes of Hamilton issued warrants Tuesday for Harris Himes and James "Jeb" Bryant after state attorneys filed charges against the pastors in a phony investment scheme they say bilked a man of $150,000 in 2008. Sheriff Chris Hoffman tells the Ravalli Republic (http://bit.ly/qN7GO4 ) that Himes turned himself in Wednesday morning. Himes f...
HELENA — Medical marijuana advocates in Montana said Monday that they hope to start gathering signatures soon in an effort to block stringent new state regulations, even as the group awaits a judge's decision on a legal challenge to the new law. The Montana Cannabis Industry Association has so far made the court arguments the focal point of its effort to derail a law that goes into effect Friday. A Helena judge has indicated he may block at least part of it. But medical marijuana growers have a backup plan if the whole law i...
KALISPELL (AP) — A third Glacier High School student accused of hazing teammates on a freshman football bus has been charged with misdemeanor assault. KCFW-TV reported Friday the 15-year-old boy was charged this week after prosecutors took another look at his alleged involvement in the Sept. 12 incident. Parents and grandparents of students on the bus told police that several players were assaulted and molested as the team returned to Kalispell from a game in Missoula. Two other students were charged with assault. One of t...
HELENA (AP) — A new legislative audit found several issues under the Department of Transportation that recently underwent a high-profile change in command when the former Director Jim Lynch resigned after a disagreement with the governor over the hiring of the director's daughter. Lee Newspapers of Montana reported Wednesday that auditors found the agency hired unqualified applicants for agency jobs. The auditors reviewed five recruitment files and found that in three cases, the person who was hired didn't meet the minimum q...
BILLINGS — Montana wildlife officials say fish exposed to an Exxon Mobil Corp. oil spill into the Yellowstone River are safe to eat despite some crude found in their internal organs. Laboratory results disclosed Thursday by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks revealed no oil in fillets cut from about 60 fish taken from the river in mid-July. Trace amounts of oil were detected in the livers and gonads of some fish. Wildlife agency spokesman Robert Gibson says the contamination potentially could harm the health of the fish but n...
BILLINGS (AP) — Federal environmental regulators are seeking public comment on a toxicology study that details the dangers of asbestos from a Montana mine that has killed hundreds of people. A summary of the document was released in May, outlining the potency of asbestos from a now-shuttered W.R. Grace mine that operated for decades near the northwest Montana town of Libby. Thursday's release of the full, 467-page study by the Environmental Protection Agency opens a 60-day public comment period. The study suggests the c...
HELENA — The state employee unions say they have been able to secure a guarantee that employee health insurance premiums won't go up in 2012. The unions are separately fighting the state over a pay freeze that they argue was imposed by the Legislature in bad faith after they negotiated a raise with the administration. The unions are telling members that the freeze in health care costs will help make up a little bit for the "outrageous" pay freeze. The deal was reached earlier this week, but the governor's office says d...
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Patrick Zimmer tossed five shutout innings and Ben Askelson hit a two-out, two-run double to lift Billings, Mont., to 3-1 win Sunday over Lafayette, La., at the Little League World Series. The first team from Montana to qualify for the World Series extended its postseason winning streak to six behind an effective outing by the 13-year-old Zimmer, who struck out four. Louisiana scored in the sixth off reliever Sean Jones after Nick Fruge reached on a three-base error and scored on a wild p...
WINIFRED — The head of the federal Bureau of Land Management returned to Montana on Monday with a message similar to the one he delivered to ranchers a year ago: No new national monuments. As part of a tour of rural communities across the West, BLM director Bob Abbey met with about 20 ranchers still upset over the creation of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument by former President Bill Clinton more than a decade ago. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey listens to Gary Slagel w...
(Editor's note: This is the second and final part in a series on tranparency in Montana.) HELENA - Earlier this year state officials released payroll information on thousands of state employees that they now claim in some cases contained confidential information that should not have been released. Department of Administration Deputy Director Sheryl Olsonsaid payroll information was sent electronically to a state legislator in response to an information request. She said the legislator was later asked to scrub the information...
EAST MISSOULA — A Montana woman photographing a bald eagle in a spruce tree near her house also made a picture of what was left of its prey — a fawn carcass dangling from a power line. AP Photo/Lee Bridges A power company lineman uses a pole to remove a young deer carcass that was dropped onto a power line. It is suspected the carcass was dropped after being snatched by an eagle in East Missoula. The incident caused a brief power outage. Lee Bridges, of East Missoula, says she photographed the eagle Wednesday morning bec...
