News you can use
News you can use
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HELENA (AP) — A district judge ruled Friday that a candidate for the Montana Supreme Court does not meet the qualifications to run for the justice post and ordered Lawrence VanDyke's name removed from the ballot. District Judge Mike Menahan of Helena issued an opinion that was expedited to allow either side time to appeal. He ruled that VanDyke had not been admitted to active practice of law for at least five years in Montana as required. (Details in Monday's Havre Daily News.)...
HELENA (AP) — Barry Beach said he was shocked to learn about Gov. Steve Bullock's letter asking the state parole board to consider commuting his sentence for the 1979 beating death of a Poplar high-school classmate. Beach, who is serving a 100-year prison sentence for the killing of 17-year-old Kim Nees, has applied for clemency with the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole. A review of the application is scheduled for Tuesday in Deer Lodge. Last week, Bullock took the unusual step of writing the parole board to ask that t...
HELENA — An order of nuns facing child sex abuse lawsuits wants to bring the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena back into state court, saying the diocese should have to pay part of any judgment against the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province. Attorneys for the Ursulines are asking a judge to lift a stay in legal proceedings that was granted to the diocese when it filed for federal bankruptcy protection earlier this year. A total of 362 people have sued the Ursulines and the diocese, alleging they were abused as children f...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A Cascade County sheriff's deputy who has been honored for his work in preventing drunk driving has lost his job after being charged with driving under the influence. Human Resources Director Dewey Goering tells the Great Falls Tribune (http://gftrib.com/1i8Neog ) that as of April 10, Matt Darlington was no longer employed by the county. He was initially placed on paid administrative leave. Court records say Darlington was pulled over by a Great Falls police officer shortly before midnight on March 28. H...
HELENA (AP) — Montana officials are condemning a new delay in the decision whether to approve construction of an oil pipeline from Canada. The U.S. State Department said Friday it is giving federal agencies more time to review the Keystone XL pipeline. Part of the pipeline would run through Montana, and reaction was swift from Democrats and Republicans. Democratic U.S. Sen John Walsh called on President Barack Obama to show leadership and end the uncertainty by making a decision. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, who is W...
Creeping landslide devouring part of Wyoming town MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — What's happening in this Wyoming resort town might be better described as a land creep than a landslide, but the lack of speed has not hindered the sheer power of the moving earth. Over the past two weeks, a piece of East Gros Ventre Butte has slowly collapsed toward the west side of Jackson — shearing one hillside home in half, threatening to devour several others and loo...
HELENA (AP) — The chairman of a foundation funded by the sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana says he expects the foundation's assets to grow from $40 million to more than $150 million. Board chairman Denis Prager says the Montana Healthcare Foundation is still organizing, but plans to hand out $1 million in grants this year to fund health-care programs. The foundation began with $40.2 million from last year's sale of Blue Cross to Health Care Service Corp. of Chicago. Prager tells Lee Newspapers of Montana those a...
HELENA (AP) — A Billings car-dealership owner has proposed a ballot measure that would completely ban the use and possession of marijuana in Montana, even for medical uses. The proposal by Steve Zabawa would change state law to say any Schedule I drug in the federal Controlled Substances Act "may not be legally possessed, received, transferred, manufactured, cultivated, trafficked, transported or used in Montana." Montana and several other states allow the regulated use of marijuana for medical purposes, and about 8,300 m...
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials from nine Western states say it's time they take control of federal lands within their borders. The lawmakers and county commissioners met at Utah's Capitol on Friday to discuss their joint goal of wresting oil-, timber- and mineral-rich lands away from the feds. The Legislative Summit on the Transfer of Public Lands, as it was called, was not publicized until midday, when the Utah House sent out notice of a 4:30 p.m. news conference. The result of the meeting wasn't clear. But at the news c...
HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an attempt by opponents of Medicaid expansion and Attorney General Tim Fox to rewrite the language of a proposed ballot initiative and void all the signed petitions that backers have gathered to date. The justices said in a unanimous decision that delaying signature-gathering for further court proceedings would have the effect of ruling for the plaintiffs because the sponsors have only until June 20 to gather 24,175 voter signatures to place Initiative 70 on N...
BILLINGS AP) — One of the brothers of a man who was shot by Billings police Monday night has been arrested. Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Rod Ostermiller tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1pdtv0v) that members of the Montana Violent Offender Task Force and the Yellowstone County sheriff's office found Jason Ramirez in Lockwood on Wednesday. Richard Ramirez was shot to death Monday night by a police officer investigating an earlier shooting. Police Chief Rich St. John has declined to identify the officer involved, c...
BILLINGS — Gov. Steve Bullock proposed a $45 million grant program Thursday to ease strains on water and sewer systems in eastern Montana towns that have struggled to keep pace with the demands of the fast-growing Bakken oil patch. The proposal needs approval from the 2015 Legislature. It would be paid for with state bonds — an aspect that's likely to run into opposition from some lawmakers. The Democratic governor last year vetoed a broader, Republican-sponsored measure that would have set aside money from mineral rev...
