News you can use
News you can use
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Fla. judge strikes down Obama health care overhaul PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge declared the Obama administration's health care overhaul unconstitutional Monday, siding with 26 states that argued people cannot be required to buy health insurance. Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson agreed with the states that the new law violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties. He went a step further than a previous ruling against the law, declaring the entire thing u...
LOS ANGELES — This Academy Awards season seems all over but the coronation. "The King's Speech" won top prizes over the weekend from Hollywood actors and directors, securing its standing as the film to beat at the Feb. 27 Oscars, whose winners mostly look like foregone conclusions. Front-runners coasted to victory at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards — lead performers Colin Firth as Queen Elizabeth II's stuttering dad in "The King's Speech" and Natalie Portman as a ballerina going off her rocker in "Black Swan," plus sup... Full story
Friday High School Basketball Havre girls vs Lewistown, 7 p.m. Havre boys at Lewistown, 7 p.m. Chinook girls at Big Sandy, 6 p.m. Chinook boys at Big Sandy, 7:30 Chester/J-I girls vs Power, 6 p.m. Chester/J-I boys vs Power, 7:30 North Star girls at Sunburst, 6 p.m. North Star boys at Sunburst, 7:30 Box Elder boys vs Turner, 6 p.m. Harlem boys vs Malta, 6 p.m. Rocky Boy girls at Shelby, 6 p.m. Rocky Boy boys at Shelby, 7:30 Saturday High School Basketball Havre boys vs Butte Central, 5 p.m. Havre girls at Butte Central, 5...
With the regular season winding down, high school swimmers are starting to gear up for the final races of the season. For the Havre Blue Ponies, those races come in two weeks at the all-class state meet in Butte. But before the Ponies get to Butte, they had one last meet in which to prepare. And in many ways, they took full advantage. The Pony boys and girls were at the Carroll College pool Saturday for the prestigious Helena Invitational, and while they faced off against some of the best individual swimmers in Montana, they...
The Class AA CMR Rustlers are a tough team for anybody to handle, and the Havre High girls basketball team definitely had its hands full. Saturday the Central A Blue Ponies were in Great Falls where they were defeated 61-32 by the Rustlers. With the nonconference loss the Ponies remained 2-5 in league play, but dropped to 3-8 overall. "We were pretty pleased with our kids," Havre High head coach Dustin Kraske said. "CMR is obviously better than us right now at this point in the season where we both are at, but I was pleased... Full story
Two blowout wins at home one week, two tough road losses the next. That's life in the Frontier Conference and that's been the life of the Montana State University-Northern women's basketball team the last two weeks. The Skylights were red-hot coming into this week's trip to nationally-ranked Frontier powers LC State and Westminster. But after the week began with a tough loss at LC State, it ended on a difficult note for the Skylights. On Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Northern fell to 11th-ranked Westminster College,...
What a difference a week can make in the Frontier Conference. Heading into Thursday night's game at Lewis-Clark State, the Montana State University-Northern men's basketball team was riding high, ranked No. 19 in the NAIA, sitting in first place in the league standings, and coming off a sweep of league powers Carroll College and RMC at home. But Northern lost by nine points at LC State on Thursday and things didn't get any better two days later in Salt Lake City. On Saturday night, the Lights fell to the No. 23 Westminster... Full story
For 32 minutes of basketball this season, the Havre High boys have given the Class AA CMR Rustlers all they wanted. Unfortunately for the Blue Ponies, it's the last 32 minutes that have been the difference. Just like in last month's game in Great Falls, the Blue Ponies gave the Rustlers a big scare in the first half of Saturday night's rematch at the HHS gymnasium. But just like back in December, the Rustler's size took over in the second half. CMR broke open a 16-13 halftime lead by going inside to 6-7 center Russ Morin, and...
The Havre High wrestling program had its hands full with two tough programs this weekend. On Friday at the Havre High gymnasium, thesecond-ranked Class A Blue Ponies hosted the top-ranked Class B-C Forsyth Dogies as well as the Conrad Cowboys in a special double dual. And getting the home sweep, the Ponies defeated the Dogies 42-30 and defeated the Cowboys 70-9. "It's great to wrestle these guys, especially since we won't see any of them at state," Havre High head coach Scott Filius said. "There was nothing on the line and... Full story
Marc Mariani said earlier this week that Pro Bowl traditions for rookies include players who make the least amount of money pick up plenty of tabs during their stay in Hawaii. So while he may be out some bucks when he leaves Honolulu, he'll still be leaving with plenty to smile about. Although the NFC pounded Mariani's AFC squad 55-41 Sunday afternoon in Hawaii, the Tennessee Titans receiver and former Blue Pony star left his own mark on the game by returning nine kickoffs for an astounding 326 yards — both new Pro Bowl r...
HELENA — The battle lines over competing workers' compensation reform plans crystalized Monday at a hearing for the Republican reform plan, as workers made it clear they don't like a bill partially written by the insurance industry. Construction, timber, oil companies all made up parts of the business community that aligned with the medical community in backing a Republican proposal aimed at cutting rates by as much as 40 percent. One eastern Montana oil business said it could save more than $600,000 in work comp costs a...
om Brokaw to receive honorary degree from MSU BOZEMAN (AP) — Montana State University will award former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw an honorary degree next month. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports the journalist and author plans to deliver a speech on Feb. 28 when university president Waded Cruzado presents him with the degree. Brokaw anchored NBC's Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He has also written five books, won 12 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award and the Congressional Medal o... Full story
Montana's senior U. S. senator, Democrat Max Baucus, has told the secretary of the Department of Agriculture that proposed changes in crop insurance could have some serious unintended consequences. "Having heard from Montana farmers, it's clear to me that these proposed rule changes amount to a one-size-fits all approach that just isn't right for Montana, " Baucus said in a press release Friday. "Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and we've got to pull out all the stops to make sure our producers have the tools they...
