Page 23 - Flathead Beacon // 6.25.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS
JUNE 25, 2014 | 23
The Roundup
From Beacon wire and news services
FLATHEAD
LIBBY MAN STILL MISSING AFTER 3 WEEKS
A 32-year-old Libby man has been missing since stepping out of a bar to smoke on May 30.
The family of William Tebby says he was last seen outside the Libby VFW be- tween 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe tells The Western News that search and rescue teams have been checking the Kootenai River and his office called BNSF Railway to see if Tebby may have hopped a train.
Bowe says there has been no action on Tebby’s credit cards or bank accounts and there is no evidence to suggest foul play.
Tebby is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 140 pounds with blond hair and glasses. He was last seen wearing faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt.
TESTER HEARS SUPPORT FOR PRIVATIZING VA CARE
Some veterans attending a listening session by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester applaud- ed the idea of privatizing the health care they now get from the Veterans Affairs.
However, the Montana Democrat ex- pressed reservations about taking such a course on Friday in Missoula.
Tester says the nation must be care- ful not to jeopardize health care for vet- erans.
Veterans also described long wait times, arbitrary downgrading of disabil- ity status and other problems they have encountered through the VA.
Complaints about the VA system have plagued the Obama administration in recent weeks.
Tester says he’ll take the comment he hears from the session in Missoula and elsewhere in Montana back to the U.S. Senate where he is involved in try- ing to solve the VA problems.
MONTANA
JUDGE STRIKES DOWN MONTANA IMMIGRANT LAW
A Montana judge struck down most of a 2012 voter-approved law requiring government officials to conduct immi- gration checks on anybody seeking ser- vices provided by the state — from un- employment benefits to crime-victim assistance.
The law, which aims to deny govern- ment jobs and assistance to people in the U.S. illegally, required Montana agen- cies to check legal status when a person applied for any state service. If the per- son was not in the country legally, the agency must turn over the name to fed-
eral immigration officials. The ruling is the latest test of a law approved dur-
ing a wave of immigration crackdowns nationwide.
Last week, a federal judge
in Utah upheld part of a
2011 law in that state that al-
lows authorities to check the citizenship of those stopped for traffic infractions — within cer- tain limits — but struck down oth- er provisions, such as warrantless arrests on suspicion of immigration status.
In Montana, nearly 80 percent of voters approved the state’s law in a 2012 referendum, but it has not been enforced since an immigration-rights group filed a legal challenge.
JUSTICES RAP EPA, BUT UPHOLD GLOBAL WARMING RULES
The Supreme Court largely left in- tact Monday the Obama administra- tion’s only existing program to limit power plant and factory emissions of the gases blamed for global warming. But a divided court also rebuked envi- ronmental regulators for taking too much authority into their own
hands without congressio-
nal approval.
The justices said in a 5-4 vote along ideologi- cal lines that the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency cannot apply a permitting provision of the Clean Air Act to new and expanded power plants,refineriesandfac- tories solely because they emit greenhouse gases.
The decision under- scores the limits of us- ing the Clean Air Act
to deal with green- house gases and the administration’s inability to get cli-
mate change leg- islation through Congress.
The EPA and
many environ-
mental advocates
said the ruling
would not affect the
agency’s proposals
for first-time national
standards for new and
existing power plants. The
most recent proposal aims at a
30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants by 2030, but won’t take effect for at least another two years.
For up-to-the-minute news, visit flatheadbeacon.com