News you can use
News you can use
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Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. PSC SAYS NO TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONSULTANT: Montana utility regulators have dropped a proposal to spend $3,000 to hire a former University of Montana law professor to point out constitutional problems with proposed federal regulations to reduce carbon dioxide pollution. Public Service Commission member Roger Koopman withdrew his proposal to hire Rob Natelson after other commissioners said constitutional questions are a matter for the...
HELENA (AP) — Montana utility regulators dropped a proposal Tuesday to spend $3,000 to hire a former University of Montana law professor known for his conservative views to point out any constitutional problems with proposed federal regulations to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. Public Service Commission member Roger Koopman said he believes the proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations are an overreach of federal power, but he doesn't specifically know how. Robert Natelson, who specializes in c...
HELENA — Montana utility regulators on Tuesday approved a NorthWestern Energy request to boost electricity rates by 6.44 percent starting July 1 so the company can recover $32 million in underestimated supply costs. Public Service Commission members said it is an interim increase and whether it remains will be contingent on further study. The money can be returned if commissioners find the increase wasn't justified, commissioners said. NorthWestern officials say the company's rates don't reflect actual market costs over t...
HAMILTON (AP) An audit of the Ravalli County treasurer's office found the office was in disarray and the interim treasurer was not fulfilling her duties, but it found no evidence of fraud. County Attorney Bill Fulbright on Tuesday released the results of an audit completed by Anderson Zurmuehlen & Co. County commissioners are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the report and consider possible action on the status of Treasurer Valerie Stamey, who has been on paid leave since January. The audit recommended several internal...
RONAN (AP) — A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who says he was wrongly arrested by Ronan police has filed a lawsuit alleging the city violated his constitutional rights by hiring at least one unqualified officer. Anthony Chaney filed the lawsuit earlier this month against the city, its police department, mayor, former Police Chief Daniel Wadsworth and his son Trevor Wadsworth. Chaney alleges he was handcuffed by Trevor Wadsworth and told he was under arrest on July 14, 2013, despite the fact that W...
Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today. SOME MEASURES WON'T MAKE BALLOT: The sponsors of at least two proposed ballot measure say they haven't gathered enough signatures to make November's ballot, while others acknowledge it will be a struggle to meet Friday's deadline. Former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger says response has been poor to his plan to bar state government officials from conducting warrantless searches, and Helena attorney James Brown says time was too short to collect...
BILLINGS (AP) — The remaining defendants in a corruption scheme on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation have avoided prison, after a judge rejected the prosecution's claims of significant financial damages. Former Crow historic preservation director Dale Old Horn, his son, Allen, and Shawn Talking Eagle Danforth were convicted of theft, fraud and other charges. The case stemmed from cultural monitoring work they did for the tribe and private companies. Prosecutors asserted the defendants gouged companies out of roughly $...
BILLINGS (AP) — A White House plan to address climate change by reducing carbon dioxide pollution would have a magnified impact in coal-rich Montana and consequences for both mining and electricity generation. Draft rules for power plants unveiled Monday call for Montana to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 21 percent by 2030. Montana has the largest coal reserves in the U.S. — almost 120 billion tons of the fuel. It's also home to the second largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi at Colstrip, a 2,1...
BILLINGS (AP) — A single-engine airplane has crashed in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park, seriously injuring the 54-year-old pilot. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the Aero Commander airplane went down at 8:30 a.m. Monday, less than two miles east of Gardiner. Park spokesman Al Nash says the pilot was the only person on board. He was flown to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital for treatment. The man's name hasn't been released. According to the FAA registry, the airplane was registered t...
HELENA — Republican candidates for Montana's open U.S. House seat took shots at one another Wednesday over their positions on abortion, gun rights, spending and health care in the final debate before Tuesday's primary elections. Many of the barbs were directed at former Sen. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish, who has raised more money than the four others contending for the GOP nomination. The debate in Kalispell included Zinke and: • State Sen. Elsie Arntzen of Billings • State Sen. Matt Rosendale of Glendive • Former state Sen. Co...
BUTTE (AP) — Four skiers have been rescued after several were caught in an avalanche near Butte in western Montana. A helicopter from Malmstrom Air Force Base lifted the skiers out early Monday morning after ground rescuers couldn't reach them. One skier was taken to a hospital and treated for a diabetic emergency. However, no one remained in the hospital by noon Monday. Rescue officials told The Montana Standard (http://bit.ly/1nNqcIz ) that the skiers were in a restricted area and caused the avalanche. The skiers said t...
BILLINGS — The chairman of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee says he wants the Obama administration to address the "dysfunction" that is hobbling Native American health care and causing rising dissatisfaction over poor and delayed care on reservations. Chairman Jon Tester has invited tribal leaders from Montana and Wyoming to a Tuesday field hearing in Billings to air grievances about the U.S. Indian Health Service — a $4.4 billion agency that provides health care for 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The...
