News you can use
News you can use
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The local university was not violating the Constitution by having a prayer at its graduation ceremony, a legal counsel said in reply to a complaint. Leslie Taylor, counsel for the Montana State University system, said case law does not support the American Civil Liberty Union of Montana's complaint that having a Christian prayer at Montana State University-Northern's 2010 graduation ceremony violated the separation of church and state. "Therefore, I cannot join in your conclusion that the invocation and benediction in this...
A nearly 3,000 pound Hereford steer that kept the herd in line on a southwestern Montana cattle ranch for nearly a decade has been sold for $1,670 at auction. Owner and breeder Bill McIntosh of Avon watched the bidding Tuesday at the Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsay, saying he hates to see the steer, named Cletus, go, but he's got to be practical. "The cattle market is about as high as we're apt to see it, I think, and finally I can get a little bit of the feed bill back," McIntosh said, noting that Cletus ate about 90...
A medical marijuana provider charged along with three others for assaulting a man they believed stole marijuana from his business had more than six times as much of the drug as he was allowed, Ravalli County investigators allege. Officers investigating the May 4 beating of Beau Miller, 22, of Stevensville, found nine pounds of marijuana, five pounds of marijuana-laced food products and over $49,000 in cash in the business, home and vehicle belonging to Tracy A. Moser, 44, of Stevensville. As a licensed caregiver, he was...
Glacier National Park will likely see a 2 percent to 12 percent increase in visitors this year as it celebrates its 100th anniversary, A National Park Service official says. "We've looked at other parks who've honored their 100th anniversaries," said Kass Hardy, Glacier centennial coordinator. "I think it's probably expected that we'll see something similar to that." Some other parks that saw increases for centennials were Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado in 2006 wi th an increase in visitation of 9 percent, Mount Rainer...
The heads of the Montana University System will hold their May meeting in Havre this week, with the first event a public forum Wednesday afternoon. Montana State University-Northern Chancellor Frank Trocki said this morning that this will be the second time the Board of Regents of Higher Education will hold a public meeting before its regular meeting, and the first time it is being held in Havre. Depending on the success of the meeting, it could become a regular event at other meetings of the board, he added. "It gives the...
Elouise Cobell sat behind her cluttered desk here in the windblown heart of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and peered at a visitor through dark glasses that couldn't quite hide the deep bruise that ran down her cheek to her jaw. Her appearance made her a bit self-conscious, offering an unexpected glimpse of a woman who had built a reputation for fearlessness after 14 years standing toe-to-toe with the federal government in an attempt to recover billions of dollars of squandered Indian trust money. Cobell, 6 4 , fainted in...
The Montana Supreme Court has abolished an unfunded commission that for nearly 35 years handled cases of people practicing law without a license. The state attorney general's Office for Consumer Protection agreed to take on the duties of the Commission on the Unauthorized Practice of Law after the body was dissolved Tuesday. The Supreme Court - appointed commission had filed a petition last year asking the court to reduce its scope because it receives no state funding and can't afford to carry out investigations. The State...
A U.S. Bankruptcy Judge has ordered three days of settlement talks in May for the tangle of legal claims arising from the bankruptcy of the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club. It's been almost ten months since the millionaires-only ski re s o r t near Ye l l ows tone National park emerged from bankruptcy protection. But the legal slugfest over its financial collapse drags on. Creditors want $286 million out of resort founder Tim Blixseth. Blixseth claims the club was the victim of a conspiracy engineered by his former wife...
A California utility that had an agreement to buy electricity from a wind farm proposed for northern Montana is now offering to invest in the project. NaturEner USA proposed building the $800 million Rim Rock wind farm in Glacier and Toole counties, and San Diego Gas & Electric had an agreement to purchase all 309 megawatts of power from the project. Last week, SDG&E asked the California Public Utilities Commission to instead allow it to invest $600 million in the project. "We think this might be a very unique investment...
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is joining the federal government's fight to stop states that want to exempt themselves from national gun control laws, arguing the effort threatens public safety. The gun control advocates and the U.S. Department of Justice both filed new arguments Tuesday in the ongoing legal battle over federal gun control and states rights. The issue was sparked with the "firearm freedoms act" first enacted in Montana last year and subsequently in several other states, and is leading to a...
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued two citations stemming from a fatality in January at the Signal Peak Mine south of Roundup. The MSHA report released Wednesday details the Jan. 2 death of 57-year-old mechanic Rudolph Lindstrom, of Terry, who was killed when the truck he was working on fell off a jack and struck him in the head. The report says Lindstrom, who was lying on the shop floor as he worked under a 1-ton truck, asked an assistant to start the vehicle in an effort to remove the power steering fluid...
Glacier National Park officials say that, despite a sluggish economy, the park has experienced a significant increase in visitors in July compared to the same time last year. An estimated 673,359 people passed through the park's gates in July — up 11.5 percent over last year and making this past July the secondbusiest on record. Only 1983 surpassed this summer's visitation, with 689,489 visitors in July. That same year — 1983 — set the bar for overall visitation at 2.2 million, and so far 2010 is on pace to break the recor...
Only a trained eye would have been able to spot fragile evidence left behind perhaps hundreds of years ago by native peoples traversing the semi-arid foothills of the Pryor Mountains. It was only by chance that National Park Service archaeologist Chris Finley saw them at all — long strands of weathered wood that he identified immediately as pieces of ancient tepee poles. When he saw the first one a year ago, Finley had been scrambling down a rocky incline checking on the work of contract archaeologists who were surveying i...