BILLINGS (AP) — An unarmed robbery suspect moved his hands six times in defiance of an officer's orders before the officer fatally shot him during a traffic stop, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said Wednesday. St. John said the actions captured on a police dash-cam video justified the officer's decision to draw his weapon and shoot Richard Ramirez, 38, three times. "I'm upset we had a tragic end to this," St. John said. "I'm confident we did things properly." A search of the car in which Ramirez was a passenger found d...
BILLINGS (AP) - A Billings police officer shot and killed a man being sought in a recent robbery after authorities say the suspect made a sudden movement while in the back of a car that had been pulled over, authorities said Tuesday. Billings Police Chief Rich St. John identified the deceased as Richard David Ramirez, 38, of Billings. No weapon was found on Ramirez, who was shot three times just a few blocks from his home. St. John said the officer was placed on...
HELENA (AP) — Jefferson County officials say an audit found just over $104,000 missing from the treasurer's office in fiscal year 2013. Sheriff Craig Doolittle told The Montana Standard (http://bit.ly/1krHmy6) he has asked the state Justice Department to investigate. Treasurer Patty O'Neill has resigned. No charges have been filed. Justice Department spokeswoman Anastasia Burton confirmed Wednesday that the Division of Criminal Investigation was asked to investigate and determine if any money was taken. (Details in T...
HELENA (AP) — The state Board of Pardons and Parole is scheduled to meet at the end of the month to consider Barry Beach's application for clemency in the 1979 killing of a Poplar teen. Executive Director Fern Johnson tells the Great Falls Tribune (http://gftrib.com/1qsBRN1 ) the board is scheduled to meet April 29 in Deer Lodge to consider whether to accept Beach's application, which was filed in September. Beach is asking the board to reduce his life prison sentence and make him eligible for parole or a commutation from G...
HELENA (AP) — A conservative group is seeking donations again after appearing to fade away when a Montana judge ruled it disregarded state campaign laws by acting as a political committee while keeping its donors and spending confidential. American Tradition Partnership recently sent out emails seeking donations, blasting environmentalists and the Environmental Protection Agency, and urging people to sign petitions for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported. One email ac...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock released an economic development plan Thursday that he said aims to attract and keep more businesses in Montana and train the state's workers in emerging technologies. The report, which the Democratic governor called the Main Street Montana Business Plan, is the product of 10 months of roundtables, surveys and one-on-one meetings with thousands of industry, labor, community and governmental leaders across the state. Its authors distilled the information they received to identify five key areas in w...
HELENA — The Montana commissioner of political practices said Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich broke state campaign laws by coordinating with and failing to report contributions from a conservative group during his 2010 primary election campaign. Commissioner Jonathan Motl said he intends to have a judge weigh his findings and decide whether Wittich's actions merit removal from the 2014 election ballot. "That would be the big penalty," Motl said. "Is this significant enough to establish a public trust v...
BILLINGS — U.S. transportation officials rebuked the oil industry Friday for not giving up information regulators say they need to gauge the danger of moving crude by rail, after several accidents highlighted the explosive properties of fuel from the booming oil shale fields on the Northern Plains. Department of Transportation officials told The Associated Press they have received only limited data on the characteristics of oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana, despite requests lodged by Secretary Antony F...
BILLINGS — Federal officials say their investigations into drug crimes in the Bakken oil patch have led to the arrests of 11 people linked to a ring that trafficked methamphetamine from southern California. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the arrests in Montana and California on Friday. The defendants will face drug conspiracy charges in Montana. The charges carry potential penalties of life in prison and fines of up to $10,000,000 each upon conviction. The defendants include four Montana residents, three from Los A...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An order of nuns being sued by people who claim they were sexually abused as children at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius is asking a federal judge to delay the proceedings while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is in bankruptcy court. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena halted sex-abuse lawsuits against the Ursulines and the diocese after the diocese filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a proposed $15 million settlement. Sherlock previously combined the proceedings in the two l...
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A sentencing date has been set for a Washington state man who pleaded guilty to beating and stabbing his 3-year-old son to death in a field in southwestern Montana, possibly while under the influence of an overdose of a prescribed stimulant. The Montana Standard reports Jeremy Cramer of Lacey, Wash., is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4 in District Court in Anaconda. Cramer pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide in December for the July 8 death of Broderick Cramer. The boy's body was found the next m...
MISSOULA (AP) — A University of Montana student has denied charges he raped a fellow student in her dorm room in mid-February. KECI-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1cYJkmx) 18-year-old Timothy Eugene Schwartz of Bozeman pleaded not guilty Thursday to sexual intercourse without consent. The woman told police that Schwartz had been among a group of students who were in her dorm room drinking alcohol. Court records said when people started leaving Schwartz refused to go. Court records say the woman said she pretended to fall asleep a...
HELENA (AP) — Author Jon Krakauer is asking a judge to order the release of records in the 2012 rape case against University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson. Krakauer attorney Mike Meloy says in a petition filed Feb. 12 that the "Into the Wild" author is working on a new book that deals in part with how the university and the commissioner of higher education resolved a student complaint of sexual assault against Johnson. Krakauer is seeking records concerning any actions the commissioner's office took in 2012 f...
