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Fed judge dismisses states' gun suit MATT GOURAS,Associated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge in Missoula has dismissed a lawsuit by gun rights advocates and states seeking freedom from federal gun laws, a move that the advocates promised to appeal. The decision Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy was expected since his magistrate a month ago recommended tossing out the lawsuit because Congress has the authority to regulate firearms with its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. M...
The Montana Board of Regents put a framework in place Thursday that would allow for cuts of up to 5 percent in the university system, the first of the state agencies to publicly heed the governor's request to do so. The board decided unanimously during a conference call to honor Gov. Brian Schweitzer's request to start planning for such cuts, even though it has unique constitutional authority among executive branch agencies to establish its own budget. The board recognized the cuts are needed as Montana grapples with...
For three years, Missoula artist and carpenter Greg Millar searched in vain for anyone who could identify a Native American dancer in a photograph taken by his friend, Patrick Clark. Millar had crafted a portrait from that photograph out of intricately cut bits of tile; and as he labored over it, he vowed that if he ever sold the portrait, he would find the dancer and donate half of the proceeds from the sale to a charity of the dancer's choice. His search took him from Missoula, where that picture was taken at the Fort Misso...
Two orphans from Haiti who were adopted by a Glendive family have arrived in Montana. John and Kristen Marble had been working for four years to adopt now 9-year-old Florencia and 8-year-old Viergine. The paperwork was nearly complete when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, devastating Port-au-Prince, where the girls lived in an orphanage. Since then, the Marbles and a dozen other Montana families who were adopting Haitian orphans sought to speed up the process, getting help from Sens. Max Baucus and John...
Hearing that funds for the new automotive technology center were cut from the state budget was a difficult pill to swallow, the dean of Montana Stuate University- Northern's College of Technical Sciences said this morning. "This isn't good news," Greg Kegel said. "This is heartwrenching," he said, adding that Northern will continue to rally support for the idea and proceed with work, using what funds still will be available. Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced Wednesday $56 million in cuts he plans to make in the state budget by...
Mont. allows conservative group in charity program MATT GOURAS,Associated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A conservative group that claimed it was unfairly banned from a state employee charity campaign will be allowed to participate after a settlement with the state. The state Department of Administration said it was glad to remove its ban on sectarian-based groups in the program — which dates back to the mid-1990s — after looking into the issue. The program allows state employees to automatically donate to their favor...
The Board of Regents will evaluate budget cuts of up to 5 percent for the state's colleges and universities at a meeting this week. The regents have decided to join other state agencies that are drafting the proposed budget cuts following a request from Gov. Brian Schweitzer — even though the university system has the authority to establish its own spending priorities. "The regents want to be responsible leaders in the state and contribute as much as possible," Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns said of the effor...
Things are starting to heat up in the state-level races for office, with new filings by candidates on the national level and for the state Public Service Commission. A Montana State Univers i t y Billings professor has filed as a candidate in the race for Montana's sole U.S. Representative seat, providing a primary challenge for five-term incumbent Denny Rehberg in the Republican primary. A.J. Otjen, 52, a native of Enid, Okla., filed as a Republican candidate for the seat Tuesday. Rehberg, a Billings rancher and real estate...
Lawmakers seek to settle with gov. over lawsuit MATT GOURAS, Associated Press Writer HELENA — Lawmakers and Gov. Brian Schweitzer signaled Monday that they would prefer to settle a lawsuit in which the governor alleges a companion bill to the 2009 Legislature's big spending measure unconstitutionally dealt with multiple subject matters. The Legislative Council said they will seek a meeting with the governor in hopes of avoiding costly litigation. The council, made up of leaders from both parties, appointed one Democrat and o...
A feud between two neighbors that spilled onto the floor of the Montana House is now headed to the Supreme Court. Robert F. Cooper's lawsuit against Republican Rep. Bill Glaser of Huntley says Glaser called him a "kook" who had been imprisoned in Japan for threatening a military officer and institutionalized at the state mental hospi tal in Warm Springs. Glaser did not mention Cooper by name when he criticized him over a letter he arranged to have distributed in the House in March 5. Cooper's letter described his fa i l e d...
Schweitzer cooking up new plan for cheap drugs MATT GOURAS,Associated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Gov. Brian Schweitzer, cooking up a new plan to get cheaper prescription drugs for state residents, said he wants to let every Montanan get discounted medicine through Medicaid. It's the latest idea from Schweitzer to either import cheaper name-brand prescriptions or to otherwise bypass what he sees as exorbitant prices charged by "drug cartels." Previous plans have been shot down by the federal government as either i...
A jury awarded three Yellowstone County sheriff's officials a total of $945,000 in damages Friday after finding their commanders discriminated against them then retaliated when they complained. Deputies Chris Romero and Roge r Bodine and Civi l Transport Officer Dave Valdez filed the federal lawsuit in 2006 against the sheriff's office, Sheriff Jay Bell, the late Sheriff Chuck Maxwell, former Capt. Richard Brennan and Capt. Bill Michaelis. Testimony in the case ended Thursday. The jury awarded $100,000 to each of the three...
