News you can use
News you can use
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DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Democratic Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer isn't saying if he'll run for president in 2016. But if he does, he thinks he can connect with voters in Iowa. Schweitzer, who served as governor from 2005 through early 2013, was set to visit the early voting state of Iowa on Wednesday to speak to a liberal advocacy group. While the popular, outspoken ex-governor has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he hasn't made any decisions abo... Full story
HELENA (AP) — The hot molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is 2 ½ times larger than previously estimated, meaning the park's supervolcano has the potential to erupt with a force about 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens, according to a new study. By measuring seismic waves from earthquakes, scientists were able to map the magma chamber underneath the Yellowstone caldera as 55 miles long, lead author Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah said Monday. The chamber is 18 miles wide and runs at depths from 3 to 9... Full story
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two judges will be sworn in to the federal bench, easing a shortage on the U.S. District Court of Montana but leaving vacancies in the state's busiest and highest courts that will take at least three months to fill. Montana Supreme Court Justice Brian Morris is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday and District Judge Susan Watters of Billings on Thursday to the federal court system. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is currently the only active full-time federal judge in the state. Morris, 50, and W... Full story
MISSOULA (AP) — Cody Johnson was head over heels for his new wife, but Jordan Graham was having serious doubts that came to a head when Johnson fell to his death during an argument on a steep cliff in Glacier National Park, prosecutors said Monday. The murder trial of Graham, 22, began in U.S. District Court in Missoula. Federal prosecutors say the woman from Kalispell, Mont., intentionally pushed Johnson the night of July 7, just eight days after their marriage, then lied to family, friends and the police for days by s... Full story
HELENA (AP) — The bride was having second thoughts eight days after the wedding, sparking an argument between the newlywed couple that carried from their Kalispell home to a popular trail in Glacier National Park. Only Jordan Graham left the park alive the night of July 7. Now it will be up to a jury to decide what happened and whether the 22-year-old woman should be convicted of murder in the death of Cody Johnson. Graham's trial begins Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula with jury selection and is expected to last o... Full story
BILLINGS — A Montana judge under fire for commenting that a 14-year-old student rape victim appeared "older than her chronological age" said Tuesday that he deserves to be censured but not removed from the bench for the remarks. District Judge G. Todd Baugh told The Associated Press the comments violated judicial ethics rules by failing to promote public confidence in the courts. But he repeated his prior assertions that his comments did not factor into the 30-day sentence he handed down in the case, and said he has no p... Full story
HELENA . (AP) — U.S. Sen. Max Baucus is forging ahead with his aggressive plan to rewrite the nation's tax code in the next year, confident he can find common ground amid the intense partisanship stalling budget debates in Washington, D.C. Last week, the Democrat unveiled two big portions of his proposal dealing with offshore taxation of corporations and revised rules for some tax accounting. In the coming months, he expects to release proposals for taxes on individuals and exemptions. Baucus pushed the plan forward d... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Advocates for Medicaid expansion gave state officials proposed language Thursday for a ballot initiative to put the question to voters. Backers of the plan have been promising the measure since the Legislature earlier this year rejected expansion. The Healthy Montana Initiative organizers hope to get approval from the attorney general and start collecting signatures by early next year. Backers expect they will need more than 30,000 signatures to comfortably qualify the measure for the 2014 ballot. Under the p... Full story
HELENA — Environmental regulators have asked a judge to approve an agreement with Fort Belknap Indian Reservation officials to fix years of "chronic violations" in how the reservation's water supply is treated and monitored. The U.S. Department of Justice filed the motion to approve the proposed consent decree Thursday with the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes and the tribal-owned Prairie Mountain Utilities, which operates the central Montana reservation's five water-supply systems. The agreement, which has been in the w... Full story
CODY, Wyo. (AP) — A Montana nature photographer was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to kidnapping and sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in Wyoming who was later found wandering in the mountains outside Cody. Jesse Paul Speer, 40, of Manhattan, Mont., tricked the young victim into accompanying him in October 2012 by saying he needed help finding a lost puppy, according to court documents. When the girl had second thoughts, Speer pulled a gun, made her get into his vehicle and then drove her i... Full story
HELENA — Gov. Steve Bullock said Friday that an expansion of the state's Medicaid rolls would have brought some assurances amid the turmoil surrounding the health care law's rollout. The governor earlier this year backed a plan to expand Medicaid to the working poor earning less than 138 percent of the poverty level. He was opposed by Republican legislative leaders, and the proposal died before lawmakers adjourned. About half of the states, including Montana, have rejected the Medicaid expansion plans originally crafted as a... Full story
HELENA — Montana's insurance commissioner criticized the president's move Thursday to allow insurance plans that had been slated to be canceled with the nation's health overhaul. Monica Lindeen said on a conference call that it "throws everything on its head" after three years of preparing for the new federal law. President Barack Obama reversed course Thursday and said individuals should be allowed to renew plans now ticketed for cancellation. Foes used the cancellations to pounce on campaign trail promises that Americans c... Full story
