Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A documentary called ‘Boom Behind the Bakken’ aired Thursday night on Montana PBS, and in the film some in the oil patch area fear that the process known as ‘fracking‘, may lead to earthquakes in the future.

Mike Stickney is the earthquake Studies Director at the Montana School of Mines in Butte. Stickney says that topic came up at a recent conference he attended in San Diego, California. Scientific studies report that there is no danger of earthquakes due to ‘fracking’, however, he did say that the deep injection wells that dispose of the fracking fluids can cause mild earthquakes in rare instances. Stickney says the few quakes that have been tied to these deep injection wells were very minor, with no damage reported. Comments from Dr. Stickney are below, and tell the entire story.

photo courtesy of Loco Steve/flickr.com

Starting Saturday, Armed Forces Day, all active-duty military personnel and their families will receive a free annual pass to visit any of America’s National Parks. To honor our military for their service to our country, the National Park Service is offering this free chance to escape and relax in any National Park. from the Statue of Liberty to Glacier National Park.

Pat Jamison, Outdoor Recreation Planner with the National Bison Range in Western Montana has more details about the offer in the conversation below.

Photo courtesy of e_t/flickr.com

May is the month when most motorcylists bring their bikes out of winter storage and get ready to ride. May is also Motorcycle Safety Month, a good time to review some important safety tips for both motorcycle riders and the other vehicles that share the road with them.

Sergeant Greg Amundsen of the Missoula Police Department says wearing the proper safety apparel is of utmost importance, especially a DOT approved helmet, gloves, a jacket, long pants and sturdy shoes. For drivers of other vehicles, Amundsen says a motorcycle’s speed may be deceptive, so take some extra time to observe the bike as it approaches. Remember, in a crash between a car and a motorcycle, the motorcycle always loses. Amundsen’s comments are below, and are worth a listen,

Photo courtesy of K-38 rescue/flickr.com

The search has been suspended for a 19 year-old man who jumped off the Madison Street Bridge Wednesday evening and disappeared in the swollen Clark Fork River. Missoula County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Jason Johnson says search and rescue boats and jet-skis traveled down the Clark Fork for several miles, but found no trace of the young man’s body.

Johnson says the search has been suspended because of the high fast water of the Clark Fork makes a continued search more dangerous.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Disco legend Donna Summer has died after a battle with cancer, TMZ is reporting. She was 63 years old.

Insiders say she wanted to keep the disease quiet, and a friend said that as recently as two weeks ago, Summer seemed okay and was even finishing up work on a new album.

The five-time Grammy winner shot to fame in the 1970s with songs like ‘Love to Love You Baby,’ ‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Bad Girls,’ and continued her reign on radio airwaves into the ’80s with hits including ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ and ‘This Time I Know It’s for Real.’

Summer was also the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on the US Billboard chart.

[TMZ]

Photo courtesy of jdlasica/Flickr

For many Americans, climate change is the number one issue of our times. The apocalyptic vision trumpeted by Al Gore and heralded by Paul Ehrlich has convinced many that we must change the way our society is structured in order to prevent an environmental collapse. For those that buy into the grand vision, it makes sense to commit all to the cause in an attempt to foment a change in the way society behaves.  The problem for those of us still making up our minds on what to do about climate change is that the tenor of environmental activism tends to be completely one-sided.

Take the BP oil spill for example. Van Jones, who once directed $80 billion dollars of America’s green energy spending, has recently (and honorably I think) spoken out about the silence of the environmental movement during the tenure of President Obama.

The reason for this silence is likely varied, but for those who aren’t part of the group the silence sends one message loud and clear: the climate change movement is more about politics than the sanctity of Earth.We our left with a bitter taste in our mouths. The feeling is akin to the sense of anger and doubt that an unbeliever would have after observing an act of religious hypocrisy. For those who are not dyed-in-the-wool democrats, the political nature of the climate change movement makes us feel like we are watching a televangelist begging for money.

Dan Kitwood, Getty Images

A while back, we told you about the Jewish girls’ school in Brooklyn that instituted a Facebook ban for its students, saying using the social media site violated its religious tenets.

Now an elementary school in Australia is following suit, but its demand that kids delete their Facebook pages has an entirely different reason: it’s an attempt to wipe out cyber-bullying.

Leonie Hultgren, principal of Harlaxton State School in Toowoomba, Queensland, said in a newsletter that children must obey Facebook’s rule stating no one under 13 is permitted to sign up for an account. It’s not uncommon for kids to lie about their ages to circumvent that policy, but Hultgren said any of her charges who did so would face expulsion.

Falsifying one’s age to gain access to Facebook is not only against the law, she wrote, but “there has been some considerable Facebook traffic that either bullies a child of this school or in some cases denigrates some staff and the school. Either of these circumstances warrant the school becoming involved.”

Some parents are outraged at the new policy, but child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg applauds it, saying Hultgren’s stance is “directly related to the lack of supervision of very young people who do not have the skills, knowledge and strategies to manage their digital behavior.”

