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- January 7, 2004
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- limez
- Jan 1 2005, 12:18 AM
I would like to wish all of you a happy new year. 2004 has been a hard year to deal with, but we're all moving on . Let's take a close look at 2004 in review:
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January
Snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park had another tumultuous year.
After a lackluster winter due to a last-minute judicial decision, Park Service officials decided to develop temporary rules while they embark on a third in-depth study of the issue. The new rules, set to last three years, allow up to 720 snowmobiles per day as long as they meet "cleaner and quieter" standards and riders are accompanied by a commercial guide.
Several lawsuits are pending.
Billings School District 2 dropped spring break from the calendar to make sure enough students take and are adequately prepared to pass tests required under No Child Left Behind.
The federal program requires 95 percent participation in a test to judge whether schools are making Adequate Yearly Progress. Failure to have enough kids take the test, or if they don't perform well enough, results in sanctions that get more severe the more years the failure occurs.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., returned to work after recovering from emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, a condition apparently caused by a fall in a race in 2003.
February
A 13-year-old Hardin boy was accused in February of using a baseball bat to beat one man to death and seriously injure another man. Vincent "Vinny" Whiteman and 21-year-old Detrich Shoulderblade were charged in Big Horn District Court with deliberate homicide for the death of 26-year-old Wayne Not Afraid. They are also charged with attempted homicide for the attack on Floyd Grant during the same incident.
A judge later ruled that Whiteman would be charged as an adult, but that decision has been appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. Trials are pending.
Two Skyview High School students, Beau Malia and Joe Lauer, became the first teammates to each win fourth consecutive state wrestling titles.
Billings West High School girls won the state's Class AA swimming title for the first time in the school's history.
Billings Central Catholic High School boys won the state swimming Class A title.
March
The Billings Family YMCA announced that it can no longer make payments on its $2.5-million debt and began a fund-raising campaign. In mid-summer, bondholders agree to allow the Y to stop making payments for another year, to see if it can raise enough money to erase its debt.
Richard Vernes was sentenced in District Court to 80 years in prison for trying to scalp his landlady and her elderly mother in 2002. Vernes and his wife were convicted at separate trials of aggravated assault and attempted homicide by accountability for attack on Luella Loga and her 82-year-old mother, Ella Loga. Pamela Vernes also received a prison sentence of 80 years.
Crow Agency resident Quinton Birdinground Jr., 24, was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for fatally shooting his uncle, Emerson Pickett, 30, and wounding his estranged girlfriend, Leitha Yellowmule, 23. A jury convicted Birdinground of second-degree murder for the Feb. 8, 2003 slaying at a residence on the Crow Indian Reservation.
In a spring bond election, School District 2 asked for $99.5 million to refurbish old schools and build a new high school. Voters approved $10 million to add on to or rebuild elementary schools, but rejected a $37-million high school and a $52.5-million plan to refurbish existing high schools. Projects under the $10-million umbrella already have started, while a new committee has been formed to look at ways to alleviate overcrowding at the three high schools.
Billings resident J.B. Baugus, 60, was sentenced to 26-1/2 years in federal prison for conviction of carjacking, drugs and firearms charges stemming from an incident in Billings. Baugus was convicted by a Great Falls jury in December 2003.
A Wyoming man convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing an 18-year-old Billings woman in 1988 was sentenced to death after a trial in March.
Dale Eaton, 59, was found guilty of murder and other charges for the death of Lisa Marie Kimmell. The murder remained a mystery for nearly 15 years until a DNA sample taken from Kimmell's body was matched to Eaton. After the DNA match, Kimmell's car was found buried on Eaton's property in Moneta, Wyo.
Three Forsyth elementary-school boys were accused in March of bringing a knife and pistol to school in a plot to harm a classmate. The two 8-year-old boys and an 11-year-old were charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon after they told police they wanted to hurt a female schoolmate who had teased and kicked at least one of them.
In July, a state judge dismissed the charges against the two younger boys and noted a psychiatrist's opinion that they did not understand the court proceedings and were not fit to stand trial. The charge against the third boy was dismissed in September when a judge ruled that statements he made to police were involuntary.
Billings West girls won their second straight Class AA basketball championship, ending a perfect season at 23-0.
About Northwest College 100 students are evacuated after a fire started in a dormitory in Powell, Wyo. Four students were taken to the hospital, but no one was seriously hurt. The dorm, which did not have a sprinkler system, was declared a complete loss.
