News you can use
News you can use
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HELENA — A man charged with negligent homicide in his son's drowning last week cannot travel to Washington state to attend the 3-year-old's funeral, a Lewis and Clark County judge has ruled. Justice of the Peace Michael Swingley made his ruling after a hearing Wednesday in which County Attorney Leo Gallagher argued Leo Eugene Mathis, 26, had no ties to Helena other than the criminal charges filed after his son, Leo Eugene Mathis Jr., drowned in Prickly Pear Creek in East Helena on June 22. Mathis had just moved to the area a...
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Thursday that one of her biggest fears when she became chief executive of the state two years ago was a devastating wildfire. That concern came to life this year as nearly 1 million acres of Arizona burned in wildfires that included the largest such blaze in the state's history. "One percent of the total land mass of Arizona has already burned in this fire season alone, and the season is not over yet," said Brewer, speaking at the Western Governors' Association a...
HELENA — A Democrat is entering the 2012 attorney general's race even though incumbent Democrat Steve Bullock hasn't formally announced his plans to either run again or seek the governor's office as he is considering. But indications are mounting that such a run is likely. Jesse Laslovich, a former legislator and assistant attorney general who is currently chief legal counsel for the auditor's office that regulates insurance and securities, announced plans Thursday to run for attorney general. Bullock is popular with Democrat...
BOZEMAN — Montana regulators are proposing a rule to require oil and gas companies to disclose what chemicals are being pumped into the ground as a way to extract natural gas and oil in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." But the proposed rule is already under attack because of an exception that allows companies to withhold information if it reveals trade secrets. Environmentalists contend that fracking contaminates the soil and ground and surface waters Tom Richmond, administrator for the Montana Board o...
Landowner-friendly eminent domain bill moves ahead MATT GOURAS, Associated Press HELENA — A measure giving more power to landowners hit with eminent domain actions moved ahead Thursday at the Legislature — potentially freeing up a separate measure that clarifies utilities have eminent domain power. The eminent domain issue has been bogged down all session amid a dispute between landowners and utilities behind a pair of proposed power line projects. The landowners worry they're being treated unfairly, while the utilities say...
Reducation education funding plan reduced The Associated Press HELENA — Senate Republicans are trimming their education spending plan in hopes of getting full support from their caucus. Some Republicans bucked the original plan that re-crafts key aspects of school funding while increasing funding about 3 percent over the two-year budget period. Late Thursday, a committee reduced the funding a little and made clear that the 2013 Legislature will have to revisit a controversial plan to redistribute some of the oil and gas m...
Montana Republicans pitch education funding rewrite MATT GOURAS, Associated Press HELENA — A complicated rewrite of the state's school funding scheme from Republicans — which aims to increase education funding a little more than even the governor sought — faces an uncertain future after a close Senate vote Tuesday. The measure, which aims to fix a complicated school funding system that few understand with a 51-page bill that even fewer can fully explain, has stiff opposition from Democrats — and even a fair amount of skeptic...
AP Photo/Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, James Brosher Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar listens as Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead answers a question during a news conference on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Salazar is making a vast amount of coal available for mining in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, saying the substance will remain an important source of the nation's energy supply. The coal leases Salazar announced Tuesday in Cheyenne amount to 750 million tons and will take several years to mine. Interior Secretary Salazar...
Some Republicans now backing health care exchange STEPHEN DOCKERY, Associated Press HELENA, — A plan to set up a state-regulated health insurance marketplace is getting a second chance in the Montana Legislature. Republican legislative leaders have often spoken out against the Obama administration's federal health care law, part of which calls for state-run health care exchanges that offer people a choice of health plans with a range of coverage levels and pricing. Many Republicans call it an unjust mandate that unfairly t...
Montana marijuana overhaul begins taking shape STEPHEN DOCKERY, Associated Press HELENA — A new option to do away with the state's marijuana law and replace it with a new one is taking shape in the Legislature after a proposal to repeal the law stalled in the Senate and lawmakers said they don't think overhauling the current law would go far enough. Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, is leading a subcommittee to try and quickly cobble together a proposal before the legislative session ends. Essmann said Monday h...
HELENA — Senate Republicans spent Monday making quick work of the GOP spending plan already endorsed by the House, making only small changes despite harsh words from Gov. Brian Schweitzer's administration and the threat of a veto hanging in the air. A Senate budget committee was finalizing work Monday, mostly rebuffing proposals from Democrats to restore pieces of Schweitzer's original proposal. The governor said he remained hopeful that Republicans in firm control of the Legislature will change their mind. "I'm o...
BUTTE— Delegates for the Montana Republican Party on Saturday elected Will Deschamps to serve another 2-year term as party chairman. More than 180 party delegates voted, KXLF-TV reported. Mark French, a tea party advocate, was also nominated for the leadership spot....
