Montana/Region

Genetic testing can help identify best mental health medications

Published on Mon, 04/05/2021 - 4:01pm
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MISSOULA (AP) — Health care providers in Montana may soon be able to determine how patients will respond to medications before they are prescribed.

That would be accomplished by analyzing patients’ genetic makeup, with help from the new L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation (SIHI) in the University of Montana’s College of Health.

Wildfire in Theodore Roosevelt National Park triples in size

Published on Mon, 04/05/2021 - 4:00pm

MEDORA, N.D. (AP) — Firefighters worked Monday to further contain a wildfire in Theodore Roosevelt National Park that tripled in size on Easter, according to the North Dakota Forest Service. 

Crews worked through the night in the park’s North Unit, where the fire threatens some park staff housing, maintenance buildings and the CCC Campground, according to the Forest Service’s acting outreach and education manager, Beth Hill. 

Justice Department working with tribes on missing persons

Published on Fri, 04/02/2021 - 4:39pm
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By MICHAEL BALSAMO and IRIS SAMUELS Associated Press/Report for America

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Jermain Charlo vanished in June 2018. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal member hasn’t been seen since.

Valenda Morigeau, Charlo’s aunt, reported her missing to the Missoula Police Department in the days after her disappearance. But Morigeau said the detective initially assigned to the case failed to take the report seriously and was slow to act, a pattern she said is common when Native Americans report missing loved ones.

Schools grapple with SD governor’s order on transgender sports ban

Published on Thu, 04/01/2021 - 3:23pm
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — When South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem issued executive orders to bar transgender girls from girls’ sports leagues, it appeared to be a quick fix to what had become a political mess, but opponents of the orders say they amount to little more than a suggestion.

MT House backs bill on religious challenges to rules

Published on Thu, 04/01/2021 - 3:22pm

HELENA (AP) — The Montana House has endorsed a bill that would allow people to challenge government regulations that interfere with their religious beliefs. 

The approval came Wednesday after lawmakers rejected an amendment that would have made it clear the law couldn’t be used to justify discrimination.

Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the government would have to prove any regulations that substantially interfere with someone’s religious beliefs are justified by a compelling state interest and are being accomplished by the least restrictive means possible.

Bill banning trans athletes advances

Published on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 3:33pm
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HELENA (AP) — The Montana Senate advanced Tuesday a bill that would ban transgender athletes from participating in school and college sports according to the gender with which they identify, but amended it to be voided if the federal government withholds funding from the state because of the measure.

Supporters of the measure say male-born athletes are naturally stronger, faster and larger than those born female, and the bill would prevent an uneven playing field for female-born athletes, despite a lack of evidence to back the claim.

MT bill aims to limit nonprofits, increase ag land protections

Published on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 3:32pm

By Darrell Ehrlick
Daily Montanan

The title of Rep. Dan Bartel’s bill, House Bill 677, seems broad enough: “An act prohibiting certain nonprofit corporations from purchasing agricultural lands.”

That was the one thing both opponents and proponents seemed to agree on — the bill would stop ag land sales. They also agreed that the certain nonprofit addressed in the bill seemed squarely aimed at the American Prairie Reserve, a large nonprofit that has acquired large tracts of land in central and northern Montana for conservation, public access and bison.

SD governor kills transgender bill, but orders ban

Published on Tue, 03/30/2021 - 3:37pm
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PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday killed a bill that would have banned transgender women and girls from female sports, then later issued weaker executive orders that include restrictions but which conservatives decried as political face-saving.

Lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced similar bans this year, with Republican governors in three states — Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi — signing them into law. A federal court blocked a similar law in Idaho last year.

MT House advances bill to aid Native American voting

Published on Tue, 03/30/2021 - 3:35pm

HELENA (AP) — The Montana House narrowly advanced a bill Monday that seeks to make it easier for Native Americans to vote, even as Republican lawmakers are pushing election restrictions.

The bill aims to reduce travel time for tribal members to access voting services by requiring at least one satellite elections office to be available on each reservation in the state – with the same services as county elections offices – at least 30 days before election day. 

GOP lawmaker proposes adding guns to the Montana state flag

Published on Mon, 03/29/2021 - 3:47pm
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HELENA (AP) — A proposal to change the Montana state flag to prominently feature firearms failed Friday to pass a vote by the state House, after a Republican lawmaker said such a change would honor the state’s history.

“Who doesn’t want to have a great gun flag?” Republican Rep. Caleb Hinkle asked during a hearing on his proposal.

The proposal came days after 10 people lost their lives in a mass shooting in Colorado that rekindled a national discussion on gun control measures.