April
A major exhibition of the late Andy Warhol's work drew record crowds to the Yellowstone Art Museum when it opened in April. The show "Dream America'' included 88 pieces from the collection of art collector and philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer, of Portland, Ore. The show featured complete portfolios of several Warhol screenprint series, including "Mao,'' "Marilyn,'' "Campbell Soup 1'' and "Cowboys and Indians.''
More than 2,000 Billings fifth-graders viewed the exhibit, with the museum covering the cost for busing after School District 2 cut money for busing from its budget.
Gregory Williams, 15, of Billings was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted as an adult of negligent homicide for the July 2003 death of 15-year-old William Grisham Jr. The boy was fatally shot in the heart with a stolen gun at William's residence in the Heights. Williams and another boy carried Grisham to a neighbor's yard and first told police that Grisham was hit during a drive-by shooting.
May
Yellowstone National Park celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Old Faithful Inn in May.
The Eagles Farewell 1 Tour landed in Billings May 21 selling out MetraPark.
Tickets, priced at $80 and $131.50, sold quickly, and fans weren't disappointed with the show, a top-notch recap of the band's 32-year career.
Paul Dexter Morning Jr., 17 a popular Skyview High senior, was stabbed to death during a drinking party near Dunmore on the Crow Indian Reservation. The murder sent shockwaves through Hardin, where Morning grew up, and at Skyview, where he was a member of the school wrestling team.
In August, 22-year-old Mitchell Chandler of Crow Agency pleaded not guilty in federal court to second-degree murder for Morning's death. Trial is pending.
Pfc. Owen Witt, 20, of Sand Springs, died while on patrol in Iraq when his armored vehicle rolled.
June
A Billings road worker was killed on June 30 when a man accused of drunken driving sped through a construction zone on Main Street at 4 a.m.
Chad Michael Shipman, 25, was later charged with negligent homicide for the death of 38-year-old Richard Dean Roebling. Prosecutors said Shipman had three prior drunken-driving convictions and a blood-alcohol level more than three times the state legal limit when Roebling was killed.
A 15-year-old Rapelje boy who shot his mother and younger brother to death as they were sleeping was sentenced in June to 30 years in state custody.
Jake Russell Anders was ordered to receive treatment for what doctors said was a severe mental illness that authorities believe led to the slayings in July 2003 of Jennifer Hossfeld, 36, and Levi Anders, 10.
July
Details of a conflict between Billings City Administrator Kristoff Bauer and Police Chief Ron Tussing were made public in July. In an evaluation released by Tussing, Bauer reprimanded Tussing for insubordination, and the city spent nearly $1,000 for a mediator to resolve the conflict. The conflict surfaced again in December with the release of letters between attorneys representing Tussing and the city. The letters showed the city wants Tussing to leave his job, a proposal Tussing has refused.
The daughter of a Sheridan Wyo., police officer was shot in the back and killed as she tried to flee her abductor on July 2. Prosecutors said 18-year-old Kaleigh Ford was shot three times with a shotgun after she jumped from a moving car in Sheridan. Stephen Hyatt, 22, was arrested a few hours later in Ford's car. Hyatt pleaded not guilty in October to first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if Hyatt is convicted. The trial has been scheduled for March 28.
Family Tree Center moved into a new home after its old location was needed for expansion by its owner, Deaconess Billings Clinic.
The new home for the center, which works to prevent child abuse, is at 1120 N. 30th St. and is owned by St. Vincent Healthcare.
Because of budget constraints, the Billings City Council closed Athletic Pool in July, the start of the 2004-05 fiscal year. However, the pool remained open for the rest of the summer after supporters launched a private fund-raising effort. During budget discussions in June, the council decided to close Athletic Pool rather than close three wading pools as part of an effort to balance the budget.
One factor in the decision to close Athletic Pool was that it had been leaking an estimated 35,000 gallons of water per day. But Liquid Engineering, a local company that specializes in repairing water tanks and other water-containment structures, agreed to repair the pool for free.
The case against Wyoming wolf-recovery coordinator Mike Jimenez and Hawkins & Powers Aviation, Inc. employee Wes Livingston was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne after Park County Prosecutor Bryan Skoric charged that the men were "trespassing and littering" on a ranch in Meeteetse, Wyo., during a wolf-collaring exercise in February. The men said that they thought they were on public land. Skoric has since appealed the case.
August
More than 350 Teamsters working for the city of Billings went on strike for 11 days in August. The strike idled Billings' buses, delayed garbage collection and forced the closure of the library.
Workers walked off the job over issues of base pay, longevity pay and seniority. Another issue that prolonged the strike was whether the city would rehire three probationary employees who were fired because they refused to cross the picket lines.
