5 Things to Know in Montana for Aug. 7

Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.

DEMOCRATS LOOK AT STEPS NEEDED FOR NEW SENATE CANDIDATE:

Sen. John Walsh hasn't made a public appearance since the weekend, and Montana Democrats are reviewing the steps they would need to take to replace him with another candidate if he decides to withdraw from the Senate race. Walsh's campaign has been silent about whether he plans to keep campaigning amid allegations that he plagiarized a research paper while studying for a master's degree at the U.S. Army War College in 2007. The Democratic Party has until Aug. 20 to submit the name of a replacement candidate to the Montana Secretary of State if Walsh decides to drop out.

HEARING SET FOR CROW SHOOTING SUSPECT:

A federal judge in Montana has scheduled a hearing later this month that could reveal the fate of a man who was found incompetent to stand trial in a triple homicide on the Crow Indian Reservation. Twenty-five-year-old Sheldon Bernard Chase is being held at a federal psychiatric hospital in Missouri for the 2011 shooting of his grandmother, cousin and cousin's boyfriend near Lodge Grass.

BAUCUS PAPERS ARRIVE AT UNIVERSITY:

A semitrailer carrying more than 900 boxes of former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' congressional files has arrived at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana. The head of archives and special collections tells the Missoulian it will take several years to sort, archive and make the files available for research. Baucus donated $850,000 in leftover campaign money to the library to cover the cost of archiving the documents.

SENTENCING SET FOR BILLINGS SHOOTER:

The state is seeking a 65-year prison term for a Billings man who pleaded guilty to shooting another man to death last October. A judge is scheduled to sentence 35-year-old Mahpevana-Hane Bearcomesout on Oct. 21. Bearcomesout pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide for killing 32-year-old Misael Santiago.

BODY FOUND IN CLARK FORK:

A fisherman spotted a man's body in the Clark Fork River in Missoula. Missoula County sheriff's spokeswoman said it appeared the body had been in the water for a while. Search and Rescue volunteers recovered the body. It was sent to the state crime lab in Missoula for an autopsy.