HELENA (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is dropping group health insurance plans for its 200 employees in parishes, schools and social services across western Montana, a spokesman for the diocese said. Instead, the diocese will help those workers find individual insurance coverage on the market, and compensate them within limits when they purchase their own plans, diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said Wednesday. The diocese plans to make the change by January, he said. Across the nation, some religious groups and sc... Full story
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Some 212 people in Montana signed up for health insurance in the first month of the U.S. government-run online marketplace that has been plagued by technical problems, federal officials said Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the first nationwide and state-by-state enrollment numbers for the insurance exchanges since their Oct. 1 debut. Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 2, 2,683 people in Montana completed applications for coverage for 5,202 people, according to the federal agency'... Full story
HELENA (AP) — A Rocky Mountain College art student who flunked and dropped math classes required to earn a degree is suing to force the school to allow her to substitute two non-math courses so she can graduate. Hannah Valdez's disabilities prevent her from passing two basic math courses — including algebra, calculus, statistics or trigonometry — that are part of the Billings college's general education requirements to graduate with a bachelor of art degree, she said in her federal lawsuit. Valdez's disabilities inclu... Full story
HELENA (AP) — Investigators twisted the statements of a newlywed bride to make it appear as though she deliberately pushed her husband to his death in Glacier National Park, an attorney for the Montana woman claimed. FBI investigator Stacey Smiedala also sent a Kalispell police detective from the room so he could "shape" Jordan Graham's initial 1 ½-hour interrogation on July 16 without having to record it, as is required in all Montana investigations, attorney Michael Donahoe said in court filings late Friday. As a re... Full story
HELENA — A Montana judge will decide without a court hearing whether to hit a conservative political group with a hefty fine for improper campaign spending after American Traditional Partnership's lawyer asked to be removed. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock said Friday he would rule based on briefs filed in the proceedings against the political group known for challenging state campaign finance laws and targeting moderate Republicans. The state attorney general's office is seeking more than $300,000 in fines against ATP a... Full story
HELENA — Some central Montana residents argued in court Friday that that the state's legislative districting commission wrongly met in private earlier this year to assign senators. State District Judge Mike Menahan listened to arguments in a case that deals with a last-minute decision to adjust the assignment of some sitting senators to new districts, based upon feedback from a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Menahan said he hopes to make a quick decision in a case that he expects the state Supreme Court will ultimately d... Full story
HELENA — NorthWestern Energy officials are saying their planned $900 million purchase of 11 hydroelectric dams will mean decades of stable customer rates after an initial increase. NorthWestern CEO Bob Rowe and vice president of supply John Hines outlined the utility's agreement to buy the PPL Montana dams to an interim legislative committee on Friday. The deal must be approved by state and federal regulators. Hines says the acquisition will mean an initial increase of about 5 percent, or $4 per month, on a typical r... Full story
GREAT FALLS (AP) — Blackfeet tribal leader and state Sen. Shannon Augare has pleaded guilty in federal court to misdemeanor charges after he fled a sheriff's deputy who stopped him for drunken driving. Augare entered the plea Thursday after U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong ruled Augare's conviction on the same charges last month in tribal court did not end the federal case. Strong ordered Augare to pay $1,250 in fines and to attend a treatment class. Augare apologized and told the judge he accepted full responsibility. H... Full story
HELENA - Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger said Wednesday his decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014 as a Democrat was sealed by last month's federal government shutdown and Congress' inability to work together. Bohlinger, 77, made the surprise announcement Tuesday at a Lewis and Clark County Democratic Central Committee party dinner. He confirmed his decision to The Associated Press Wednesday morning at his Helena home. He had been considering a run for months,... Full story
BOZEMAN - U.S. Rep. Steve Daines announced Wednesday that he will run for Senate in 2014, giving Montana Republicans a candidate they believe has a strong chance at winning the state's first open Senate seat in decades. Daines released a video announcing his candidacy shortly before launching his campaign in Bozeman by criticizing the Senate for supporting President Barack Obama and his signature health-care law. "Obamacare is a failing law that Montanans don't want and the... Full story
HELENA (AP) — The Montana Public Employees Retirement Board reversed course Tuesday and decided during a closed-door meeting to reinstate the head of the state pension agency less than two weeks after placing her on leave. The board had little to say after making the decision to keep Executive Director Roxanne Minnehan. Minnehan had been placed on administrative leave late last month after a meeting with board President Scott Moore. At the time, Moore said there were concerns with workplace issues involving Minnehan. But t... Full story
HELENA (AP) — State Sen. Shannon Augare will plead guilty to charges of drunken driving, reckless driving and obstruction of a peace officer if a magistrate judge rejects a request to dismiss the federal charges, his attorney said Tuesday in a court filing. A change of plea would allow Augare, a Blackfeet tribal council member, to avoid defending himself in U.S. District Court against the same charges he pleaded guilty to in tribal court last month in connection with a May 26 traffic stop. His trial had been scheduled to b... Full story
HELENA — Federal prosecutors no longer have jurisdiction to try a state senator and Blackfeet tribal leader on drunken driving, reckless driving and obstruction charges after he pleaded guilty to the same crimes in tribal court, his attorney said in a new court filing. Joe McKay, the attorney representing Browning Democrat and Blackfeet Tribal Business Council member Shannon Augare, asked a federal magistrate judge to dismiss the charges against Augare on Friday, just days before his federal trial is to begin Thursday. A f... Full story
