News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 597 - 621 of 2820
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday that an expansion of the state's Medicaid rolls would have brought some assurances amid the turmoil surrounding the health care law's rollout. The governor earlier this year backed a plan to expand Medicaid to the working poor earning less than 138 percent of the poverty level. He was opposed by Republican legislative leaders, and the proposal died before lawmakers adjourned. About half of the states, including Montana, have rejected the Medicaid expansion plans originally crafted as a...
HELENA (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is dropping group health insurance plans for its 200 employees in parishes, schools and social services across western Montana, a spokesman for the diocese said. Instead, the diocese will help those workers find individual insurance coverage on the market, and compensate them within limits when they purchase their own plans, diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said Wednesday. The diocese plans to make the change by January, he said. Across the nation, some religious groups and sc...
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Some 212 people in Montana signed up for health insurance in the first month of the U.S. government-run online marketplace that has been plagued by technical problems, federal officials said Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the first nationwide and state-by-state enrollment numbers for the insurance exchanges since their Oct. 1 debut. Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 2, 2,683 people in Montana completed applications for coverage for 5,202 people, according to the federal agency'...
BILLINGS — Yellowstone County commissioners have rejected an offer from the country treasurer to retire in exchange for a year's pay and instead asked him to resign for making racist comments in emails sent from his government computer. The commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to reject Max Lenington's $90,000 buyout proposal for the final year of his term as treasurer, assessor and superintendent of schools, The Billings Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/1i7irMc ). "I would accept Mr. Lenington's resignation, but I'...
HELENA (AP) — A Rocky Mountain College art student who flunked and dropped math classes required to earn a degree is suing to force the school to allow her to substitute two non-math courses so she can graduate. Hannah Valdez's disabilities prevent her from passing two basic math courses — including algebra, calculus, statistics or trigonometry — that are part of the Billings college's general education requirements to graduate with a bachelor of art degree, she said in her federal lawsuit. Valdez's disabilities inclu...
BILLINGS (AP) — The Yellowstone County treasurer, under fire for racist emails sent using his government email account, has offered to resign at the end of the year if the county will pay him the $90,000 he would have earned in 2014 if he completed his term. Max Lenington made the offer to county commissioners in an email sent Friday. The proposal is on the agenda for the county commission's meeting on Tuesday, The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/18lYEBk) reports. Commissioner Jim Reno provided the Gazette with a copy of t...
HELENA (AP) — Investigators twisted the statements of a newlywed bride to make it appear as though she deliberately pushed her husband to his death in Glacier National Park, an attorney for the Montana woman claimed. FBI investigator Stacey Smiedala also sent a Kalispell police detective from the room so he could "shape" Jordan Graham's initial 1 ½-hour interrogation on July 16 without having to record it, as is required in all Montana investigations, attorney Michael Donahoe said in court filings late Friday. As a re...
LIVINGSTON (AP) — A Livingston man is charged with a hate crime after prosecutors say he directed racial insults at a Hispanic man, attacked him and then struck him with a vehicle. The Livingston Enterprise reports (http://bit.ly/1bl2ziP) Park County Attorney Brett Linneweber charged 34-year-old Robert "Todd" Kelsey with aggravated assault and malicious intimidation related to civil or human rights. Court records say the victim suffered a fractured skull and eye socket along with internal injuries in the Oct. 22 attack. P...
HELENA (AP) — A western Montana man is proposing a constitutional amendment that would require the state Legislature to have an equal number of men and women. John Marshall of Hot Springs submitted his proposal to the secretary of state's office last week, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported. It must pass review by the attorney general's office and the Montana Legislative Services Division. If the language is approved, Marshall could begin gathering the 48,000 signatures of registered voters he would need to get the p...
HELENA — A Montana judge will decide without a court hearing whether to hit a conservative political group with a hefty fine for improper campaign spending after American Traditional Partnership's lawyer asked to be removed. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock said Friday he would rule based on briefs filed in the proceedings against the political group known for challenging state campaign finance laws and targeting moderate Republicans. The state attorney general's office is seeking more than $300,000 in fines against ATP a...
BROWNING (AP) — Federal officers including from the Department of Homeland Security entered a northern Montana Indian tribe's headquarters to remove three councilors at the center of a factional impasse. The Flathead Beacon (http://tinyurl.com/kqap8oj ) reported Saturday officers with military-style rifles acted on a tribal judge's order to remove Blackfeet councilors Bill Old Chief, Paul McEvers and Cheryl Little Dog. Turbulence has plagued the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council since at least 2012 when Old Chief, McEvers a...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the conviction of a Beaverhead County man for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, saying he was convicted based on insufficient evidence. The court ruled in a 4-1 decision that state prosecutors presented the testimony of just one witness, who said Anthony James Burwell provided her with marijuana in exchange for baby-sitting his two daughters while he went to work in summer 2011. Jennifer Jones told authorities that the night before she was supposed to b...
HELENA — Some central Montana residents argued in court Friday that that the state's legislative districting commission wrongly met in private earlier this year to assign senators. State District Judge Mike Menahan listened to arguments in a case that deals with a last-minute decision to adjust the assignment of some sitting senators to new districts, based upon feedback from a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Menahan said he hopes to make a quick decision in a case that he expects the state Supreme Court will ultimately d...
