Page 23 - Flathead Beacon // 5.14.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS MAY 14, 2014 | 23

The Roundup

From Beacon wire and news services

Joshua Junior Peterson, 36, is sched-
FLATHEAD
uled to be sentenced on May 19 after

pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
CONRAD MANSION SEEKS HELP The plea agreement recommends a 25-
IDENTIFYING VANDALS
year sentence with seven suspended, but
The Conrad Mansion is asking for District Judge James Wheelis could sen-
the public’s help identifying vandals tence him to up to 30 years.
who pushed over stone walls that have Peterson was initially charged with
been standing on the historic home’s attempted deliberate homicide, aggra-

grounds since 1895.
vated assault and assault with a weap-
According to a statement from the on for the September 2013 beating of
mansion’s museum staf, three sections Tracee Peterson that left her hospital-
of the western stone wall were pushed ized for nearly two months.
into the lower beds on April 15 or April While Tracee Peterson was glad her
16. The mansion is on the National Reg- children didn’t have to testify at trial,
ister of Historic Places and owned by the she said she had no doubt that her hus-
city of Kalispell.
band intended to kill her.

After learning of the damage to the
dry stone wall, Wally Wilkinson, presi- OLIVER NORTH TO HEADLINE
dent of operations at Frontier Builders WHITEFISH FUNDRAISER
at Whiteish, contacted the museum The Montana Family Foundation in
and ofered to repair the damaged rock Whiteish is hosting a fundraising din-
wall at no cost. The wall was repaired on ner on May 15 that will feature Lt. Col.
April 23.
Oliver North.

“Everyone involved with the Man- North, a retired U.S. Marine who
sion would like to say a huge thank you served on the National Security Council
to Wally and his crew for restoring the in the 1980s under the Reagan Admin-
wall to its original beauty,” museum istration, is now a best-selling author of
staf wrote in a statement.
13 books and has been the host for “War
Anyone with information about this Stories with Oliver North” on the Fox
crime is asked to contact Crime Stop- News Channel since 2001.
pers at 406-752-8477 (TIPS), which al- North grew up in Texas and attended

lows anonymity and callers could qual- the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis,
ify for a cash reward.
Maryland before serving 22 years as a
“With the support of the community Marine oicer.
and their willingness to come forward, The dinner takes place at 6:30 p.m.
it may be possible to identify the per- at the Lodge at Whiteish Lake, and will
petrators of this crime,” museum staf beneit the Montana Family Foundation
wrote. “Community involvement and through the Friends of the Family group.
awareness will insure that the Conrad For ticket information, visit www.

Mansion and its beautiful grounds can force.montanafamily.org.
continue as a community icon for future
generations”
MONTANA

WHITEFISH MAN KILLED IN
CRASH
LAWMAKERS, GOVERNOR’S
A 60-year-old Whiteish man was STAFF MEET ON MEDICAID

kill in a single-vehicle crash on May 6, Gov. Steve Bullock’s staf has been
according to Flathead County Sherif discussing Medicaid expansion options
Chuck Curry.
with some legislators and health care
Ronnie Taylor was driving his 2006 and business representatives.
Corvette on East Edgewood Drive near The Democratic governor said last
Whiteish when he apparently lost con- week the discussions aren’t driven by
trol of the vehicle, left the roadway and him but by lawmakers who heard from
struck a tree.
their community about the impor-

The accident was discovered short- tance of the expansion.Republican Sen.
ly before 11 p.m. and Taylor died at the Ed Buttrey of Great Falls is part of the
scene from blunt force trauma. He was group. He says the goal is to ind a way
wearing a seatbelt.
to provide cheaper costs, better medical
Speed is believed to be a factor in the service and a healthier population.
crash, according to authorities, which Buttrey and others in the coalition
is under investigation by the Montana say they want to come up with a plan to

Highway Patrol.
be enacted by the 2015 Legislature or
earlier if lawmakers meet in special ses-
TROY MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN sion.
BASEBALL BAT BEATING
The Republican-led Legislature in
A Troy man faces sentencing later 2013 rejected a plan that would have ex-
this month for beating his sleeping wife panded Medicaid to cover about 70,000
with a baseball bat, breaking every bone more low-income residents.
in her head.

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