Latest news with #MontanaCodeAnnotated
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Injured by flying debris, Flathead Valley man calls for tougher enforcement of unsecured loads
Apr. 20—On a late March morning, Gary Gilham drove a truck loaded with tables, couches and chairs back to Kalispell, a routine trip for the 15-year furniture store employee. Heading west on Montana 35 about 11:20 a.m., March 28, Gilham spotted a large truck with a trailer hauling what looked like trash headed in his direction. But his attention turned, suddenly, to what looked like drywall or cardboard vaulting out of the trailer. He heard a thud and looked up to see a hole in his windshield. Then he felt blood pouring from the left side of his face. It all happened in an instant. A loose, large magnet — trash off the truck that passed him — had broken through his windshield, shattering Gilham's cheek, fracturing his orbital socket and jaw, impacting his eyesight in his left eye and splitting open his nose. Confused and in shock, he felt no pain at first. His right eye also suffered a scratch on the cornea, discovered during a second emergency room visit after surgery. "I've always said secure your load because stuff like this could happen to anybody," Gilham said, two weeks after his surgery. "... And I don't think the guy whose truck it was has any idea what happened to me." The accident ended up costing Gilham, his wife Wanda and his company, since the accident happened while he was at work, upwards of $50,000. IN MONTANA, a person operating a vehicle with a load must secure the load "sufficiently to prevent littering or creating an obstruction dangerous to the public traveling on the highway," according to Montana Code Annotated. While there are a few exemptions, the law states that failure to comply is punishable with a misdemeanor. Every year, around 730 people are killed and 17,000 more are injured because of objects in roadways, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of those crashes, 81% involve unsecured loads traveling on vehicles, according to the agency's statistics. "I've seen garbage fly off of vehicles before and it's always upset me, but people need to realize how easy it is for things to take flight," Gilham said, pointing to a stitched-up scar running down his nose and cheek. A 2017 pamphlet issued by the Montana Highway Patrol urged motorists to drive as if "everyone you love is driving in the car behind you." In 2024, the Montana Highway Patrol issued 28 citations for drivers traveling with unsecured loads. The penalty is $85 but can differ in municipalities, according to Capt. Shawn Silver, a public information officer with the state agency. "A big part of this is also education," Silver said. "We simply will talk about best ways to secure a load ... We help people understand why we don't want it to happen again. It could really hurt someone; it could cause a big hazard." Citations are typically issued in more serious cases or in motor vehicle wrecks. "The Legislature creates the laws," Silver said. "So, they obviously saw a need for this. Sometimes education is not always the most appropriate avenue so sometimes we need laws to help." UNSECURED LOADS also degrade natural landscapes. It's easy to see the pervasiveness of trash on the side of the road, Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said. It's more visible in the spring when the snow melts and the buildup of trash is exposed. "It has been a concern of the solid waste districts for many years," Prunty said. "You just look at the roadways and you can see we're not doing a great job." In the last six to eight years, the county has had to put $50,000 toward clean-up services each spring, Prunty estimated. "It took $50,000 of taxpayer money that we wouldn't have to spend if people would just secure their load," he said. "... That money could go to a much better spot if people would have personal responsibility." "This is 99.5% personal responsibility, that's how this is controlled," Prunty added. "You secure your load before you travel down the road." Prunty applauded the efforts by Montana Highway Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff's Office but acknowledged that it's hard to write tickets for driving with unsecured loads amid other priorities. "They have done as good a job as they can do while also chasing the bad guys and gals in our county now with the crime that we're seeing," he said. But others believe there needs to be more enforcement and accountability. Gilham's company is planning to purchase cameras to monitor the roads for when issues like this occur. Gilham also suggested law enforcement could monitor cameras at dump sites and other locations where people often travel with unsecured loads. "That magnet hit my windshield at probably 100 miles an hour," Gilham said. "It barely missed my eye. Secure your loads — it may be the law but it isn't enforced enough. People need to do it." Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or kheston@
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate Ethics Committee reconvenes, schedules first hearing on Ellsworth ethics allegations
