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required. In all, backers say they submit- ted nearly 30,000 signatures.
If approved by voters, the initiative would prohibit commercial and recre- ational use of traps and snares on public lands. Backers sought to qualify a similar measure six years ago but failed to collect enough signatures.
I-177 is the second initiative to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot, with several other measures still undergoing veri cation of signatures by county elections o cials.
In May, a victims’ rights initiative known as Marsy’s Law was the rst to make it on the ballot. The measure, known as CI-116, would expand rights to crime victims and their families.
of Bozeman.
The Amos House had previously
been funded in large part by the fed- eral Department of Housing and Urban Development but HRDC o cials say the HUD has begun to pull funding from mid-term shelters in favor of rapid re-housing models that aim to get home- less people directly into permanent hous- ing of their own.
In addition to the decreased federal funding, the Amos House also needs $35,000 in sewer repairs. HRDC o cials aren’t sure what to do with the space, but hope to repurpose it for similar programs if the repairs can be made.
BILLINGS
7. Report: Barry Beach Propositioned
12-year-old Girl
Barry Beach sexually propositioned a 12-year-old girl about two months after he was granted clemency for a murder conviction that kept him in prison for three decades, the girl’s mother said last week.
Clair Kindness led a report against Beach with the Billings Police Depart- ment on Jan. 13 and has spoken to o - cers twice since then, she told the Boze- man Daily Chronicle
Beach has not been charged with a crime. Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito, who will make the decision on whether to le charges, told the news- paper that he could not comment.
Beach declined to comment in a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press.
“I have nothing to say,” he said. “It’s wrong what’s being done here.”
Kindness’ police report, which the Chronicle obtained through a public-re- cords request, said Beach picked up the girl on the night of Jan. 10 while she was walking along a street.
Kindness said she doesn’t have cus- tody of her daughter, who is under state supervision in another city.
“(She) ran away from a group home the night Barry Beach picked her up,” Kind- ness said.
Beach drove the girl to his home, asked if he could touch her and whether she liked performing a sex act, according to the allegations in the report. She told him no and he eventually dropped her o at another house.
The girl’s name and age were blacked out of the report.
The age of consent in Montana is 16.
Gov. Steve Bullock granted Beach clemency in November after he served about 30 years of a 100-year prison sen- tence for the 1979 beating death of Kim- berly Nees, 17, his Poplar High School classmate.
Beach had steadfastly denied kill- ing Nees and said his 1983 confession was coerced. His campaign drew sup- port from hundreds of people, including prominent Montana political leaders.
Bullock said in a statement that the Montana Department of Corrections is cooperating with the new investigation into Beach.
HELENA
5. Wood Products Group Says it Did
Not Endorse Gianforte
At campaign events, Republican Greg Gianforte had crowed about being endorsed by the Montana Wood Prod- ucts Association, but the Bozeman busi- nessman may have to walk back that claim after the association said it had not made an endorsement in the guber- natorial race.
On at least two occasions, Gianforte said he had the association’s backing. As recently as his May 16 telephone town hall, Gianforte said he was “thrilled to pick up the endorsement” of the group.
But association president Paul McK- enzie said on July 1 that poorly worded email between his groups and the Gian- forte campaign led to a misunderstand- ing. McKenzie said the word “endorse- ment” should not have been used in any of the communications.
“We have not endorsed either one of the candidates,” McKenzie said.
While both campaigns have sought an endorsement from the trade group, it has not chosen a side.
“Both have good attributes on our issues and people will have to make their own decisions about them,” McKenzie said.
The trade group calls itself the voice of the state’s timber, logging and wood products manufacturing industry.
The confusion stems from a Septem- ber email telling Gianforte’s campaign the Republican would soon receive a response regarding an endorsement. McKenzie said there was no endorse- ment, and the word should not have been used in the message.
“There was a misunderstanding over a single word in one of those emails, and we’ve got it taken care of. And (Gianforte campaign o cials) have assured us they won’t be representing us in that light anymore.”
BOZEMAN
6. Shelter to Shut Down Due to Loss
of Federal Funds
As federal funding shifts away from transitional housing programs, a Boze- man homeless shelter is closing its doors.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that the Human Resource Development Council’s Amos House closed last week after years of providing temporary accommodations to homeless residents
JULY 6, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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