Free Republic

Search warrant: Missoula man may have been high when German student shot Markus Kaarma may have been under the influence of marijuana when he shot and killed German exchange student Diren Dede, according to a search warrant requested by Missoula police. The search warrant also indicates that during previous burglaries of the Missoula home, unknown suspects had taken all the marijuana and marijuana pipes out of the garage. Kaarma, 29, is charged with deliberate homicide for the shooting of the foreign exchange student, who was finishing his junior year abroad at Big Sky High School. According to the affidavit, Kaarma...

The attorney for a Montana man charged in the death of a 17-year-old German exchange student says the teen and a companion had broken into homeowners’ garages three of four times before the shooting. Paul Ryan represents Markus Kaarma, who is charged with deliberate homicide in the April 27 slaying of Diren Dede in Missoula. […] Ryan says the Ecuadorian student told police the boys started “garage hopping” after learning about the practice from other students at their high school. …

The vote to authorize immediate construction of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline may come to a crucial head next week, as two Senators introduced a bill on Thursday calling for binding legislation.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Magma levels are slowly rebuilding inside Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington state that erupted in 1980 and killed 57 people, although there was no sign of an impending eruption, U.S. scientists said. ... "The magma reservoir beneath Mount St. Helens has been slowly re-pressurizing since 2008," the U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is likely that re-pressurization is caused by (the) arrival of a small amount of additional magma 4 to 8 km (2.5 to 5 miles) beneath the surface." The USGS said this is to be expected with an active...

The father of a 17-year-old exchange student shot dead in Montana departed the U.S. on Thursday after criticizing the nation’s gun culture and arranging for his son’s body to be flown back to Germany. Celal Dede flew out of Missoula after securing the release of Diren Dede’s body, which was transported from Montana on Wednesday afternoon, German consulate spokeswoman Julia Reinhardt said. Before he departed, Celal Dede told the German news agency DPA that he had never imagined his son could be shot for simply entering somebody’s property. “America cannot continue to play cowboy,” Celal Dede said. …

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a one-month sentence that was widely condemned as too lenient for a former high school teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student. The court ordered a new judge to re-sentence defendant Stacey Dean Rambold, who has been free since completing the previous term last fall. Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said that according to state sentencing laws, the decision means Rambold must serve a minimum of two years in prison. The high court's decision cited in part the actions of District Judge G. Todd Baugh, of Billings, who suggested the young victim shared...

The largest national group of Indian governments has declared Upstate Citizens for Equality a "hate group." The National Congress of American Indians adopted a resolution last week that says UCE, based in Verona, and two similar groups in other parts of the country want to "eliminate Indian governments, societies and culture." UCE also has a Cayuga-Seneca chapter that opposes the Cayuga land claim. The Verona group opposes the Oneida land claim. The resolution was sponsored by Alma Ransom, a Mohawk chief and treasurer of the Indian congress. It also labeled as hate groups the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance in ...

A Montana couple frustrated by recent thefts allegedly set a trap for potential burglars—and upon hearing a would-be intruder after midnight on Sunday, the husband fired four shots into the darkness, he says. Now, Markus Kaarma of Missoula has been charged in the death of German exchange student Diren Dede, 17, who was hit by bullets in the head and arm, the AP reports. The couple had set up sensors and cameras around their garage, whose door they left open; Kaarma's wife, Janelle Pflager, left her purse there "so they would take it," she said, per court documents. She reportedly...

To many Democrats, ObamaCare is a four-letter word. Most Democrats in competitive elections are seeking to avoid the topic, opting not to tout the controversial law on their campaign websites. In a review of battleground races, The Hill found that out of 50 Democratic candidates with active campaign websites, only 11 mention the healthcare law by name, either as "ObamaCare," "Affordable Care Act," or "ACA." Fourteen more mention the law, but not its name, and half the candidates omit it entirely from their websites. President Obama has trumpeted that more than 8 million people have enrolled in ACA-related plans. Meanwhile,...

A new report analyzing the financial ramifications of a takeover of some of Nevada’s millions of acres of federal lands suggests the state would benefit from such a transfer. A transfer of 4 million acres of U.S. Bureau Land Management land could bring in anywhere from $31 million to $114 million a year, based on a review of four Western states that have significant amounts of trust lands under their control, the report says.