MISSOULA — Missoula County Sheriff's deputies are still pursuing leads in the hunt for David Burgert, the former militia leader who is accused of shooting at deputies this week. The sheriff's department said Friday it was patrolling the Petty, Graves and Howard Creek areas of Lolo National Forest west of Missoula. Burgert fled into the forest after exchanging shots with deputies on Sunday following a car chase. Police say he may be hiding in the mountains along the Montana-Idaho border. Burgert once led an anti-government m...
WASHINGTON — It will likely be months before investigators know what caused an ExxonMobil oil pipeline to rupture near Billings, Mont., spilling about 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, a federal safety official said Thursday. Thus far, investigators are unaware of any safety violations by ExxonMobil related to the spill, Cynthia Quarterman, administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told a congressional hearing. The spill has fouled shoreline and contaminated b...
HELENA — Police arrested a 48-year-old woman they say shot and killed her husband and another woman early Thursday, leading to a police standoff outside a Helena apartment building. Helena Police Chief Troy McGee said Michelle Coller Gable has been charged with two counts of deliberate homicide. She was treated at a hospital for an undisclosed injury and released into police custody. AP Photo/The Independent Record, Eliza Wiley SWAT team moves around the corner at scene of a double homicide Thursday near downtown Helena, M...
HELENA (AP) — A conservative group's television advertisement has been pulled from a cable network amid complaints from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester that it falsely accuses him of supporting tougher rules for farm dust. The ad from Crossroads GPS claims that Tester "voted against preventing Obama's EPA from being able to regulate Montana farmers' dust." The Washington D.C.-based group says Cablevision's Optimum cable service did pull the advertisement, although other networks have not. Tester's campaign argues the grain farmer has l...
HELENA — The entry of Democratic Attorney General Steve Bullock into the 2012 governor's race gives a crowded Republican primary field a bigger target to aim for, and turns more attention to which GOP candidate would be the most electable in a tough general election. With Bullock, active Democrats have someone many of them are excited to rally around. But things are not so clear on the GOP side with several viable candidates in the race — and maybe even more on the way. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Montana Attorney General Steve Bu...
BUTTE (AP) — Public school students in Butte were out of classes for a second day Thursday as 15 union administrators continued a strike that threatened Butte High School's participation in several varsity sporting events this weekend. The board of trustees held an emergency meeting Wednesday evening and discussed how it might deny a request by striking administrators to take personal leave Wednesday through Friday so they could be paid despite being on strike over salary negotiations. Photo by Walter Hinick/Montana S...
BILLINGS (AP) — Wildlife officials say a harsh winter combined with spring flooding and a summer disease outbreak have reduced antelope and deer numbers, leading to fewer hunters visiting northeast Montana. "Hunter numbers so far are down 31 percent from last year," said Scott Hemmer, wildlife biologist for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. But officials also said the wet weather has caused duck numbers to skyrocket, while elk have benefited from more forage and are more widely distributed. "Hunters have reported observing good n...
HELENA — State gambling regulators say video gambling revenues have declined over the past two fiscal years, including a 16 percent drop in the most recent reporting period. The Gambling Control Division reported taxes collected from electronic poker and keno machines fell from $62.1 million in fiscal 2009 to $54.2 million in fiscal 2010, which runs from July 2009 through June 2010. The fiscal 2008 taxes were $63.4 million. Gaming Industry Association of Montana executive director Neil Peterson attributed the 2 percent d...
BILLINGS — Three people were killed in a remote area of the Crow Reservation and a manhunt was under way for a suspect who may be armed, authorities said Tuesday. FBI agents were on the reservation investigating the deaths, but had little information to release immediately beyond the number of victims, agency spokeswoman Deborah Bertram said. The killings took place about five miles south of Lodge Grass in a remote area of the southeast Montana reservation, Big Horn County Commissioner John Pretty on Top said. People were t...
HELENA — It would take an immediate infusion of $633 million or a combination of other actions over time to prevent the state's teacher pension system from running out of money by 2055, administrators said Monday. Officials with the Montana Teachers' Retirement System said they would work with members and lawmakers hoping to come up with solutions before the 2013 legislative session. The actuarial report from last week painted a dire picture for the large pension system. An update is due later this month for Montana's o...
HELENA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg is sponsoring the House version of a bill meant to force President Barack Obama to act on a proposed oil pipeline from Canada, through eastern Montana and to refineries in Texas. Rehberg's bill filed Thursday is the companion to legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Dick Lugar and 36 other Republican senators. The bills would require the administration to approve the Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days, unless the president declares the project is not in the national interest. The S...
