Fires/ Student Loans/ Contempt of Congress/ Sony buying EMI

Missoulian: Weather helps firefighters near Roundup; Northern Cheyenne blaze persists

Montana Fire Information

Missoulian: Congress poised to act on highways, student loans 

H.R. 14: MAP-21 

Missoulian: GOP wins contempt fight, but legal dispute loom

H.RES.711 -- Resolved, That Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena.

The House agreed to H. Res. 711, recommending that the House of Representatives find Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, in contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, by a recorded vote of 255 ayes to 67 noes with 1 answering ``present'', Roll No. 441.  

Read the discussion in the Daily Digest

Missoulian: FTC approves Sony's acquisition of part of EMI

FTC Closes Its Investigation Into Sony/ATV MusicPublishing's Proposed Acquisition of EMI Music Publishing 

“The Federal Trade Commission has closed its nonpublic investigation of Sony/ATV Music Publishing's proposed acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, without taking any action. Accordingly, the deal may now proceed as proposed.”- FTC

 

Health Care Ruling/ Wildlife/ Fires

Missoulian: Political uncertainty abounds as ruling looms 

 

Supreme Court Ruling link will be added when available, the opinion has been released. The health care mandate has been upheld.  The section requiring states to expand Medicaid or lose funding has not been upheld.
Information on the case is available at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Cases section of the Supreme Court website.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Missoulian: To young wildlife, a human 'rescue' will likelybe fatal

FWP: Spare The Life Of A Young Wild Animal

“Every spring FWP biologists, wardens and other field personnel begin to hear stories of how an "abandoned" newborn wild animal was "rescued." Unfortunately, in most cases this means the rescuer separated the young animal from a nearby parent.

"If you care, leave them there," is FWP's annual advice this time of year. The hope is to spare newborn wildlife the sad fate of being separated from the only parent capable of teaching it to live free in the wild.”

Montana Fire Information

See updated information on Montana Fires.

Fires

Missoulian: Bear Trap fire jumps highway; Strategy set tofight 4,800-acre Pony fire

Missoulian: Wildfire south of Roundup grows to 15,000 acres

Montana Fire Information including Bear Trap 2, Antelope Lane, Pony Fire, Dahl Fire (18,751 acres), Corral fire, Stag fires and others.

Missoulian: 32,000 ordered to flee 'epic' Colorado firestorm

Colorado Fire information including Weber, Little Sand, High Park Fire, Hewlett Fire and more.

MODIS Global Fire Maps
In conjunction with the LANCE Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), global, 10-day fire maps are available summarizing the fire activity across the world. Other fire-related products are available through FIRMS.

Corporate Campaign Spending/ Fires/ Student Aid

 Missoulian: U.S. Supreme Court nixes state's ban on corporatecampaign spending

American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock

“A Montana state law provides that a “corporation may not make . . . an expenditure in connection with a candidate or a political committee that supports or opposes a candidate or a political party.” Mont. Code Ann. §13–35–227(1) (2011). The Montana Supreme Court rejected petitioners’ claim that this statute violates the First Amendment. 2011 MT 328, 363 Mont. 220, 271 P. 3d 1. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, this Court struck down a similar federal law, holding that “political speech does not lose First Amendment protection simply because its source is a corporation.” 558 U. S. ___, ___ (2010) (slip op., at 26) (internal quotation marks omitted). The question presented in this case is whether the holding of Citizens United applies to the Montana state law. There can be no serious doubt that it does. See U. S. Const., Art. VI, cl. 2. Montana’s arguments in support of the judgment below either were already rejected in Citizens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case.

The petition for certiorari is granted. The judgment of the Supreme Court of Montana is reversed.”

Missoulian: 3 houses burn in Helena wildfire

Montana Fires including Bear Trap 2, Pony Fire, Corral Fireand others...

Missoulian: Feds: For-profits could lose federal student aid

Five Percent of Career Training Programs Risk Losing Accessto Federal Funds; 35 Percent Meet All Three Standards Under Gainful EmploymentReg 

“The new data, which covers career training programs at public, for-profit and non-profit schools, show that five percent of them—all located at for-profit colleges—do not meet any of three key requirements of the Department's Gainful Employment regulation. Eventually, these for-profit programs could lose access to federal student aid if they cannot improve performance.”-Education Department

Montana Fires

Helena Independent Record: Second wildfire starts insouthwest Montana 

Montana InciWeb

Information on the Antelope and Stag Fires.