News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 482 - 506 of 2820
HELENA (AP) — A flight from Canada to Mexico carrying about 150 passengers has made an emergency medical landing in western Montana after encountering extreme turbulence that injured a flight attendant. Sunwing Airlines spokeswoman Janine Chapman says the Boeing 737 landed around 7:30 a.m. Sunday at Helena Regional Airport. She says a medical team cleared the male flight attendant, and there are no other reported injuries. But Chapman says another aircraft is being sent from the company's headquarters in Toronto to pick up t...
BOZEMAN (AP) — A snowmobiler injured in an avalanche near Cooke City in western Montana has been airlifted to a hospital in Bozeman. The Park County Sheriff's Office says the 28-year-old man was with a group of 13 snowmobilers when the slide hit Saturday in an area between Wolverine Peak and Mount Abundance. Officials say the man wasn't buried by the avalanche but sustained significant injuries. He was flown to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. His name hasn't been released....
HAMILTON — The FBI is investigating allegations made by the interim county treasurer that Ravalli County didn't maintain its files properly and allowed tax liens to be sold illegally, county officials say. The Ravalli Republic (http://bit.ly/1m7gqDo) reports that County Attorney Bill Fulbright and Sheriff Chris Hoffman on Friday confirmed the FBI investigation. On another front, retired District Judge Nels Swandal is also conducting an independent investigation into the allegations. Fulbright said he expects to receive t...
BILLINGS (AP) — ZooMontana in Billings closed Sunday due to flooding. Director Jeff Ewelt tells the Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1ir9eBf) that none of the animal houses are in danger. He says the zoo has contingency plans to safely move the animals if needed. Musselshell County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Jeff Gates says rivers are above flood stage and he expects the water to get higher. Evacuations have been ordered for the Riverside Avenue area and the area off of Mine Avenue. Razor Creek Road in S...
NEW YORK (AP) — An 8-year-old western Montana boy who spent about an hour buried in the snow after a deadly avalanche roared into his backyard says he tried to "lick and bite" his way out before becoming tired and falling asleep. Phoenix Scoles-Coburn, of Missoula, told "Today" show host Matt Lauer on Friday that he doesn't remember the moment the Feb. 28 snow slide hit him. He was playing outside with his 10-year-old sister, Coral, when they heard a noise. "I looked back, and the tree was wobbling so I ran, and the next thin...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — The Montana Board of Regents have approved Montana State University's plans to spend the first part of a $50 million gift from a private donor to plan and design a new College of Engineering building. The regents voted unanimously Thursday to allow MSU to spend up to $5 million from the donation by Norm Asbjornson, the founder and president of heating and air conditioning manufacturer Aaon Inc. Asbjornson said he donated the money to provide more space for the college and help engineering students c...
HELENA (AP) — Former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger says he will continue his campaign for U.S. Senate a month after saying he would probably drop out. The Helena Democrat said Friday he was convinced after making a speech in Butte Wednesday, when several people approached him and asked him to stay in the race. Bohlinger said in February he would "probably" drop his campaign after Democrat John Walsh was appointed to serve the remainder of former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' term. Walsh, Bohlinger and Dirk Adams of Wilsall are vying for t...
HELENA - State Sen. Jason Priest's estranged wife feared her husband's anger would turn to violence when she picked up their young daughter last month, prompting her boyfriend to call for police assistance, according to a recording of the call released in a public records request. The call was made Feb. 1, soon before an encounter outside the Red Lodge Republican's home that led to criminal charges accusing Priest of shoving his wife, breaking her boyfriend's rib and throwing the 4-year-old girl. Priest, 45, has denied the...
HELENA — Two Washington, D.C.-based advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing a U.S. House candidate in Montana of illegally coordinating with the political-action committee he created. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 allege television advertisements by Special Forces for America PAC that support Ryan Zinke's House bid include photographs that appear to come from the Zinke campaign. The groups say republishing campaign materials is an in-kind contribution that federal l...
HELENA (AP) - A Blackfeet tribal member carrying a bison heart in a plastic bag in protest of an Idaho tribe's hunt of pregnant bison was stopped outside Gov. Steve Bullock's office in the Montana Capitol. Police on Tuesday turned away James St. Goddard in the hallway outside the office of the governor, who was not there at the time, the Independent Record reported . However, police and governor's officials did allow St. Goddard to bring the heart into a meeting with the...
KALISPELL (AP) — Amtrak is busing its Empire Builder passengers between stations in Whitefish and Shelby due to the threat of avalanches on Marias (muh-RY'-us) Pass. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Wednesday that passengers will ride buses between the two stops until at least Saturday, while the empty train will travel over the pass. Magliari tells the Flathead Beacon (http://bit.ly/P1fQK0 ) that BNSF Railway rules don't allow loaded passenger trains to run if there has been a recent slide. The rail line was closed l...
HELENA (AP) — A Helena attorney submitted a ballot initiative proposal Tuesday that would change Montana law to take away the governor's power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies and instead require special elections. The process was in the spotlight last month when Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock named his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. Republican legislative leaders criticized Bullock's selection, saying it was done in secrecy and with no input from the public. The proposal by attorney J...
HELENA (AP) — A law enforcement sweep in Montana's most populous county located 95 sexual and violent offenders who were out of compliance with address registration laws, authorities said Tuesday. Fifteen of the people located during the operation in Yellowstone County were sex offenders and 80 were violent offenders, the state Justice Department said. After being located, they were brought into compliance with a state law that requires people convicted of certain crimes to register their address with local law enforcement a...
