Montana/Region

In Short

Published on Thu, 06/18/2020 - 4:16pm

Two women get jail time for damaging Yellowstone thermal area 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A federal magistrate judge in Wyoming has ordered two women from Pennsylvania to spend two days in jail for leaving a boardwalk and damaging a thermal area in Yellowstone National Park.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Mark Carman also ordered 31-year-old Tara Davoli and 30-year-old Sarah Piotrowski of Philadelphia to pay a $350 fine, about $107 each in restitution and banned them from the park for two years. 

Man arrested for allegedly stealing beehives in Montana and other states

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:49pm

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — A man who stole dozens of beehives across the West has been arrested in Washington state, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said. The bees could be worth more than $200,000.

“The case has the potential of over 30 victims spread across California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington,” the Sheriff’s Office told the Bellingham Herald.

Perry David Bayes, 56, was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property in the first degree, which is a class B felony, according to officials. It was not immediately known if he has a lawyer.

Officials predict active Montana fire season amid coronavirus pandemic

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:48pm

HELENA (AP) — Montana will likely see more fires and smoke-filled skies this year than it saw law year, officials said Tuesday.

While snow pack in the state is above average, July is expected to be warmer and drier than normal, raising the fire risk, National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Richmond said during a fire season briefing to Gov. Steve Bullock and state officials. 

Trial starts in hit-and-run death of 9-year-old

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:48pm

HAMILTON (AP) — A trial is underway in western Montana for a man charged with negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a crash last summer that killed a 9-year-old Hamilton boy as he crossed the road on his scooter. 

Joseph McNamara, 60, is also charged with criminal endangerment, drug possession and tampering with evidence in the death of Robert Anthony Leonardi on July 7, 2019.

The boy’s father, Phil Leonardi, testified Tuesday that he was working in his shop when he heard the screeching of tires and looked up and saw his son tumbling. 

Man sentenced for spending $390K stolen from armored truck

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:47pm

HELENA, (AP) — A Helena man has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for spending $390,000 that was stolen from an armored truck on gambling, day trading and travel. 

A federal jury found John Gregory Alexander Herrin, 30, guilty in January of interstate transportation of stolen property and eight counts of money laundering. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon.

Snow closes Beartooth Pass

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:46pm

Three days short of the official beginning of summer, snowy winter conditions have closed the Beartooth Pass at the Montana and Wyoming border to Long Lake.

Adverse weather conditions are being reported in Wyoming along the Beartooth Pass on U.S. Highway 212, and travelers near the state line should turn around and return to Red Lodge or use the Gardiner entrance or Highway 296, according to the Montana Department of Transportation. 

Elevations up to 8,000 feet could see 6 to 10 inches of snow into Thursday. 

Grand Teton opens first county visitor centers

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:46pm

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) — Grand Teton National Park will open three visitor centers for the first time this year, about a month after the park reopened to the public following closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose, the Colter Bay Visitor Center on Jackson Lake, and the ranger station and welcome center at Jenny Lake were opening Tuesday, park officials announced Monday.

State sees 20th virus death, 18 cases in single day

Published on Wed, 06/17/2020 - 4:45pm

HELENA (AP) — Montana health officials on Wednesday reported 18 more cases of COVID-19 and the death of a Big Horn County woman in her 30s, bringing the death toll in the state to 20.

The latest death was the third in Big Horn County, which reported its first on June 5. 

The 18 new cases mark the highest daily total since April 8. Officials said there were 73 positive tests from June 10-16, compared to 39 in the previous week. Five people remain hospitalized.

Montana has reported a total of 23 new cases in the past two days. Eight were diagnosed in Custer County.

Man arrested in shooting during Albuquerque statue protest

Published on Tue, 06/16/2020 - 4:33pm
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A 31-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting that happened as protesters in New Mexico’s largest city tried to tear down a bronze statue of a Spanish conquistador outside the Albuquerque Museum, police said Tuesday.

The shooting occurred near a Monday night confrontation between protesters and a group of armed men trying to protect the statue of Juan de Oñate before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue.

Court rules to cancel energy lease on land sacred to tribes

Published on Tue, 06/16/2020 - 4:30pm

HELENA (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday to cancel a long-disputed oil and gas lease on land in northwestern Montana considered sacred to Native American tribes in the U.S. and Canada. 

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overruled a judge’s 2018 decision that had allowed a Louisiana company to keep its lease within the Badger Two-Medicine area of Lewis and Clark National Forest.