Sounds like the very definition of elitism. The elites in Washington DC, most of whom have never set foot in Nevada (outside a casino), controlling what the local citizens can or cannot do on the land within their state boundaries? This is not the way America was intended to be governed. Ever heard of local control? Self-government? States rights? To many of us out here in the West, pursuit of happiness means ranching, farming, logging, mining, drilling, hunting, fishing, or just living in and enjoying God's great outdoors. It's un-American and unconstitutional for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington DC to...

The Obama administration on Friday said it was giving eight federal agencies more time to weigh in on the Keystone XL pipeline, a move almost certain to delay a final decision on the controversial project until after the Nov. 4 midterm elections. That timeline spares President Barack Obama from making a politically difficult decision that would either anger environmentalists or jeopardize some Senate Democrats seeking reelection in red states. But Friday’s move alienated stakeholders on all sides of the issue, including oil industry allies who accused the White House of playing politics and environmentalists who want Obama to swiftly reject...

A group of armed militia and protesters, some sporting nametags reading "domestic terrorist," remain camped out on a cattle ranch in Nevada, where they have been purportedly defending the property since a tense showdown ended with the federal government last week. A 20-year struggle between rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management over decades of alleged illegal cattle grazing on public land ended last Sunday, with the government backing down from a controversial week-long cattle round-up. The BLM defused the standoff, citing safety concerns for its employees and the protesters, some of whom were on horseback and others...

Matt Rosendale's shoots down a drone in a Campaign Ad. Link..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJBcBx1XFU4&feature=share

p>The Talk Shows April 20th, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.; Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine’s prime minister; Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Gov. Devil Patrick, D-Mass.; Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont.; Lukman Faily, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States; Kim Beazley, Australia’s...

To win the Senate, Republicans must win North Carolina. While it’s mathematically possible to take the Senate without ousting Democratic senator Kay Hagan, the chances of that happening are close to zero. For Republicans, North Carolina is necessary. It’s the key to control of the Senate. Obama Hagan It’s number six on my list. That is, there are five states where capturing Democratic seats appears more likely—West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana, Louisiana, Arkansas. Then comes North Carolina. Assuming Republicans don’t lose any of their own seats, those six pickups would give Republicans a 51-49 majority. And with it, the political...

It’s time for Western states to take control of federal lands within their borders, lawmakers and county commissioners from Western states said at Utah’s Capitol on Friday. More than 50 political leaders from nine states convened for the first time to talk about their joint goal: wresting control of oil-, timber -and mineral-rich lands away from the feds. "It’s simply time," said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who organized the Legislative Summit on the Transfer for Public Lands along with Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder. "The urgency is now." Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, was flanked by a dozen...

After the federal Bureau of Land Management agents backed down from their intimidating stance at the Bundy Ranch last weekend, ample evidence has surfaced indicating the standoff between the government and the Nevada ranching family is far from over. Throughout the weeklong stalemate, members of the Bundy family were physically assaulted by armed officers, numerous cows were shot dead, and protesters faced threats of gunfire for merely expressing their outrage. Immediately after what many considered a victory against a tyrannical federal agency, a number of leftist voices – most notably, Sen. Harry Reid – indicated the action against this family...

Spokane Valley state legislator Matt Shea traveled to Nevada last weekend to support defiant rancher Cliven Bundy’s stand that he doesn’t have to pay grazing fees on federal land. Shea is among a small coalition of legislators from Western states calling for federal lands to be handed over to states. The Nevada episode led to a standoff between Bundy and a large group of armed protesters against agents with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The agents had arrived to enforce a federal judge’s order to remove Bundy’s cattle from the land, but left and deflated the volatile scene. Shea...

The events in Nevada this week have made a number of things crystal clear: 1) Our government, at least at the upper management/executive service level, is incredibly corrupt. 2) Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Majority Misleader, is incredibly corrupt. 3) Obama’s Executive Branch, which allowed this situation to take place in the way that it did, is incredibly corrupt. 4) The judicial branch that has consistently allowed “environmentalists” to dictate public land policy is incredibly corrupt. 5) The “environmentalists” and their co-conspirators in Congress who foisted the so-called “Endangered Species Act” and numerous other extreme laws on us, and turned...