The city later decided not to fight charges of labor practices filed by the Teamsters. Amnesty was extended to all of the probationary employees. Joe Dwyer, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 190, insisted that state law and the National Labor Relations Act protect employees from being fired because they have taken action to support a union.
The Yellowstone Art Museum celebrated its 40th anniversary in a big way with a weekend of parties, reunions and discussions on the future of art.
The celebration weekend of Aug. 13 brought arts supporters like James M. Haughey and Ben Steele together to celebrate the museum's humble beginnings in the old Yellowstone County Jail in October 1964. Dozens of dreamers lent a hand, including then-director Walter Woodcock, now 84 and living in Polson. Terry Melton was the first of seven paid directors, and Haughey headed the first fine-arts commission.
Rocky Mountain College opened a new residence, Rimview Hall, designed to house 200 students in single rooms arranged in suites. The new building alleviates crowding in older dorms on campus as enrollment climbs. This fall, Rocky had a record enrollment of 988 students.
Montana State University-Billings saw a 1 percent increase in both its headcount and full-time-equivalent enrollment fall semester over 2003. A total of 4,702 students were enrolled fall semester. The classes that those students took translated into the equivalent of 3,850 full-time students.
Army Staff Sgt. Aaron N. Holleyman, 26, who graduated from high school in Glasgow, was killed by an explosion in Iraq. He became the fourth Montanan to die in Iraq.
Montana State University-Billings completes installing fire-suppression sprinklers in both high-rise dorms.
September
Skyview head wrestling coach Dave Maier resigned - but stayed on as a teacher - after an incident in which a student accused him of being in an indiscrete position with another teacher. Maier's lawyer has denied the allegation. Maier was suspended for four days without pay, and the other teacher, Paulette Gershmel, was suspended for two days without pay, although the school district has never formally acknowledged that this happened or why.
Parents are outraged at what they see as insufficient punishment for the allegations and have attended several board meetings and special meetings to voice their displeasure.
Jodee Hogg of Billings survived an airplane crash near Glacier National Park. Investigators initially said none of the plane's five occupants was alive after the crash. Hogg and Matthew Ramige of Jackson Hole, Wyo., spent two nights in the woods before hiking out to a highway.
Three Billings residents, including the child's mother, were charged in September with the death of a 3-year-old boy.
Ropati "Lupe" Mulipola died of a severe head injury after being shaken and dropped on his head. Prosecutors said the boy suffered for five hours as his condition worsened before his mother, Jessica Ann Thompson and others called for medical help.
Thompson, Thomas Keith Larson and Larson's wife, Jennifer Larson, were charged with deliberate homicide. Trial is pending.
A 21-year-old Billings man who said he was in a drug-induced state when he slit the throat of another man and burned the victim's face with a torch was sentenced in September to 40 years in prison for murder.
Ricci Hofferber said he was addicted to methamphetamine when he killed 38-year-old Michael Boerner in a house on Jackson Street in April 2003. Firefighters responding to a report of smoke at the residence found Boerner's mutilated body.
The Billings City Council voted to adopt an ordinance establishing what is known as an "arterial construction fee" to finance the construction and rebuilding of arterial roads like Grand Avenue and Shiloh Road.
Archaeologists surveying parts of Little Bighorn Battlefield in advance of a road-improvement project found 320 battle-related artifacts this fall. They uncovered mostly bullets and cartridge cases fired from warrior and trooper weapons, as well as metal arrowheads. Work on the battlefield tour road is expected to begin in 2005.
Jimmy Ray Bromgard sued the state and Yellowstone County seeking compensation for the 15 years he spent in prison for a rape that DNA evidence later showed he did not commit.
Windsor Energy amped up its operations in Clark, Wyo., this year by unveiling plans to conduct a 47-acre seismic survey, construct a 20-mile gas pipeline and build a tank battery and compressor station near the residential community along the Beartooth Front.
Several residents oppose the increase in development, saying that the gas and oil exploration would decrease the quality of life and denigrate the area's vast environmental and cultural resources. However, Clark's mineral potential could be vast-just the existing wells could be producing $1.5 million per month, which would increase funding for education and other kinds of community assistance, Windsor officials say.
At the Moss Mansion, Joyce Mayer is named executive director and Kathleen Whittenberger becomes house and collections director.
October
Busby resident Orville David Morrison, 26, pleaded not guilty in federal court to second-degree murder and other charges for the Oct. 3 shotgun slaying of William Wick, 43, also of Busby, at a junkyard east of town. Morrison remains in custody pending trial.
