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MISSOULA (AP) — Bail has been set at $125,000 for a 22-year-old University of Montana student accused of exposing himself to students at bus stops and elsewhere in Missoula County. Cole Francisco, of Missoula, was arraigned Friday on five counts related to indecent exposure. Three of the counts are felonies because they were the third or subsequent offense. Missoula County authorities began investigating reports of a man approaching teenage girls in his car and exposing himself to them. Reports began on March 10 at school b...
HELENA (AP) — Montana lawmakers on Friday heard the session's fourth proposal to increase highway speed limits. Republican Rep. Art Wittich proposed a ballot referendum Friday for voters to decide whether to raise highway speed limits by 5 mph. Wittich said the proposal would make Montana's speed limits consistent with those in Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. "We live in a great state with good roads that are well maintained," Wittich said. "We have long distances to travel, we like a little bit of freedom." No one spoke in favor o...
The Hi-Line delegation: Rep. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, Rep. Bruce Meters, R-Box Elder, Rep. Mike Long, R-Malta, voted for the patrial bill. Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, voted yes. HELENA (AP) — The House of Representatives has narrowly rejected a measure that would expand Medicaid to about 10,000 people. Members voted 51-49 to kill House Bill 455 on second reading Friday. Sponsored by Republican Rep. Nancy Ballance of Hamilton, the bill would expand Medicaid eligibility to some veterans and low-income parents. It also i...
HELENA, (AP) — The Democratic governor had strong words for House Republicans on Thursday as they continued to shoot down Democratic attempts to restore programs and funding proposed in his biennial budget. Gov. Steve Bullock said the 100-plus amendments brought by Democrats were meant to restore "reasonableness and essential services," such as protecting children from abuse and neglect. "I will not accept a budget that puts Montana's fiscal health in jeopardy and that fails to fulfill our obligations to the people of M...
HELENA (AP) — A Senate committee tabled a measure on Friday that would require certain welfare applicants to take drug tests in Montana. Lee Newspapers of Montana reported that the Republican-led Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee voted 6-1 to table House Bill 200 sponsored by Republican Randy Pinocci of Sun River. Committee chairman Fred Thomas of Stevensville told Lee Newspapers that while he has sympathy for trying to rein in what is seen as welfare, it has to be done the right way. "We did not see that t...
Reps. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, Mike Lang, R-Malta, and Bruce Meyers, R-Box Elder, voted for the tax credit. Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady voted no. HELENA (AP) — Montana representatives have given initial approval to a Republican proposal to give tax credits for private school tuition. The House voted 53-47 to pass House Bill 433 on second reading. It was forwarded to the House Appropriations Committee. The measure would give up to $1,000 in non-refundable tax credits to those who pay tuition for elementary or secondary s...
MISSOULA (AP) — Missoula County authorities say an 18-year-old University of Montana freshman has died in an accidental shooting. Sheriff T.J. McDermott says Kole Swartz died about 3 a.m. Sunday at a residence in Clinton after a firearm he was handling discharged. His death has been ruled accidental. Swartz played football and basketball at Hellgate High in Missoula and was a redshirt on UM's 2014 football team. Officials at UM and Hellgate High say counselors are available for students....
MISSOULA (AP) — The Missoula County coroner is investigating the death of a male student at a University of Montana residence hall. Campus police were notified of the death at Craig Hall at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Missoula police and the sheriff's office responded. The student's name was being withheld until family members could be notified. Neither the university nor city officials have released additional information about how the young man's death occurred. Police Sgt. J.C. Denton says no threat to the community or c...
HELENA — A House committee has rejected a proposed bill that would have studied the idea of the state taking over management of federal lands. House Bill 496, which would have created a "Transfer of Public Land Feasibility Task Force," failed to pass out of the House Natural Resources Committee on a 9-9 vote Friday. The panel then decided on a 10-8 vote to table the measure. It's dead unless the committee revives it or a super-majority of the House votes to bring it to the floor. The bill would have spent $35,000 over the b...
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Four members of a Montana family have been sentenced to federal prison on charges related to the embezzlement of more than $132,500 from the town of Brockton on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Desiree Lambert — the town's 59-year-old former business manager — received a term of almost four years during a recent hearing in Great Falls before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris. She pleaded guilty in November to fraud, embezzlement and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say she forged the mayor's si...
BILLINGS (AP) — The main runway at Billings Logan International Airport was closed for about 45 minutes Friday and two commercial flights were delayed after a single-engine airplane made a hard landing. Airport Operations Manager Shane Ketterling tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1L8byLE ) that the pilot and his female passenger were uninjured. Ketterling says two commercial flights were diverted toward Bozeman because it wasn't immediately clear how quickly crews would be able to clear the runway after the n...
BUTTE (AP) — Butte native Rob O'Neill, a retired Navy Seal who said he fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden, has joined Fox News as a contributor. "It's incredibly rare to have someone in a television contributor role with his leadership experience and expertise at the fighting unit level," network chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said in a statement Thursday. "His military insight will be a major asset to the network and we are honored to have him." O'Neill was profiled in a Fox News documentary last year in which he i...