Inmate escapes during transfer in Great Falls GREAT FALLS (AP) — A registered violent offender with a previous escape on his record slipped past authorities again on Wednesday as he was being transported from a drug treatment center to the state penitentiary. Havaii Akane, 32, was brought from the Nexus methamphetamine treatment center in Lewistown to Great Falls, where he was to be transferred to a vehicle that would take him to Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. He was unshackled when he was taken off a vehicle at the Grea...
ntana board won't pay Dennison's higher pension MATT GOURAS,Associated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A state retirement board on Friday shot down a request from outgoing University of Montana President George Dennison to increase his pension based on his recent 35 percent pay increase. State rules prevent big salary increases near retirement from causing a similar increase in pension payments. But Dennison was asking the Teacher's Retirement Board to grant an exception to the 10 percent cap on such last-minute pay h...
Montana Tech chancellor to retire in June BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — Montana Tech chancellor Frank Gilmore says he will retire at the end of this school year. The 75-year-old Gilmore says that even though he is battling cancer, the decision to step down on June 30 is not health related. He says he and his wife Ann had made the decision months ago that this would be his last year. The Montana Standard reports that Gilmore told the state Board of Regents Thursday of his plans. Gilmore says he believes Montana Tech is an excellent i...
Engstrom picked as University of Montana president HELENA (AP) — The Montana Board of Regents on Thursday approved University of Montana Provost Royce Engstrom as the school's next president. Engstrom will take the position Oct. 15, replacing retiring President George Dennison, said Kevin McRae, the board's associate commissioner for communications and human resources. The board voted in a meeting in Butte to allow Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns to enter into a contract with Engstrom, and the provost i...
Complaint filed over proposed sex ed program HELENA — A Helena mother has filed a complaint saying her children will suffer "irreparable harm" if a proposed sex education program that has angered many in the community is adopted. Kristi Allen-Gailushas filed the complaint Friday against the Helena School District and the state Office of Public Instruction. She is asking that a district judge intervene in the case. The complaint questions the content of the curriculum and the process used to develop it. It also says the c...
reaking news: enator wants border crossing closed MATT GOURAS,A ssociated Press Writer HELENA — An influential senator is recommending border officials scrap an $8.5 million stimulus-funded upgrade to a Montana-Saskatchewan border post and shut down the underused crossing. Sen. Jon Tester says the U.S. Customs and Border Protection should abandon the renovation because Canada plans to close their side in April and is not interested in sharing the new station. The Montana Democrat told The Associated Press Wednesday that it m...
Jim Ravndal, former president of the Big Sky Tea Party Association, said he's wasn't nervous about attending the rally after being ousted over an anti-gay exchange on Facebook. Behind him stand student counter-protesters. Montna tea party gets mired in attacks on gays MATT GOURAS,Associated Press Writer HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Tea party leaders stung by turmoil over anti-gay rhetoric from their ranks acknowledge the publicity over the issue hurts the movement but hope the rancor will be short-lived. The Big Sky Tea Party A...
HELENA — At a time when gays have been gaining victories across the country, the Republican Party in Montana still wants to make homosexuality illegal. The party adopted an official platform in June that keeps a long-held position in support of making homosexual acts illegal, a policy adopted after the Montana Supreme Court struck down such laws in 1997. The fact that it's still the official party policy more than 12 years later, despite a tidal shift in public attitudes since then and the party's own pledge of support for i...
Canadian company drops Montana-Nevada transmission project GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Canadian company is shelving for now its plans to build a $3 billion high-voltage power line from south-central Montana to Nevada due to lack of interest from wind farm developers. "We don't have sufficient commercial interest to proceed with the project at this time," TransCanada's project manager John Dunn said Thursday. The proposed high-voltage Chinook power line was planned to carry up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity from south-centr...
Short-term state budget news better HELENA (AP) — The Legislature's chief revenue forecaster says the state's short-term budget picture is looking better, while the long-term outlook is still iffy. Terry Johnson told lawmakers Wednesday that Montana's projected general fund balance for the two-year budget ending in mid-2011 could be as high as $235.6 million. That's well over the $17 million estimate made in January. However, Johnson says the estimated state spending for mid-2011 to mid-2013 is still $300 million over project...
Schweitzer says drug companies avoiding taxes HELENA (AP) — Gov. Brian Schweitzer says new laws are needed to collect taxes on income that he says big drug companies are hiding overseas. Schweitzer says he will bring the proposal to the Legislature when it meets in 2011. The move is the latest by Schweitzer to shed light on the pharmaceutical industry. He is highly critical of the prices drug companies charge in the United States, and the deals Congress has made with the companies. Schweitzer says the drug industry has h...
Stearns wants more students at 2-year colleges BILLINGS (AP) — State higher education officials are working to remake the image of Montana's colleges of technology to draw more students. Sheila Stearns said a $1.77 million grant from the Lumina Foundation is being used to transform them from schools that offer technical training specific to jobs to a community college model with core classes that would transfer to the university system's four-year schools. Stearns and Mary Moe, the deputy commissioner for two-year e...
Lawmakers see smaller shortfall as session nears MATT GOURAS, Associated Press Writer HELENA (AP) — Lawmakers learned Friday that there will likely be enough money left over from this budget year to help ease a projected shortfall for the next budget period, setting up an argument on whether such a move is wise. Projections given to the Legislative Finance Committee show that if tax collections don't improve dramatically, and if state spending increases just to cover inflation, there could be a $368 million budget s...