HELENA (AP) — More than 50 priests in western Montana, most of whom are dead, will be named as sexual abusers of children if a legal settlement is approved, an attorney for plaintiffs suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena said. Meanwhile, two pending sexual-abuse lawsuits against the state's other Roman Catholic diocese, the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, have grown to include a total of 50 plaintiffs who say they were abused. The proposed settlement agreement between the Helena diocese and 362 people who claim they w...
BOZEMAN (AP) — A man who graduated from Montana State University over 50 years ago is making a $50 million donation to the university's College of Engineering. Norm Asbjornson, a native of Winifred, announced the donation Monday morning in Bozeman. Montana State said the money will be used to build a laboratory and classroom facility called the Norm Asbjornson Innovation Center. University officials hope to break ground in two years. Asbjornson graduated from MSU in 1960 with a degree in mechanical engineering. In 1988, he f...
MISSOULA (AP) — A woman who was rescued about three hours after her house was destroyed by an avalanche in Missoula, has died at a hospital. Missoula police say Michel Colville died Sunday night at St. Patrick Hospital. Her husband, Fred Allendorf, remains hospitalized in serious condition. He was buried for about two hours before rescuers found him Friday night in an air pocket created by a fallen chimney in their house at the base of Mount Jumbo. Eight-year-old Phoenix Scoles-Coburn was buried in the snow for about an h...
BILLING (AP) — Advocacy groups said Friday that a yearlong investigation of Montana's corrections system found "systemic" mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners, including their placement in solitary confinement for months or even years and the routine denial of needed medicines. The findings were detailed in a letter to state officials from the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and Disability Rights Montana. The ACLU warned it will sue the state if changes aren't made. ACLU attorney Anna Conley said the problems w...
BILLINGS (AP) — Attorneys for a former Montana teacher who raped a 14-year-old student argued Friday that his 30 days in prison were enough punishment, even as a judicial oversight panel sought the censure of the judge in the case over what it called an unlawful sentence. Prosecutors want to send freed rapist Stacey Dean Rambold of Billings back to prison. They say he should have served a minimum of four years after pleading guilty last year to sexual assault without consent. In a legal brief setting up their appeal, l...
HELENA — The Montana Judges Association wants to make it more difficult for people with cases before district courts to substitute one judge for another simply by filing a statement that they believe the judge would not be fair or impartial. The Copper King-era rule was enacted in 1903 to guard against judicial corruption but it has led to abuse in modern times, with 1,188 judicial substitutions from 2011 to 2012, the association's petition to the Montana Supreme Court said. Some attorneys have used the rule in an attempt t...
MISSOULA (AP) — Montana's attorney general is asking the U.S. Justice Department to send him the evidence in sexual assault cases the agency believes the Missoula County attorney's office should have prosecuted but didn't. Attorney General Tim Fox made the request in a letter to Montana U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter on Thursday, the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/1myLjlj) reported. DOJ spokeswoman Emily Pierce said Friday the agency has received the letter and is reviewing it. "All confidential or private information provided to t...
BILLINGS (AP) — A man who escaped from Montana police while being questioned about a reported sexual assault has been caught in Oregon. The U.S. Marshals Oregon Fugitive Task Force announced that Kevin Anthony Briggs was arrested in Portland on Friday night. The 28-year-old Briggs was wanted for escaping from the Bozeman Police Department on Feb. 1 after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, attempted sexual intercourse without consent and assault on a peace officer. The FBI added a federal charge of unlawful f...
RED LODGE (AP) — State Sen. Jason Priest has denied charges that he, shoved his estranged wife during an argument, broke her boyfriend's rib, and threw his own 4-year-old daughter. Priest, 45, pleaded not guilty in District Court on Thursday to partner or family member assault, felony assault, misdemeanor assault and resisting arrest, The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1h10Kgu) reported. District Judge Blair Jones continued Priest's bond at $1,500. If convicted on the felony count, Priest could face up to five years in p...
BILLINGS (AP) — BNSF Railway Co. said Thursday it intends to buy a fleet of 5,000 strengthened tank cars to haul oil and ethanol in a move that would set a higher safety standard for a fleet that's seen multiple major accidents. The voluntary step by the Texas-based subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. comes as railroads in the U.S. and Canada are under intense pressure to improve safety for hazardous materials shipments. There's been a string of recent train accidents involving oil and ethanol, punctuated...
BILLINGS (AP) — A Roman Catholic high school in Montana isn't renewing the contract of an assistant softball coach because she took a job at Planned Parenthood, the coach and superintendent said. Tarn Duff, 26, said Billings Central head coach Coleman Rockwell informed her Monday morning that she would not be helping with the team this spring. She received about $1,500 for coaching hitters and outfielders during the 2013 season after serving as a volunteer coach in 2012. "The only reason they gave me was that I work at P...
HELENA (AP) — A Montana legislator who is defending himself against allegations that he took illegal corporate contributions has filed to run for another term. Republican Rep. Mike Miller of Helmville filed with the Montana Secretary of State's Office Wednesday to run for House District 80. Last month, Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl lodged a civil action against Miller in state court. Motl is asking a judge to uphold his findings that Miller took illegal contributions from and illegally coordinated with t...