Senator Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, watches a vote during the Senate Floor Session on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. (Nathaniel Bailey for the Daily Montanan) The Senate Ethics Committee is back in action after a brief hiatus when the criminal and ethical investigations into the actions of Sen. Jason Ellsworth were referred to the Department of Justice for clarity. Last week, Attorney General Austin Knudsen said his office was opening a criminal investigation into a contract Ellsworth signed with a business associate late last year, but said that the ethical questions were outside his office's purview. As a result, the Ethics Committee chairperson announced last week it would resume its own review, and it met on Monday morning, the first meeting after a coalition of Senate Democrats and nine Republican Senators voted to pause the internal probe and send the matter to DOJ. During Monday's meeting, committee members reviewed a list of potential witnesses, voted to subpoena records, and set an initial hearing for March 7. The allegations against Ellsworth by the Ethics Committee were based on findings in a memorandum from the Legislative Auditor in January that found Ellsworth's actions in securing the $170,100 contract for Bryce Eggleston was an abuse of his power as Senate President at the time, and wasted government resources. Due to the concurrent DOJ criminal investigation, the committee is limiting its work to the ethical allegations, citing potential violations of section 2-2-112(3) of Montana Code Annotated, which lays out the ethical requirements for legislators. The specific charge is that Ellsworth failed to disclose a conflict of interest that 'would directly give rise to an appearance of impropriety regarding the legislator's influence, benefit or detriment.' Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, hired attorney Adam Duerk to represent the GOP majority leadership and assist the Ethics Committee. Duerk told the committee the criminal allegations had been removed from the scope of the internal investigation and laid out the existing scope of the matter. Duerk emphasized the need to afford due process to Sen. Ellsworth in the case — the basis for the earlier vote by the Senate to pause the Ethics Committee and send the investigation to an outside entity — and urged the committee to select a date to begin its adjudicatory hearing. 'To make it very clear, this is not a criminal matter. This is not a termination hearing either,' Duerk said. 'Our challenge here is to find the appropriate amount of due process.' The committee discussed holding its first hearing on March 7, the last day of the Legislature before the transmittal break. The two Democrats on the committee, Sens. Laura Smith, D-Helena, and Chris Pope, D-Bozeman, argued that a hearing at that time would come after several days where Senate floor sessions might extend late into the day as all introduced bills must be transmitted to the House by March 7 in order to continue the legislative process. They said trying to hold a hearing during the final transmittal day might be distracting and detrimental to the committee's work. 'I understand your concern,' Committee Chair Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, said. 'We've been dealing with this now for longer than I can remember. … Part of the reason I'd like to move sooner rather than later… is that we had this set up and ready to go roughly a month ago.' Committee members ultimately voted to hold their first adjudicatory hearing on March 7. During the meeting, Ellsworth's attorney, Joan Mell, asked the committee to pause its work, given the DOJ's pending criminal investigation. 'The existence of a pending criminal investigation implicates fundamental due process rights as well as the rights against self incrimination,' Mell said. She added that it would be 'impossible' to continue with an ethics investigation without 'implicating Sen. Ellsworth's rights to a meaningful defense in this action.' The committee also reviewed the list of potential witnesses who may be called to appear before the committee. Among the witnesses listed are staff with the Legislative Audit Division, Legislative Services Division, and the Department of Administration — which approved the sole-source contract Ellsworth ultimately entered into — Senate President Matt Regier, Sens. Ken Bogner, Barry Usher and Greg Hertz; Eggleston, and lobbyist Scott Boulanger. One new name was added to the witness list — Bowen Greenwood, clerk of the Montana Supreme Court, who Ellsworth approached last year about creating a new position for which he told Greenwood that Eggleston would be well-suited. The committee also voted to subpoena records from the Motor Vehicle Division and Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to obtain lists of individuals living at two addresses in Stevensville, where Eggleston resides. The Senate Ethics Committee will next meet on Feb. 28.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to let nontribal property owners hunt on Flathead Indian Reservation fails
