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News you can use
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Montana's medical board wants to curb the practice of mass screenings and remote doctor teleconferences to certify new medical marijuana patients in a state where the number of registered users has boomed from 800 to 12,000 in about two years. A Montana Board of Medical Examiners review suggests people are being added to the state's medical marijuana registry who do not suffer from the chronic and debilitating conditions that are required for certification, Dr. Dean Center, a Bozeman physician and board member, told state...
A rare tornado tore through a farmhouse and killed two people inside, leaving nothing but the house's foundation and a few twisted vehicles as it swept through Montana's remote and sparsely populated northeastern corner. A teenage boy and a man in his 40s were killed on the farm when the tornado touched down Monday evening about 13 miles west of Reserve, Sheridan County Sheriff Patrick Ulrickson said. A 71-year-old woman was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Plentywood and will be transported to Billings, he said....
Montana border checkpoint upgrades that were originally slated to cost $77 million could come in at less than a third of that amount after criticism was levied over the expensive repairs for crossings that see as few a s t h r e e people a day. T h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n - m e n t announced in August that it was h a n d i n g out some $720 mi l - l i o n f o r border upgrades, including the $77 million to rebuild or repair five Montana ports of entry with Canada. Between $14.5 million and $16.5 million were allocated... Full story
A Montana physician who saw about 150 patients over 14½ hours during a medical marijuana clinic last year will be fined $2,000 for providing substandard care, the first time a doctor in the state has been disciplined in a marijuana case. The s tat e Board o f Medical Examiners' action follows a stern warning issued by the board to doctors who participate in the "cannabis caravans" that travel around the state registering medical marijuana patients. The board cautioned those doctors not to let their standards of care slip,...
Fed up with growing gang violence, Montana tribal leaders this weekend will start the first-ever American Indian reservation chapter of the Guardian Angels. The new chapter of the citizens' crime-watch group — whose members are known by their red berets in New York, Chicago and other U.S. cities — will begin training about 50 recruits on the rural Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The sprawling reservation on the plains of eastern Montana is home to 6,000 of the approximately 10,000 enrol led members of the Assiniboine and Sio... Full story
A civil rights advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of seven gay couples demanding the state provide them the same rights married couples have in making decisions affecting their family's health care, finances, inheritance and other matters. The American Civil Liberties Union claims in the lawsuit that the state is violating the Montana Constitution by denying those rights to gay couples in committed relationships. The 14 plaintiffs aren't challenging an amendment to the state constitution that bans same-sex...
The Montana Supreme Court has abolished an unfunded commission that for nearly 35 years handled cases of people practicing law without a license. The state attorney general's Office for Consumer Protection agreed to take on the duties of the Commission on the Unauthorized Practice of Law after the body was dissolved Tuesday. The Supreme Court - appointed commission had filed a petition last year asking the court to reduce its scope because it receives no state funding and can't afford to carry out investigations. The State... Full story
The state Department of Environmental Quality violated federal and state environmental laws by allowing an exploration company to pump untreated water used in coal-bed methane drilling into the Tongue River, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled. The ruling Tuesday voided the discharge permits issued to Fidel i ty Explorat ion and Production Co., but said the company can continue operating while the DEQ reevaluates the permits. The state regulator must issue new permits within 90 days that impose the proper pre-discharge...
A federal court hearing today could decide how the federal Endangered Species Act is interpreted, and whether the government can use political considerations in choosing how and where a species can be listed under the act, according to people on both sides of the issue. U. S. District Judge Donald Molloy will hear arguments in Missoula on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's April 2009 decision that designated northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves a distinct population segment, took the wolves off endangered species list and... Full story
A Montana advocacy group is shutting down its traveling medical marijuana clinics amid criticism that the so-called cannabis caravans have added thousands of people to the state registry without conducting thorough patient screenings. The Montana Caregviers Network has hosted the one-day clinics in hotels and conference centers across Montana for more than a year. For a $150 fee, the group brought together those seeking to become medical marijuana patients with doctors willing to prescribe pot. Starting next week, the group...
Border agents stopped vehicles leaving the U. S. and police beefed up their patrols in the small towns near Glacier National Park as author i t ies focused thei r search for an escaped convict and his suspected accomplice on both sides of the Montana- Canada border. Despite the tightened security, there are many backroads and other ways for A r i z o n a e s c a p e e J o h n McCluskey and his suspected accomplice, Casslyn Welch, to slip across the border and into Cana d a , Gl a c i e r Co unt y Undersheri f f Jef f Fauque...
He was never in any real danger of losing, but political observers say the GOP primary should serve as a wake-up call for Denny Rehberg all the same. Rehberg, who is seeking his sixth term as Montana's sole congressman, had never faced a primary challenger since he was first elected in 2001. This year, he faced two — including a self-billed "constitutional conservative" who tried to use the tea party movement and Rehberg's insider status as levers to oust the incumbent. "I think the fact that he's attracted several opponents...
A judge's ruling to restore federal protections for the Rocky Mountain gray wolf has scuttled settlement talks between the parties involved in the lawsuit that had been scheduled for next week. Instead, organizers will likely have to wait until the furor has died down from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's Thursday ruling before gauging interest in trying again, people involved with the planning said Friday. Some are skeptical that there's not much point to the talks now. After Molloy's ruling, Idaho wildlife officials...
Rep. Denny Rehberg staved off an opponent's attempt to capitalize on a national surge in conservatism and voter anger toward incumbents, easi ly winning the Republican primary Tuesday in his bid for a sixth term as Montana's sole congressman. Rehberg defeated political newcomers Mark French, a laboratory scientist from Paradise, and A.J. Otjen, a marketing professor at Montana State University-Billings. He now goes on to face Democratic nominee Dennis McDonald in the Nov. 2 general election. "I don't think that anybody missed...
A man suspected of killing his girlfriend's mother in Illinois led Montana police on a chase east of Glacier National Park, eluding officers until they boxed in his car and brought it to a halt in the town of Cut Bank, authorities said Wednesday. Daniel Baker, 21, waived extradi t ion Wednesday and will return to Illinois today to face first-degree murder charges in the killing of 50-year-old Marina Aksman, Glacier County Attorney Larry Epstein said. His girlfriend, Kristina Aksman, 21, also was in the car and has been...
Medical marijuana applicants wi l l h ave t o prove they are Montana resid e n t s b e fo r e t h ey c a n b e added to the patient registry after health officials turned up several applications from people who live out of state. Starting Monday, new applicants and patients seeking renewals will have to provide a driver's license or state-issued identification number on their applications, state Department of Public Health and Human Services spokesman Chuck Counci l said Wednesday. Health officials decided to change their... Full story
Montana wheat farmers, who already pay more to get their grain to market than farmers just about anywhere else, will see another rate hike for their 2010 crops, an industry group said Friday. BNSF Railway Co. Is increasing its rates beginning Aug. 1 by 2½ cents per bushel on its 110-car and 48-car trains, and by 4½ cents per bushel for smaller trains, the Montana Grain Growers Association said in an e-mail to its members on Friday. BNSF is increasing its rates systemwide, the association said. Lola Raska, head of the M...
As Bob Marley music wailed in the next room, the makeshift clinic hummed along like an assembly line: Patients went in to see a doctor, paid $150 and walked out with a recommendation that they be allowed to buy and smoke medical marijuana. So it went, all day, at a hotel just blocks from the state Capitol that was the latest stop of the socalled cannabis caravan, a band of doctors and medical marijuana advocates roaming Montana that has helped thousands of patients apply for medical marijuana cards from the state. "You're hel... Full story
