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HELENA — Republican legislators left the Legislature even more divided then when they arrived, with warring factions promising a protracted fight for control of the direction of the Montana GOP. AP Photo/Matt Volz From left, state sensators Jon Sesso, Jason Priest, Cliff Larsen and Art Wittich discussing their dispute over a budget bill that delayed the end of the legislative session. Wittich and Priest lead one of the Republican factions that emerged during the 2013 session, hinting at a future battle for control of the poli...
HELENA — The Montana Legislature is wrapping up the 2013 session with leaders praising a relatively smooth budget deal, along with fixes to the pension system and other pressing issues. The House endorsed a measure Wednesday morning that reconciled small budget differences with Gov. Steve Bullock, and then voted to adjourn. The Senate was finalizing a few other measures and also preparing to approve the budget compromise that adds about $13 million to their $10 billion two-year spending plan. Both sides praised the smooth f...
HELENA — The Montana Senate has wrapped up the final day of the 2013 session after more in-fighting and maneuvering over a bipartisan budget deal. The Senate approved the deal and adjourned Wednesday — but only after stalling for several hours over whether to accept the compromise bill passed earlier by House Republicans. The Senate's conservative faction ultimately backed off its attempt to block the last-minute deal. The conservative Senate leaders have been on the losing end of several major votes this session. Dem...
HELENA — State health officials say there have been an unusually high number of outbreaks of gastroenteritis in Montana this year. The Department of Public Health & Human Services says 20 outbreaks have sickened nearly 500 people throughout the state, most in assisted living and nursing homes. The 20 outbreaks is more than twice the number usually reported by late April. Symptoms of gastroenteritis — commonly referred to as the stomach flu — include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. Most individuals recover in on...
HELENA — Jared Yates spent 11 hours in the Capitol's windowless basement last Thursday, printing hundreds of copies of bills and amendments hours after the legislator parking lots cleared. "It's down and dirty, copies in and copies out," he said while squaring up a stack of papers hot off the press. "If it comes in here in the evening, it has to be ready for the next morning. That's just the way it is." Community News Service/Amy Sisk Kathy Baird, left, and Sandy Bradford work on the House rostrum keeping track of bills. His...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock and the Montana Legislature moved closer Tuesday to an agreement on the remaining big pieces of the state budget and eyed an early adjournment. Bullock said a gap of only about $30 million remained between lawmakers considering the two-year, $10 billion spending plan. Both sides were working late to reach agreement on the priorities. Bullock was asking lawmakers for more funding for child protective service, prisons, and law enforcement in booming oil fields and other areas. He said more than $6 m...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday that he will apply whatever pressure he can to resurrect the plan to use federal money to help the working poor buy insurance. The governor's comments came on a day when backers said that defeat was near certain after a legislator accidentally voted the wrong way, and their coalition unraveled in a later do-over attempt. The compromise plan to use Medicaid money to expand health care coverage through private insurers has been lurching toward approval with the backing of Democrats and s...
MISSOULA (AP) — Former University of Montana wide receivers coach Shalon Jermaine Baker is facing charges alleging he assaulted his pregnant girlfriend. The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/15kVH6y ) Baker, of Missoula, was ordered held on $100,000 bail Thursday on charges including aggravated assault. Court documents say Baker's girlfriend told police the two argued on Thursday over whether he cheated on her. She says he strangled her and slapped her in the face. Baker was a receiver and punt returner for the Grizzlies f...
MISSOULA (AP) — A 49-year-old Missoula woman who police say was too drunk to stand when her vehicle was pulled over faces a sixth drunk driving charge. The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/12vclxR) that Jane Kae Louise Collins was charged Friday in Missoula County Justice Court. Police say Collins struck several parked vehicles Thursday morning while driving a GMC Yukon and was pulled over and arrested at about 6:30 a.m. Police say Collins was not able to perform a range of field maneuvers that include standing on one l...
HELENA — Even the architects of a surprising bipartisan House budget deal didn't expect the unprecedented unanimous vote from the chamber on Tuesday. "I had no idea in my wildest imagination," Republican Rep. Duane Ankney of Colstrip said after a 100-0 vote on a roughly $9 billion spending plan. "Wow," said Democratic Rep. Galen Hollenbaugh of Helena. The chamber broke into applause Tuesday morning after endorsing the budget in a little over an hour — a process has taken days in the past. There was no debate or dissent — alth...
BILLINGS — A Lewistown judge said he fears he's done a "soul-wrenching injustice" to a man he freed from prison after more than 27 years, only to see him ordered back behind bars by a higher court. AP Photo/Matt Gouras, File In this Aug. 2, 2011 file photo, District Judge E. Wayne Phillips, right, speaks to witness Susan Mohler in Lewiston during a hearing in the case of Barry Beach. Phillips says he fears he did a "soul-wrenching injustice" to Beach, a man he freed from prison after 27 years, only to see the man ordered back...
HELENA — A House committee is considering a measure that would prohibit employers from requesting job applicants' and employees' social media usernames and passwords. Democratic Sen. Anders Blewett of Great Falls presented the Senate Bill 195 Thursday to the House Business and Labor Committee. He says nothing in Montana law prevents employers from requesting the "keys to someone's personal information" on social media websites such as Facebook. Mark Baker, representing the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, says the measure w...
