Montana
National park tourist dies after being swept over waterfall: officials
A young woman from Pennsylvania died at Glacier National Park after she was swept over a waterfall, park officials say.
The 26-year-old fell into the water near St. Mary Falls at around 5:20 p.m. on Sunday, according to officials. The waterfall, which is located in Glacier County, Montana, is around 35 feet tall.
After falling, the woman was washed over the waterfall and was trapped underwater for several minutes.
Bystanders at the park quickly assisted and brought the woman out of the water before first responders arrived. Bystanders also administered CPR on the woman before park rangers and ambulance personnel took over.
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The Pennsylvania resident was declared dead at around 7 p.m. that night. Glacier National Park says that the woman’s death is being investigated.
“The park extends their deepest condolences to family and friends of the woman and asks that the public respect their privacy,” the park’s statement added.
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Drowning and falls are top causes of death at Glacier National Park. Last year, a 28-year-old woman from Kansas died after falling into one of the park’s creeks.
In 2017, a visitor taking photos fell into a creek at the park and was swept off a steep cliff. The 26-year-old man, who fell around 100 feet, was pronounced dead.
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Authorities are actively investigating the incident. There is no additional information at this time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Montana
Couple walking across the U.S. reach Montana
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — A couple from Missouri have a goal to walk through every state in the lower 48.
Paige and Torin – known by their social media handle “Walking America Couple” – are in leg three of a five-leg, cross-country journey.
They’ve already traversed through 21 states, and on Thursday, their journey brought them to just outside White Sulphur Springs.
“Even out here in the more rural open space, we still make a lot of friends on the side of the road. People often stop and ask what we’re doing, or stop to see if we need water or food,” says Paige.
Each leg takes the couple roughly six months to one year, though they take short breaks in-between. They’re also completing the entire journey with their dog Jak.
“I think he loves the adventure more than we do,” Paige adds.
Through rain, shine, snow, and severe weather warnings, the couple have not been deterred, their purpose and mission propelling them.
“We would like to set the example that you can find contentment under almost any circumstance,” says Torin. “I started out the journey an incredibly cynical person, and it was through these repeated interactions of kindness with people that I had otherwise written off in the past, that my perspective began to change dramatically,” he adds.
Now, their journey is helping to spread the same happiness they’ve discovered to those they encounter on their journeys.
“We hope to be the example that we’re, as humans, all more malleable than we think,” says Paige.
For more information, click here to visit their website.
Montana
Montana lawmakers looking at possible future marijuana dispensary regulations
HELENA — Since the launch of Montana’s adult-use recreational marijuana system in 2022, the state has put limits on who can enter the market. Now, state lawmakers are looking at possibly extending the limits, but in a much different form.
Earlier this month, the Montana Legislature’s Economic Affairs Interim Committee held a preliminary discussion on several marijuana-related bills that could be proposed for the 2025 session. One would freeze the number of marijuana dispensaries and other facilities for two years.
Since the start of legal sales, Montana has had a moratorium, allowing only providers who had been licensed in the state’s medical marijuana system to join the recreational market. It was initially set to expire June 30, 2023, but the Legislature voted last year to extend it two more years.
While the number of licensees was limited, those providers were allowed to open additional “licensed premises,” including dispensaries. The proposed legislation – still in a very early form and subject to change – would prevent any business from adding a new licensed premise between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2027.
“This time, we’re talking about a freeze on all cannabis-related business location licensing, so no new growers, no new kitchens, no new storage facilities, no new dispensaries – they’re the part the public are really going to notice,” said Pepper Petersen, president and CEO of the Montana Cannabis Guild.
The committee referred to the proposal as an extension of the moratorium, but marijuana industry representatives said it’s essentially an entirely new policy, because it would remove the requirement that licensees be former medical providers. That would allow licensees to sell or transfer their businesses to new owners who haven’t previously been in the system.
Petersen said people in the industry understand that many Montanans feel there are enough – or too many – dispensaries in the state. He believes local governments should be taking more active steps to limit the growth of dispensaries through zoning or other regulations.
“We’ve suggested to local governments for two years or more now that they put a number of restrictions on when, where and how dispensaries can open,” he said.
Local governments like Cascade County have looked at ways to regulate marijuana businesses. Next month, the city of Missoula is set to hold a public hearing on a proposal to pause issuing business licenses for new dispensaries.
“When Missoula, Montana, one of the most liberal cities in the state – one of the most marijuana-friendly cities in the country – has said we’ve got too many dispensaries, that reverberates through the state Legislature,” Petersen said.
During the committee meeting, lawmakers also talked about putting together a bill draft to clarify what authority local governments have to put regulations on marijuana businesses. In addition, they looked at a “cleanup” bill to make some technical changes to marijuana laws, as well as a proposed resolution to support the federal SAFER Banking Act, which would allow legal marijuana businesses to access banking services. The committee is set to take a closer look at all of the proposals, including potential amendments, at a meeting in August.
Montana
Montana judge deems defining sex in terms of only male or female unconstitutional – Washington Examiner
A Montana judge deemed a law defining sex in terms of only male or female to be in violation of the state’s constitution since the legislation’s description did not clearly state its purpose.
Members of the LGBT community filed a lawsuit against the bill, which was passed last year, claiming it denied legal protections to people who did not fit into either male or female.
District Court Judge Shane Vannatta in Missoula struck down the bill — but not on the grounds that it ignored the protections of transgender and nonbinary individuals. Rather, she said it was unclear if the bill’s title was referring to “sex” as either sexual intercourse or gender. In addition, Vannatta stated that the bill’s title failed to indicate the words “female” and “male” in the bill’s body.
“The title does not give general notice of the character of the legislation in a way that guards against deceptive or misleading titles,” Vannatta wrote.
Sen. Carl Glimm (R-MT) sponsored the legislation in response to a 2022 court ruling in which a state judge said transgender people could change the gender listed on their birth certificates.
The bill looked to “provide a common definition for the word sex when referring to a human,” the text reads.
Sedan Southard, spokesman for Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT), told the Associated Press the governor stands by the law which legally defines what has always been the understanding of what a male and female are.
“Words matter. And this administration is committed to ensuring words have meaning, unlike this judge, who apparently needs a dictionary to discern the difference between a noun and a verb,” Southard said.
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Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana celebrated the ruling.
“Today’s ruling is an important vindication of the safeguards that the Montana Constitution places on legislative enactments,” Alex Rate, the group’s legal director, told the outlet.
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