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Two Billings police officers cleared by jury of killing Native American man
After a day-long inquest Monday, a coroner’s jury found two Billings Police officers justified in a 2020 killing of a Chippewa Cree man after police said the man pulled a gun while officers tried to handcuff him. Officers Ryland Nelson and Justin Bickford will not face criminal charges for the shooting death of 29-year-old Coleman […]
Fatal police shooting of Native American man in Billings heads to jury Monday
A coroner’s jury is set to decide Monday whether two white Billings police officers will face criminal charges for shooting and killing a Chippewa-Cree man on Indigenous People’s Day in 2020. “We had to have a closed casket,” said Tasheena Duran, sister of the man who died, Coleman F. Stump. “We didn’t want his kids […]
Judge Gregory Todd retires, remains concerned about separation of powers
Testimony during the last Legislative session frightened Yellowstone County District Court Judge Gregory Todd, who retired in December after 21 years on the bench. “I’m concerned about the number of legislators that have joined the attacks on the judiciary without fully appreciating our systems of checks and balances,” Todd said a couple of weeks before […]
Gunfight: A Montanan’s fight against the gun industry (from the inside out)
In his book “Gunfight,” Kalispell-based former gun industry executive Ryan Busse makes the case that the National Rifle Association is at the heart of our national political divide. Busse connects the NRA’s use of conspiracy and fear to drive memberships and points out that people have begun to carry AR-15s into government buildings, something the […]
Symposium demand: Everybody claim their vote
Some Republican Montana legislators are drumming up support for a special committee to look into the 2020 election results in Missoula and possibly all of Montana, continuing a call for scrutiny of outcomes already certified multiple times. Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, for one, said she does not see any downside to a meticulous audit. The […]
Inconsistency for children difficult as schools manage COVID-19
Montana schools are flickering between in-person and remote learning as transmission of COVID-19 causes an erratic first month of classes for some students. During a Thursday emergency school board meeting to decide whether to reopen Fortine Elementary School, Principal Laura Pluid read a note from a parent who said the inconsistency was making everything harder. […]
CSKT tribal leader talks with VP Harris, Secretary Haaland, about voting rights
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Chairwoman Shelly Fyant said she was filled with hope after a discussion last week with Vice President Kamala Harris and Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland about Native American voting rights. Longtime voting advocate Fyant still remembers how excited she was to vote the first time. She thought about it […]
Ex-boyfriend of Jermain Charlo appears in federal court
The ex-boyfriend of Jermain Charlo, a Missoula woman who went missing in June 2018, appeared in federal court Monday on a charge of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Michael Blake Defrance, 28, pled not guilty to a charge of a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition in U.S. District Court in Missoula. […]
Women’s prison inmate died by hanging, death certificate says
A 50-year-old woman who died while in custody at the Montana Women’s Prison was found in her cell “suspended by a bedsheet,” according to her death certificate. Lisa Anne Nester received medical care at Billings Clinic after she was found unresponsive in her cell June 7. Nester died from lack of oxygen due to hanging, […]
Prisoner with history of mental illness dies after disemboweling himself at state prison
A man with a history of mental illness and self-harm died May 23 after he disemboweled himself while in custody at the Montana State Prison. Shaun Duncan Morrison, 39, died from a self-inflicted open wound to his stomach wall, according to his death certificate. Morrison caused the injury to himself on May 19. He lived […]
Kids need the vaccine, doctors across the state urge
Billings’ pediatrician Kathryn Lysinger made sure a news crew was there when her 12-year-old son got his COVID-19 vaccine. She “strongly” recommends parents get their kids get the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine. “Which is why I put my poor son on display and had a TV camera in his face when he got his vaccine,” Lysinger […]
Federal judge’s ruling allows Butte man to reclaim his life
A federal judge Tuesday ruled a Butte man would never again have to register as a sex offender in the state of Montana. Randall Menges, 45, was convicted as an 18-year-old under Idaho’s Crime Against Nature statute after he had consensual sex with two 16-year-old boys. Idaho courts have interpreted the statute as a ban […]