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Browning Man Gets Life Sentence For Rape
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A 49-year-old Browning man has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 51-year-old woman last year.
The Independent Record reports Donald Carl Salois was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon during a hearing in Helena.
Laura Weiss with the U.S. Attorney's Office sought the life sentence, saying Salois offered the woman a ride home in February 2012, but then took her outside a housing area and raped her.
Salois has previous convictions for sexually abusing one girl when she was 3 and another when she was 6. He served 10 years in state prison for those offenses.
Salois has been in custody since his arrest in August 2012. He was convicted of aggravated sexual assault in January.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Cabela's, Kohl's Planned For Missoula
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MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - The company that owns the former Kmart building in Missoula plans to raze it and construct buildings to house a Cabela's Outpost and a Kohl's Department Store.
The Missoulian reports the new tenants were announced in a memo about the project that Woodbury Corp. of Salt Lake City presented to the Missoula Redevelopment Agency board on May 15.
Woodbury project manager Darrin Smith says demolition is set to begin June 1, but he declined to confirm the names of the tenants.
The $24.5 million retail construction project will also include three smaller buildings while another building on the property will be renovated and broken into two smaller spaces. The tenants in two other leased spaces are expected to remain.
Woodbury expects the new businesses will create over 400 new full-time, part-time and seasonal jobs.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Court Denies Request to Block Bison Hazing
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A federal appeals court has denied a conservation group's request to block the use of a helicopter to haze wild bison in southwestern Montana back into Yellowstone National Park.
A three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the injunction request Monday.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed the request as part of its legal challenge that low-altitude helicopter hazing harasses and displaces federally protected grizzly bears in the area.
The group is appealing U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell's ruling in March against its lawsuit.
Montana Department of Livestock spokesman Steve Merritt said Tuesday the annual bison-hazing operation appears to be wrapping up for the season.
He says state officials moved about 350 bison Monday from the Hebgen Basin west of Yellowstone.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Defendant Pleads Guilty in Crow Corruption Case
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The youngest defendant in a corruption case on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation has pleaded guilty after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
Twenty-two-year-old Martin Lloyd Old Horn pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he defrauded a company doing business on the reservation and submitted a false student-aid application.
Old Horn was accused of taking payments from an outside company but not doing the work as a monitor for historic sites.
Prosecutors will seek to dismiss charges of larceny and wire fraud under the plea agreement.
Old Horn's grandfather and two others have pleaded not guilty in a related case scheduled to go to trial in August.
Three other defendants reached plea deals.
Authorities say more than $500,000 from monitoring payments was diverted from the tribe as part of a broader conspiracy.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Intoxicated Transient Stabs Self in Billings
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Police in Billings say an intoxicated transient stabbed himself in the chest several times in front of law enforcement officers trying to take him into custody after officers with the U.S. Marshals Service removed him from the federal courthouse.
Police Chief Rich St. John says deputies with the Marshals Service called police because they believed the man might need to go to the Community Crisis Center.
Once outside, the man waved the knife at deputies, who drew their guns.
A police officer twice deployed a stun gun to shock the man, but the probes didn't go through his coat. St. John says the man then stabbed himself in the chest five times. He was taken to a Billings hospital.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Man Gets 10 Years For Convenience Store Beating
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MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to beating a Missoula convenience store clerk during an attempted robbery has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The victim, Patrick Bendig, told Ture-Adon Thibodeaux that he forgave him for the January attack and thanked him for taking responsibility. Bendig told District Judge Karen Townsend he agreed with a five-year sentence with the Department of Corrections with a recommendation for boot camp.
But Townsend said a prison sentence is necessary as a matter of public safety.
Thibodeaux is one of five men charged in the Jan. 8 robbery at Jay's Mart. Court records say three men entered the store, two hit the clerk with baseball bats and they left with the store's cash register. Prosecutors say they used the money to pay rent.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Montana Tea Party Protest IRS Targeting
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - About a half-dozen tea party activists have gathered outside the federal building in Helena to protest IRS scrutiny of conservative groups and to warn that the agency could target other organizations next.
The protest was one of several taking place at IRS locations across the nation Tuesday.
Big Sky Tea Party Association Ed Arganbright says everybody should be outraged by the Internal Revenue Service's targeting certain conservative groups.
