Bitterroot Development Case/ Amtrak Crash Investigation

Missoulian: Court to hear legal arguments over largest subdivision in Bitterroot Valley history

Legacy SJ Final Brief v.4.pdf

Missoulian: NTSB says Amtrak engineer didn't use cellphone before crash
NTSB Issues Second Update on its Investigation Into the Amtrak Derailment in Philadelphia
“Analysis of the phone records does not indicate that any calls, texts, or data usage occurred during the time the engineer was operating the train. Amtrak’s records confirm that the engineer did not access the train’s Wi-Fi system while he was operating the locomotive.”

Climate Change Challenge Premature/ G7 Reports/ Collision Aviodance

Missoulian: Appeals court tosses suits challenging climate change plan

In Re: Murray Energy Corp., State of West Virginia, et al. v. EPA

“Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet issued a final rule. It has issued only a proposed rule. Petitioners nonetheless ask the Court to jump into the fray now. They want us to do something that they candidly acknowledge we have never done before: review the legality of a proposed rule. But a proposed rule is just a proposal. In justiciable cases, this Court has authority to review the legality of final agency rules. We do not have authority to review proposed agency rules. In short, we deny the petitions for review and the petition for a writ of prohibition because the complained-of agency action is not final.”

Missoulian: From fossil fuels to epidemics: What the G-7 decided
Official website and documents of the G7 Summit

Missoulian: NTSB: Collision avoidance systems should be standard in cars

NTSB Calls for Immediate Action on Collision Avoidance Systems for Vehicles; Cites Slow Progress as Major Safety Issue
“In a report released today, the National Transportation Safety Board outlined the life-saving benefits of currently available collision avoidance systems, and recommended that the technology become standard on all new passenger and commercial vehicles.”

To view the full report, including the conclusions and recommendations to NHTSA and to passenger vehicle, truck-tractor, motorcoach, and single-unit truck manufacturers, click on the following link: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SIR1501.pdf.

To view “Safety Alert: Addressing Deadly Rear-End Crashes” click on the following link: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA-046.pdf.

U.S. in Iraq/ Logging Bill

Missoulian: Obama: US lacks 'complete strategy' for training Iraqis
Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Al-Abadi after Bilateral Meeting
“What we do know is that our success is going to be dependent on an effective partnership between the international coalition and the Iraqi government.  And that’s why a lot of our discussion today will focus on how we can build on the thousands of Iraqi security forces that we have already trained; how we can coordinate more effectively in getting weapons into the hands of those who are prepared to fight ISIL on a timely basis; how we can ensure that the work that the Prime Minister has done to maintain an inclusive government in Baghdad continues.”

Missoulian: Republicans shift strategy in effort to increase logging
HR 2647: Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015

Rural Air Service/ Tongue River Railroad Coal

Billings Gazette: Congress rejects effort to ground rural air service
H.R. 2557: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016
Essential Air Service
“The Essential Air Service (EAS) program was put into place to guarantee that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before deregulation maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service.”

Missoulian: Many voice opposition to Tongue River Railroad
Tongue River Abstract
“On October 16, 2012, Tongue River Railroad Company, Inc. (TRRC) filed a revised application with the Surface Transportation Board (Board). TRRC intended to construct and operate an approximately 83-mile rail line between Miles City, Montana, and two ending points, one near the site of the previously planned Montco Mine near Ashland, Montana, and another at the proposed Otter Creek Mine in the Otter Creek area east of Ashland, Montana. On December 17, 2012, TRRC filed a supplemental application with the Board in which TRRC changed its preferred alignment from the 83-mile Tongue River Alternative to the 42-mile rail line between Colstrip, Montana and the Ashland and Otter Creek areas of Montana.”

Tongue River Railroad Environmental Impact Statement

Zinke Forest Bill/ Elder Abuse

Missoulian: Zinke forest bill would require lawsuit bonds, reduce timber-sale analysis
H.R.2644 :  To expedite certain forest management activities on National Forest System lands derived from the public domain when the activities are developed through a collaborative process of interested

Missoulian: Missoula Aging Services: As Montana grays, elder financial abuse rises
Adult Protective Services
“Adult Protective Services are provided by the Senior and Long Term Care Division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), to reduce or remove the risk of physical or mental harm that has occurred or is occurring to a person, as a result of abuse neglect or exploitation.”

Brownfields Grant/ NSA and Phone Records/ Facebook Threats

Missoulian: EPA awards city of Missoula $400,000 Brownfields grant
EPA provides $400K to advance the cleanup

Missoulian: Either way, no more NSA collection of US phone records
HR.2048: USA FREEDOM Act of 2015
“Sec. 101) Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to establish a new process to be followed when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) submits an application to a FISA court for an order requiring the production of business records or other tangible things for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. (The FBI currently uses such authority to request FISA orders requiring telephone companies to produce telephone call records to the National Security Agency.)”

Missoulian: High court throws out conviction for Facebook threats
 Elonis v. United States
“After his wife left him, petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis, under the pseudonym “Tone Dougie,” used the social networking Web site Facebook to post self-styled rap lyrics containing graphically violent language and imagery concerning his wife, co-workers, a kindergarten class, and state and federal law enforcement. These posts were often interspersed with disclaimers that the lyrics were “fictitious” and not intended to depict real persons, and with statements that Elonis was exercising his First Amendment rights. Many who knew him saw his posts as threatening, however, including his boss, who fired him for threatening co-workers, and his wife, who sought and was granted a state court protection-from-abuse order against him.”

Ethanol/ Economy

Missoulian: EPA proposes lowering amount of ethanol in gas
EPA Proposes Increases in Renewable Fuel Levels
Renewable Fuels: Regulations & Standards

Missoulian: US economy fell at 0.7 pct. rate in winter but is rebounding
Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2015 (second estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st quarter 2015 (preliminary estimate)