i GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE WWW.GREATFALLSTRIBUNE.COM MONTI Obituaries 2 Statistics 2 State news .3 Daily Chatter page 4 Comics 5 For tips or corrections: Call City Editor Dan Hollow at 791-1491 or (800) 438-6600; Fax: 791-1431; e-mail; tribcitysofast.net JULY 2, 2003., mtm llgpw wort By BOB ANEZ Associated Press Writer SUPREME COURT was a difficult one because he likes the work of the court and the camaraderie with the other six justices. Regnier was considered a liberal in his 1996 campaign against conservative Justice Charles "Chip" Erdmann, who had been appointed to the court the year before. Regnier, a Missoula attorney who called himself a judicial centrist, defeated Erdmann with 51 percent of the vote. Regnier said one of the most difficult cases of his single ballot measure. Regnier said the case was tough because it pitted the provisions of Montana's Constitution against the results of an election.
In 1998, he was among the dissenters in a 4-3 ruling throwing out Montana's last vestige of a daytime highway speed limit that required only that motorists drive at "reasonable and proper" speeds. In 2000, Regnier authored a unanimous decision that overturned a state Revenue Department policy keeping secret some coal tax records that once had been open to the public. The policy wrongly "declares information to be confidential on a wholesale basis for all taxpayers without balancing the taxpayers' right to privacy with the public's right to know" as required by the Montana Constitution, Regnier wrote. Nelson, 59, was appointed to the court in 1993 and ran unopposed in the 1994 and 1996 elections. He is a Democrat and former Glacier County attorney.
A native of Idaho, Nelson received his law degree from George Washington University in 1974 and had a private practice in Cut Bank from 1974 to 1993. Nelson, who missed about three weeks of work in January after suffering a minor stroke, said he received a clean bill of health during an April checkup in Rochester, Minn. But Justice James Nelson said Tuesday he will run for re-election. John Warner, a former district judge from Havre appointed to the court in April, has already said he plans to run for the office next year, Regnier, 58, would be 60 shortly after taking office in 2004 and acknowledged that the length of a new term played a role in his decision to retire from the bench. Regnier said the decision HELENA Supreme Court Justice Jim Regnier, who holds one of three high court seats that will be on the 2004 ballot, said Tuesday he will not seek a second eight-year term.
The former Missoula lawyer said he plans to return to work as a mediator in legal disputes and may get involved in volunteer work in a foreign country. career on the court came in 1999 when the justices unanimously overturned a new constitutional amendment requiring voter approval before government can enact or increase taxes and fees. The court said the amendment, passed by initiative in 1998, illegally forced Mon-tanans to vote on several constitutional changes in a June's hot days balance brisk mornings Local pilot honored in Connecticut Stabbing suspect to stay in custody By JAN-MIKAEL PATTERSON Tribune Staff Writer VP)) By S0NJA LEE Tribune Staff Writer Federal judge says mother of two is a danger to community By KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ Tribune Staff Writer A Great Falls native whose P-40 military fighter plane crashed in the Great Mountain Forest of Connecticut more than 60 years ago received an official farewell last week. On Wednesday, June 25, about 30 i on the Blackfeet Reservation.
No Runner, who has admitted to participating in the stabbing while drunk, pleaded innocent Thursday in Great Falls to Arrow Top Knot's murder. She asked to remain free so she could continue to attend alcohol abuse and mental health counseling; she suffers from "severe" depression, her attorney said. However, given her history of alcohol abuse, which according to testimony has continued up until at least last month, Ostby ruled the mother of two a danger to the community and ordered her held. At the request of her 4 'p. people hiked into the private forest to honor Great Falls native Lt.
Daniel Henry Thorson, who died in Devina No Runner, 25, one of two people arrested in a fatal stabbing on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, will be held in federal custody pending further court proceedings, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby ruled Tuesday. No Runner and her common-law husband, Clarence Lester Bird Rattler 25, have been indicted on second-degree murder charges in the April 21, 2002, death of No Runner's brother-in-law, Ernest "Sonny" William Arrow Top 29, who was stabbed to death in his home 4 'its VP Thorson 41 See STABBING, 3M 1 County says final offer to health employees is generous and equitable' The last day of June Monday was the hottest day of the month with winds blowing at 33 mph. That's a bad thing, because the wind sucks up so much moisture, said Bruce Forde of Forde Nursery and Landscaping. The month of June had three temperature-breaking days, but the monthly average was about normal.
