News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2031 - 2055 of 2813
'Clean and healthful' constitutional change fails The Associated Press HELENA — A Republican plan to dilute the Montana Constitution's guarantee of a "clean and healthful environment" to help industry won't be going to the 2012 ballot. The declaration in the Constitution's inalienable rights has long been a sore point for those who say it gets in the way of energy and other development. But conservationists and others have hailed it as forward-thinking language that has helped preserve the state. The failed Republican proposa...
HELENA — State employee unions are filing an unfair labor practice charge against state in the wake of the Legislature's rejection of a deal negotiated with the governor. MEA-MFT union leader Eric Feaver says he hopes the actions lead to new negotiations with the governor, an even better pay raise than employees first sought and a special session of the Legislature forcing lawmakers to ratify the new deal. The charge will launch an investigation by a hearings officer at the Montana Department of Labor and a decision by the B...
BILLINGS (AP) — Flood waters have receded enough for Crow Indian tribal members to return to their devastated homes, while cities and towns across Montana trying to stave off rivers and streams spilling from their banks braced for more rain. Flood war AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, David Grubbs Shadd Cullinan and Tammie McCormick, both owners of businesses in downtown Lodgegrass, Mont., toss food into a dumpster Tuesday at the local IGA food market. The food was damaged by flood waters and had to be destroyed. nings have b...
HELENA — The state Department of Health and Human Services says it has stopped issuing new medical marijuana cards. Spokesman Jon Ebelt says his agency is complying with a new medical marijuana law that required the department to stop issuing the cards on May 14. Ebelt previously said the department would continue to issue cards to patients because of confusion over the law. Despite Ebelt's new statement on Tuesday, the agency's website says the department is still accepting applications. The first phase of a new r...
HELENA — The turmoil at the Public Service Commission continues with the ousted vice chairman seeking the personal cell phone records of the commissioners who staged a leadership coup last month. Republican Brad Molnar was rebuffed Tuesday in his attempts to immediately get the personal cell phone records of new Republican chairman Travis Kavulla and Democrat Gail Gutsche, his second in command. Molnar says he wants to see the records of calls that may have been made during breaks from contentious meetings last month. A...
HELENA — A Helena judge has indicated he may temporarily block at least parts of a restrictive medical marijuana law before it takes effect July 1. District Judge James Reynolds concluded a three-day hearing Wednesday by saying he is wrestling with the new Montana law. He specifically mentioned concerns with a provision that bars marijuana providers from making a profit or being reimbursed for their expenses. A medical marijuana industry group is asking Reynolds to block the entire law, saying it violates patients' c...
RONAN — The $15 million-a-year seed potato crop in northwestern Montana's Lake County faces a serious threat from a disease brought on by cool, damp weather, officials say. Lake County extension agent Jack Stivers said a storm last summer likely blew in the spores that can cause "potato blight," a highly destructive fungal disease. "With the type of spring we've had, it's more than likely to rear its ugly head," Stivers told the Missoulian. "Ultimately, it just rots potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. In some cases, it's almost l...
BILLINGS — Officials have closed a section of Interstate 90 in southeast Montana due to surging water from the Bighorn River as authorities on Sunday continue to deal with rising water in the eastern part of the state where a slow moving storm dumped up to six inches of rain. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service on Sunday blanketed much of eastern Montana with flood warnings as the storm begins moving out of area but runoff works its way through streams and rivers. Meteorologist Keith Meier in Billings says a...
BILLINGS — The cleanup of a major oil spill in the Yellowstone River has proven more difficult than expected and could go on for several more months, an Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. executive said Thursday. Areas hit hardest by the July spill should be cleaned up by the first half of October, company vice president Geoff Craft said. That includes a 20-mile stretch of the Yellowstone stretching from the spill site near Laurel downstream to Billings. But scattered sites still would need to be dealt with, including contaminated r...
HELENA — An Associated Press review of state government emails exchanged before former Director of Transportation Jim Lynch resigned last week shows Lynch and his replacement had no idea the shakeup was coming. Lynch stepped down last Thursday and was replaced by the agency's legal chief. Gov. Brian Schweitzer later confirmed the move was made after he learned Lynch's daughter was hired by DOT in late 2008. The governor said he found the hiring "not acceptable" and believed it may violate nepotism laws, although no such c...
HELENA — Two Montana groups are trying to do what has only been done once in 18 years: block a bill by petition. One proposes to prevent sweeping changes to the state's medical marijuana law. The other wants to block a law that gives utilities the power of eminent domain. If they get signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in 34 districts, a referendum will be held in the 2012 general election. If they get the signatures of 15 percent from 51 districts, they can suspend the bill from becoming law until that e...
BOZEMAN — A federal judge has put on hold a settlement that would require the government to consider greater protections for hundreds of imperiled species. Attorneys said Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the Obama administration to resume negotiations with environmentalists over the deal. The Center for Biological Diversity objects to the deal, saying it is unenforceable and leaves out important species of animals and plants. The settlement has been embraced by other conservationists as a b...
MISSOULA — Fugitive and former Montana militia leader David Burgert is one of a new breed of anti-government activists who display particular hatred of law enforcement, police and militia experts say. Burgert apparently carefully planned for a gunfight with Missoula County sheriff's deputies on Sunday, then escaped into the heavily forested mountains of western Montana. The 47-year-old parolee remained on the run Thursday. Burgert, Sheriff Carl Ibsen said in a statement, "harbors great animosity for law enforcement and g...