BILLINGS ---- (AP) — A Billings businessman has signed a $1.5 million bequest to the University of Montana for athletic facility improvements. Jim Hilleboe is a 1967 graduate of UM. University of Montana Assistant Athletic Director for Development Dan Ingram says the money will be available after Hilleboe's death to be used for whatever facilities the athletic department needs at that time. Current facility needs include a new softball complex, a new weight room and a football locker room. The 69-year-old Hilleboe founded H...
HELENA (AP) — A Montana State Prison inmate who died last week had a criminal record that included bank robberies and bombings in New England in the 1970s, a murder in an Arkansas prison in the 1980s and attempted murder and kidnapping in Montana. Prison officials say Joseph Aceto died May 20 at the prison infirmary after an extended illness. He was 61. Aceto was in prison after being convicted of shooting at Rocky Hoerner at his Columbia Falls art gallery and kidnapping his former girlfriend, Eileen Holmquist, in May 2...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A federal jury convicted a consultant for the Blackfeet Indian tribe of more than two dozen charges after prosecutors said he provided kickbacks to tribal leaders in a scheme to defraud a $9.3 million mental health program. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris set a Sept. 4 sentencing for Gary Conti. Prosecutors said the retired Oklahoma State University professor kicked back more than $230,000 from a federally funded project for troubled youth to accounts controlled by the program's tribal leaders. F...
MISSOULA (AP) — In a recent review, the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System ranked higher in patient satisfaction and call responsiveness but came in near the bottom for patient wait times, employee satisfaction and nurse turnover. The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/1r0Ze5L) that in a March review by the VA inspector general, VA Montana scored 51st in patient satisfaction out of 128 facilities and came in 69th on call responsiveness. However, the report ranked the Montana VA in the bottom eight in w...
BILLINGS (AP) - Montana is joining North Dakota and South Dakota as states that plan to curtail sage grouse hunting in response to a continued decline in the game bird's population. Montana wildlife commissioners on Thursday gave tentative approval to a proposal to cancel or scale back a two-month hunting season slated to open in September. Hunting advocates strongly oppose a closure, and Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman Dan Vermillion says less drastic measures are...
HELENA (AP) — Four gay couples are suing Montana over its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. That leaves North Dakota and South Dakota as the only two states with gay marriage bans and no lawsuits seeking to overturn them. The Montana lawsuit was being filed Wednesday in federal court in Great Falls, with help from the Montana ACLU. It lists as plaintiffs four Montana couples who are either unmarried or were married outside the state. The lawsuit alleges the ban denies same-sex couples the freedom and dignity a...
MISSOULA (AP) — A Montana man trying to catch the thieves who targeted his house pleaded not guilty Wednesday to deliberately killing a 17-year-old German exchange student who entered his garage, a case that ignited debate about laws allowing people to kill to protect their property. Markus Kaarma, 29, of Missoula was arraigned in the April 27 death of Diren Dede of Hamburg, Germany, and prosecutors asked District Judge Ed McLean to increase Kaarma's bond to $500,000. Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul said K...
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The head of the biggest railroad hauling North Dakota crude says the future of oil shipments depends on proving that it can be done safely. BNSF Executive Chairman Matt Rose spoke on Wednesday at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, which has drawn more than 4,000 people for three days of events. Rose says the railroad is committed to preventing accidents like the Dec. 30 crash outside Casselton that left an ominous cloud over the town and led some residents to evacuate. He says the r...
KEITH RIDLER, Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has banned exploding targets in northern Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and portions of South Dakota because of wildfire and public safety concerns. Northern Region Forester Faye Krueger announced Tuesday the regional closure that immediately prohibits exploding targets on national forest lands. Some target shooters use the exploding targets because they contain chemical components that mix when struck by a bullet and create a loud bang and big puff o...
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Oil industry representatives are pushing back against tougher rules for rail cars carrying crude despite a string of fiery accidents and insisting that oil shipped by train from the Northern Plains is no more dangerous than some other cargoes. An industry-funded report released Tuesday said the volatility of Bakken oil from North Dakota and Montana is comparable to other light crudes. But the report offers further evidence that Bakken crude is more volatile than heavier oils such as from Canada's tar san...
POLSON (AP) — A 56-year-old Polson man is charged with trying to hire someone to kill his ex-girlfriend to prevent her from testifying against him at his rape trial. District Judge James Manley on Friday granted a request by Lake County prosecutors to have Dennis Jay Hobbs held on $5 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on charges of solicitation of deliberate homicide, stalking and tampering with a witness. Hobbs was released on bond last year after being charged with two counts of raping and a...
BILLINGS — A high school teacher who served one month in prison for raping a 14-year-old student is asking the Montana Supreme Court to reconsider a decision that could send him back to prison for at least two more years. The high court in April ruled that the original sentence given to former Billings teacher Stacey Dean Rambold was illegal. Justices cited in part comments from Judge G. Todd Baugh, who said during Rambold's sentencing that the victim shared control over the situation. Under state law, children younger t...
MISSOULA (AP) — The University of Montana has received a $45 million cooperative agreement award to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study and solve environmental and cultural resource problems across the nation. The university says UM professors and students also will assist the Corps in implementing land and water ecological restoration, maintenance and training for the best management of public resources. UM officials say it's the largest research award in the university's history. Water ecology Professor Ric Hauer w...
