News you can use
News you can use
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GLENDIVE (AP) — Dawson County officials have filed four counts of elder abuse against a woman who worked at the Eastern Montana Veteran's Home in Glendive. Susan Stablefeldt was arraigned Tuesday in District Court in Glendive. She has not entered a plea. County officials said Thursday she does not yet have an attorney. Charging documents allege that between October 2012 and January 2013 Stablefeldt abused four patients. Witnesses say Stablefeldt put her knee on one man's arm to hold him down, put her hand across his mouth a...
HELENA — A Republican lawmaker is arguing it will take more money — not less — in politics to beat back the tidal wave of so-called dark money. Rep. Scott Reichner, of Bigfork, wants to increase the donation limits candidates can receive from various sources, for instance individuals could give $2,500 instead of $500 to a candidate for governor. There would be no limit on the amount of money political party or action committees could contribute. The Republican argues that the increase makes sense since the donations would...
BILLINGS (AP) — The Montana Federation of Women's Prison Employees has authorized a strike. The union represents about 50 Montana Women's Prison workers who have been without a contract since July 1, 2011. Union members include correctional officers and correctional counselor employees. The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/Wtf0lF) in a story published Friday that the proposal by members of the union passed in early December authorizing the strike. The federation and the state began mediation last summer but haven't b...
BILLINGS (AP) — Anna Whiting Sorrell has been named director of the Billings Area Indian Health Service. She succeeds longtime director Pete Conway and assumed her new duties on Monday. Sen. Jon Tester's office announced Whiting Sorrell's appointment late Wednesday. For the past four years, Whiting Sorrell has served as director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. She is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe. The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/WQEXwf ) reports the Billings area o...
HELENA (AP) — State wildlife biologists plan to radio collar 50 cow elk in the Missouri River Breaks and track their movements for two years as part of an effort to find out where they go during hunting season. Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks say that elk populations have been greater than objectives set by the Missouri River Breaks Elk Working Group, which is composed of hunters, landowners and FWP. Even with issuing a "liberal" number of cow elk licenses, their numbers have only slightly decreased in r...
CROW AGENCY — Leaders of the Crow Tribe agreed Thursday to give a Wyoming mining company rights to lease an estimated 1.4 billion tons of coal beneath the tribe's land in southeastern Montana. The deal with Cloud Peak Energy involves more coal than the U.S. consumes annually, and revives stalled efforts to expand mining on the impoverished, 2.2 million-acre reservation. AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File A shovel prepares to dump a load of coal into a 320-ton truck at the Black Thunder Mine in Wright, Wyo. It is aimed at tapping i...
HELENA — A Republican state senator launched a long-shot bid Thursday for a constitutional amendment that would require prior judicial experience for Montana Supreme Court justices. The proposal would require approval from 100 of 150 lawmakers before it could be sent to the voters, a tough hurdle to clear even if all 90 Republicans in the Legislature back it. But Fred Thomas, of Stevensville, said he thinks the measure has a "50-50" chance. As written, the measure would require candidates to have experience as a District C...
HELENA — With Google Earth on their computer screens and cups of coffee cooling on the table, a five-person commission spent five August days in the Capitol discussing, drafting and redrawing lines that would determine the makeup of legislative districts for the next decade. The committee's proposal is currently awaiting legislators' input. It reflects a state population that increased by 10 percent between 2000 and 2010. But not every part of Montana experienced the boom. Many rural counties' populations declined, forcing c...
AP Photo/Matt Gouras State Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, right, tells the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that it should remove an obsolete state law that criminalized gay sex before it was struck down by the courts. The Senate Judiciary panel listened to testimony on a proposal that would remove an obsolete state law tha criminalized gay sex before it was struck down by the courts. HELENA (AP) — Gay rights advocates said Monday they hope the Legislature will finally repeal an obsolete state law that c...
HELENA — Montana lawmakers are considering a proposal to repeal an obsolete state law that criminalized gay sex before it was struck down by the courts in the 1990s. Two years ago, a similar proposal to repeal the law cleared the Senate only to die in the more conservative House. But since then, the Montana Republican Party has removed from its platform the position that the GOP seeks to make homosexual acts illegal. The party remains opposed to gay marriage. More than a dozen advocates told the Senate Judiciary Committee o...
HELENA — A Montana family and their accountant are accused of tacking $70 million in bogus charges onto customer phone bills nationwide, then funneling some of that money through a religious organization to buy land and pay for the husband's legal bills. Steven Sann, his wife Terry, son Nathan and accountant Robert Braach run a maze of nine companies engaged in "cramming, " or adding unauthorized charges to a customer's phone bill, according to a civil complaint filed this month by the Federal Trade Commission. When c...
AP Photo/Matt Gouras State Sen. Tom Facey, D-Missoula, right, tells the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that it should remove an obsolete state law that criminalized gay sex before it was struck down by the courts. The Senate Judiciary panel listened to testimony on a proposal that would remove an obsolete state law tha criminalized gay sex before it was struck down by the courts. HELENA (AP) — Gay rights advocates said Monday they hope the Legislature will finally repeal an obsolete state law that c...
BILLINGS — A Montana judge issued an injunction Friday allowing wolf trapping and hunting to continue outside Yellowstone National Park, as lawmakers in Helena advanced a measure to loosen restrictions on killing wolves statewide. Combined, the two actions pave the way for a further ratcheting up of Montana's efforts to curb gray wolf numbers less than two years after they came off the endangered species list. Friday's decision from state District Judge Brenda Gilbert came after state wildlife commissioners attempted to c...
