News you can use
News you can use
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KALISPELL (AP) — Montana Public Service Commissioner Bill Gallagher says he is not seeking re-election after the pancreatic cancer he was diagnosed with in June spread to his liver. Gallagher, a 54-year-old Helena attorney, said Tuesday he plans to serve out his remaining term, which ends in January 2015. Gallagher tells the Daily Inter Lake that with chemotherapy, his doctors have given him a 3 percent chance to live for the next five years. He tells Lee Newspapers of Montana he wants to focus on his work, his family and "... Full story
MISSOULA (AP) — A Missoula judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of a 25-year-old man charged with beating his grandmother to death with a chair. Tyler Dan Perry is charged with deliberate homicide in the Dec. 14 death of 72-year-old Carole Ann Perry. On Tuesday, Perry's attorneys asked District Judge Karen Townsend if she could help expedite their client's evaluation at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. Public defender Scott Spencer said he had been told it would take three to four months before Perry could b... Full story
HELENA — An estimated 17,000 small businesses in Montana will be exempt from paying the state's business equipment tax under a new law that takes effect on Wednesday. The reduction in the business equipment tax is one of a handful of bills passed by the Legislature last spring that become law with the new year. Starting Wednesday, businesses will be exempt from paying taxes on their first $100,000 in equipment. That means if a small business has less than $100,000 in equipment, it won't have to pay any of the tax. P... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Federal prosecutors oppose a former medical marijuana lobbyist's request to be removed from probation so he can tend to his sick mother without restrictions. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thaggard said Thursday in response to Tom Daubert's request that early termination is reserved for rare cases of exceptionally good behavior. Thaggard says the health of Daubert's 83-year-old mother and his desire to resurrect his consulting career do not justify ending his five-year probation sentence after only one year. U...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — The American Indian liaison for the state Department of Corrections says he's working to provide cultural awareness to agency staffers and to help Native American inmates prepare for their release. Harlan Trombley told the Great Falls Tribune (http://gftrib.com/1ad53Qh ) that after a month in the job, he's found that corrections staff often don't understand traditional practices such as smudging, when herbs are burned so the smoke can be used as a cleansing agent. "They don't know what that is or why i... Full story
HELENA - U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' surprise announcement that he will not seek a seventh term in 2014 was Montana's top news story of 2013, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of state editors. This year's list includes maneuvering ahead of the 2014 elections, the pushback against anonymous campaign funding and the headaches surrounding the nation's health care overhaul. It highlights crime-fighting efforts in Indian Country and in the oil patch, along with notable... Full story
BUTTE (AP) — Officials in Butte are considering a $92,000 loan request and a grant of $8,750 to help refurbish a 42-room brothel in what was once the middle of the city's red light district. The Urban Revitalization Agency has asked for more information about the plan that includes helping with outstanding debt for the Dumas Brothel, which now operates as a museum, The Montana Standard reported in a story Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1gX71Mn). The Dumas Brothel on East Mercury Street was built specifically as a brothel in 1890 a... Full story
HELENA (AP) — A Montana judge on Friday blocked reductions to the annual cost-of-living raises on pension payments that thousands of retired local and state government employees receive. District Judge James Reynolds in Helena granted a preliminary injunction to the Association of Montana Retired Public Employees and individual retirees, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported. Lawmakers earlier this year passed a pension overhaul measure cutting retired public employees' annual inflationary increases from 3 percent to 1.5 p... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Police in Billings say a woman has been shot to death and that a man has been taken into custody. Sgt. Ronda Fox tells the Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1d1xuoD) that 27-year-old Richard Reinert lived at the residence and was arrested at the scene after police responded at about 11:25 p.m. Saturday. He's being held at the Yellowstone County Detention Center on suspicion of felony deliberate homicide and obstructing a peace officer. Fox says Reinert and the victim weren't married, and it's unclear if she a... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Authorities say two German shepherds belonging to a western Montana police chief are being held in quarantine after attacking a boy. The Independent Record reports (http://bit.ly/1hrPV6E) the dogs belonging to Boulder Police Chief Rick Streib will remain quarantined a minimum of 10 days. Boulder City Attorney Steven Shapiro says a complaint was filed to the police office reporting the dogs jumped a fence surrounding the police chief's yard on Dec. 13 and attacked a boy walking to school. Shapiro told The A... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock joined other Montana political leaders Friday in lauding Max Baucus' 35-year career in the U.S. Senate, but the Democratic governor deflected questions on a possible replacement if Baucus is confirmed as the next ambassador to China. Bullock Chief of Staff Kevin O'Brien acknowledged the governor will likely have to appoint a replacement for Baucus, but he shed little light about whom Bullock was considering. "Today is about Max, his commitment to public service and the state of Montana. It a... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Former state Judge Susan Watters has been sworn in as Montana's first female U.S. District Court judge. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy swore in the 55-year-old Billings native in a Thursday ceremony at the federal courthouse attended by several dozen friends, colleagues and family members. Watters worked in private practice and as a prosecutor before becoming a state judge 15 years ago. She fills a vacancy on the federal bench created with the retirement of U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull. Other f... Full story