The average high temperature for June was 60.8 degrees, just a bit higher than the norm of 60.0. The mercury hit 93 degrees on June 18, breaking the 92-degree record set in 1972. The hottest day of the month was Monday at 94 degrees. Last month had two consecutive early mornings of record-breaking lows caused by a cold air mass moving south from Canada. At 5:37 a.m.
on June 24 the mercury slipped to 36, three degrees below the previous record of 39 in 1953. At 4:33 a.m. June 25, the mercury dropped to 37 degrees, The previous record was 39 in 1993. The lowest temperature in June came on the 7th at 34 degrees. Last month's average low was 46.2 degrees, close to the normal 46.0 degrees.
Ken Pomeroy of the National Weather Service said 10 days out of 30 days saw at least 0.01 inches of rain. Normal conditions aren't helping the drought. Total precipitation was 1.87 inches, a little under the normal of 2.06 inches. In June 2002 a snowstorm hit northcentral Montana hitting the plains with 4 inches of rain and 4 feet of snow in the mountains. That storm netted a monthly precipitation total of 4.97.
Record monthly precipitation was set in 1923 with 8.02 inches. The highest precipitation average within the past 10 years was in 1998 at 5.18 inches. Regarding the hot start to July, nurserymen say flowers on a hot windy day should be watered more because the heat allows the plant to soak up moisture drying the soil causing a plant to wilt. "People have to learn to compensate with what the weather does," Forde said. I 'J By KATIE N.
JOHANNES Tribune Staff Writer 0 TRIBUNE PHOTO BY DANIELLE E. ka*wkEKA a plane crash on Blackberry Hill March 31, 1943. About six months ago, a handful of people in northwest Connecticut revealed the details of Thorson's doomed flight. And after learning more about the 24-year-old pilot, the community decided to honor Thorson and his family. Connecticut Gov.
John G. Rowland designated June 25, 2003, as a day of mourning and remembrance for Thorson. U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson, also sent a letter honoring Thorson.
"It is my sincere hope that today's ceremony offers even the slightest consolation for Mrs. Donna Wahlberg, who has traveled more than a thousand miles to this small slice of heaven in northwest Connecticut and to Lt. Thorson's other sister Francis Davidson, who could not make the cross-country trip," Johnson wrote. A 3-foot-tall, 640-pound granite monument was placed near the crash site to honor Thorson. Thorson's sister, Donna Wahlberg of Great Falls, attended the ceremony.
She also received four medals in honor of her brother. "It was very impressive," Wahlberg said of the ceremony. Michael Godburn of Tor-rington, an amateur historian; Brigitte Ruthman, a bureau chief at the Republican-American newspaper in Waterbury, and Jody Bronson, a forester at the Great Mountain Forest worked for months to bring out the details of Thorson's failed flight. They also led the effort in Connecticut to honor Thorson. Thorson was born in Great Falls and raised in Hughesville, Great Falls and Idaho.
He entered the Army Air Corps. Feb. 2, 1942. Thorson was stationed at Two-year-old Hayden goes for a swing with a little help from his dad, Matt Raymond, at Gibson Park on Tuesday. on their anniversary date.
In the 2004-05 fiscal year, employees would receive another 3-percent increase. Meech pointed out that the cost of living increase for 2003-04 is 1.6 percent according to the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Richard Letang, field director with the Montana Public Employees Association, said Monday that the dispute was over the lack of increase in the second year of the contract. In the news release, Meech explained that the county's desire for frugality was a result of anticipated funding shortages. He said that a tax protest by PPL Montana was stunting expected property tax revenue.
He also said that the county realizes the need to retain qualified people an incentive for increasing salaries. The news release touts the county's "generous benefits package" that includes 15 to 24 days of vacation per year, 12 days sick leave, 10 paid holidays and a contribution of 6.9 percent of gross salary for retirement. Mediation with the state Board of Personnel Appeals will be July 23. Cascade County is making a fair offer to City-County Health Department employees and has contacted a state mediator to further negotiations and avoid a strike, said the county human resources director. Union health department employees announced Monday their intent to strike July 28 if Cascade County didn't agree to raises in the second year of a two-year contract.