The expanding wolf population in and around Yellowstone National Park continued to cause awe and anxiety. Federal officials in 2004 said it's time to remove wolves from the endangered species list, but the government rejected Wyoming's plan for managing wolves - a step that holds up the process for Montana and Idaho. Five lawsuits are pending over the issue of wolf management.
A top federal official said in October that new rules could be completed in 2005 that would give ranchers and others more authority to kill wolves that are causing problems. Meanwhile, two sister wolves - the only surviving members of the batch of reintroduced wolves brought to Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996 - died. No. 42, a famous matriarch with the Druid pack, was probably killed by a rival pack in late January. Less than two weeks later No. 41 was killed by government agents after she was caught repeatedly killing young cattle.
A group of developers from Butte and Billings announced plans to build a resort hotel, convention center and five-story indoor water park near Shiloh Road and Interstate 90.
A proposal that would turn a 553-acre expanse of Wapiti Valley hayfields and riverfront near Cody, Wyo., into a gated community of 131 homes and 24 townhouse units was welcomed with dispute this fall. Copperleaf, proposed by North Fork Communities Inc., has given rise to arguments over whether the scenic area can handle a development that could double the population of the Wapiti community. The proposal is before the Park County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Doris Poppler resigned from the Billings City Council on Oct. 31 for health reasons. Poppler, who represented Ward 4, died Dec. 12. She was replaced by Ed Ulledallen, a Billings financial adviser. Ulledallen was one of a dozen people who applied to replace Poppler.
Earlier in October, Ward 3 Councilwoman Jan Iverson announced that she's retiring from the council at the end of December because of increased work responsibilities. The council will select a replacement by the end of the year.
Billings Senior High School boys won the state AA soccer title.
November
Efforts to sign up young voters and changes that allowed any registered voter to cast an absentee ballot apparently contributed to high voter turnout in November's general election in Yellowstone County.
Montana was one of the states giving a majority of its votes to President George W. Bush, who was re-elected. The election did drag into the second day before Democrat John Kerry conceded.
After twice being fired as the Yellowstone County Chief Deputy Public Defender, Roberta Drew in November won a gender discrimination claim against her former employer.
A hearing examiner with the state Department of Labor and Industries awarded Drew nearly $70,000 in damages for emotional distress and lost wages after ruling county officials violated state laws against discrimination when she was passed over for a promotion. An attorney for the county said the ruling would be appealed.
Drew was fired in December 2002, and then rehired a year later when an internal grievance committee found she was wrongfully terminated. Drew filed a complaint with the state Human Rights Bureau and lawsuit against the county in federal court. The lawsuit was later withdrawn by Drew.
Drew was fired again earlier this year when the Montana Supreme Court ordered her license to practice law temporarily suspended. The suspension followed a state judge's finding that Drew was guilty of contempt for failing to work on the legal case of a woman in prison for murder. Drew spent seven days in jail for the contempt charge.
The Montana State Supreme Court declared that state funding for public schools is inadequate and gave the Legislature until Oct. 1, 2005, to fund "free, quality public education" guaranteed under the state constitution. Billings School District 2 was a plaintiff in the suit.
A legislative panel is expected to take a close look at the issue during the first weeks of the session and make recommendations on defining a quality education.
Attorney General Mike McGrath asked the Montana Supreme Court to tell Gov. Judy Martz to stay out of a federal lawsuit over ownership of the Tongue River. The lawsuit deals with whether the state or the Northern Cheyenne Tribe owns half of the riverbed.
Frustrated family and community members in November marked the one-year anniversary of the deaths of Koren Diebert, 26, and LaFonda Big Leggins, 23. The two women were beaten to death south of Hardin. Although three brothers were named as suspects early on, no one had been charged with the murders by late December.
Second time was the charm for City of Cody, Wyo., Mayor-elect Roger Sedam.
After losing to Ken Stockwell in 2000, Sedam won a decisive victory against the same man in 2004. Calling for "more horse sense" in city government, the Cody businessman doubled the votes of incumbent Stockwell and tripled the votes of opponents Karen Gibbons and Jerry Delano in the primary election. He cinched up his win in the general election runoff with Stockwell, 2,649-1,912.
Park County, Wyo., voters asked for more diverse representation when they passed a measure adding two more county commissioners to the table. Five voices will now be the standard for county decisions instead of three.
KPOW's "Voice of the Panthers" will now be the voice of the city of Powell, Wyo. Radio broadcaster Scott Mangold won his mayoral bid, beating opponent Jim Hillberry 1,433-1,005. Mangold has promised that the public will have an open mic in his City Hall, and plans on instituting brown bag lunches with the public and city officials to improve communication.