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — An outspoken critic of Idaho's phosphate industry and its deadly impact on some animals has pleaded guilty to poaching two elk. Marv Hoyt, Idaho director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, will leave his job after acknowledging in court that he illegally killed two cow elk during a November hunting trip in Caribou County, the Idaho State Journal (http://bit.ly/SxHTxs) reported Tuesday. Hoyt has criticized mining and the resulting selenium pollution that has killed dozens of sheep and cattle that g... Full story
BOZEMAN AP) — Three life-sized horse sculptures rustled from a herd of 39 displayed on a hillside in southwestern Montana have turned up on a nearby ranch with only minor damage. Broadwater County Deputy Brandon Harris tells the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1cRtfvv ) a rancher checking on his cattle south of Townsend late Tuesday afternoon spotted some tracks in the snow in an area that is not normally traveled. He followed the tracks and spotted the steel sculptures of two horses and a colt. Harris says the r... Full story
DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Democratic Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer isn't saying if he'll run for president in 2016. But if he does, he thinks he can connect with voters in Iowa. Schweitzer, who served as governor from 2005 through early 2013, was set to visit the early voting state of Iowa on Wednesday to speak to a liberal advocacy group. While the popular, outspoken ex-governor has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he hasn't made any decisions abo... Full story
HELENA (AP) — The hot molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is 2 ½ times larger than previously estimated, meaning the park's supervolcano has the potential to erupt with a force about 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens, according to a new study. By measuring seismic waves from earthquakes, scientists were able to map the magma chamber underneath the Yellowstone caldera as 55 miles long, lead author Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah said Monday. The chamber is 18 miles wide and runs at depths from 3 to 9... Full story
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two judges will be sworn in to the federal bench, easing a shortage on the U.S. District Court of Montana but leaving vacancies in the state's busiest and highest courts that will take at least three months to fill. Montana Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday and District Judge Susan Watters of Billings on Thursday to the federal court system. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is currently the only active full-time federal judge in the state. Morris, 50, and W... Full story
BELGRADE (AP) — An outside audit found the Manhattan High School football coach failed to deposit into school activity accounts more than $22,000 his players brought in through fundraisers over the past two years. The Belgrade News reports (http://bit.ly/1997LLZ ) a Bozeman accounting firm found Dale McQueary withheld just over $10,000 from the extracurricular account in 2012 and just over $12,000 this year. School officials say he spent the money on equipment and meals for football players, bypassing school approval r... Full story
HELENA (AP) — A bill by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester to expand wilderness and mandate more logging on Montana federal lands will receive its first vote Thursday, more than four years after it was introduced. The vote scheduled by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is a first step in the passage of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. If the committee approves it, the measure will go to the full Senate. Tester introduced the bill during his first term in 2009, touting it as a compromise between environmentalists and l... Full story
HELENA (AP) — A state judge has dismissed a complaint against the state Board of Medical Examiners over a position paper about assisted suicide that a group says implies the practice is legal in Montana. District Judge Mike Menahan said in his order Friday that the board withdrew all of its position papers in September, including the one about assisted suicide, so the complaint by Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is moot. A 2009 state Supreme Court ruling found that nothing in state law explicitly prohibits physician-assist... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — The U.S. Senate confirmed two nominees for federal judgeships in Montana, including the first woman in the state to hold such a post. The Senate voted late Thursday to confirm Montana Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris as a U.S. District Court judge for Great Falls, while state District Court Judge Susan Watters was confirmed as a federal judge in Billings, The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1h6CFEl) reported. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester praised the integrity, leadership and judgment of Watters and M... Full story
BILLINGS (AP) — Advocates for women urged the Montana Supreme Court on Friday to strike down a one-month prison sentence for a former high school teacher convicted of raping a freshman student. In a friend of the court brief, six advocacy groups told justices they should send the case to a new judge for re-sentencing. Judge G. Todd Baugh in Billings said in August that the 14-year-old victim appeared "older than her chronological age." He sentenced former Billings teacher Stacey Rambold to 15 years in prison with all but one... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Montana's lone congressman is one of 94 representatives who voted against a bipartisan deal to ease federal spending cuts and prevent future government shutdowns. The White House-backed measure passed the U.S. House Thursday 332-94 and is expected to pass the Senate. Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Daines said in a statement that he opposes the deal because it does not provide a solution to the debt crisis. Daines says the budget plan relies on spending cuts years from now to offset immediate spending increases, a... Full story
MISSOULA (AP) — Cody Johnson was head over heels for his new wife, but Jordan Graham was having serious doubts that came to a head when Johnson fell to his death during an argument on a steep cliff in Glacier National Park, prosecutors said Monday. The murder trial of Graham, 22, began in U.S. District Court in Missoula. Federal prosecutors say the woman from Kalispell, Mont., intentionally pushed Johnson the night of July 7, just eight days after their marriage, then lied to family, friends and the police for days by s... Full story
KALISPELL (AP) — A twin-engine airplane carrying five passengers made a hard landing at Glacier Park International Airport near Kalispell, injuring two people on board. Airport director Cindi Martin says the Beech Baron arrived shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, made a hard landing and veered off the side of the runway. One of the passengers was seriously injured and another suffered minor injuries. Both were taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Martin said officials from the Federal Aviation Administration were expected t... Full story