Feb. 18—The House Committe on Fish, Wildlife and Parks last week tabled a bill allowing some nontribal members to hunt deer and elk on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Under House Bill 216, residents of Flathead Indian Reservation would have been able to obtain a license to hunt deer and elk on their own land, regardless of their tribal affiliation. The bill challenged a long-standing agreement between the state and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes that allows nontribal members to hunt birds and fish on the reservation while preserving the exclusive right of tribal members to hunt big game. Rep. Tracy Sharp, R-Polson, introduced the bill under the argument that the restriction on nontribal hunters violates private property rights and the Montana Right to Harvest Act. "There's no asterisk here that says, 'Except for you guys. You don't get to hunt,'" said Sharp as he lofted a copy of the Montana Code Annotated at a Feb. 13 committee meeting. Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, disputed Sharp's argument and asserted that passing the bill would result in legal challenges for the state. "This is one of those times where we need to be educated on Indian Law so that we're not making determinations that can affect the state of Montana in a negative way," Running Wolf said. State and tribal wildlife officials echoed Running Wolf's concerns at a Jan. 28 hearing on the bill, during which several opponents referenced a 1990 lawsuit regarding nontribal fishing licenses. That lawsuit was eventually settled out of court when the state and tribes entered into their current fishing and hunting agreement. Opponents argued that HB 216 would have led to another arduous court case. Representatives from other Montana reservations also expressed concerns about the legal precedent the bill would set. While many other tribes permit big game hunting within reservation boundaries, tribal authorities said the bill threatened tribes' status as sovereign nations. "You know they start off with just taking a little tiny crumb, which ends up to be a big, big crumb," said Rep. Sidney "Chip" Fitzpatrick, D-Crow Agency. Fitzpatrick confirmed in the Feb. 13 hearing that his elders had urged him to vote against the bill because they worried it would lead to similar actions on their own reservation. The committee voted to table the bill after it failed to pass in a 9-11 vote. The head of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' National Resources Department Rich Janssen Jr. said the vote was good news, but he doubts the bill's failure will quell the conflict between some nontribal residents and tribal wildlife officials. "It's the same few that want to try to impede tribal sovereignty and hunting rights on the reservation," said Janssen. "I fully expect they'll try to find another way to try to bring this to the forefront." The 2025 bill was preceded by a 2023 ballot initiative and a 2021 bill. Both failed to gain traction during the early stages of development, a fact Janssen partly attributes to the tribes' successful collaboration with state wildlife officials. "The bottom line is, we work well with the state of Montana," said Janssen. Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at hsmalley@ or at 758-4433.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
No more dueling damages
"The Duel," an illustration found in Major Jack Downing's Life of Andrew Jackson. Photograph, 1834. (Courtesy of the Library of Congress) Members of Kentucky's Electoral College, before officially casting their votes for the nation's president, must swear they have never been involved in a duel with a deadly weapon, due to an 1850 clause in the state constitution. In Arkansas, an individual who takes part or assists in a duel cannot serve in public office for a decade, per state law. And in Montana, anyone who slays or permanently disables another person in a duel, 'shall provide for the maintenance of the spouse and minor children' of their opponent, and pay all of their debts, as well. Of course, dueling is not allowed in the state due to regular laws around deliberate homicide and aggravated assault. However, the 1895 law about legal recourse for dueling damages is still on the books. 'It's part of code clutter,' Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras said in a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 28. 'It implies that dueling is legal. It is not. You cannot, even with mutual consent, kill one another.' A big part of Gov. Greg Gianforte's tenure in office has been 'red tape relief,' including removing outdated and unnecessary statutes from state law. Juras, speaking on behalf of the Governor's Office, said this statute was flagged during the routine review of Montana Code Annotated this year. The law was last updated in 2009 — when the entire MCA was updated to adopt gender-neutral language — and before that it was last amended in 1979 to change the word 'slayer' to 'person.' Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, is carrying the bill through the Legislature.
