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religion. The land is part of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, but it is not on Montana’s Blackfeet Reservation.
The tribe’s end to consultations kicks of a 45-day deadline for the advisory council to issue recommendations to the Forest Service on how to proceed.
MISSOULA
4. Campus Police Meet Requirements Under Federal
Settlement
The University of Montana cam- pus police department has met federal requirements to improve its response to sexual assault reports, the Department of Justice announced last week.
U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter said an independent reviewer determined that campus police met the goals of a May 2013 agreement by improving their pol- icies, practices and training, leading to more reliable sexual assault investiga- tions. They also improved their com- munication with university officials and Missoula police, he said.
The reforms implemented over the past three years have dramatically improved the ability for UM and Mis- soula to protect victims of sexual assault, Cotter said, in thanking campus police and UM officials for their efforts.
Over the past two years, campus police officers participated in more than 1,000 hours of training in sexual assault response, investigation, supervision and documentation, UM President Royce Engstrom said, noting that was an aver- age of about 79 hours per officer.
In 2012, the Civil Rights offices with the federal departments of Justice and Education began investigations that found gender bias was undermining law enforcement’s response to sexual assault reports on campus.
HELENA
5. City Seeks to Tell History of Confederate Fountain
Helena’s city commissioners have agreed to seek a recommendation to install signs explaining the history and controversy of a 98-year-old city park memorial that honors Confederate sol- diers who died during the Civil War.
The Independent Record reports com- missioners had been thinking about ask- ing the City-County Parks Board for a recommendation on renaming the Con- federate Fountain in Hill Park. That pro- posal remains unresolved after commis- sioners met.
However, the commission agreed to allow the Lewis and Clark County Her- itage Tourism Council to craft language for signs at the park.
The fountain became a focal point for criticism and calls by two members of the city commission to be rededicated after last month’s slaying of nine people at a
church in Charleston, South Carolina. The man charged in the shooting was photographed with a Confederate flag.
HELENA
6. Bullock Raises Nearly $600K in Re-election Bid
Gov. Steve Bullock now has $596,000 in the bank for his re-election bid, sitting on half a million dollars more than any other candidate for public office in Mon- tana despite raising considerably less moneythisspringthanhedidinwinter.
Financial reports filed last week show the Democratic incumbent brought in nearly $180,000 from 900 people and 10 political action committees from April through June. It’s about $40,000 less than he raised in the first quarter, but twice as much as he collected in the spring of 2011.
“The broad base of support reflects the fact that Montanans know he is doing a great job running our state,” Mela- nie Brock, Bullock’s re-election finance director, said in a statement.
Bullock is running virtually unop- posed at this stage in the 2016 election cycle.He’sbeencampaigningforre-elec- tion since August of 2013.
Republican Mark Perea, Libertar- ian Ron Vandevender and Independent Christopher Zarcone have filed paper- work to run for governor, but none has raised any money.
Bozeman technology entrepre- neur Greg Gianforte is still considering whether to run against Bullock, spokes- man Mitch Staley said early Monday evening.
Records show that Bullock’s war chest totaled $90,000 more on July 1 than his predecessor,DemocraticGov.BrianSch- weitzer, had at the same point in his 2008 re-election.
GLENDIVE
7. Ballot Proposal Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana in Montana
A Glendive man is proposing a ballot measure to legalize recreational mari- juana for adults over 21.
Anthony Varriano submitted pro- posed language last week that would amend the state constitution to regu- late pot and tax it as an industry as well as allow the purchase and possession of limited amounts. It would also require that the first $40 million in revenue raised annually by taxes go toward pub- lic schools.
He says the measure is based on Colo- rado’s recreational marijuana law passed by voters in 2012.
Because it would amend the consti- tution, Varriano needs to collect nearly 50,000 signatures to get the initiative on next year’s ballot. He says if his mea- sure passes a legal review, he plans to ride his bike around the state to gather the signatures.
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