News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2526 - 2550 of 2807
BOZEMAN (AP) — An official with the state wildlife agency has told Montana State University's president that cooperation between the two entities could end due to one of the school's scientists challenging the agency's conclusions on how significantly a proposed wolf hunt would reduce wolf populations. Dave Risley is the Helena-based administrator of the fish and wildlife division for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. He wrote an Oct. 14 letter to MSU President Waded Cruzado saying six decades of c...
BOZEMAN (AP) — The 56-year-old Three Forks man suspected of shooting and killing a Montana Highway Patrol trooper Wednesday was a dog-trainer and hunter who mostly kept to himself, according to friends and family. Errol Brent Bouldin had been troubled since he was bit by a rattlesnake five years ago while hunting in Arizona, his sister-in-law Glynda Bouldin, of Belgrade, said Thursday. He had to be revived several times before reaching the hospital and suffered brain damage from the trauma. "That's when his life sort of c...
KALISPELL (AP) — Outgoing state Sen. Greg Barkus of Kalispell has pleaded no contest to felony criminal endangerment for crashing his boat into the shore of Flathead Lake after a night of drinking, injuring all five on board. The Missoulian reports Barkus entered the plea Thursday as part of a plea agreement that would dismiss two other felony charges and recommend a three-year deferred sentence for the crash that injured U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, two of his staffers, Barkus and his wife. District Judge John McKeon of Malta s...
HELENA (AP) — Republican lawmakers don't have enough of a majority to override any potential gubernatorial vetoes, so they are considering putting some of the most controversial measures before Montana voters. Republican Sen. Dave Lewis of Helena tells Lee Newspapers of Montana, "When you've got a major policy issue and a governor that doesn't really believe in compromise, you've got no choice." A referendum to change a state law needs a simple majority in the House and the Senate and goes directly to the voters. Some p...
Montaba state employees OK 1st pay raise in 2 years HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Members of Montana's three state employee unions said Tuesday that they have approved a plan proposed by union negotiators and the Schweitzer administration that would give state employees their first pay raise in two years. The plan, which calls for a 1 percent increase in base pay effective in January 2012 and a 3 percent raise in January 2013, must be approved by the Republican-controlled legislature. Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget office has said t...
HELENA (AP) — State Sen. John Brueggeman has resigned his seat in the legislature, saying he needs to spend more time on his career after nearly decade in public service. The Republican submitted his letter of resignation to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch Monday. Brueggeman's Senate District 6 includes portions of Flathead and Lake counties. The Republican central committees in both counties have 45 days to appoint three possible successors. The county commissioners in both counties will meet together to choose the appoin...
HELENA (AP) — Montana's jeans-wearing, gun-toting Democratic governor is stealing the thunder from a tea party-fueled Republican resurgence — and tweaking the new GOP Legislature in the process — with a unique plan from a Democrat to cut business taxes during a flagging economy. Brian Schweitzer, an expert at reading the shifting political winds, surprised many political observers when he promised businesses millions in tax cuts as part of his budget proposal earlier this month. The Democrat said a tax cut for compa...
HELENA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said he has been named the next chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, taking over as the wolf issue looms large for Western lawmakers. Tester will assume his role over the bipartisan Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, which has about 300 members from many states, when the new Congress convenes in January. He said it will be a good platform to push on issues like wolves, and to make sure hunting access issues like accesss and habitat are dealt with in the new farm bill that i...
MISSOULA (AP) — A search of the offices of an outspoken medical marijuana provider turned up 729 medical marijuana recommendation forms apparently signed by physicians with no patient information filled in, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Several former employees of the Montana Caregivers Network have told police that pot provider Jason Christ kept pre-signed forms, and that information was used to obtain a warrant, the Missoulian said. "Christ stated he has physicians sign otherwise blank attending physician statement-new a...
MATT GOURAS, Associated Press HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer asked the new Republican legislative leaders to fully consider his proposals and promised to do the same with theirs. Schweitzer has at times had a confrontational relationship with past legislative leaders, but both sides were notably friendly during Tuesday's meeting in the governor's office. They discussed some issues expected to be sticking points. House Speaker-elect Mike Milburn of Cascade says the Republicans are leery of using one-time sources of money to b...
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — An 18-year-old Roundup man accused of plotting his mother's death has pleaded not guilty. KTVQ-TV reports Matthew Russell Campbell appeared in U.S. District Court Monday on the charge of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. Prosecutors allege Campbell offered to pay an undercover FBI agent $10,000 to kill his mother and an unidentified 18-year-old in Phoenix. Court records say Campbell and the FBI agent met in Billings in mid-October to discuss arrangements after t...
MISSOULA (AP) — Procedures at the Missoula County Detention Facility are again being questioned after an inmate released in April without having to post $1,200 in bail ended up being charged with murder following the beating death of another man a week later. Deputy City Attorney Carrie Garber said 47-year-old Eugene Gonzalez should never have released without posting bond. Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the death. Gonzalez had been picked up on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Garber s...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Board of Medical Examiners says Internet-based video examinations for people seeking approval to use medical marijuana don't meet the board's standards. The board on Friday said medical doctors must conduct hands-on physical examinations before signing off on someone receiving medical marijuana. "Initiating a new treatment for a chronic condition requires a physical examination, period," Dr. Dean Center, a board member based in Bozeman, told the Independent Record. Medical marijuana providers in t...
