Woman charged with negligent homicide for striking, killing woman with vehicle

WIBAUX (AP) — A Wibaux woman was charged Wednesday with negligent homicide for striking and killing another woman with a vehicle, Wibaux County officials said.

Julie C. Rogers is accused of hitting Tamela Ann Curtis, 47, of Wibaux on June 15, near the home of Curtis’ parents.

County Attorney Ron Efta would not comment on the circumstances of the case.

Basin Creek power plant unveiled Wednesday

BUTTE (AP) — Nearly 150 people attended Wednesday’s unveiling of the new $40 million Basin Creek power plant south of here.

The 52-megawatt, natural gas-fired plant will supply NorthWestern Energy during peak demand times, such as mornings, evenings and winter months, for at least 20 years.

‘‘This is the first major electrical generation facility built in Montana since Colstrip,’’ said Don Peoples, who was among a core group of people who worked to make the plant a reality.

Man sentenced in Internet child porn case

BILLINGS (AP) — A Billings man who distributed child pornography on the Internet, drawing the attention of law enforcement in three states and Germany, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison.

Evert Meiners, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom. Meiners pleaded guilty under a plea agreement in March to multiple counts of advertising, distributing and possessing child pornography.

Law enforcement officers in Maryland, New York, Illinois and Germany received images of child pornography from Meiners while monitoring the Internet in June and July of 2004. They sent their leads to an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Billings, who executed a search warrant at Meiners’ home in November 2004.

The search turned up more than 12,000 still and video images of child pornography.

Meiners acknowledged that he collected the images and would ‘‘routinely categorize’’ them, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia Hurd said. He also acknowledged that he knew this activity was illegal.

I-94 near Hysham reopens after collapse

HYSHAM (AP) — A section of Interstate 94 near Hysham that was closed April 7 when a culvert collapsed is open again.

A new culvert — 20 feet in diameter and made of structural steel plates — was installed under the damaged section of I-94 about five miles west of Hysham, the Montana Department of Transportation said.

The new culvert will provide a wider clearance, MDT said in a release.

Some work remains at the site, including re-guarding ramps, repairing cattle guards, along with milling and repaving the ramps. The work is to be completed by July 19, but traffic will not be detoured off the interstate.

Artifacts will be on permanent display at Y’Stone Art Museum

BILLINGS (AP) — Artwork and artifacts that had been on temporary loan from the Charles M. Bair Family Home will be displayed at the Yellowstone Art Museum permanently, the Bair trust’s board of advisers decided Wednesday.

The Yellowstone Art Museum plans a $1 million fundraising effort to create a new gallery for the collection, to be called the Charles M. Bair Family Gallery.

‘‘The Charles M. Bair Family Trust Board of Advisers believes that the Yellowstone Art Museum is a natural and optimal choice for the exhibition and care of the Bair works,’’ said Wayne Hirsch, vice chairman of the trust board.

Artworks by Charles M. Russell and Joseph Henry Sharp, as well as photo engravings of the Crow people by Edward M. Curtis are on display at the museum in Billings, as well as American Indian artifacts collected by the Bair family from the 1800s to the 1900s.

The remainder of the collection will stay at the Charles M. Bair Family Home in Martinsdale, which reopened to visitors this summer. However, some of the more valuable artwork will remain in Billings, with reproductions at the Bair home. Trust advisers said the decision was made over concerns about liability and insurance.

The trust board has promised a $2.15 million grant and endowment for the gallery once the museum has raised an initial $1 million. When the museum has raised the $1 million, construction of the gallery will begin.

Ex-Helena official new executive director of Great Falls BID

GREAT FALLS (AP) — Jeffrey Graff, who has led parking commissions and business improvement districts in Helena and Bozeman, is the new executive director of the Great Falls Business Improvement District.

BID board chairman Bill Struff said Graff, who lives in Bozeman, will be paid $50,000 a year. Greg Madson, who held the post since 2000, is resigning to teach full time at the University of Great Falls.

Graff worked as the interim director of the Helena Parking Commission and Business Improvement District before going back to school at Montana State University to get a master’s degree in public administration. While there, he worked as an independent contractor leading Bozeman’s parking commission and business improvement district.

‘‘Our selection committee was impressed with Jeff’s experience doing similar work in Helena and Bozeman, and both of their downtowns are doing pretty well,’’ Struff said.

Graff expects to be at work in Great Falls in mid-July.

The business improvement district is a quasi-governmental group formed to revitalize the downtown and create a positive environment for working, shopping and dining.

Downtown property owners are charged an annual assessment to finance it.