A proposed sex education program that teaches fifth-graders the different ways people have intercourse and first-graders about gay love has infuriated parents and forced the school board to take a closer look at the issue. Helena school trustees were swamped Tuesday night at a hearing that left many of the hundreds of parents in attendance standing outside a packed board room. They urged the school board in this city nestled in the Rocky Mountains to take the sex education program back to the drawing board. The proposed...
A federal court hearing today could decide how the federal Endangered Species Act is interpreted, and whether the government can use political considerations in choosing how and where a species can be listed under the act, according to people on both sides of the issue. U. S. District Judge Donald Molloy will hear arguments in Missoula on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's April 2009 decision that designated northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves a distinct population segment, took the wolves off endangered species list and...
Children of some state employees could soon be eligible for a free health insurance program. The federal health care bill passed by Congress in March gave states the option of making their employees' children eligible for the Children's Health Insurance Plan. Montana health officials said Monday that the state has asked the federal government how to take advantage of the option, which had previously been unavailable. Health insurance for state employees is subsidized by the state, but they usually have to pay extra premiums...
7 hurt in crash between school bus, pickup truck CORVALLIS, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Highway Patrol says a pickup truck rear-ended a school bus west of Corvallis, injuring the pickup driver and six children. The Ravalli Republic reports the children were not seriously injured. The patrol says the bus had stopped to pick up a student at about 8 a.m. Monday when the pickup truck collided with the back of the bus. Trooper Chris Hamilton says the bus had its flashing lights on and its stop sign out, but the pickup driver apparent...
Border agents stopped vehicles leaving the U. S. and police beefed up their patrols in the small towns near Glacier National Park as author i t ies focused thei r search for an escaped convict and his suspected accomplice on both sides of the Montana- Canada border. Despite the tightened security, there are many backroads and other ways for A r i z o n a e s c a p e e J o h n McCluskey and his suspected accomplice, Casslyn Welch, to slip across the border and into Cana d a , Gl a c i e r Co unt y Undersheri f f Jef f Fauque...
A 63-yearold Helena woman convicted of exploiting an elderly man and living off of his income until he was nearly destitute has been sentenced to three years in prison and must pay $100,000 in restitution. A jury convicted Maureen Molina in May, and District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock sentenced her last week to 10 years in prison with seven years suspended. Court records say Molina met the man in 1996 when he was about 80 years old. At the time, he was managing his own finances, owned his home free and clear and had about...
Along a roaring Mill Creek in June, Genaro Bazan and a handful other men stalked the banks holding hoedads in search of good ground to plant En g e lma n n s p r u c e a n d Douglas fir saplings. They carried the tiny trees in bags slung over their shoulders, and plugged them into small holes dug with their sharp steel tools, which were basically tractor discs bolted to ax handles. "We get use to this," Bazan said about the grueling work, which had his crew hopscotching up and down Mill Creek Road the entire week. "It's hard...
Damage claims could reach up to $60 million in Bozeman from a storm last week in which hail the size of golf balls shattered windows, dented cars and damaged roofs, an insurer said. G a l l a t i n C o u n t y Emergency manager Patrick Lonergan said the county has received 183 damage reports totaling $1.06 million in damages so far from the June 30 storm. That's only a fraction of the actual damages, he said, but he still doubted the county would qualify for state and federal assistance programs because out-of-pocket costs th...
Names sought for Montana Purple Heart Memorial HELENA (AP) — Montana recipients of the Purple Heart are being told they can offer their names for inclusion in the upcoming expansion of the Montana Purple Heart Memorial in Billings. The memorial will be rededicated at a ceremony at noon on Veterans Day, which falls on Nov. 11. Names must be sent to the Brookstone Monument Company of Billings by Oct. 22 to get engraved on the Memorial's granite slab. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says the recipients of the award, or family, can offer t...
Great Falls police officers serving a warrant in a burglary case discovered 40 cats in the suspect's trailer house. The cats were moved to the Great Falls animal shelter, where they are being quarantined. Shelter manager Jamie Bennett says some of the cats had upper respiratory problems, but were doing OK for the most part. Sgt. Jeff Newton said Billy Ray Hackler was arrested last Friday on a warrant accusing him of burglary and theft. Officers ended up calling Animal Control, Great Falls Fire/Rescue and others, who spent...
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Friday that Congress' failure to move energy legislation will slow investment in all types of coal projects — clean or dirty — but won't slow mining for the state's coal needed to supply current power plants. The U.S. Senate recently dropped plans to pass a broad energy bill after it was clear there wouldn't be enough votes to support a so-called cap and trade proposal, or even a more limited approach that focused on utility carbon emissions. The plan was slammed by Republicans as a tax, and it mad...
Contention over possible creation of new national monuments has ratcheted up a level, with Montana's member of the U.S. House of Representatives s e e k i n g t o change the 1906 act that a l l ows t h e president to create them. Rep. Denny R e h b e r g , R-Mont., has cosponsored a bill that he said would modernize the 1906 Antiquities Act to meet public expectations of transparency and accountability. "Montanans expect and deserve a new level of government transparency that wasn' t possible when the Antiquities Act was firs...