Arganbright says if the IRS can do it to the tea party, it can do it to other groups of different political stripes.
He and the others held signs saying "Stop IRS Targeting" and "Audit the IRS."
IRS officials have acknowledged that some conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status were screened through searches for terms that include "tea party" and "patriot."
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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MSU Professor Dies in Landslide in Nepal
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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - An associate professor at Montana State University has died in a landslide in Nepal, where she was leading a group of students taking an honors program course.
MSU spokesman Tracy Ellig says Betsy Palmer and 16 students were on an extended trek to a remote village in the Arun River Valley in the Himalayas when landslide hit. Palmer was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu, but died of her injuries Monday. None of the students was injured.
Palmer came to MSU in 2001 and taught statistics and research methods courses. She met her husband in Nepal in 2005. They have 5-year-old twins.
MSU officials were working to get the students and co-trip leader Anna Greenberg back to the United States.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Sheriff Investigating Horse Strangulation Death
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STEVENSVILLE, Mont. (AP) - The Ravalli County sheriff's office is investigating after a horse was strangled to death in its corral northeast of Stevensville over the weekend.
The Ravalli Republic reports Patricia Cregan awakened Saturday to find her riding horse, Cooper, dead with a piece of nylon rope tied around its neck. The corral is about 100 feet from her house.
Cregan says she had raised the horse since it was a foal and that it was 7 or 8 years old.
Sheriff Chris Hoffman is asking anyone with information to call his office.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Woman Charged With Kidnapping Niece Released
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POLSON, Mont. (AP) - A Hot Springs woman charged with kidnapping her niece over the weekend made an initial court appearance Monday and was released on her own recognizance.
Justice of the Peace Joey Jayne rejected a request by Lake County prosecutors to set a $5,000 bond for 34-year-old Jamie T. Finley.
Finley is charged with abducting her 2-year-old niece from a Polson home on Saturday night, prompting a statewide Amber Alert.
Public defender Steve Eschenbacher told the judge that Finley took the girl to protect her.
Several of Finley's relatives told the Missoulian after the hearing that Finley took the girl to keep her sister from taking the girl out of town with a boyfriend they say abuses both the mother and the girl.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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3 Companies To Offer Insurance In MT Marketplace
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Three health insurance companies plan to sell health insurance through the federal insurance marketplace in Montana.
Montana Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen says Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, PacificSource Health Plans and the Montana Health CO-OP filed paperwork with her office by the May 15 deadline.
In August, insurers will make a final commitment to sell insurance on the marketplace, which was created under the Affordable Care Act.
The marketplace website is scheduled to open in October, allowing Montanans to search for products with coverage beginning in January 2014.
The market is designed to create competition, transparency and easy access to health insurance for consumers.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Billings Man Arrested After Chase in Stolen Car
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Police in Billings say a man driving a stolen car led them on a chase across the city after a man suffering from delusions falsely told police his girlfriend had been raped and kidnapped and the men in a nearby car were responsible.
Police Sgt. Clyde Reid tells The Billings Gazette a man called police just before midnight Friday to report the alleged assault.
When the officer tried to stop the car, the driver took off, running another responding officer off the road. The car eventually crashed into a guardrail after an 18-minute chase.
Reid identified the driver as 27-year-old Zachary Benedict Lee. He was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a weapon, two counts of felony criminal endangerment, possession of stolen property, reckless driving and fleeing from police.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Circle Woman Dies in Crash Near Glendive
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A car crashed into a semi-trailer about 10 miles north of Glendive, killing a Circle woman and injuring four others.
The Montana Highway Patrol says the car was southbound on Highway 15 Friday morning when it veered into the northbound lane and crashed into the side of a trailer being pulled by a northbound Peterbilt semi.
A 22-year-old Circle woman who was a passenger in the car was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene. Her name hasn't been released.
The patrol says three Sidney men - the 24-year-old driver and two passengers, ages 22 and 24, were taken to the hospital with head injuries.
The Billings Gazette reports the 64-year-old Sidney man driving the semi suffered minor injuries.
The crash remains under investigation.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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FWP Seeks Information On Grizzly Shooting
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KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - State wildlife officials are looking for information on the shooting death of a grizzly bear in the Star Meadows area northwest of Kalispell.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say an initial investigation last Thursday found the bear died of a gunshot wound.