The Montana House of Representatives Saturday overwhelmingly stood behind opponents of the proposed national monument in northeast Montana. In a preliminary move, the House voted 76-23 to tell Congress and President Barack Obama that Montanans don't want any national monuments in the state without the approval of the governor and Legislature. Final action is expected today. State Reps. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, Kris Hansen, R-Havre, and Tony Belcourt, D-Box Elder, voted for the resolution, designated as HJ 4. It now goes to...
An amazing stretch of warm weather may have lulled north-central Montanans into a sense of security, but Old Man Winter reared his head again this weekend, causing some traffic problems. Havre Assistant Chief of Police Gabe Matosich said that as of 9:30 a. m., Havre police had responded to five traffic crashes since 6 a. m.. "People need to slow down, take some more time, " Matosich added. Saturday and Sunday saw record snowfalls for Havre, mirroring a weather pattern stretching over the state. With the snow returned bitter...
CAIRO — Egypt's military promised Monday not to fire on any peaceful protests and said it recognized "the legitimacy of the people's demands" ahead of a demonstration in which organizers aim to bring a million Egyptians to the streets to press for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The military statement was the strongest sign yet that the army was willing to let the week-old protests continue and even grow as long as they remain peaceful, even if that leads to the fall of Mubarak. If the 82-year-old president, a f... Full story
UM School of Journalism HELENA — In a soft and affable voice, Republican Rep. Pat Ingraham introduced herself and said she represented the people of Sanders County. Those words were the last the entire room would agree on in an emotional two-hour hearing Friday on her bill to require that women have an ultrasound before they get an abortion. Last week marked 38 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a right to an abortion. But as the tears, outrage and gavel-slamming that attended Ingraham's House Bill 2... Full story
HAMPTON, N.H. — A confident Mitt Romney called President Barack Obama "a footnote in history" Saturday morning, ignoring his Republican rivals altogether during a campaign stop in New Hampshire three days before the Iowa caucuses. "This president has been a failure," Romney told hundreds of supporters packed into the Old Salt Restaurant half a continent away from where Iowa Republicans will formally launch the GOP nomination contest Tuesday. AP Photo/Evan Vucci Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick...
HELENA (AP) — Canada-based RX Exploration has applied for an operating permit to expand a gold and silver mine northwest of Helena after regulatory officials became concerned the company was pushing the limits of its existing permit. The company made the application Thursday to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to expand operations at the historic Drumlummon Mine. "This is a big step toward moving forward," Bob Taylor, the company's chief operating officer, told the Independent Record. The mining company has b... Full story
BUTTE (AP) — An Arizona man is ringing in the New Year with good news after a local animal warden found his dog — which had been missing for a month — near Butte. Phil Nichols and his 6-year-old lab mix, Buddy, became separated in November while stopped in Dillon, he told The Montana Standard in a telephone interview Friday. Exactly when and how Buddy jumped out of his camper, Nichols isn't sure. But the news received this week that Buddy is alive — albeit thin, haggard and nursing a badly hurt back foot — has Nichols b...
HELENA — An increase in the voluntary license plate fee for state parks is among a few new state laws set to go into place with the New Year, along with a regularly scheduled increase in the minimum wage. While most of the new laws adopted by the Legislature earlier in the year have already taken effect, there are some new laws with a Jan. 1 effective date. One increases the fee that drivers pay for state parks when licensing a vehicle, although those who do not want to pay the fee are not required to. The fee goes from $4 t...
HELENA — A federal appeals court has handed a new setback to developers of a proposed $550 million railroad that would link southeastern Montana's untapped coal reserves to Midwestern and overseas markets. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the Surface Transportation Board did not take a hard enough look at the environmental risks when it approved the 130-mile Tongue River Railroad line in 2007, including the effects of developing the vast Otter Creek coal tracts. The Tongue River Railroad Co. has b... Full story
HELENA— The Montana Supreme Court restored the state's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees in a ruling Friday that interest groups say bucks a high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision granting political speech rights to corporations. The decision grants a big win to Attorney General Steve Bullock, who personally represented the state in defending its ban that came under fire after the "Citizens United" decision last year from the U.S. Supreme court. "The Citizen's United d...
William "Ben" Oliver, 97, died Friday morning, at Northern Montana Care Center of natural causes. His funeral service will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, 2011, at Big Sandy United Methodist Church, Big Sandy, Mont., with Pastor Ross Rettig officiating. His entombment will follow at Hillcrest Mausoleum. A full obituary will follow.? Arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home...
PARIS (AP) — With glittering fireworks and celebrations from New Zealand to Times Square, the world eagerly welcomed a new year and hope for a better future Saturday, saying goodbye to a year of hurricanes, tsunamis and economic turmoil that many would rather forget. Revelers in Australia, Asia and the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, which jumped across the international dateline to be first to celebrate, welcomed 2012 with booming fireworks displays. Up to a million revelers were expected to jam New York's Times S...
