News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1956 - 1980 of 2813
HELENA — An increase in the voluntary license plate fee for state parks is among a few new state laws set to go into place with the New Year, along with a regularly scheduled increase in the minimum wage. While most of the new laws adopted by the Legislature earlier in the year have already taken effect, there are some new laws with a Jan. 1 effective date. One increases the fee that drivers pay for state parks when licensing a vehicle, although those who do not want to pay the fee are not required to. The fee goes from $4 t...
HELENA — A federal appeals court has handed a new setback to developers of a proposed $550 million railroad that would link southeastern Montana's untapped coal reserves to Midwestern and overseas markets. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the Surface Transportation Board did not take a hard enough look at the environmental risks when it approved the 130-mile Tongue River Railroad line in 2007, including the effects of developing the vast Otter Creek coal tracts. The Tongue River Railroad Co. has b...
HELENA— The Montana Supreme Court restored the state's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees in a ruling Friday that interest groups say bucks a high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision granting political speech rights to corporations. The decision grants a big win to Attorney General Steve Bullock, who personally represented the state in defending its ban that came under fire after the "Citizens United" decision last year from the U.S. Supreme court. "The Citizen's United d...
BILLINGS — A grizzly bear killed a Michigan man whose body was found by hikers last week in Yellowstone National Park, officials said Monday. The victim was identified Monday as John Wallace of Chassell, Mich. Wallace's body was discovered along a trail about five miles from the nearest trailhead. Results of an autopsy concluded that he died as a result of traumatic injuries from a bear attack. It is the second time a visitor to the park has been killed by a bear this year. Authorities say Wallace likely died Wednesday or T...
BILLINGS — The first Montana team to advance to the Little League World Series is back home after spending nearly a month on the road. Hundreds of family, friends and fans were at Billings Logan International Airport on Sunday evening when the Big Sky All-Stars returned. AP Photo/Billings Gazette, David Grubbs Billings Mayor Tom Hanel shakes the hands of the Big Sky All-Stars Monday as they arrived at Billings Logan International Airport in Billings, Mont. The team took a run at the Little League World series but lost in t...
HELENA — The governor's budget director challenged lawmakers on Monday for painting what he describes to be an artificially gloomy budget picture, arguing state coffers will have far more money left over than legislative staffers predict. David Ewer told an interim committee of lawmakers it is now clear that more money was available than the Republican-led Legislature used for its budget earlier this year. Democrats said that money could have been used for many things, such as more state construction projects to spur job g...
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer accused congressional Republicans on Saturday night of risking the nation's credit status during deadlocked negotiations to raise the debt ceiling as he helped Arkansas Democrats raise money for a tough election battle next year. The Democratic governor joined Arkansas' top Democrats in taking aim at the GOP-led Congress over the debt limit talks. Congressional leaders have struggled in urgent, weekend-long talks to avert an unprecedented government default. "Their p...
A Republican-leaning independent fundraising group announced Friday it would launch a $20 million television campaign criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of the economy. The ads, produced and financed by Crossroads GPS, will begin running Monday in 10 states, many of which are presidential battlegrounds. Spokesman Jonathan Collegio said the group would spend $5 million initially on cable television nationwide and on broadcast TV in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Mexico,...
BILLINGS — Almost 200 workers have evacuated the Stillwater mine near Columbus after smoke was reported at the underground platinum mine. Amy Louviere with the Mine Safety Health Administration said Friday that all of the miners made it to the surface and no injuries were reported. Louviere says a mine rescue team reached the source of the smoke and found a broken hydraulic hose that sprayed fluid on a piece of machinery. Monitors showed the air underground had cleared. The government issued a temporary mine closure order. L...
KALISPELL — With its jagged peaks, glistening lakes and lush valleys, the Inland Northwest — stretching from eastern Washington to Montana's Glacier National Park — is a stunningly beautiful and remote part of the country. It also is a cradle for sometimes-violent anti-government activity — a reputation most recently rekindled by the search for David Burgert. The former Kalispell militia leader is accused of opening fire on sheriff's deputies on a remote logging road in Lolo National Forest. After a lull following the demise...
HELENA — A health department official said Wednesday it's not feasible to stop issuing medical marijuana cards as the state moves to a more restrictive law, so the agency will continue to process hundreds of applications for pot cards. The marijuana overhaul became law on May 14, immediately repealing the Department of Public Health and Human Service's authority to issue new cards. Roy Kemp, who oversees the card issuing process, said that is far too abrupt. His department will continue to distribute cards under the old l...
HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday that he understands university officials may have to raise tuition, but he is hoping it is not necessary, as the Board of Regents gathers in Kalispell to make a decision. Schweitzer, a Democrat, said any increase could have been avoided if lawmakers had endorsed his proposal that sent more state money to public colleges. Republican lawmakers countered during legislative discussions on the matter that higher education should face some of the same cuts in state funding as other a...
BOZEMAN — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has signed legislation seen as a step to increasing the number of cancer patients participating in clinical trials. House Bill 615 calls for the state's insurance commissioner to study the medical costs insurance companies reimburse for cancer patients participating in trials and to recommend appropriate legislation. Democratic Rep. Kathleen Williams of Bozeman sponsored the bill after hearing from constituents that they could not participate in clinical trials because insurance companies d...