HELENA — NorthWestern Energy officials are saying their planned $900 million purchase of 11 hydroelectric dams will mean decades of stable customer rates after an initial increase. NorthWestern CEO Bob Rowe and vice president of supply John Hines outlined the utility's agreement to buy the PPL Montana dams to an interim legislative committee on Friday. The deal must be approved by state and federal regulators. Hines says the acquisition will mean an initial increase of about 5 percent, or $4 per month, on a typical r...
MISSOULA (AP) — The University of Montana has found a way to cover a $3 million budget shortfall during the fall semester without impacting academic instruction or student support. Michael Reid, vice president of administration and finance, told the Missoulian (http://bit.ly/1gug5b9 ) the school will make some small budget adjustments, including delaying some projects and finding utility savings. However, Reid and UM Provost Perry Brown say covering the $3 million shortfall the university expects it will face for the s...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Blackfeet tribal leader and state Sen. Shannon Augare has pleaded guilty in federal court to misdemeanor charges after he fled a sheriff's deputy who stopped him for drunken driving. Augare entered the plea Thursday after U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong ruled Augare's conviction on the same charges last month in tribal court did not end the federal case. Strong ordered Augare to pay $1,250 in fines and to attend a treatment class. Augare apologized and told the judge he accepted full responsibility. H...
HELENA - Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger said Wednesday his decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014 as a Democrat was sealed by last month's federal government shutdown and Congress' inability to work together. Bohlinger, 77, made the surprise announcement Tuesday at a Lewis and Clark County Democratic Central Committee party dinner. He confirmed his decision to The Associated Press Wednesday morning at his Helena home. He had been considering a run for months,...
BOZEMAN - U.S. Rep. Steve Daines announced Wednesday that he will run for Senate in 2014, giving Montana Republicans a candidate they believe has a strong chance at winning the state's first open Senate seat in decades. Daines released a video announcing his candidacy shortly before launching his campaign in Bozeman by criticizing the Senate for supporting President Barack Obama and his signature health-care law. "Obamacare is a failing law that Montanans don't want and the...
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Public Employees Retirement Board reversed course Tuesday and decided during a closed-door meeting to reinstate the head of the state pension agency less than two weeks after placing her on leave. The board had little to say after making the decision to keep Executive Director Roxanne Minnehan. Minnehan had been placed on administrative leave late last month after a meeting with board President Scott Moore. At the time, Moore said there were concerns with workplace issues involving Minnehan. But t...
HELENA (AP) — State Sen. Shannon Augare will plead guilty to charges of drunken driving, reckless driving and obstruction of a peace officer if a magistrate judge rejects a request to dismiss the federal charges, his attorney said Tuesday in a court filing. A change of plea would allow Augare, a Blackfeet tribal council member, to avoid defending himself in U.S. District Court against the same charges he pleaded guilty to in tribal court last month in connection with a May 26 traffic stop. His trial had been scheduled to b...
HELENA — Federal prosecutors no longer have jurisdiction to try a state senator and Blackfeet tribal leader on drunken driving, reckless driving and obstruction charges after he pleaded guilty to the same crimes in tribal court, his attorney said in a new court filing. Joe McKay, the attorney representing Browning Democrat and Blackfeet Tribal Business Council member Shannon Augare, asked a federal magistrate judge to dismiss the charges against Augare on Friday, just days before his federal trial is to begin Thursday. A f...
HELENA (AP) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana has notified thousands of customers it is raising premiums 3.5 percent in January because of taxes and fees included in the new federal health care law. Notices dated Thursday were mailed to 3,000 holders of group policies that insure tens of thousands of Montanans, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported. Some of the policyholders signed contracts earlier this year and are getting a mid-contract premium increase. State law generally forbids that, but makes exceptions for c...
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A 28-year-old Texas man is jailed in southwestern Montana after prosecutors say he was trying to hit pedestrians with his sport utility vehicle near a Bozeman bar. Bryan Curtis Paluk of Lewisville, Texas, made an initial appearance in Gallatin County Justice Court Monday on a charge of felony criminal endangerment. Justice of the Peace Bryan Adams set Paluk's bail at $50,000. Court records say Paluk was arrested Friday night after people reported someone driving an Isuzu SUV was trying to hit p...
CODY, Wyo. (AP) — A Wisconsin couple reported missing after a visit to Yellowstone National Park was found safe on a closed highway in Wyoming, where their car had been stuck for nearly a week, officials said Monday. The owner of a guest ranch heard about the missing couple and went looking for them on his snowmobile. He found them Monday and took them back to the guest ranch, Park County sheriff's spokesman Lance Mathess said. Mark and Kristine Wathke of Cornell, Wis., were cold and hungry but otherwise OK, Mathess said. "...
BILLING (AP) — A Yellowstone County employee says his use of slurs in an email expressing his disbelief that President Barack Obama was re-elected is no reason for him to resign. County Treasurer Max Lenington said he won't resign over what he called a personal message to his sister. He did say that possibility was raised in a discussion with county Attorney Scott Twito on Thursday. Twito's office is investigating whether there are grounds to recall Lenington for comments made in an email sent from his work computer last y...
