Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 10.21.15

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POLSON
1. Plaintiffs Drop Lawsuit Challenging Dam Transfer to Tribes
The three plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit seeking to block the transfer of a hydro- electric dam to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are dropping the case.
State Sen. Bob Keenan, former state Sen. Verdell Jackson and a Flathead Lake business were denied their requested emergency injunction two days before the transfer of the Kerr Dam in Septem- ber. The dam has been renamed the Sal- ish Kootenai Dam.
The plaintiff’s legal challenge of the Federal Regulatory Commission’s approval of the transfer remained an active case after the injunction was denied.
Their attorney, Lawrence Kogan, filed a notice with a federal judge in Washing- ton D.C. that they are voluntarily drop- ping the lawsuit.
Kogan tells The Associated Press that he is considering filing a new version of the lawsuit at a later date.
MISSOULA
2. Montana Officials Rally Against Gun Ordinance
Montana officials are speaking out against a proposed Missoula ordinance that would require background checks on gun buyers before all sales.
The proposed ordinance would require criminal background checks for all gun sales and transfers within city limits, with the exception of transfers between family members or the transfer of antique firearms between collectors.
The Missoulian reports that after the city attorney declared the law legal, Mon- tana Attorney General Tim Fox released a one-sentence news release disagreeing. Montana’s two congressional Republi- cans, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke issued a joint statement urg- ing Missoula to withdraw the ordinance.
City officials held a public hearing Oct. 19 on the ordinance.
MISSOULA
3. Husband of Harper Lee’s lawyer Killed in Montana Plane Crash
The husband of Alabama author Harper Lee’s attorney has been killed in an airplane crash in Montana.
A Montana sheriff’s spokeswoman says 52-year-old Patrick Carter of Mon- roeville, Alabama, died when a single-en- gine aircraft went down Oct. 14 while taking off from the Missoula Interna- tional Airport in western Montana.
Carter was a longtime pilot and the husband of Monroeville attorney Tonja Carter, who has represented Lee as her second novel “Go Set a Watchman” became a best-seller this year.
A friend of the Carters, Connie Bag- gett, calls Pat Carter a “brilliant man” who will be deeply missed.
Pat Carter served on the board that oversees the old Monroe County court- house, which served as a set model for the movie version of Lee’s beloved novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
HELENA
4. Utility Not Allowed to Hike Rates to Make up for Reduced Use
The Public Service Commission has rescinded a policy that allowed North- Western Energy to increase natural gas and electricity rates to make up for reduced customer usage due to energy-ef- ficiency programs.
PSC officials say the end of the Lost Revenue Adjustment Mechanism will reduce the amount the company collects from Montana customers by $12.7 mil- lion next year.
Commissioner Roger Koopman said in a statement that raising rates on consum- ers who are trying to conserve energy is one of the worst ideas policymakers have ever come up with.
The PSC approved the program in 2005. NorthWestern proposed it as a way to recover lost transmission and distribu- tion revenues.
The panel ruled that circumstances have changed since then and halting the program is necessary to ensure fair and
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