Montana/Region

Idaho nuclear lab needs research deadline extended

Published on Fri, 02/07/2020 - 4:43pm

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The director of the Idaho National Laboratory said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy and Idaho will have to reach another supplemental agreement so the nuclear research lab can continue its mission past 2035.

Mark Peters on Thursday told lawmakers on the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee that the 1995 agreement between the Energy Department and Idaho could stop nuclear research.

North Dakota crime bureau loses K-9 agent, Hex

Published on Fri, 02/07/2020 - 4:43pm

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation has lost its K-9 agent after just two months on the job. 

The 2-year-old yellow Labrador named Hex collapsed and died last week in Fargo after helping his handler serve a search warrant. 

The Bismarck Tribune  reports that at a recent checkup a veterinarian found some heart troubles and further tests revealed an inoperable cancerous growth inside his heart wall. 

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says Hex was expected to live several more months, but collapsed and died Jan. 31. 

Hemp bill approved by House committee with Noem’s support

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 4:51pm
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PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A House committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill to legalize and regulate the growth, processing and transportation of industrial hemp in South Dakota.

The bill’s advancement to the House floor marked progress on an issue that divided legislators and Gov. Kristi Noem last year, but disagreements remain on how to fund the hemp program.

Gambling regulation bill is headed to Wyoming Legislature

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 4:50pm

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming lawmakers propose to expand the role of a commission that oversees horse racing to include regulating all for-profit gambling. 

The new gambling commission, currently called the Pari-Mutuel Commission, would regulate everything from games of skill to bingo halls.

The law would specifically exclude nonprofit organizations such as the Boy Scouts or National Rifle Association that rely on games like bingo to raise money.

Such groups would still have to report gambling proceeds to the state, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.

Window opens for tribes to seek licenses for internet access

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 4:49pm
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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission opened a window Monday for federally recognized tribes to apply for licenses that could help establish or expand internet access on their lands.

Tribes had pushed to be first in line for mid-band spectrum licenses that largely are unassigned across the western United States and once were reserved for educational institutions. The 2.5 Ghz-band of spectrum — channels of electromagnetic waves — are seen as key to expanding 5G access.

Trump administration moves ahead on shrinking Utah monuments

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 4:44pm
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. government implemented final management plans Thursday for two national monuments in Utah that President Donald Trump downsized. The plans ensure lands previously off-limits to energy development will be open to mining and drilling despite pending lawsuits by conservation, tribal and paleontology groups challenging the constitutionality of the president’s action.

No sanctions from Legislature for lawmaker over socialism comments

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 12:00am

HELENA (AP) — The speaker of the Montana House conceded Wednesday that the Legislature will likely do nothing to sanction a Republican state representative after the lawmaker refused calls to resign over his assertion that the U.S. Constitution allows socialists to be jailed or shot.

Republican House leaders, including Speaker Greg Hertz, wrote to Rep. Rodney Garcia on Monday, asking him to resign following his “inflammatory” and “deeply disturbing” comments at a Republican gathering in Helena last Friday. Lee Newspapers of Montana first reported Garcia’s remarks. 

Report gives details, not cause of plane crash

Published on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 12:00am

BILLINGS (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board released an initial report that provides details but not the cause of a Montana airplane crash that killed four men. 

The NTSB is expected to release a second report with more facts within 18 months of the Jan. 11 crash between Billings and Roundup, The Billings Gazette reports.

There was no fire and no explosion as a result of the crash near Dunn Mountain, the report said.

Weak coal production reported

Published on Wed, 02/05/2020 - 4:59pm

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Coal mining in the top U.S. coal-producing region was down sharply at the end of 2019 compared to the year before.

Coal production in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana fell nearly 14% in the last quarter compared to the same period in 2018.

Volumes for the three-month period were the lowest in over two decades, according to U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data released Monday.

Montana man gets 220 years in prison for killing his estranged wife

Published on Wed, 02/05/2020 - 4:51pm

BOZEMAN (AP) — A woman who was shot in the back of the head on the night her housemate was killed by the woman’s estranged husband told him she forgave him during his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

Ashley Van Hemert said when she was in the intensive care unit after being shot on Jan. 6, 2018, she wrote on her pillows: “If I die, you must forgive the man.”

District Judge Holly Brown sentenced Joseph “Paul” DeWise, 49, of Belgrade, to 220 years in prison without parole for killing his estranged wife, Lauren Walder DeWise, and for trying to kill Van Hemert.