HELENA — The trail has gone cold more than a month after a former militia leader disappeared into western Montana woods after a shootout with police, though authorities vow to nab David Burgert if and when he eventually resurfaces. Missoula County authorities said they are no longer actively pursuing Burgert, 47, who led deputies on a low-speed chase June 12 near Lolo, then shot at them before running into the woods. AP Photo/Missoulian, Kurt Wilson A Missoula County Sheriff's Department SWAT team drives on U.S. Highway 12 n...
HELENA — Federal regulators have fined Bozeman Deaconess Hospital $3,500 after hospital officials lost a vial of radioactive material used to treat cancer patients, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday. It was one of two recent enforcement actions taken by the commission in Montana. During an unannounced inspection of the Bozeman hospital's records on Jan. 27, 2010, NRC officials discovered a vial containing samarium-153 was missing. The substance, which goes under the brand name Quadramet, is used to treat p...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A proposed management plan for the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Montana has drawn more than 25,000 comments, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says. Bill Berg, deputy project leader for the 1.1 million acre refuge, said the comments range from designating the entire refuge as wilderness to removing the land from refuge status. "Our public is broader now than it was 20 years ago," Berg told the Great Falls Tribune. The Wilderness Society wants more of the refuge designated a...
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has approved a pair of sweeping settlements that could lead to endangered species protections for hundreds of animal and plant species by 2016. Friday's order by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan means the government must act on imperiled species ranging from the northern wolverine and Pacific walrus to dozens of snails, mollusks, butterflies and plants. The order comes after the Obama administration reached deals with environmental groups that filed lawsuits challenging the government's h...
HELENA — The Obama administration rolled out state-by-state benefits of the president's jobs plan on Friday, saying 30,000 Montana businesses would see a cut in payroll taxes under the proposal and the average household in the state would see a tax cut of $1,240. The Obama administration touted the state-specific benefits of the $447 billion jobs program of tax cuts and new spending as the president began taking his pitch directly to Americans. The centerpiece of the proposal is a reduction in the Social Security payroll t...
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Word spread quickly through Yellowstone National Park about a fatal grizzly bear mauling — the park's first in 25 years — but few visitors at the height of tourist season seemed inclined to change their vacations because of the news. Thousands of people streamed into the park Thursday, a day after a 57-year-old California man was attacked and killed by a female bear on a backcountry trail. Officials said the sow was only defending its cubs, had not threatened humans before, and would be le...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Gallatin County authorities say a person has died after a house east of Bozeman exploded and burned to the ground. County officials said in a statement that the explosion early Thursday was felt up to four miles away from the home on Jackson Creek Road. Bridger Canyon firefighters responded just before 1:30 a.m. to find the house on fire and its walls blown out. They fought the fire until it was brought under control at 5 a.m. County officials reported one fatality, though they did not identify the person or s...
HELENA (AP) — Lewis and Clark County officials are searching local missing persons cases and have consulted with the FBI as they try to identify human bones found in black trash bags near U.S. Highway 12 west of Helena. A U.S. Forest Service employee spotted a bag Wednesday afternoon near MacDonald Pass and called law enforcement when he opened it and found what appeared to be human bones, said Sheriff Leo Dutton. Coroner Mickey Nelson said the remains recovered Wednesday "would basically be consistent with one (person) at t...
BILLINGS — A 3-year-old child witnessed the killing of three people in a remote area of Montana's Crow Indian Reservation and named a family member as the shooter, according to an FBI affidavit. Sheldon Bernard Chase, 22, was captured in Washington state and made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno in Spokane on Thursday. He was ordered held on three counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his grandmother, cousin and cousin's boyfriend at their rural home on Tuesday. He faces life in p...
MISSOULA — Montanans like to call their state "Big Sky Country," or "The last, best place." Nowhere in these descriptions are there hints of crowds. AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios This photo shows downtown Kalispell,. Montana is set to reach a major milestone later this year when the state tops one million residents for the first time, according to projections by the U.S. Census. Yet Montana is set to reach a major milestone later this year when the state tops one million residents for the first time, according to p...
LAUREL — The scope of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s oil leak into the Yellowstone River could extend far beyond a 10-mile stretch of the famed waterway, the company acknowledged under political pressure Monday. As the company intensified its cleanup of tens of thousands of gallons of spilled crude, Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to find and mop up oil from the 12-inch pipeline that broke at the bottom of the river over the weekend. Schweitzer slams Exxon Mobil AP Photo/Jim U...
FORT BENTON (AP) — Officials are investigating the hanging death of a 33-year-old man at the Chouteau County jail in Fort Benton. Sheriff Vern Burdick said Monday that jail staff found Jesse Bennett of Fort Benton dead in his cell on Friday afternoon. It appears he used a blanket to hang himself. Burdick says Bennett was the only inmate in the jail. He had been arrested at 3 a.m. Thursday on an assault charge. His body was taken to Billings for an autopsy. The case is being investigated by Fergus County Coroner Dick Brown, w...
