News you can use
News you can use
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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...
HELENA (AP) — A lawmaker's proposal protecting "alternative viewpoints" during the teaching of evolution and science in schools came under fire Friday from opponents who argued it would pave the way for teaching of creationism. Rep. Clayton Fiscus, R-Billings, said evolution isn't settled science and called it a "monumental leap" to believe it is true. His bill would allow teachers — if they want — to address perceived weaknesses in evolution studies in the classroom. "This is just a bill to instruct what we have prese...
HELENA — A panel of appellate judges has upheld as constitutional the 2011 federal raids on Montana medical marijuana businesses, warehouses and homes that pot providers claimed violated their right to operate under state law. The three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on May 15 affirmed U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's dismissal of the lawsuit brought by 14 medical marijuana providers and associations. The appellate judges agreed with Molloy that the federal government did not overstep its authority when i...
BOZEMAN (AP) — A man suspected of breaking into a house, stealing three vehicles in the Belgrade area, and leading law enforcement officers on a daylong chase through southwestern Montana finally surrendered in the mountains west of Pony, Madison County officials said. About 25 deputies and state troopers were about to call off the search in the Tobacco Root Mountains when the man walked out of the woods Thursday evening with his arms in the air, said Madison County Deputy Steve DiGiovanna. Officers arrested him. "To have t...
BILLINGS (AP) — A federal judge will decide if almost 80,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana should be canceled after environmentalists sued over climate change worries. U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon took the case under advisement Friday after attorneys for the government and industry moved to have it dismissed. Plaintiffs led by the Montana Environmental Information Center say the Bureau of Land Management should have forced companies to address greenhouse gas emissions as a condition of sale for 120 leases at s...
HELENA — The governor lauded the Montana Board of Regents for its move Friday to freeze college tuition for the next two years. The regents unanimously voted in Great Falls on a plan to freeze college tuition for Montana residents at college campuses around the state. Gov. Steve Bullock said he worked with the university leaders early in the budget process to negotiate the tuition freeze. The Board of Regents has constitutional autonomy over the college system budget even though the Montana Legislature appropriates a large s...
HELENA (AP) — A proposed merger between nation's fourth-largest health insurer and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana has cleared a major regulatory hurdle and is now in the hands of a former state Supreme Court justice. William Leaphart, the hearing examiner in the merger between Blue Cross and Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp., will make a recommendation to Attorney General Tim Fox and Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen now that Lindeen's staff has given the nod to the proposal. Fox's staff previously recommended a...
BOZEMAN (AP) — An associate professor at Montana State University died of injuries suffered in a landslide in Nepal, where she was leading a group of students taking an honors program course. Betsy Palmer, 54, was flown to a hospital in Katmandu and died of her injuries on Monday. Palmer and 16 students were on an extended trek to a remote village in the Arun River Valley in the Himalayas when the landslide hit, university spokesman Tracy Ellig said. None of the students was injured. Palmer arrived at MSU in 2001 and was a...
MISSOULA (AP) — A former Missoula man who once organized traveling clinics for people seeking medical marijuana cards has been found guilty of intimidation for a 2010 phone call in which he threatened to bomb a cellphone retailer. The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/103VYCT) jurors took 40 minutes Thursday to return the verdict against Jason Christ. Christ represented himself. He told jurors he didn't really mean it when he told a store employee that he needed to talk to someone who could get something done or: "I'm g...
BILLINGS (AP) — A 54-year-old Billings man has been convicted of his 13th instance of driving under the influence after jurors rejected his argument that he drove away from his house last summer because he felt threatened by a neighbor. The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/ZDO6Iq) jurors convicted John Harvey Hoots on Thursday. His attorney argued state law allows a person to commit a crime to avoid serious injury or death. Hoots testified he feared his neighbor. The neighbor testified he called 911 on July 31 to r...
HELENA — Lawmakers on Thursday were considering a renewed effort to test drivers suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana — a measure law enforcement agents said is necessary to deal with an increase in such cases. Republican Rep. Doc Moore of Missoula said his House Bill 168 provides a legal limit for the amount of THC — an ingredient of marijuana — that can be in a person's blood while operating a motor vehicle. He argued the measure is just aimed at enduring streets are safe, not at the debate over medical...
HELENA — Montana Senate Republicans held a pep talk Thursday for their members after documents detailing an internal power struggle publicly exposed a widening rift within the caucus — but the message was met with skepticism by at least one ousted leader. Senate President Jeff Essmann, appearing to offer a concession, told the caucus he will let the group decide policy goals collectively — including whether to back those coming from moderates. Essmann said his only personal goal is a conservative and balanced budget. AP Ph...
