Montana
Man accused of road rage fatality in Montana makes court appearance Cody
The man charged with intentionally killing a 70-year-old motorcyclist Tuesday in a road rage incident near Belfry appeared in court in Cody, Wyoming, on Friday in two different hearings for two different crimes.
Michael Gambale, 47, lived in a Cody up until the time of an incident last year when he was arrested. He asked in court to waive extradition and return to Montana.
He now lists a Billings address for mailing.
Neighbors say he kept to himself and he was fairly quiet.
Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon alleges that Gambale crashed his car into a motorcycle intentionally, killing a man on Highway 72 just south of Belfry on Tuesday.
Gambale faces charges of one count of deliberate homicide and three counts of attempted deliberate homicide for attempting to run other motorcyclists off the road.
A Park County, Wyoming, district judge agreed with the prosecution’s recommendation of a $1 million bond for the Montana case.
Gambale faced another complaint from the county attorney that he wasn’t following the orders of his probation stemming from a different case.
Revis White, Gambale’s attorney, said the prosecution Gambale was not reporting to the Veterans Administration in Sheridan, about his medication.
“That’s what they believed, but nobody followed up with anything since February,” White said.
White argued that it’s possible for Gambale to have not reported to the VA, but he also took his medications.
Gambale was and will continue serving a probation sentence for an incident that happened in November of 2023.
He pleaded no contest to shooting arrows up to 350 yards onto the runway of the Cody Airport.
Court documents state that the bolts were short thick arrows used with crossbows and air bolt guns and potentially could cause damage to aircraft tires.
Gambale was arrested on a probation violation on Sept. 17 and released on bond just days prior to the road rage events.
His neighbors say they saw him pacing along the fence the day of the airport incident.
They say he served in the military, was quiet and needed help.
Soon he will be in Montana.
“He will be incarcerated at least short term in Carbon County and so for intents and purposes, the Wyoming case is effectively done,” Revis said. “It’s certainly the small piece of the puzzle at this point.”
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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