Montana
Federal Approval of Montana Logging Project Survives Lawsuit
A 16,700-acre logging project outside Missoula, Mont. will continue after a federal judge ruled the US Bureau of Land Management adequately reviewed potential impacts to endangered grizzly bears and Canada lynx.
The agency properly calculated road density and the increased traffic through the Garnet Mountain range even if several routes have since become impassible through vegetation growth and will have to be cleared in critical habitat areas, according to an order issued Thursday by the US District Court for the District of Montana.
Judge Dana L Christensen granted summary judgment for the bureau in 2024 lawsuit over its approval of …
Montana
Jury convicts Honduran woman of transporting undocumented immigrant in Montana
MISSOULA, Mont. — A federal jury has found a Honduran woman guilty of illegally reentering the United States and transporting a Mexican national who was in the country unlawfully, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After a three-day trial, jurors convicted 41-year-old Yolanda Ernestina Soto-Antunez on charges of being in the United States illegally and transporting an undocumented immigrant.
Soto-Antunez faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris is scheduled to sentence her on July 9. She remains in custody pending sentencing.
According to prosecutors, a Phillips County sheriff’s deputy stopped Soto-Antunez for speeding on U.S. Highway 2 near Malta on March 6. After requesting assistance from U.S. Border Patrol agents to help translate, authorities determined Soto-Antunez was a Honduran citizen in the country illegally and that her passenger, a Mexican national, was also in the United States unlawfully.
Investigators said they discovered $18,000 in a duffel bag belonging to the passenger. The man told agents he was traveling to Washington to borrow an additional $12,000 from a relative, bringing the total to $30,000. According to court testimony, the money was intended to pay for his sister to be smuggled into the United States, and Soto-Antunez was expected to deliver the funds to a group in Tijuana, Mexico.
Federal authorities also determined Soto-Antunez had previously been deported in June 2012 and illegally reentered the United States in August 2016.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
Montana
6K+ Flathead Electric customers without power due to damaged transmission structure
More than 6,000 Flathead Electric customers are without power Thursday evening, and officials say it’s due to a damaged transmission structure.
Reports indicate a transmission structure near the White Oak Gas Station that serves the Bigfork and Somers substations sustained damage.
Crews have been dispatched to assess the damage and determine the safest path to make repairs.
An estimated restoration time has not been released.
View the outage map here.
Montana
Body of kayaker found in Yellowstone Lake
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — On June 8, people aboard a vessel discovered a body floating near Rock Point on Yellowstone Lake’s northwest shore near Bridge Bay.
The man was identified as Brandon Rhea, 41, of Denver, Colorado. National Park Service rangers responded and recovered Rhea’s body, along with a capsized kayak and personal belongings.
The incident remains under investigation. No additional details were released.
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