News you can use
News you can use
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More rain began falling Sunday on soaked Montana communities after more than a week of floods in the region, along with a heavy mountain snowpack and burgeoning dams, prompted states downstream to also prepare for flooding. AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom Stromme A statue garden is slowly submerged by rising ground water outside a home in the Fox Island area in southwest Bismarck, N.D. on Saturday. A break in rainy weather at the start of the long holiday weekend allowed Montana residents to clear flood debris from homes...
LAUREL — Montana Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar pleaded no contest to failing to give quick notice of a crash in a fast-food restaurant parking lot that totaled the car of a high school student. He was given a 20-day suspended jail sentence and fined $200. Laurel City Judge Jean Kerr rejected a plea agreement calling for a deferred sentence and wasn't pleased that Molnar didn't appear in court Thursday as she had instructed, The Billings Gazette reported. "I expected him to be here," Kerr said. Attorney Jack Sands s...
LODGE GRASS — Rain-swollen rivers that have swamped Montana towns could keep flooding the region for another month or more as melting mountain snow delivers a second slug of water to the soggy Northern Plains. AP Photo/Matthew Brown Kathryn Old Crow, 73, describes flooding that forced her from her home near Lodge Grass,to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, left, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer, as her grandson, Wade Old Crow, watches Friday . Recent flooding displaced hundreds of residents of southeastern Montana's Crow Indian Reservation a...
HELENA — Montana's congressional delegation is criticizing President Barack Obama's decision to involve the U.S. military in Libya, but only Democratic Sen. Max Baucus will say outright that he opposes American intervention in the conflict. Baucus said in a statement Friday the U.S. can't afford to be involved in another prolonged conflict with the nation facing record deficits and the resources needed by troops already in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I have deep concerns about the clarity of the mission in Libya, and I continue t...
HELENA — Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer held a rare joint news conference with Republican legislative leaders Friday evening to announce a breakthrough in budget talks, with both sides signing documents promising to stick to a deal that was hailed as a hard-fought compromise. AP Photo/The Independent Record, Dylan Brown Gov. Brian Schweitzer signs a portion of the main budget bill during a conference announcing the agreement between the governor and the legislature, Friday in the Ggovernor's conference room in Helena. S...
Missoula Democrat Melinda Gopher has announced she is exploring the idea of challenging the two declared candidates for Montana's U. S. Senate seat in 2012. Gopher, of Missoula, posted Monday on a blog that she wants to find out what support there would be for her candidacy. Incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, now faces Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, who announced in February he would run for Tester's seat. In her blog entry, Gopher cited a recent poll showing Rehberg and Tester in a dead heat. "Only 1 percentage point...
HELENA — The House is advancing a plan to require parents to approve their child's sex education in public schools. House Bill 456 requires schools to notify parents 48 hours in advance of sex education and receive the parent's written consent before their child attends. The bill prohibits schools from using instruction materials from organizations that provide abortion services. The bill passed Monday with a 71-29 vote. Legislators supporting the bill say some sex education material taught in schools was Those in o...
Montana House OKs concealed carry without permit STEPHEN DOCKERY Associated Press HELENA, — The state House backed a bill Monday that would allow people to carry concealed weapons in urban areas without a permit, giving a victory to lawmakers and gun rights supporters who are pushing a slate of firearms legislation. House Bill 271 would allow anyone eligible to obtain a concealed weapon permit to carry without actually applying for a permit. It is already legal to carry a concealed weapon in rural areas without a permit. Gun...
HELENA — The family friend of Greg Mortenson who has stepped in to run the Central Asia Institute while the "Three Cups of Tea" co-author is hospitalized promised Wednesday "full transparency" into how the charity's finances are managed. AP Photo/Department of Defense, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley In this July 15, 2009 file photo released by Department of Defense, "Three Cups of Tea" co-author Greg Mortenson shows the locations of future village schools to U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the J...
BILLINGS — A Montana tribe's plan to build a $7 billion coal-to-liquids project has stalled after it failed to attract sufficient financing, leading to a courtroom dispute between the tribe and its partner in the proposal. A federal judge in Delaware has scheduled a hearing next week on a request by a Texas-based investment group that accuses the Crow tribe of backing out of their 2009 development agreement. According to a lawsuit filed this week by Australian-American Energy Co., the Crow Tribe claims AAEC has failed to m...
Montana bill would 'embrace' global warming MATT VOLZ, Associated Press HELENA — A Montana legislator is proposing the state embrace global warming and wrest control of greenhouse gas regulation from the federal government, ideas that scientists and environmentalists call an indefensible denial of physics and a waste of taxpayer money. Republican Rep. Joe Read of Ronan aims to pass a law that says global warming is a natural occurrence that "is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana." Montana holds large tr...
Gov's brother leaving post as deputy state auditor The Associated Press HELENA — Deputy State Auditor Walt Schweitzer says he is leaving the auditor's office at the end of the month to pursue another job opportunity. Schweitzer tells Lee Newspapers of Montana that he can't yet say what he will be doing, but he's excited about the job and will be staying in Helena. State Auditor Monica Lindeen says Schweitzer informed her Monday that he wanted to pursue another opportunity. She said she has not decided on a replacement. Schwei...
HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday that Republican budget crafters are making a bad decision by turning away $35 million in federal money the state would give hospitals for modernizing medical records — and didn't rule out a veto of the Republican budget package. The governor said the money would create jobs and make health care more efficient by creating electronic medical records that would reduce duplicative procedures and speed service. Republicans counter that electronic medical records are untested and cou...
HELENA — Having already cleared the state House, a handful of gun-rights bills that have drawn opposition from many Democrats and some Republicans has moved to the Senate, where they may face a tougher challenge. The Senate Judiciary Committee heard three measures Wednesday from Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel. The bills propose letting people carry a concealed weapon without a permit in cities and in prohibited places like banks and bars, and permitting the use of a silencer when hunting. Supporters say the measures are i...
HELENA (AP) — Federal agents with guns drawn raided at least 10 medical marijuana operations across Montana on Monday, the same a day that a bill to repeal the state's medical marijuana law stalled in the Legislature. Agents near Helena burst into Montana Cannabis' greenhouse, where the company grows more than 1,600 plants for its four stores across the state. The greenhouse runs about half the length of a football field and is packed with marijuana plants that can be seen from U.S. Highway 12. About 15 workers were inside t...
Senate endorses death penalty repeal STEPHEN DOCKERY, Associated Press HELENA — The state Senate has endorsed a bill to repeal the death penalty. Senate Bill 185 sponsored by Democratic Sen. David Wanzenried of Missoula drew extensive debate Monday before the 26-24 floor vote. The bill now faces one more largely procedural vote in the Senate before going to the House. Supporters of the repeal argue the possibility of putting an innocent person to death makes the death penalty unjust. Those wanting to keep the death penalty a...
BILLINGS — Billings will host the first of six regional tribal consultations on the trust land component of the government's $3.4 billion settlement with American Indians over mismanaged royalties. Deputy Interior Secretary David J. Hayes said in a statement Monday the talks will help free up trust lands and will involve tribal leaders from the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. A date for the Billings meeting wasn't announced. Native American plaintiffs claimed that trust accounts for hundreds of thousands of Indians were m...
HELENA — As the legislative session winds down to its final days, Montana lawmakers appear to be no closer to taking action on eminent domain than they were at the beginning, opening the possibility that massive utility line projects will be put on hold for another year or more. How to resolve disputes over eminent domain, which allows the taking of private property for public use, and private property rights has proven challenging to the Republicans who control the Legislature. The conflict is dividing some Republican l...
HAMILTON — Authorities in Ravalli County in western Montana are having a hard time persuading residents to sign up to receive automatic emergency notifications on cellphones due to mistrust of the government. "I know a lot of people are scared, with emails being hacked and identity theft," said Charlene Stevens, who coordinates the program. "But what I'd tell them is this is a basic thing that could save your life or property." It's not working. "Only about 250 out of 40,000 residents have signed up," Dispatch Director J...
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge has denied a proposed settlement agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 10 conservation groups that would have lifted endangered species protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula on Saturday rejected the agreement that could have led to public hunting of some 1,300 wolves in the two states. In the 24-page decision, Molloy cited the court's lack of authority to put part of an endangered species population under state m...
HELENA — An audit of the state lottery found its former director violated state law by extending one contract and changing another without the approval of the Montana Lottery Commission. The Independent Record reports the audit was presented to the Legislative Audit Committee Thursday. The audit also found the lottery spent twice as much as it was authorized to spend on lottery ticket vending machines and that it would not be hard for lottery employees to perpetuate and conceal errors or irregularities in prize payments. L...
HELENA (AP) — Montana State Prison Warden Mike Mahoney is retiring in August to take a job as assistant warden at the privately owned regional prison in Shelby. Mike Mahoney Mahoney says his last day at the prison is Aug. 12 and he'll start at Crossroads Correctional Center on Sept. 12. Mahoney has worked for the state for 31 years, including 28 years in corrections. He has been warden at the state prison for the past 16 years after The 57-year-old Mahoney said Tuesday the time is right for him to leave with more than 30 y...
LIBBY — For a decade, the people of Libby have longed for the day when they will be rid of the asbestos that turned their town into the deadliest Superfund site in America. Now they are being forced to live through the agony all over again, thanks to two giant piles of bark and wood chips on the edge of town. AP Photo/Matthew Brown D.C. Orr, a city councilman in Libby, walks through a storage area, where bark and wood chips contaminated with undetermined levels of lethal asbestos were stored. More than 15,000 tons of the mate...
Rep. Cleve Loney, R-Great Falls, and fellow House members ate pizza as they worked through the dinner hour on the session's final evening. The 2011 Legislature considered more than 1,100 bills over the past four months. HELENA — Rep. Liz Bangerter has the angular build of a runner. No surprise, the Helena Republican runs and lifts weights to stay in shape. The first-termer came into the Capitol sure that she could keep her feet under her for the full 90 days. She was wrong – sort of. Community News Service/Cody Blo...
HELENA — The mother of a teenager who shot himself last year during a rash of child suicides on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana has filed a lawsuit claiming the school district and the state are responsible for his death. Dalton Gourneau's death in Wolf Point in November followed five suicides and 20 attempts at a middle school in Poplar, about 20 miles east on the reservation, leading tribal officials to declare an emergency. Federal health officials were sent in for several months last year to p...
