Hearings Set on Jail Expansion Ballot Issues, March 31
Last week, Yellowstone County officials announced the measures that county voters will be asked to approve on the November ballot to build an addition to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility (YCDF), to alleviate overcrowding. The “ask” isn’t as much as earlier estimates suggested because the State has announced that they are going to expand the […]
Committee Set to Examine Solutions to Local Crime
At every corner one can hear people in Yellowstone County claim that more jail space is needed to combat the rising crime rate. But many county officials are dubious that that would solve the problem. They point to other aspects of the judicial system that are creating bottlenecks that keep the jail full and allow […]
Committee mulls 2 percent raise for county’s elected officials
Originally published in the 6/8/18 print edition of Yellowstone County News. BILLINGS — County officials held the first of what is usually two meetings to determine salary increases for the county’s elected officials, on Tuesday. While no action was taken, the discussion of the Elected Officials’ Compensation Committee leaned toward increasing the base salary of […]
The ad is garbage,
Dear Editor: I write this with hesitation, as I try to avoid wading into the dirty waters of election politics, but I believe I must. It distresses me when cases prosecuted by my office, that the people of this great community have trusted me to handle, are manipulated and sensationalized for political gain. Several weeks […]
Deputy hit by vehicle, pursuit ends in rollover
Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder released the following press release this morning in regards to the shots fired and vehicle pursuit that occurred last night about midnight. In his statement, Linder released the following info.
Jury: Deputies not criminally liable in Simpson’s death
by Judy Killen-originally published in the weekly Yellowstone County News BILLINGS — Loren Simpson was driving a stolen SUV, had a near-lethal blood level of methamphetamines and a bottle of whiskey in his coat sleeve when he was shot and killed by two Yellowstone County sheriff’s deputies in January 2015. After a two-day coroner’s inquest, […]
County officials sworn into office on Tuesday
BILLINGS — The common theme of elected county officials sworn into office on Tuesday morning is that they all have years of public service under their belts. Even the only newly elected treasurer, Sherry Long, has worked many years in several different positions as a public employee. In opening the swearing-in ceremony, County Commissioner Jim […]