BILLINGS — The Montana Highway Patrol suspended a Billings-based sergeant for a week without pay for claiming compensation from the patrol for time he actually spent working a second job as a private security officer, The Billings Gazette reported Wednesday. The Gazette obtained the letter Col. Mike Tooley sent to 12-year veteran Sgt. Jay Nelson informing him of his suspension from March 14-18. Nelson declined the newspaper's request for comment. The investigation into Nelson began after Nov. 24, when he was recorded a...
HELENA — A majority of Montana Public Service Commission members have rejected one commissioner's attempt to examine the private cell phone records of two others. The dispute is the latest squabble in a year of turmoil and infighting at the commission that regulates utilities. Republican Commissioner Brad Molnar wanted a state administrative judge to look at the phone records of commissioners Gail Gutsche and Travis Kavulla to see if they had made improper contacts while deciding PSC issues in April. Gutsche, a Democrat, a...
BISMARCK, N.D. — Flooding-related problems in North Dakota continue to disrupt Amtrak passenger rail service between Minnesota and the Pacific Northwest. Amtrak on June 1 suspended the Empire Builder line between St. Paul, Minn., and Spokane, Wash., because of water-related track problems between Devils Lake and Rugby in northeast North Dakota. Amtrak says the line will remain closed through at least Monday with a couple of exceptions. On Friday and Monday, a train will travel from the Pacific Northwest as far east as W...
BUTTE — The Northern Rodeo Association Finals are moving to Butte after 36 years in Billings. The Butte Civic Center will host the rodeo finals starting Sept. 29. Bill Fisher, a promoter for Butte events, tells the Montana Standard that organizers have tried for a couple of years to get the finals moved. NRA president Tyler Holland said this spring's pitch sold him and the NRA directors on Butte. The NRA puts on more than 30 rodeos in Montana each season....
BILLINGS — An explosion and fire leveled a Billings house and damaged several others on Wednesday, leaving debris scattered across a residential neighborhood. Police, fire and utility employees were on the scene to help determine the cause. Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. spokesman Rick Matteson said natural gas was likely involved, but could not say what might have triggered the explosion. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Firefighters work on the scene of an apparent natural gas explosion that destroyed a house and damaged surrounding r...
ROUNDUP — Central Montana's Musselshell River has started to recede after swamping the small agricultural community of Roundup for the second time in two weeks. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Elaine Krueger loads a rifle case into the back of her truck as she removes items from her gun and pawn shop, Wednesday, in Roundup. The Musselshell River swamped portions of the small agricultural town for the second time in two weeks Wednesday as heavy rains continued to cause widespread flooding in Montana. Dozens of residents were forced t...
BUTTE — A Butte man has turned himself over to Veterans Affairs officials after a two-hour standoff with police outside his home. Butte police officers arrived at the man's home Monday night after receiving a report from Veterans Affairs that he was armed and threatening to hurt himself. The Montana Standard reports police set up a perimeter around the home and tried to communicate with the man for about two hours until officers determined the he had gone to sleep. Butte Sheriff John Walsh told the newspaper that the man c...
HELENA — Federal prosecutors pursuing drug charges against Montana medical marijuana operators want to keep jurors from hearing any evidence at trial about the state's medical pot law or whether the operators were complying with it. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have made motions in at least two cases stemming from federal raids on dozens of pot operations this spring, asking those judges to forbid any testimony or evidence at trial about medical marijuana or related issues involving state and federal laws. "...
HELENA — The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday it will ask the Montana Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's rejection of a lawsuit that sought to extend to gay couples the same legal protections as married couples. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the gay couples, arguing that the guarantees in the Montana Constitution of equal protection, privacy and dignity should require the state to offer the legal rights to the gay couples. A District Court judge earlier this y...
Senate endorses monitoring of repeat DUI offenders MATT GOURAS, Associated Press HELENA — Attorney General Steve Bullock's proposal to crack down on repeat drunk-driving offenders was endorsed Monday by the Montana Senate, paving the way for the measure to clear the Legislature. The chamber moved the plan ahead on a 40-9 vote, with just a few opponents arguing the measure goes too far by stringently treating every repeat DUI offender as an alcoholic. Under the plan, repeat DUI offenders are required to take to a breath t...
House backs bill tightening political ethics rules HELENA — The House is backing a bill to tighten ethics rules for state officials. Senate Bill 338 would prevent state officers from using public time, facilities, equipment, supplies, personnel or funds to produce an advertisement or public service announcement. Exceptions would be made for emergencies or if the announcement is directly related to a program or activity under the officer's jurisdiction. The bill comes in the wake of an ethics complaint alleging Gov. Brian S...
HELENA — The hearings officer in Gov. Brian Schweitzer's three-year-old ethics case said Wednesday that the Democratic governor should be fined $4,100 for violating state law by appearing in a public service radio advertisement during his 2008 re-election campaign. The hearings officer appointed by the commissioner of political practices issued a proposed decision Wednesday in the penalty phase of the case, saying his order can be instructive to others trying to decipher the ethics law banning the use of state resources to p...
