Daily News Roundup
April 15 and 16, 2024
By Denise Rivette
A return to cold and wet weather will create hazardous conditions for young livestock this evening through Wednesday. Cool temperatures will continue through the rest of the week, warming for the weekend.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Meets With Montana Families, Asks For Media's Help
By Denise Rivette The Family Summit Last Wednesday, representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Rocky Mountain Field Division (covering Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming), in conjunction with U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, hosted a Family Summit in Billings to support Montanans who have lost loved ones to the drug overdose epidemic. This was the second summit to be held in Montana in two years.
Auditors: Montana DOC Fails to Provide Education, Training to Meet Demand; Lacks Data
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan A new legislative audit report released Monday tells lawmakers it’s unclear if inmates with the Montana Department of Corrections are receiving much education or instruction because the data and record-keeping within the agency is either non-existent or so incomplete that it was nearly impossible for auditors to perform their tasks.
‘Tough-On-Crime’ Policies are Back in Some Places That Had Reimagined Criminal Justice
By Amanda Hernandez for Stateline Fueled by public outrage over the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and other high-profile incidents of police violence, a seismic shift swept across the United States shortly afterward, with a wave of initiatives aimed at reining in police powers and reimagining criminal-legal systems.
Your Montana-Given Right to Know
Addie Slanger for the Daily Montanan Did you know that you have a constitutional right to know? The right to know appears alongside your right to freedom of speech, right to bear arms and right of suffrage in the Montana Constitution, and it is every bit as important. Under the right to know, you have a right to request public information from your state and local governments.
The Fourth Wave of Opioids Swamps Montana with Meth-Fentanyl Cocktail
By Darrell Ehrlick for the Daily Montanan The current drug epidemic of fentanyl being mixed with other substances has been called “the fourth wave.” And if you use that metaphor, then Montana is getting pummeled by tsunami. New real-time drug testing reports show that even though the state lagged behind others initially when it came to the trend, its effects in the Treasure State are now among the worst in the nation.