The county responded Tuesday that its final offer is "generous and equitable," according to a news release from Tom Meech, county human resources director. Meech said the offer includes two pay raises in the first year of the contract and one in the second. Tuesday, the beginning of the 2003-04 fiscal year, all employees were to receive raises that would bring their salaries closer to "market value," according to the county's offer. The raises range from 6 to 14 percent depending on the position. Licensed nurse practitioners and sanitarians, which are restaurant and air quality inspectors, would get the largest increases.
Employees also would receive a 3-percent increase TRIBUNE PHOTO BY JOHN W. LIST0N Jana Hegel, 13, right, and Jodi Osterman, 13, beat the heat as they speed across Broadwater Bay Tuesday. because their roots are deeper in the soil. Steve Tilleraas of Tilleraas Landscape Nursery said a drip irrigation system helps because it gets water to the root system. ly and not puddle up.
Don't drown it. Forde encourages people to use a mulch surface on gardens to keep the soil from drying. Trees need to be watered quite often Forde encourages people to water often, especially on cooler days. On a hot, windy day, he said, water the same spot at different periods of the day to allow the water to soak in gradual See PILOT, 2M ACROSS BIG SKY Glacier National Park Glasgow Poplar KallspeB SeeleyLake Great Falls Missoula 4 Helena Miles Citv Butte? Biiiings Bozeman Thro Fai 1 i. repair work on the narrow Inside North Fork Road between Fish Creek and Logging Creek is not finished.
Work will continue through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and next week from July 8 through July 1 1 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The road will be closed during those periods.
The narrow, curvy dirt road in the southwest area of the park is left in passable condition each day so drivers can use it after 3:30 p.m. The road will be open the entire Independence Day weekend. The work includes cul vert repair and replacement, grading and drainage improvements. State's forests topic of upcoming hearing SEELEYLAKE The House Resources Committee is holding a hearing in Seeley Lake today to discuss the future of Montana's forests. "Management Challenges Across Montana's National Forests, will feature expert panelists debating and fielding questions.
Topics will range from logging to insect infestation, but with wildfire season already under way, the major focus will be on how to protect Montana's 17 million acres of national forestland. Rep. Denny Rehberg, requested the hearing. U.S. Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth will sit as an expert panelist.
The hearing is open to the public, and begins at 10 a.m. at Seeley Lake Elementary. Compiled from staff and wire reports and regional newspapers. If you have a tip, call (406) 791-1491 or (800) 438-6600; fax (406) 791-1431; e-mail tribcitysofast.net State park receives national recognition THREE FORKS Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park will celebrate being named a "21st Century American Heritage Park," at 1 p.m. today at the park.
Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation, a nonprofit organization made up of conservation, recreation and wilderness interests, named the park one of 10 national Heritage Parks. The new day-use shelter at the park also was singled out from among 39,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund projects nationwide for recognition. The park is 19 miles west of Three Forks on Montana 2. For details on the public ceremony, call (406) 444-3752. Tribe, county reach policing agreement POPLAR The Fort Peck Tribal Council has amended its cross-depu-tization agreement with off -reservation law enforcement to include Valley County, the Wotanin Wowapi reported.
Tribal police officers now can arrest non-Indi ans on the west end of the reservation in Valley County, and Valley County deputies can arrest tribal members. Prior to last week's change, Valley County sheriffs deputies couldn't go into Frazer to respond to calls, said Tom Christian, chairman of the tribe's Law and Justice Committee. Supporters said the action will beef up needed law enforcement on the reservation's west end. But two tribal council members, Walter Clark and John Pipe, opposed the change. "I don't like the way Approximately 100rmtes More state news on 2-3M (non-Indian officers) treat our people," Clark said.
As a sovereign nation, the tribe should provide its own law enforcement. Pipe said. Repair work to keep Glacier road closed GLACIER NATIONAL PARK Officials at Glacier National park announced Monday that -1-,.
