Missoula man pleads not guilty in stabbing

MISSOULA (AP) -- A Missoula man has pleaded not guilty to murder and tampering with evidence in the Feb. 21 stabbing of his roommate.

Cyril ''Kenny'' Richard II is charged with fatally stabbing Michael J. Meadows of Jackson, Wyo., wrapping his body in a carpet and dumping it off a bridge and into the Clark Fork River west of Missoula. Meadows' body hasn't been recovered.

Richard, 22, entered his plea Wednesday in District Court.

When Richard was arrested, he had a broken arm. He told investigators the stabbing was in self defense after the two argued about money.

However, neighbors told police they heard a struggle in Richard's apartment at about 2 a.m. A surveillance tape from a convenience store shows Richard there shortly after 3 a.m. A clerk said Richard had blood on him and Richard's arm did not appear to be injured in the video.

A neighbor told police she heard a man scream twice in extreme pain at about 5 a.m. and another neighbor called police about an hour later to report a bloody drag trail leading from Richard's apartment down the stairs to the parking lot.

Richard's attorney, Milt Datsopoulos has said a private investigator he hired has evidence consistent with Richard's self-defense assertions.

14-year-olds arrested in Hamilton church fire

HAMILTON (AP) -- Two 14-year-old boys have been arrested for a burglary and arson that took place at the First Baptist Church near Hamilton on March 19.

Ravalli County officials say someone broke into the church, rummaged through several rooms, set fire to a pile of books on the floor in the basement and left with three pounds of candy.

The fire and smoke caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to the church.

Pastor Tony Hatzenbuehler said they had to cancel Good Friday services for the cleanup, but had a full house on Easter Sunday.

Barkey named new head of UM Bureau

MISSOULA (AP) -- The University of Montana has announced a successor to Paul Polzin as director of the UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

Polzin retires June 30.

The new director, announced Thursday, will be Patrick Barkey. He was director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., from 1993 until 2007, when he joined the UM bureau as director of health-care industry research.

Barkey holds a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan.

The UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research provides information to public and private decision makers about the state's business and economic climate through outlets such as the yearly Economic Outlook Seminar and the award-winning Montana Business Quarterly.

What's in a name?

BOZEMAN (AP) -- As Bozeman's seventh elementary school is being built, residents are being asked to help name it.

Voting started late Monday on the Bozeman School District's Web site and will continue until April 14. The final decision will be up to the school board.

A committee of teachers, parents, students and administrators narrowed a list of 70 suggestions to nine that are on the ballot.

They include Abraham Lincoln, poet Robert Frost, Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Molly Babcock, a pioneer woman doctor who also fought for women's right to vote.

Other finalists include: Meadowlark, the state bird; Valley of the Flowers, the American Indian name for the Gallatin Valley; Shining Mountain; Hyalite for the mountains south of Bozeman and Soaring Eagle.

Bozeman's older elementary schools are named for 19th century American writers, Emerson, Irving, Hawthorne, Longfellow and Whittier. Schools opened in 1992 were named for poet Emily Dickinson and Morning Star, a Northern Cheyenne chief.

The school is scheduled to open in August 2009.

Glare contributed to fatal WA plane crash

CASHMERE, Wash. (AP) -- National Transportation Safety Board investigators say they found no mechanical problems with the single-engine plane flown by a former Alaska Airlines chief executive who was killed in a fiery crash last year in Cashmere, Wash.

The investigators say glare from the sun was a contributing factor in the crash last June 28.

In a probable cause statement, investigators say the left wing of 68-year-old Bruce Kennedy's Cessna 182 clipped a series of pine trees estimated at 55 feet tall. The plane crashed into the parking lot of nearby Cashmere High School, east of the runway at Cashmere-Dryden Airport.

Kennedy died at the scene. An autopsy revealed no drugs or alcohol in his system.

Last year, the Chelan County coroner said there was no evidence Kennedy suffered any medical problems prior to impact.

Kennedy had been on his way from Hot Springs, Mont., to visit his grandchildren in Wenatchee.

Dillon couple sues city over alleged ransacking of their home

DILLON (AP) -- A Dillon couple is suing the city, three police officers and others involved in allegedly ransacking their home during a 2005 search for marijuana after a false tip.

James and Betty Stuart contend that Dillon police officers recklessly searched their home after a bogus tip from an informant. The couple asks for more than $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages for physical and emotional distress.

A Butte attorney representing the officers, Brendon Rohan, declined to comment on the case.

The case was moved to U.S. District Court in Butte at the request of Helena lawyer Allen Chronister, who is defending Beaverhead County. He says the move was made because the Stuarts allege their U.S. constitutional rights were violated.

No derailment after train clips pickup near Melrose

MELROSE (AP) -- A freight train struck a pickup truck at a crossing near Melrose on Tuesday morning, sending the driver to the hospital with minor injuries.

A spokesman for Union Pacific said the 13-car train and truck collided shortly after 9 a.m. James Barnes says the train did not derail, no cargo was spilled and no one aboard the train was injured.

The Montana Highway Patrol says the driver of the pickup was taken to the hospital after complaining of back pain. His name was not released.

A witness told The Montana Standard that the driver of the pickup didn't stop at the railroad crossing and the train clipped the rear of the truck, spinning it around.

The patrol is still investigating the crash and could not confirm the witness account.

Six cattle shot in northeast Wyo.

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) -- Six heifers, including some carrying calves with championship rodeo bloodlines, were shot to death over the weekend, authorities said.

The cows were worth more than $10,000, rising to the level of felony property destruction, Casey Cunningham, an investigator with the Wyoming Livestock Board, said.

Four Red Angus cows worth $1,300 a piece and two Bramer Cross cows worth about $2,500 each are believed to have been shot overnight Saturday or early Sunday morning, Cunningham said. Five cows were found dead Monday in a 25-yard radius, and the sixth was found Wednesday away from the group.

''I've seen a lot of dead stuff, but this is the biggest I've seen when people were involved,'' said Cunningham, who sees only a handful of such shootings every year.

The Bramers were carrying calves sired by a prominent bull on the Professional Bull Riding circuit. Cunningham and rancher Max Burch said such calves had the potential to be worth thousands of dollars if they were born healthy.

Burch's family ranching company, Pickrel Land and Cattle Inc., is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in the shooting.

''We're very irritated ... that someone would go and do that,'' Burch said. ''I want them caught.''

The value of the cows carrying calves is not included in the total loss because the unborn calves are not considered property under state law.