HELENA — Bipartisan foes of so-called "dark money" behind many attack advertisements in politics are facing some opposition from traditional allies. AP Photo/Matt Gouras Republican State Sen. Jim Peterson discusses the plan he wrote with the governor to shed light on so-called "dark money" in politics at committee hearing on Thursday, in Helena. Republican state Sen. Jim Peterson and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock are teaming up with a measure that aims to force more disclosure on third-party money in politics. They took t...
MISSOULA (AP) — Backers of a government-sponsored conservation effort to transplant Yellowstone National Park bison to Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian Reservations say a state judge erred in blocking the relocations because state law doesn't apply to moving bison on tribal lands. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation made the argument Friday to the Montana Supreme Court in an effort to have lifted a state judge's injunction last May preventing the bison relocations. The...
MISSOULA (AP) — A judge has sentenced a former University of Montana football player to 30 years in prison with 20 years suspended for raping a female friend in his apartment. Beau Donaldson pleaded guilty in September to sexual intercourse without consent after admitting to the 2010 rape in a phone call monitored by police. The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/13oJ5YG ) Donaldson began to cry as District Judge Karen Townsend handed down the maximum sentence sought by the prosecution. He will be eligible for parole after 2...
HELENA (AP) — A breakdown of the federal crackdown on marijuana trafficking by people operating under Montana's medical marijuana law. Time period 2010-2013 Investigations 3: Operation Smokejumper, Operation Weed Be Gone, Operation Noxious Weed People indicted 34 People convicted 33 Plea deals 31 Trials 2, both resulting in convictions Dismissals 1 Source: U.S. Attorney's Office. A look at the changes in the Montana pot industry The Associated Press HELENA (AP) — A look at how the number of Montana medical marijuana use...
HELENA — If American society's tolerance for marijuana is now growing, then what happened in Montana illustrates just what can happen when the government decides things have gone too far. Pot advocates were running caravans, helping hundreds of residents in a day get medical marijuana user cards. Some doctors who conducted cursory exams on scores of people were fined. As the number of users quickly grew, so did a retail industry that led some to dub the state "Big High Country." AP Photo/Matt Volz Drug Enforcement Agent In C...
SEATTLE — Mud, trees and rocks hit an Amtrak passenger train traveling through Washington state Sunday morning, causing several cars to derail, according to a railway spokesman. There were no injuries reported in the mudslide that knocked off the dining car and two coach cars, the last three railcars on the train, said Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which owns the tracks. The train was travelling south from Everett on the way to Seattle when the slide hit around 8:30 a.m., Melonas said. The t...
HELENA — It's white, frothy and enthusiasts say it's udderly healthy — but the sale of raw milk is illegal in Montana. That could change if state lawmakers pass House Bill 574, which would legalize the purchase of unpasteurized milk directly from small, unregulated dairies. Critics and state regulators say it could expose Montanans to serious illnesses. Supporters of the measure say it is very much in line with a growing movement that encourages locally grown organic food, farmer accountability and personal responsibility, an...
HELENA — Lawmakers filled the Capitol building this week, marking the beginning of Montana's 63rd Legislature. The 90-day session convenes under a new governor, Democrat Steve Bullock, who previously served as Montana's attorney general. Republicans control both houses of the Legislature – leaving the legislative and executive branches split between the parties, just as it was in 2011. GOP lawmakers outnumber Democrats 29-21 in the Senate and 61-39 in the House. Photo by Amy Sisk The Montana State Capitol will be the sce...
HELENA (AP) — A state judge has ruled that American Tradition Partnership violated Montana's state campaign-finance and election laws. Lee Newspapers of Montana reports that District Judge Jeff Sherlock of Helena on Friday ruled the group in 2008 acted as a political committee and must report its spending and donors. Sherlock cited the group's failure to turn over records requested by the court in making his decision. American Tradition Partnership claims tax-exempt status as a nonprofit social welfare organization that d...
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A late freeze last year that cut into hay production and a wet spring this year that is extending the hay-feeding season has resulted in a tight supply of hay and rising prices. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://gftrib.com/16IX4Nf) that the average price for hay in Montana in April was $160 per ton. That's a 61 percent increase from a year ago. Montana ranchers say pastures aren't cut off by snow as they were last year, but the pastures aren't ready yet so hay is still being used. Rancher Shane C...
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a measure Friday that he says would have allowed a way for anonymous political organizations to contribute to campaigns through religious groups. House Bill 217 would have exempted religious organizations from campaign finance reports. The measure would have given so-called "dark money" groups the opportunity to donate to campaigns through churches without any oversight or regulation, Bullock said in his veto letter. The Democratic governor also vetoed 11 other bills Friday, including one t...
BILLINGS — Wolf hunting and trapping can resume near Yellowstone National Park after a Montana judge on Wednesday blocked the state from shutting down the practice. The restraining order from Judge Nels Swandal allows hunting and trapping to resume in areas east and west of the town of Gardiner. State officials closed the gray wolf season in those areas on Dec. 10 after several wolves collared for research were killed, drawing complaints from wildlife advocates. The closures prompted a lawsuit from sporting groups and a s...
HELENA — A sharply divided Montana Supreme Court has ruled that forcing a Hutterite religious colony to pay workers' compensation insurance for jobs outside the commune is not an unconstitutional intrusion into religion. The 4-3 decision upholds a 2009 law requiring religious organizations to carry workers' compensation insurance, which the Legislature passed after businesses complained they could not outbid the religious workers. The Big Sky Colony of Hutterites in northwestern Montana sued, saying the law targeted its r...
