Montana/Region

Judge replaced in case challenging new Montana abortion laws

Published on Thu, 09/30/2021 - 4:43pm

HELENA (AP) — A judge has recused himself from a case challenging four new laws restricting access to abortion in Montana, a day before he was set to rule on whether to grant an injunction that would delay their implementation.

Unless the new judge grants an injunction Thursday before midnight, the laws will go into effect, putting new limits on access to abortion in the state.

Yellowstone: Exposure killed man at lake, no sign of brother

Published on Wed, 09/29/2021 - 4:28pm

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — An autopsy has determined that a man whose body was found on the shore of a lake in Yellowstone National Park died of hypothermia, park officials said Wednesday.

Mark O’Neill, 67, of Chimacum, Washington, had been on a four-night backcountry trip to Shoshone Lake with his brother, Kim Crumbo, 74, of Ogden, Utah. A relative reported them overdue Sept. 19.

Amtrak train that derailed was going just under speed limit

Published on Tue, 09/28/2021 - 12:00am
Article Image Alt Text

JOPLIN (AP) — A n Amtrak train that derailed in rural Montana over the weekend was going just under the speed limit at about 75 mph when it went off the track along a gradual curve, killing three people and possibly ejecting passengers, U.S. investigators said Monday.

Cause of deadly Montana train derailment sought

Published on Mon, 09/27/2021 - 12:00am
Article Image Alt Text

JOPLIN (AP) — Federal investigators are seeking the cause of an Amtrak train derailment near a switch on tracks in the middle of vast farmland in far northern Montana that killed three people and left seven hospitalized over the weekend.

Another Montana therapeutic boarding school is closing

Published on Fri, 09/24/2021 - 12:00am

HELENA (AP) — A therapeutic boarding school in northwestern Montana, which state inspectors learned had once made boys sleep outside in winter conditions without proper clothing as punishment, closed on Friday.

Slain woman Gabby Petito’s boyfriend indicted for bank fraud

Published on Thu, 09/23/2021 - 4:42pm
Article Image Alt Text

BILLINGS (AP) — Federal officials say the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, whose body was found at a national park in Wyoming after a cross country trip with him, has been indicted for unauthorized use of a debit card as searchers continued looking for him in Florida swampland.

The federal grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Wyoming does not explain who the card belonged to. But it indicates Brian Laundrie made unauthorized withdrawals worth more than $1,000 during the period in which Petito went missing.

Montana deploys 70 guardsmen to hospitals as COVID-19 cases climb

Published on Wed, 09/22/2021 - 12:00am

Gov. Greg Gianforte on Tuesday announced a series of Montana National Guard deployments to hospitals across the state to address an overburdened nursing labor force and skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers — Montana twice led the nation in per-capita COVID case count increase last week, and health officials are warning that the delta variant-driven pandemic is the most devastating it’s been in months.

Body recovered, half-brother sought around Yellowstone lake

Published on Tue, 09/21/2021 - 4:46pm

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — Rescue crews in Yellowstone National Park recovered the body of a 67-year-old Washington state man and searched around a lake Tuesday for his half-brother after the pair failed to return from a backcountry canoe trip.

A 10-person ground crew was walking the shoreline of Shoshone Lake looking for Kim Crumbo, 74, a former U.S. Navy Seal from Ogden, Utah, Yellowstone officials said. A helicopter from nearby Grand Teton National Park was assisting the effort.

Missoula and Bozeman officials beg residents to wear masks, get vaccinated

Published on Mon, 09/20/2021 - 12:00am

HELENA (AP) — Health officials in both Missoula and Bozeman are begging Montana residents to wear masks indoors and get vaccinated as hospitals face increasing strain and the state remains without any statewide health mandates.

Wyoming to ask US to lift park region grizzly protections

Published on Fri, 09/17/2021 - 3:53pm

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming will ask the federal government to remove its protections for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region and permit the region’s three states to manage and potentially allow hunting of the big bruins in certain areas, Gov. Mark Gordon said Thursday.

“We have proved time and time again that we are experts in wildlife conservation,” Gordon, a Republican, said at a news conference.