Montana Public Radio Evening Newscast 07-18-19

Montana Governor Steve Bullock has qualified for the second televised debate among candidates vying for the Democratic Party nomination to run for president. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has partially opened two of the Fort Peck Dam's spillway gates to relieve the rising water level in the reservoir.

Glacier National Park officials say there has been no sign of a 66-year-old man who's been missing for over a week, and the trail where he was last seen is closed because of grizzly bear activity. A Flathead County land use consulting company is suing the City of Whitefish, saying it violated Montana open meeting laws when it crafted its recently implemented affordable housing policy.

Missoula County fire officials announced today they’ve moved fire danger to HIGH, effective immediately. A new study has found that prices Montana hospitals charge for patients with private health insurance can be double what the federal government sets as fair.

Montana State University officials say an employee will undergo a mental health evaluation after making threatening statements that caused a campus-wide lockdown yesterday. Developers of a 400-megawatt energy storage system proposed in central Montana say they expect to start construction as soon as next year after reaching a financing agreement. Missoula County employees say county officials illegally recorded their private conversations with digital audio and video recording devices installed

A Montana State University employee was arrested on campus today after threatening to harm himself and others. The Montana Board of Regents has taken no immediate action on a draft policy change that would likely result in colleges and universities charging money more frequently for public-records requests.

The wives of two men shot multiple times in March on roads in the Missoula area gave updates on their husbands’ recoveries today. Prosecutors say a dozen people face charges in a long-running operation to smuggle tobacco and other contraband into the Montana State Prison.

A memorial service is scheduled Thursday at Hamilton Middle School for Robert Anthony Leonardi, the 9-year-old boy who died Sunday when a van struck him as he crossed the road on his scooter. A judge has ordered a significant bail reduction for a Kalispell man who was charged with killing his boyfriend after jurors couldn't reach a verdict in his deliberate homicide trial last month.

Montana officials say they confiscated over 800 bottles and cans of alcohol in a raid just days after the Yellowstone Club signed a deal to settle charges of serving booze at unlicensed bars at the private ski resort for the ultra-rich.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is reporting more than $2 million in contributions during the second quarter of the year for his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. Montana plans to audit operations of a wing of the state psychiatric hospital after The Montana Standard reported concerns that the hospital is not equipped to care for patients with dementia, nor provide adequate end-of-life care.