Court: Graduation speech ban unconstitutional MATT VOLZ ,Associated Press HELENA (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a former Butte High School valedictorian who was banned from speaking at her graduation because her speech contained religious references. The Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower court's ruling that Renee Griffith's civil rights were not violated when school officials refused to let her speak with nine other valedictorians at the 2008 graduation. Officials reviewed the speech and said s...
BILLINGS — The Senate has approved major water rights settlements with American Indian tribes in Arizona, Montana and New Mexico that have been pending in some cases for decades. Calling the settlements historic, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Friday said they would deliver more than $1 billion combined to four tribes. Money would go toward safe drinking water systems and irrigation improvements that could boost reservation economies. Montana's Crow Tribe would receive the largest amount — $460 million. The other set...
MATT VOLZ,Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will ask the federal government for a permit that would allow a limited wolf hunt in southwestern Montana because of the threat to the elk population there. A federal judge reinstated endangered species protections for the gray wolf in Montana and Idaho this summer, but the state wildlife agency can ask for such a hunt in small areas where wolves are deemed an experimental species, such as the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. T...
MATT GOURAS, Associated Press HELENA — Republicans soon to hold a majority in the Montana House picked a leader on Wednesday who promised a pragmatic approach to spending cuts, as well as a long-term strategy to shrinking government. State Rep. Mike Milburn, of Cascade, was picked by fellow Republicans as their new speaker during legislative leadership elections, a tempered choice compared to Rep. Krayton Kerns, a Laurel lawmaker who cast himself as an ardent tea party favorite. Milburn said both he and Kerns are very conserv...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is making another run at getting cheap prescription drugs for everyone in his state — and trying to make it harder for the federal government to say no. Schweitzer says he wants to let everyone in Montana buy drugs at the ultra-cheap rate the government pays through Medicaid. He says it is far less expensive than the price for those on Medicare. Schweitzer says all Montanans would save money by buying drugs at cost through his proposed Medicaid Part D program. It is the gov...
Democratic Party announces change in directors HELENA (AP) — The Montana Democratic Party is getting a new executive director less than two weeks after big election losses to the Republicans. Executive Director David Benson was released last week. The party says Service Employees International Union political director Ted Dick of Helena will replace him. A Democratic party spokesman says the election losses have nothing to do with the change, and says no other moves are planned. Montana Democrats lost many seats in the s...
AP Interview: Baucus' dealmaking to be tested MATT GOURAS,Associated Press MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — The key Senate Democrat who delayed health care reform last year while trying to get Republican buy-in is now facing the uncomfortable reality of his own prediction, leading him to weigh some bipartisan changes to his party's signature legislation. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' reputation as a dealmaker will be put to the test as he faces resurgent Republicans hostile to legislation that has been associated with him nearly as much as Pre...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has lashed back at the medical industry for their criticism of his idea to privatize a piece of Medicaid. The governor last month said he was considering a test to let a private, managed-care firm run Medicaid in part of the state. The notion got a cool response from representatives of hospitals, nursing homes and others. Schweitzer summoned representatives from the medical industry to his office on Tuesday. The governor told them they are partly to blame for a costly Medicaid s...
KALISPELL (AP) — A state senator charged with piloting a boat while drunk and crashing into the rocky shoreline of Flathead Lake, injuring all five people on board, is close to a plea agreement, his attorney said. Todd Glazier filed a request Wednesday asking that Sen. Greg Barkus' Nov. 29 trial be canceled and that a hearing be scheduled for him to change his plea, the Daily Inter Lake reports. "The plea agreement will be filed as soon as possible," Glazier said. Barkus, R-Kalispell, is charged with criminal endangerment and...
HELENA (AP) — Republicans given historic margins in the next Legislature say their focus should be on smaller government and lower taxes — a message reminiscent of 16 years ago when voter resentment of Democrats in Washington D.C. also gave the GOP huge majorities back in Montana. Republicans will hold a nearly unprecedented governing majority in the state House that convenes in January, probably as many as 68 seats once a few of the tightest races are certified by election officials. It is among the largest governing maj...
DEER LODGE (AP) — A Montana judge has scheduled a Jan. 31 execution date for the only known Canadian on death row in the United States. The execution date for 53-year-old Ronald Allen Smith of Red Deer, Alberta, was set Wednesday by District Judge John Larson in Deer Lodge. On Monday, a Helena judge issued an order staying the execution. Smith is seeking a court ruling on whether the state's method of carrying out the death penalty is unconstitutional. The Missoulian reports that Larson will ask the state Supreme Court to l...
MISSOULA (AP) — Three former employees of the Montana Caregivers Network have been ordered to stop operating a medical marijuana consulting business pending a hearing scheduled for Thursday. District Judge Dusty Deschamps on Friday granted the restraining order sought by Jason Christ but refused his request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the former employees. Montana Caregivers Network operated "cannabis caravans" that traveled to several Montana cities. In a single day, doctors would see hundreds of people seeking recommendat...