BOZEMAN — A retired Montana State University administrator and professor says he will donate $100,000 to the school's library in honor of his wife, who died last year at the age of 78. University officials say 82-year-old Stuart Knapp made an estate gift in his wife's name that will provide books and electronic materials after his death. Knapp says his wife, Bev Knapp, was a strong supporter of the MSU library, chaired the Bozeman Public Library board and was president of the Montana Library Association. The couple also h...
BILLINGS — Federal wildlife officials say they will take more than 1,300 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list within 60 days. An attachment to the budget bill signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama strips protections from wolves in five Western states. It marks the first time Congress has taken a species off the endangered list. Idaho and Montana plan public wolf hunts this fall. Hunts last year were canceled after a judge ruled the predators remained at risk. Protections remain in p...
HELENA — What's next for Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has become a favorite guessing game in Capitol hallways and political circles as the popular Democrat nears the end of his final term, fresh off a legislative session where he took the lead battling the tea party wave. Would Schweitzer actually challenge one of the state's two Democratic senators? Could he take a cabinet post? Is he thinking about a future run for president? AP Photo/The Independent Record, Eliza Wiley In this April 13, 2011 photo, Gov. Brian S...
Medical marijuana repeal stalls in MT Senate HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A measure to repeal Montana's medical marijuana law has stalled in a state Senate committee. House Speaker Mike Milburn's House Bill 161 was rejected Monday on a 6-6 vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Most legislators say something should be done to rein in the state's marijuana industry. They say the boom in patients and providers has gone beyond the intention of the 2004 voter initiative approving the law. But many senators from both parties are o...
Democrats' job training bill stopped in committee HELENA — Legislation to train veterans and unemployed Montanans to be truck drivers has halted in committee after initially gaining bipartisan support. Some opponents of Senate Bill 359 were skeptical that the bill targeted veterans since the proposal opened up its training services to all unemployed Montanans. Others said the price tag could spiral well beyond the initial estimate of about $650,000 a year. Supporters of the bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mary Caferro of He...
CODY BLOOMSBURG Community News Service UM School of Journalism HELENA — By session's end, lawmakers say the taxman will most likely have new marching orders in Montana: Take less from businesses and, at the very least, no more from private citizens. Two competing bills promise to cut the state's property tax on business, and legislators are also considering an income-tax credit for homeowners. The session's tax bills also include a handful trying to address the problem of property values skyrocketing past Montanans' i...
HELENA — The pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed and killed 14 people in Butte in 2009 cut safety corners and then did not take the appropriate action after discovering a problem with his fuel system, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded Tuesday. The privately owned plane carrying seven children and seven adults from California to a ski vacation in Bozeman crashed moments after the pilot requested a diversion to Butte without explanation. The board's findings of probable cause lay the blame on the 6...
HELENA — The commission charged with drawing Montana's legislative districts is adopting a new statewide approach rather than doing it piecemeal by region. The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission made the decision Tuesday in hopes of having a proposed map for public review by year's end. The group has two members chosen by Republicans and two chosen by Democrats. The fifth and deciding member was chosen by the state Supreme Court after the group could not agree on a chairman. They are charged with drawing 100 n...
BILLINGS — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has decided Exxon Mobil and the state don't make good roommates after nearly a week of working together in close quarters to clean up an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil released into the Yellowstone River. State officials have moved out of a joint command post overseeing the response to the spill — a mess that has painted a fresh target for scorn on one of the world's largest energy companies. AP Photo/Jim Urquhart Cleanup workers use oil absorbent materials along side the Yel...
HELENA — The number of gun rights bills likely to clear the Montana Legislature appears to be dwindling significantly, as the session enters its final days, dealing a blow to gun-rights advocates who seem unable to capitalize on having a Republican majority. With the GOP holding one of the largest legislative majorities in years, this session presented a key opening for conservative lawmakers that often favor more lenient gun measures. But the gun-rights supporters seem to be unable to seize the moment. Most of the m...
Montana's U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said Friday afternoon that Republican opposition to passing a budget and preventing a federal government shutdown is political grandstanding at its worst, and that all should work together to keep operations running while conducting long-term planning to reduce the deficit. Unless a budget or short-term resolution is passed by midnight, all but essential government services — military and law enforcement, essentially — will shut down. Tester said the Senate has been working to meet the Hou...
LAUREL — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he believes that oil from a broken pipeline under the Yellowstone River has traveled hundreds of miles into North Dakota. AP Photo/Jim Urquhart Jim Swanson surveys the oil impact on his property in Laurel., Tuesday. An ExxonMobil pipeline near Laurel., ruptured and spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone. last weekend. The Democratic governor said Tuesday that the river was flowing about 7 mph, so it was a given that some oil has reached the state's e...
HELENA — With more than 16 months to go before the 2012 general election, Montana voters are already getting a steady sample of the acrimony to come as Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and his challenger, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, seek an early opening in what's expected to be one of the closest races in the nation. Each is finding plenty of early material to work with: The six-term congressman, Rehberg, is testing his opponent's image as a populist. He's calling the senator "Wall Street Tester" because of Tester's efforts to...