Anyone with any information is urged to call 1-800-TIPMONT, or game warden Chris Crane 406-249-6231. Callers may remain anonymous and a reward may be available.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Gov. Bullock's Health Policy Adviser Resigns
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Gov. Steve Bullock's health policy adviser has left the governor's office to take a new job.
Cindy Stergar was appointed to the position in December but vacated the office earlier this month to take a medical consultant position in Missoula. She previously worked as the CEO of a Butte clinic that serves low-income patients.
Stergar helped design Bullock's health insurance proposal to expand Medicaid in Montana.
Supporters of Medicaid expansion say expanding the state-federal program would have offered much-needed health insurance to 70,000 low-income Montanans and created thousands of new jobs. The plan was rejected by the 2013 Legislature.
Officials in Bullock's office tell Lee Newspapers of Montana that he will continue to work on expanding health care access and appoint a new health policy adviser this summer.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Governor Picks New Political Practices Chief
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Gov. Steve Bullock is picking a Helena lawyer who has worked on campaign finance issues to be the state's next commissioner of political practices.
Jonathan Motl will complete the final three years of a six-year term left vacant as three Democratic appointees did not complete confirmation through the Republican-controlled Senate.
Bullock says that Motl will improve the length of time it takes for the office to deal with complaints.
Motl faces Senate confirmation in early 2015. Republican lawmakers said during interviews that they are worried about Motl's past donations to Democratic candidates for office.
Motl said he is committed to enforcing campaign laws and the office's nonpartisan nature.
The attorney said he is leaving active practice in Helena. The new post pays about $58,000 a year.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Man, Son Deny Charges in Knife Fight at Strip Club
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A 49-year-old Texas man and his 24-year-old son have denied felony charges alleging they assaulted a bouncer and a bartender as the son tried to re-enter a Montana strip club after hours to get a dancer's phone number.
The Billings Gazette reports Jose Angel Lopez Sr. and Jose Angel Lopez Jr., both of Corpus Christi, Texas, pleaded not guilty Friday in District Court in Yellowstone County to two counts each of felony assault with a weapon. Both men remain free after posting bond.
Prosecutors allege Lopez Jr. pulled a knife and slashed at a bouncer who wouldn't let him back into Planet Lockwood early on May 6 and that Lopez Sr. slashed at the bartender who punched his son several times.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Marathon Bomb Suspect's College Forms Task Force
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DARTMOUTH, Mass. (AP) - The college where Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) attended has formed a public safety task force in the wake of the April 15 attack.
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth officials will review emergency planning and academic and financial policies related to maintaining "student in good standing" status.
Montana State University President Waded Cruzado (WAH'-ded cru-SAH'-doh) will lead the task force, which also will examine policies for recruiting and supporting international students.
Chancellor Divina Grossman says school officials need to know "what we did well and where we can improve."
Classmates said Tsarnaev was on campus after the bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260.
Three friends he knew from UMass Dartmouth also face charges for either lying to investigators or conspiring to get rid of or cover up objects belonging to the 19-year-old.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Montana Man Dies in Yosemite Climbing Accident
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YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a Montana man has died in a rock climbing accident as he tried to climb to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
A Yosemite park spokeswoman says 38-year-old Mason Robison was killed after a rock dislodged and severed his rope as he and a partner were about 2,300 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor.
Spokeswoman Kari Cobb says the two climbers were about 600 feet from the summit around 9:15 a.m. Sunday when Robison put a piece of gear into what's called a "flake" or a deep crack in a large rock that runs along the slope, when it dislodged and severed his line.
Robison fell about 230 feet, with the second line eventually stopping his fall, but leaving him dangling and hanging motionless.
Rescue teams were flown to the the summit of El Capitan, where rangers rappelled down and recovered Robison's body.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Officials Identify Man, Body Found Near Butte
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BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Butte-Silver Bow County officials have identified the man whose body was found in the mountains east of Butte last week.
Coroner Lee LaBreche tells The Montana Standard it appears Robert E. Lee died after breaking his hip or leg in a fall and then succumbed to the elements. The man, who was in his mid-50s, had a Butte address, but LaBreche believes he had been living on the East Ridge for the past few years.
The death is considered accidental.
