Daily News Roundup
February 7, 2024
Senate Border Bill Fails
By Denise Rivette An appropriations bill including border issues; funding for Israel, innocent civilian Gazans and the Ukraine; and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act (cosponsored by U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester) did not make it through cloture this afternoon.
Daines On The One Year Anniversary Of His Incarceration...
By Denise Rivettte There is a lot of serious stuff going on this week. Providing a break from the intense political scene playing out in Washington, D.C., Senator Steve Daines took a moment to share with his constituents his humorous look back at the time he spent in Twitter jail for posting hunting photographs.
U.S. Attorney’s Montana Office Collects more than $6 million in Civil and Criminal Actions in Fiscal Year 2023
This press release came from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana: BILLINGS — U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced today that the District of Montana collected $6,041,422 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of this amount, $1,876,130 was collected in criminal actions and $4,165,292
An Ancestral River Runs Through It
By Keely Larson for Montana FreePress Jeff Wivholm isn’t partial to mountains. He likes to be able to see the weather rolling in, which is remarkably possible in the northeastern corner of Montana. If you look to the right there, Wivholm says, you can see the valley created by the aquifer. Maybe he can, his eyes accustomed to seeing dips and crevasses in what looks to an unfamiliar eye like a starkly flat landscape. He laughs and says it takes some getting used to.
Judge finds parts of bill adding new hurdles for Montana ballot initiatives unconstitutional
By: Blair Miller for Daily Montanan The imposition of a $3,700 filing fee for groups and individuals wanting to put ballot initiatives before voters, and a new statute allowing the state’s attorney general broad legal review powers over the proposals are unconstitutional, a Lewis and Clark County District Court judge ruled on Monday.
Daines and Tester Demand Answers from Biden Administration after 19 Months of Radio Silence on SkyWest’s Commuter Application
By Denise Rivette Montana’s U.S. Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester are pressuring the Biden Administration to provide answers regarding SkyWest Airlines’ application for commuter authority for its charter business, SkyWest Charter. Due to a pilot shortage, regional and rural routes are losing service. In an effort to maintain service through the subsidized Essential Air Service to Montana communities such as Butte and West Yellowstone, SkyWest has requested that its charter business be certified for commuter service. If granted, SkyWest Charter would be able to use pilots with fewer flight hours.
Law Enforcement Blotter
TOTAL CALLS FOR SERVICE = 231 CITIZEN ASSIST = 10 WELFARE CHECK = 3 MEDICALS = 13 PRISONER TRANSPORT TOTAL TIME = 9 HOURS TRAFFIC COMPLAINT = 4 ABANDONED VEHICLE = 3 CRASH = 6 ARRESTS = 4 / INCARCERATIONS = 2 January 29, 2024 Vandalism in the form of BB gun holes in a residential window and siding appears to be connected to a local juvenile after being investigated by a Deputy. The matter is being handled by adult parties involved.