Gov. appoints Hi-Line residents to commissions

Several Hi-Line residents are among appointments Gov. Brian Schweitzer has made to 10 boards, councils and commissions. Schweitzer named Paul Tuss of Havre to the state Judicial Nominating Commission and Delina Cuts The Rope of Harlem and Randy Randolph of Havre to the State Tribal Economic Development Commission. The State Tribal commission was created by the Legislature in 1999 to conduct assessments of the economic needs of each of the state's reservations and to provide recommendations for accelerating economic development. The commission's goal is to expand opportunities on the seven reservations in partnership with tribal governments and the federal government. The commission includes the state director of Indian Affairs, a member from the state Department of Commerce, a member from the governor's Office of Economic Development, and one member from each of the seven federally recognized tribes in Montana and from the Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians. Randolph, a Havre attorney, will represent the Little Shell on the commission. He is running as a Democrat for Hill County attorney and will face Hill County Attorney Gina Dahl and Hill County Deputy Attorney Lindsay Lorang in the June 8 primary Schweitzer appointed Russell Boham of Great Falls as an alternate representative of the Little Shell. Cuts The Rope, a planner at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, will represent the Fort Belknap Indian Community on the commission. Loren "Bum" Stiffarm, chief administrative officer for the Tribal government, is the alternate. The Judicial Nominating Commission provides the governor with a list of candidates for appointment to vacancies on the state Supreme Court or district courts. It also provides a list of candiDates to the Supreme Court chief justice to fill any term or vacancy for the state water court. The commission comprises four lay members who are not attorneys appointed by the governor, two practicing attorneys appointed by the Supreme Court, and a district judge elected by the state district judges. Tuss, the executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp., is active on the boards of The Montana Economic Developers Association, Northern Montana Hospital and the Montana Nonprofit Association.