Page 23 - Flathead Beacon // 5.18.16

he wasn’t overly alarmed by the short- falls. Enough money remains in reserves to cover uctuations in revenue, he said.
“If we have a shortfall, we manage to it. That’s what we do,” Villa said.
Still, a hiring freeze is in place at the Department of Transportation, which relies heavily on the state gas tax to fund operations. Because of a $25 million rev- enue shortfall, the department may also delay a slew of road projects.
The transportation agency collects fuel taxes for public highways, streets and bridges. Some of that money also goes to local governments, as well as the Department of Justice.
BOZEMAN
5. Gianforte Foundation Donating $8
Million to Montana State
expedite the evidence identi cation pro- cess in small-scale drug cases.
The Billings Gazette reports that Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced the crime lab’s opening May 12 at the Billings Clinic. The opening of the lab comes after months of delays, and evidence is already starting to get pro- cessed at the facility.
O cials anticipate the lab will pro- cess about 700 cases each year and serve 27 eastern Montana counties, with most cases coming from Yellowstone County.
The new facility will only test and identify drugs, while the larger Missoula Crime Lab continues to cover the major- ity of forensic testing.
The Legislature approved the new lab in 2015 to address a backlog of evidence testing across the state.
BILLINGS
8. Montana Republicans Select
Delegates for National Convention
Several hundred Republicans in Bill- ings have chosen delegates to repre- sent Montana at the party’s national convention.
The Montana Republican Party said it will send 27 people to the national con- vention in July, the majority of which were chosen May 14. The party will now select alternate delegates.
The Billings Gazette reported that members of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign were recently in Billings to ensure Trump supporters applied for delegate consideration.
Will Deschamps, state campaign director for Ted Cruz, says he told Cruz supporters to stay involved and choose Trump instead, since Cruz suspended his campaign.
The winner of Montana’s Republican primary gets all 27 delegates through the rst vote of the national convention. Then, the delegates can vote for anyone if more than one vote is needed to select a presidential candidate.
BILLINGS
9. Bill Clinton to Campaign for Wife
in Montana
Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to visit Billings this week in support of the Democratic presidential campaign of his wife, Hillary Clinton.
The Billings Gazette reports that the former president will speak in Billings on May 20. The campaign says he will discuss why Hillary Clinton “is the best candidate to break down all the barri- ers holding families back.” More details about the event will be released at a later date.
Bill Clinton previously campaigned for his wife in the city back in 2008, when he spoke at the Yellowstone County Dem- ocratic Party’s Truman Dinner.
That same year, Hillary Clinton spoke at MetraPark.
Hillary Clinton’s competitor for the Democratic nomination, Vermont. Sen. Bernie Sanders, was in Missoula and Bill- ings last week.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, through his family foun- dation, is donating $8 million to Montana State University in Bozeman over the next ve years.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports the donation will create a $5 million endowment for the university’s Com- puter Science Department. Under the agreement signed May 11, the depart- ment will be renamed the Gianforte School of Computing.
Part of the gift is designated for the university’s South Campus Project, so MSU has agreed a large classroom within the College of Engineering will be called the Gianforte Auditorium.
The Board of Regents must approve the re-naming.
Gianforte founded RightNow Tech- nologies in 1997. Oracle purchased the customer relations management soft- ware company for $1.8 billion in 2012. In March 2015, the Gianforte Family Trust donated $1 million to MSU’s computer science program.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
6. Tourists Put Bison Calf in Car,
Spurring Warning
The Club’s
Private Reserve Cut Angus
A bison calf that tourists loaded into their vehicle at Yellowstone National Park because they were concerned for its welfare has spurred warnings to avoid wildlife after the animal had to be put down.
The incident last week and several other recent cases have led park o cials to urge people to stay at least 25 yards from all wildlife and 100 yards from bears and wolves.
Visitors brought the newborn calf to a park facility, but rangers weren’t able to reunite it with its herd. The animal was euthanized because it kept approaching people and cars along the road.
In recent video that spread online, a woman was pictured trying to pet an adult bison. In another, tourists posed for photos dangerously close to bison.
Five park visitors were seriously injured last year after getting too close to the massive animals.
BILLINGS
7. New State Crime Lab Opens
O cials say the state’s opening of a new crime lab in eastern Montana will
Montana Value
Montana Made
MAY 18, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
23
1301 S. Main, Kalispell 260-4401 www.montanaclub.com