A group of hikers found Lee's body Thursday evening while hiking down from the Our Lady of the Rockies statue.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Prison Inmate Charged In Fellow Inmate's Death
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A 38-year-old inmate at the Montana State Prison has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide in the death of another inmate last fall.
Clyde Ervin Cosner entered his plea on May 14 in District Court in Deer Lodge.
He is charged with the Oct. 7 death of 53-year-old Danny Lee Hartford. Hartford's throat was cut.
Cosner is serving a 40-year sentence for accountability to deliberate homicide for a December 2007 beating death in Shelby. Department of Corrections records show Cosner was sentenced in June 2012 for possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Schweitzer Elected Chairman of Stillwater Board
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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he is "focused like a laser" on improving the Stillwater Mining Co. after being elected chairman of the board.
But he tells The Associated Press he's not ruling out a potential 2014 Senate run. The Democrat says he has always been good at "keeping a couple of balls in the air."
Schweitzer has become the undeclared Democratic front-runner for the Montana Senate seat since Max Baucus announced his retirement.
Schweitzer says the next month will be dominated by Stillwater mining business.
He was among four new board members elected on May 2, after he led a group of shareholders unhappy with current management. The company announced Monday he will also chair the board.
He replaces Frank McAllister, who has served as chairman and CEO.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Vann's Store in Evergreen Closing
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KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - The Vann's electronics and appliance store in Evergreen is closing in mid-June, making it the third store to close since the company emerged from bankruptcy.
Store manager Health Childree tells The Daily Inter Lake the company hasn't found a new location after being unable to reach a lease agreement.
Vann's Acquisition LLC purchased the chain of stores for $4.5 million after the company filed for bankruptcy last year. Company founder and building owner Pete Vann told the Missoulian that Vann's Acquisition had sought a 40 percent reduction in the lease price.
The Missoula store is scheduled to close on May 30 while the Hamilton store closed this spring.
The company is moving its headquarters to Bozeman. It has stores in Bozeman and Billings and the ON store in Missoula's Southgate Mall.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Wyoming Man Dies When Motorcycle Hits Car in Mont.
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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Sheridan, Wyo., man died and two other Sheridan residents were injured when a motorcycle collided with a car in southeastern Montana.
The Montana Highway Patrol says the 66-year-old man was westbound on Secondary Highway 316 Friday afternoon when he crossed into the oncoming lane at a curve near Kirby, which is north of Sheridan.
The driver of an eastbound car tried to swerve to miss the man's motorcycle, but the two vehicles collided.
The Billings Gazette reports the man was thrown from the motorcycle and died at the scene. His name hasn't been released.
A 66-year-old woman who was driving the car and her 43-year-old female passenger were injured.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Police: Abducted 2-year-old Girl Found Unharmed
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MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - Authorities in northwestern Montana say the abduction of a 2-year-old girl that triggered an Amber Alert ended Sunday morning when the girl was found unharmed.
Polson Police Chief Wade Nash tells the Missoulian the girl was found with 34-year-old Jamie Lynn Finley in a home in Sanders County.
Nash says Finley assaulted the girl's mother at a Polson home and took the girl by force late Saturday. Finley, the girl's aunt, has been taken into custody.
Nash says the child is in the care of the Montana Department of Family Services.
(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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* KOJM Regional News *
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KOJM regional and state news emphasizes quality and substance. Audio is utilized to ensure accurate reporting - no misquotes or misinterpretations because listeners hear the actual quote and audio from the people and events making the news. You interpret this significance of the report yourself.
Our regional news brings relevance to issues of importance - news coverage that relates to residents of North Central Montana. Accurate, timely information delivered in a prompt and cohesive manner. Regional and state news are developed through a working relationship with other radio stations throughout the region and state of Montana.
Expanded hourly updates are delivered at the top of each hour at 6, 7, 8 and 9 a.m. and every afternoon at 4 and 5 p.m. Headline news, breaking stories and updates available all other hours. "Montana at Noon" is a more in-depth review of the news starting daily at 12:15 p.m. daily.
Residents of North Central Montana have long recognized the quality and timeliness of our newscasts. Additional recognition of our news at the national, regional and state level comes from the Associated Press, Society for Professional Journalists, the Greater Montana Foundation and the Radio and Television News Director Association's prestigious Edward R. Murrow award.
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