HELENA, Montana – Montana legislators rejected a bill that would have made it easier for Native communities to vote. House Bill 613 would have required satellite election offices to be available on each Montana reservation at least 30 days before election day. That would have cut down on the travel time for tribal citizens to … Read more
According to officials, several homes had to be evacuated amid a wildfire near Birdseye road in Helena Sunday afternoon. Officials estimate the fire burned a few acres, forcing residents to clear out in the area of Sunset Road and Sun Hill Drive. All roadblocks and evacuations have been lifted, and fire crews continured clean-up efforts … Read more
A Thursday court appearance seeking bond for an East Helena man accused of participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was continued, his attorney said. Jerod Hughes request has been consolidated with his brother, Joshua, and will be heard next week. In mid-February a District of Columbia grand jury returned nine counts … Read more
Corey Michael Kelly was found guilty of mitigated deliberate homicide in the killing of 37-year-old Helena-area veteran Mark “Markie” Anthony Luther last year. A Helena jury returned the verdict after deliberating for approximately five hours Thursday. Kelly was initially charged with deliberate homicide following Luther’s death on Nov. 20, but the jury determined he was … Read more
Plans to move the Montana Highway Patrol headquarters from Helena to Boulder moved forward this week. A legislative panel passed a bill Tuesday that would have the Department of Public Health and Human Services turn over the campus of the Montana Developmental Center to the Department of Justice. The proposal would transfer the Boulder campus … Read more
The Lewis and Clark County Commission is set to decide whether to join the Big Sky Rail Authority during Thursday Zoom meeting. The rail authority, currently comprised of 12 Montana counties, could potentially bring passenger trains and economic gains to Lewis and Clark County. Many of the details regarding the train line itself have yet … Read more
A few dozen people gathered in front of the Montana Capitol Tuesday afternoon to call for “commonsense” gun law reform. Moms Demand Action, the organization said the impromptu rally was prompted by Monday’s fatal mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store by a gunman who purchased the assault rifle used to kill 10 people, just … Read more
Flyers for an April 6 event at a local church to discuss overthrowing the government were distributed Sunday in the East Helena area. The pastor said the gathering is independent of the Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church, where the group will meet to plan forming a militia and over taking Congress. The Montana Air National … Read more
At a demonstration Friday protestors rallied for justice for Jermain Charlo. About 20 of Charlo’s friends and family gathered outside the Missoula Police Department asking police to name the ex-boyfriend, Michael Defrance, as a suspect in her missing person’s case. Charlo went missing on June 16, 2018. According to a search warrant filed in Missoula … Read more
Preliminary information from an ongoing investigation launched Sunday in Livingston suggests that a person who fatally shot themselves is connected to the fatal shooting of another person. The incident, which Livingston Police Department Chief Dale Johnson is calling a homicide-suicide, was at a residence on South Ninth Street, according to a press release issued Sunday … Read more