HELENA — Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf has been moved from a drug treatment center to the Montana State Prison for threatening a staff member and violating his treatment plan, a corrections official said Thursday. The former San Diego Chargers and Washington State Cougars quarterback was charged last spring with breaking into two houses and stealing prescription painkillers near his hometown of Great Falls. He pleaded guilty in May to burglary and criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and his five-year sentence called f...
HELENA (AP) — A series of emails shows plans by conservative Republicans to take over leadership of the state Senate from a more moderate faction. The documents obtained by the Great Falls Tribune also outline a long-term strategy that includes "changing the face of the Montana Supreme Court" and remapping legislative districts to favor Republicans, according to an email written by Sen. Jeff Essmann of Billings last September. "If we can implement the long term strategy we will be in a position to actually elect a majority o...
MISSOULA (AP) — A 46-year-old Arizona man has been returned to Montana to face charges he raped a woman in Missoula in late 2003. Kenneth Edward Whatley is charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He was being held in the Missoula County jail with bail set at $250,000 and was to appear in Justice Court Monday afternoon. According to jail records, Whatley was returned to Montana on Sunday night. Court records say Whatley is suspected of breaking into a house on Dec. 5, 2003 and raping a woman. The State Crime Lab n...
HELENA (AP) — Montana lawmakers on Monday looked at a proposal that would require cities to help enforce anti-immigration laws, which supporters argue is necessary to prevent what has happened in other states. The measure from Republican David Howard of Park City would prohibit cities from establishing policies that they won't enforce illegal immigration. He told the House Judiciary Committee on Monday that House Bill 50 ensures local governments will enforce federal law. Howard said that cities elsewhere have made it a p...
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 (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court said Tuesday that a judge was wrong to release Barry Beach from prison two years ago and order a new trial in the 1979 slaying of a teenage girl. The Supreme Court's 4-3 ruling reversed a Lewistown judge's 2011 decision that found new evidence raised doubts about Beach's guilt. Beach had been in prison since the 1980s since his original conviction for the murder of a 17-year-old girl on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. A long list of advocates persistently argued he had been wrongly co...
BOZEMAN (AP) — Montana State University officials have approved a new policy expanding the ability of employees to donate unused sick leave to include women who miss work due to pregnancy. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/UNM2Oo) that the 40 or so Montana State leaders who make up the University Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the new policy. The previous policy said sick leave could be donated to colleagues with longer illnesses or a colleague caring for immediate family members, but not for p...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock's successful election campaign is announcing plans for the new governor's inaugural ball. Bullock took office Monday after beating Republican Rick Hill in November's election. Bullock takes office as lawmakers arrive in town to analyze his budget proposal. A release says that a celebration ball will be held Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. Tickets are being sold online at the fairgrounds web site starting next week for $25 each. The ball is scheduled to run from 7 p...
LIVINGSTON (AP) — A former state legislator accused of skirting a roadblock and resisting arrest asked for proof of a court's legitimacy, but kept disruptions to a minimum compared to a previous hearing. The Livingston Enterprise reports Joel Boniek appeared in Park County Justice Court Monday. Boniek pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges from the July encounter with officers keeping people out of a wildfire area. Boniek told Justice of the Peace Linda Budeski he wanted proof her court is constitutional. She r...
HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock's successful election campaign is announcing plans for the new governor's inaugural ball. Bullock took office Monday after beating Republican Rick Hill in November's election. Bullock takes office as lawmakers arrive in town to analyze his budget proposal. A release says that a celebration ball will be held Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. Tickets are being sold online at the fairgrounds web site starting next week for $25 each. The ball is scheduled to run from 7...
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. The 29-year-old man was in the back seat of the idling patrol car Sunday afternoon when he somehow climbed into the front seat and started driving, police said. "The suspect was able to slip out of his handcuffs or get them in front of his body, climb over the caged partition and into the driver's seat," Billings Police Chief Rich St. J...
HELENA — Steve Bullock says he is "incredibly humbled" to take office as the state's 24th governor. The former attorney general was sworn in Monday with his lieutenant governor, former National Guard commander John Walsh. Bullock replaces outgoing Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Both are Democrats. The 46-year-old governor says he plans to build on Schweitzer's legacy improving schools and the economy. But Bullock also says he plans to improve relationships with Republican legislative leaders taking office Monday to start work on t...
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...
