Page 25 - Flathead Beacon // 4.13.16

PLAINS
4. Oregon Stando Defendant Jake Ryan Detained Until Trial
Refuge occupier Jake Ryan will remain in a Portland jail pending trial despite assurances from a Montana sheri that he would keep an eye on him if returned to that state.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak said last week he might have granted pre- trial release had Ryan surrendered last month after learning that a grand jury had returned an indictment against him. Instead, Ryan became a fugitive until his arrest in Clark County, Washington.
“The fact that you went into hiding — into hiding armed — causes me great con- cern,” Papak said.
Ryan, 27, of Plains, was one of more than two dozen people charged because of their involvement in the 41-day take- over of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The men and women were protesting U.S. land restrictions and the imprisonment of two ranchers who started res.
MISSOULA
5. Coroner Rules Montana Rail Link
Worker Death as Accidental
Missoula County o cials have con- cluded that the death of a Montana Rail Link worker in a train collision was accidental.
The Missoula County coroner’s o ce identi ed the victim in the April 4 colli- sion as 57-year-old Richard Schmitz of Missoula.
A coroner’s statement last week said the cause of death was blunt-force trauma, and the circumstances of the collision are under investigation.
Police o cials previously said Schmitz died when a train collided with a smaller vehicle in Montana Rail Link’s rail yard in Missoula.
misdemeanor, Skuletich said.
O’Neill began publicly discussing his
role in the 2011 bin Laden raid two years ago. He told The Associated Press in a 2014 interview that the American public had a right to know more details about the killing of the al-Qaida leader.
Pentagon o cials previously said it is not clear whose shots killed bin Laden.
O’Neill has made numerous speeches across the country since 2014.
O’Neill, who joined the Navy in 1995, participated in the 2009 rescue of the captain of a merchant ship taken hostage by Somali pirates, a mission that was the subject of the Tom Hanks movie “Cap- tain Phillips.”
He also helped rescue the survivor of a four-man team attacked in 2005 while tracking a Taliban leader in Afghani- stan, which was featured in the 2013 lm “Lone Survivor.”
RED LODGE
7. Police Chief to Resign Amid
Tension With County
The Carbon County town of Red Lodge’s chief of police is stepping down from his position amid tension between the city and the county.
The Billings Gazette reports Red Lodge Mayor Ed Williams announced April 6 that Police Chief Steve Hibler had reached a mutual agreement with the city to end his employment June 30.
His resignation will come months after Red Lodge police carried out a search warrant in Bearcreek that raised concerns about jurisdiction and com- munication among law enforcement departments. Carbon County Sheri Josh McQuillan had claimed his o ce wasn’t informed of the search before it happened.
Hibler, who joined the police depart- ment in 2014, says in a statement he’s con dent he’s made a positive impact on Red Lodge.
City o cials haven’t yet selected an interim chief of police.
BILLINGS
8. Bullock Looking for New Colstrip
Owners
Montana’s governor is looking for a new ownership structure for one of the largest coal- red power plants in the West to stave o its partial closure.
Gov. Steve Bullock said last week he’s forming a working group to explore an ownership change for three of the four units at the 2,100-megawatt Colstrip power plant.
Bullock says the state’s energy indus- try is controlled by interests outside Montana and he wants to ensure Col- strip’s future.
Washington’s governor recently signed a law that would allow the state’s largest utility, Puget Sound Energy, to set aside money for the closure of Colstrip’s two oldest units.
Built in the 1970s, those units face pressure from market forces increasing pollution regulations.
Five other utilities have a share in Col- strip, including NorthWestern Energy and Talen Energy.
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Police, the Federal Railroad Adminis- tration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
BUTTE
6. Ex-Navy SEAL Who Says He Killed
Bin Laden Charged with DUI
The former Navy SEAL who says he red the shots that killed Osama bin Laden was arrested April 8 on a drunken driving charge after police found him asleep in a car parked at a convenience store in his Montana hometown.
Customers at the store in Butte called police to report a sleeping man behind the wheel of the running car around 2:30 a.m., Butte-Silver Bow County Under- sheri George Skuletich said. The o cer who responded woke the man up, iden- ti ed him as Robert O’Neill and noticed odd behavior.
O’Neill denied drinking, gave di erent stories about where he had been and at one point told the o cers he had taken prescription medication to help him sleep, Skuletich said.
O’Neill failed a eld sobriety test and would not perform others. The o cers brought him to jail, where he refused a test to determine his blood alcohol level. At that point, he was charged with driving under the in uence, which is a
APRIL 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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