BILLINGS — Police are searching for two armed suspects who purported to be FBI agents when they allegedly kidnapped an Illinois man from a Montana hotel room. Police in Billings said Friday that 29-year-old Dejuan Laster is missing after two men showed up at the Extended Stay hotel where Laster was staying with an unidentified woman. After brandishing handguns and claiming to be federal agents, police say the suspects zip-tied the woman and questioned her extensively about Laster before releasing her. Laster has not been s...
HELENA — A measure to strip jail time for some first-time misdemeanor offenders, leaving just fines in place, easily cleared the Montana Senate on Friday despite opposition from county attorneys. The proposal would mean that the state would no longer have to provide public defenders for those charged with the crimes. Backers argue it would save money, ease crowding in jails and free up busy public defenders. The Senate unanimously approved the measure 47-0. It faces another set of hearings in the House. The list of o...
DENVER (AP) — Imagine a political change favored by an overwhelming majority of voters but mostly ignored by politicians. That's what campaign finance activists in Colorado and Montana are facing these days. They're scratching their heads at why politicians aren't talking more about campaign finance just two months after voters in both states, by wide margins, approved a ballot measure calling for federal changes to limit campaign spending. Activists gathered in the Colorado Capitol basement Friday to remind politicians of t...
BILLINGS (AP) — A Billings man has pleaded guilty to his 13th driving under the influence charge. The Billings Gazette reports that 55-year-old William Dean Grussing pleaded guilty Friday in district court. Grussing is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12 for the DUI from last June. If he's designated a persistent felony offender, he could receive up to five years in state custody. Grussing also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of contempt of court....
HELENA (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jon Tester returned Monday to the place where he got his political start, urging state lawmakers to focus on bipartisan solutions and telling them the biggest challenge on the federal level will be balancing the budget. Tester is fresh off a bruising and expensive — but ultimately victorious — re-election campaign over Republican challenger Denny Rehberg. He said both sides need to put the sometimes bitter election process behind them and find common ground. Tester built on the emerging theme of coope...
HELENA — Montana's 63rd Legislature opened its doors last week, welcoming a new governor, 150 lawmakers, and even more staffers and members of the public. Legislators attended a number of introductory events while also getting down to business on several bills, marking the first five of 90 busy days off their calendars. So far, the House voted 99-1 to pass a $9.2 million "feed bill" to fund the current session and the start of the next Legislature in 2015. Committees prepped for hearings on the budget and lawmakers l...
A smile radiated from Sarah Laszloffy's face as she recited the oath of office on the floor of the Montana House of Representatives. At only 21 years of age, she became the youngest member of Montana's 63rd Legislature. "It was surreal," said the new Republican lawmaker from Laurel. "It's really humbling, and I can't believe that it's actually happening." Photo by Jacob Baynham/Community News Service, UM School of Journalism. Sara Laszloffy stands in hte Montana House on her first day in office. Laszloffy isn't the only...
HELENA — Wildlife officials are asking lawmakers to make it easier to hunt and trap wolves in Montana. The House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee is scheduled to hear two proposals Thursday. The first by the FWP agency would allow hunters and trappers to buy multiple tags and use electronic calls. It also would reduce the price of a non-resident tag from $350 to $50 and eliminate the requirement that hunters wear fluorescent orange outside of deer season. The second bill by Republican Rep. Ted Washburn of Bozeman would g...
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Opponents of a railroad that would open Montana's coal fields to new mining have asked federal officials to halt their review of the proposal, alleging it would be much larger than disclosed with impacts stretching to the West Coast. Backers of the Tongue River Railroad say it would haul up to 20 million tons annually from a planned Arch Coal, Inc. strip mine near the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. But opponents said Thursday they want to turn the spotlight on the potential for the $416 m...
HELENA — U.S. Sen. Max Baucus is announcing priorities that include more help for jobless veterans, energy development and renewed focus on fixing the nation's debt. AP Photo/The Independent Record, Dylan Brown U.S. Sen. Max Baucus addresses the Montana Legislature Thursday afternoon,in the House Chambers in Helena. Baucus also says his New Year's resolution is to bring the troops home from Afghanistan after 11 years fighting in that country. Baucus spoke to the Montana Legislature on Thursday. The state's senior senator i...
0MISSOULA (AP) — A parolee suspected of running over a Missoula police officer who was trying to arrest her is being held under guard in the hospital where she is being treated for a gunshot wound, the Missoula County sheriff's office said Tuesday. Dawnette Eaton, 47, was shot when Lt. Rich Stepper fired at her car after she backed over another police officer, Deni Poling, on Monday night at a fast-food restaurant and dragged Poling under the vehicle, police said. Poling's injuries included a fractured hip, fractured leg and...
BILLINGS (AP) — A standoff ended with the death of a handcuffed burglary suspect who hit a Montana police officer with his own patrol car before the officer opened fire, authorities said. AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, James Woodcock SWAT team members stand guard as a man is given CPR after a standoff with police and the SWAT team in Billings. The standoff ended with the death of a handcuffed burglary suspect who hit a Montana police officer with his own patrol car before the officer opened fire. The 29-year-old man was in th...