Rep. G. Bruce Meyers voted for the ban. Reps. Stepahnie Hess, R-Havre, Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, and Mike Lang, R-Malta, voted no. HELENA (AP) — The state House has endorsed a bill that would ban texting while driving. The House voted 52-48 to endorse House Bill 297 Tuesday. Montana is the only state that does not ban at least some drivers from texting. Rep. Virginia Court's bill, as amended, would prohibit drivers from using any wireless communications device to write, send or read a written communication while driving o...
HELENA (AP) — Montana's Legislature is again considering whether county officials should have a say in the relocation of wild bison. Republican Sen. John Brenden of Scobey proposed Senate Bill 284 in the House Agriculture Committee Tuesday to require authorization from county commissioners before wild bison can be released in a county. County commissioners from around the state testified in favor of the proposal, saying it would give local governments the same veto power tribal governments have over reintroduction of the a...
HELENA (AP) — A Republican-led committee allowed nearly three hours of testimony in favor of a proposal to expand Medicaid to about 70,000 low-income Montanans before voting along party lines to give the bill an unfavorable report. Many of the more than 200 supporters present spoke for and about a dozen people spoke against House Bill 249 known as the "Healthy Montana Plan" in a hearing that lasted 6½ hours Friday night. Ten Republicans voted for and seven Democrats against a motion in the House Human Services Committee to...
BILLINGS (AP) — Attorneys for two journalists have filed a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of hundreds of racist and inappropriate emails from Montana's former Chief U.S. District Judge. The California Civil Rights Law Group filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in California, where federal court officials have been holding the emails from Judge Richard Cebull. Cebull resigned last year after an investigation into a racist email he sent involving President Barack Obama that was first reported by The Great Falls T...
ALISON NOON HELENA (AP) — State senators heard on Friday a slate of bills to expand Montana's mental health care system, many of which overlap with the governor's plan. Three Republican proposals and two Democratic bills were heard in the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, which dedicated more than three hours to the measures. Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman testified in favor of the three Republican bills that would open more mental health crisis centers and put additional beds in the four existing ones. Hoffman said...
KALISPEL (AP) — Residents of an assisted living facility in Kalispell have been given 30 days to find a new place to live because the center is closing. Greenwood Village Assisted Living is home to 30 elderly and disabled residents. It will close April 1. The Daily Inter Lake reports (http://bit.ly/1EAyqOI ) that the closure comes as the Montana Department of Health and Human Services is investigating a complaint filed recently over the care of a woman who suffered a stroke at Greenwood Village and later died. Agency s...
HELENA (AP) — A bill signed by Gov. Steve Bullock that increases basic entitlement funding for schools by $54 million highlights progress made by the Montana Legislature at the halfway mark of its 90-day session. Other major bills that are advancing include a proposed water compact on the Flathead Reservation and legislation that would require more transparency in reporting campaign donations. Medicaid expansion remains up in the air, Republicans have made numerous cuts to Bullock's budget proposal, and the governor's i...
HELENA (AP) — Montana senators endorsed a measure Thursday that would require more disclosure surrounding campaign donations. Republican Sen. Duane Ankney's Senate Bill 289, which is backed by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, would require corporations, political committees, unions and individuals to report monetary and in-kind contributions that pay for advertisements, communications and other activities for or against political candidates and issues. The proposal also would require that the attribution "paid for by" be i...
Hi-Line lawmakers: Reps. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, Mike Lang, R-Malta, Roy Hollandsowrth, R-Brady, voted for the bill. Rep, Bruce Meyers, R-Box Elder, voted for it on the first go-round, but voted against it when it came back tot the floor. HELENA (AP) — Montana representatives have twice voted down a proposal to give school boards more discretion on the expulsion of students found with guns at school. Representatives failed Rep. Carl Glimm's House Bill 320 by 50-50 votes on Tuesday and again Thursday. The bill would have t...
HELENA (AP) — Representatives have voted down a bill that would end capital punishment in Montana. Members of the House of Representatives voted 50-50 on Monday to fail House Bill 370 on second reading. Three Democrats and 47 Republicans voted against the measure and 12 Republicans joined 38 Democrats in voting for it. Republican Rep. David Moore of Missoula introduced the proposal in the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 13. Committee members passed the bill 11-10. Representatives debated the repeal for more than 20 m...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Khloe and Kim Kardashian are safe after the vehicle they were in slid off a Montana road and into a ditch on Saturday. Montana Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Wilfore says the accident occurred before noon on a highway between Bozeman and Belgrade, where the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is located. Wilfore said he did not know their destination. Wilfore said a third person in the vehicle was not hurt and was not identified. He said there was no damage to the vehicle, which was pulled from a ditch and d...
HELENA (AP) - State senators on Friday advanced a bill that would settle water rights on the Flathead Reservation among American Indian tribes, the state and federal government. Members of the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-4 to pass Senate Bill 262. Republican Sens. Doug Kary, Nels Swandal and bill sponsor Chas Vincent voted with Democrats to send the measure to the Senate as a whole, where it must pass by next Friday to stay alive. The proposal would recognize...
HELENA (AP) — Two bills aiming to lower Montana's extremely high suicide rate advanced in the Legislature Friday. A bill requiring suicide prevention training for health care providers narrowly passed a House committee, while a measure requiring similar training for school employees was endorsed by the full House. Rep. Ed Lieser, D-Whitefish, presented House Bill 568 before the House Business and Labor Committee and members voted 10-9 to pass the bill immediately afterward. Under the measure, certain licensed health care prof...