Early this year, Wyoming lost its brucellosis-free status after two cattle herds showed signs of the disease. In response, state officials formed a special commission to look at the disease and ways to reduce its spread.
Meanwhile, the controversy over hazing and slaughtering bison that leave Yellowstone National Park continues. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks proposed a bison hunt just outside park borders, and federal and state agencies began pursuing vaccination programs. Environmental groups, including the Buffalo Field Campaign, have opposed such efforts.
Former Crow Indian Tribal finance director Kelly Dee Passes pleaded guilty to five counts including conspiracy to defraud the tribe and obstruction of justice for a kickback scheme in which he helped steal tribal money to pay for the legal defense of ex-chairman Clifford Birdinground. Birdinground was convicted of bribery.
Passes, 37, said he wanted tribal members to know that Birdinground asked him to do it. Passes admitted that he devised bogus or inflated contracts and enlisted the help of others to cash checks and give him the money, which he passed on to Birdinground. Passes is estimated to have defrauded the tribe of $64,000. Passes is to be sentenced on Jan. 3 by U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull.
After a tumultuous 2003-04 season marked by protests over the non-renewal of long-time director Uri Barnea's contract, the Billings Symphony Orchestra began the year-long process of finding a new director.
The first of five finalists who will be guest conductors throughout the 2004-05 season, Raffaele Ponti, arrived in Billings in November and led the BSO in a lively Nov. 13 concert, "Unbridled Emotion.'' Other candidates are Glen Cortese, who will conduct on Jan. 22; Barbara Day Turner on Feb. 19, 2005; Dennis Simons on March 19, 2005; and Anne Harrigan on April 30, 2005.
The owner of a Laurel day care where a 1-year-old boy died from an overdose of cold and allergy medicine withdrew her guilty plea in November to a charge of negligent homicide.
Sabine Bieber said she did not have a clear mind when she previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of Dane Heggem on Jan. 31, 2003. Prosecutors said Heggem died from an overdose of the drug diphenhyramine, commonly known by its brand name, Benadryl.
Bieber and Denise Smith operated the Tiny Tots Day Care where authorities said several children were given the drug to manage their sleep. Charges against Smith were later dismissed. Bieber's trial is pending.
Eugene Little Coyote, 32, ousted incumbent Geri Small in November to become one of the youngest presidents of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. On the Crow Reservation, incumbent Chairman Carl Venne and his slate of candidates won four more years in office under the first full elections held under the new 2001 constitution.
The Montana State University-Billings Foundation tabled discussions over the possible acquisition of Shadowlawn, a property southwest of campus, after neighbors expressed concern about not being informed about the move and the potential disruption of the residential area. The foundation and university officials later had a public meeting with neighbors to explain their actions.
Harvest Church, located near Skyview High, plans to build a swimming pool open to the public in the Heights. The pool, tentatively scheduled to open in summer 2006, will be built on church property and be operated and maintained by the church. Blueprints are still in the design phase. Swimmers will pay a gate fee comparable to that charged at other Billings pools. Harvest Church leaders stressed that the public will be invited to use the pool with no strings attached.
The cabin studio of the late Western artist J.K. Ralston's is moved from the Rocky Mountain College campus to the Western Heritage Center grounds at 2822 Montana Ave. The cabin will be restored and become a visitors' center for the museum.
Billings West girls captured the state AA volleyball champion ship, the school's first state title in that sport. At the same all-class tournament in Bozeman, Huntley Project girls won the Class B state volleyball championship.
December
Montana State University-Billings officially opened its downtown campus. Space in three downtown buildings has been remodeled and wired with state-of-the-art Internet connections and computer and video capabilities for classes, meetings, conferences and training.
Ground was broken for a new site on Broadwater Avenue for Temple Beth Aaron. Billings' Jewish community will have more room in the new location. The old synagogue's site will be used for expansion by St. Vincent Healthcare.
Members of the military and National Guard deployed to the war in Iraq or other postings associated with the conflict continued to leave for duty or return home to Montana and Wyoming throughout the year. As the year ended, hundreds of families in the two states were spending holidays without members, who were serving the nation.
Throughout the year, a variety of groups, individuals and even students conducted projects to reach out the those in service - whether by coordinating communications with members of the military, gathering goodie packages for troops or holding functions to aid the families on the homefront.
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I wish you all have a happy new year, and make it special, as after this year is gone, it won't come back ever again.
Dude, thanks for that, :clown: i was looking for something like that
anyway
HAPPY NEW YR EVERYONE!
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