[The Age]

photo courtesy of prizrak2084/flickr.com

A 19 year-old Missoula man, possible a UM student is missing and presumed drowned after he and his girlfriend jumped off the Madison Street Bridge into the swollen Clark Fork River.

Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Brandt says several agencies responded to the river at about 6:30 Wednesday evening and searched the river until dark. The search resumed at 6:30 Thursday morning. The man’s identity has not been released. Comments from Brandt are below.

In today’s program, we find out who helped Kerry through her ordeal and what she would like to share with other victims of sexual assault.  Listen here… 

Photo courtesy Department of Defense

Here are some sexual assault statistics from the National Center for Victims of Crime:

• Nine out of ten victims are women.
• One in four women is a sexual assault victim.
• One in six the victim of an attempted or completed rape.  Some perpetrators of sexual assault (those who commit the crime) are strangers. However, most victims are sexually assaulted by someone they know-family members, friends, romantic partners, acquaintances, or dates.
• In 2010, 49.6 percent of sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement.

The National Center for Victims of Crime is the nation’s leading resource and advocacy organization for crime victims and those who serve them.  You can find more about this organization here.

KGVO State-Wide & Regional News

Hawaii County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jason Skier (sk-EYE’-er) told The Associated Press on Wednesday that a Hilo judge ordered 45-year-old Angela Bryant to be held without bail, pending extradition. Montana authorities have until June 13 to take her.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer last month directly asked Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie to return Bryant to the mainland.

The father pleaded guilty this week to a felony count of parenting interference after the children’s mother said he failed to return them under a custody agreement.

The stepmom faces similar charges.

The abduction touched off a months-long search last year.

The Havre Daily News reports Vaughan is transferring to Northern from Shoreline Community College in Seattle, where he led the team with 26.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He averaged 16.2 points and six rebounds as a freshman.

Vaughan was a first team all-Greater Spokane League player as a senior at Rogers High School in Spokane, leading his team to the state tournament for the first time in 35 years.

Photo of Nate Montana From Facebook

Delaney tells the Missoulian the son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana asked for a waiver as a fifth-year senior transfer and is going to play at West Virginia Wesleyan.

Montana played in nine games for the Grizzlies last season, completing 26 of 42 passes for 274 yards and a two touchdowns.

Montana came to UM last spring from Notre Dame.

KGVO State-Wide & Regional News

U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell ruled Wednesday that state laws requiring attack ads to disclose the targeted candidates’ voting record and ban knowingly false statements in such ads are unconstitutionally vague.

Lovell also ruled that Montana cannot ban corporations from making contributions to political committees that make independent expenditures.

American Tradition Partnership and the 11 other plaintiffs are also asking the judge to rule that contribution limits also unconstitutionally restrict free speech.

Lovell says those claims will go to trial.

American Tradition Partnership is heading a separate lawsuit now before the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to strike down the state’s ban on corporate third-party spending in elections.

Photo courtsy of usfws mtnprairie/Flickr

The July 1 accident spilled an estimated 63,000 gallons of crude into the Yellowstone River near Laurel.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bob Gibson said Tuesday agency workers found sheens or other evidence of oil at several sites downstream of the spill so far this spring.

Department of Environmental Quality scientist Laura Alvey says that includes a sheen she saw last week on an island east of Laurel that was unquestionably from oil.

Alvey says recent tests on water and sediment samples from a riverfront residence near the spill site were negative for crude contamination.

KGVO State-Wide & Regional News

Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley says the 2½-year-old bear was caught on Tuesday and released the same day.

The male grizzly weighed about 120 pounds.

(Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

The Center For Biological Diversity filed its lawsuit Wednesday after the Forest Service withheld 13 pages of records from the advocacy group’s Freedom of Information Act request.

Center spokeswoman Mollie Matteson says the documents may explain why the agency has not taken any action to prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome to Montana, Idaho and parts of Washington, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Forest Service officials say they can’t comment on the lawsuit.

But agency spokesman Phil Sammon says several preventative measures are pending final approval.

KGVO State-Wide & Regional News

The Montana men shared the Big Sky Conference football title with Montana State, won the basketball title and their first regular-season tennis title to score 70.5 points. Montana State and Weber State tied for second with 67 points.

The Sacramento State women finished first, followed by Northern Colorado, Portland State and Montana.

Combining the men’s and women’s scores, Montana was ranked first with 9.32 points per sport, followed by Montana State with 9.11 points per sport.

The Big Sky President’s Cup, which also considers academic success, will be announced in July.

(R) Brittany Basye with (L) Kelly Gillum (Image from facebook.com)

Basye returned to MSU as interim coach in August 2011 after serving as assistant coach for the 1999-2000 season and then head coach from 2000-07.

Fields says after a search, school officials felt Basye continued to show she was a great fit for the program and the university.

MSU closed the 2011-12 golf season with a seventh-place finish at the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Photo courtesy of Wagner's Home Furnishings.

He’ll be 60 years old next May, but is celebrating with a little facelift this year. No he’s not some Hollywood big shot, but he is somewhat of a Missoula celebrity. No, it’s not the mayor. In fact, it’s not a person at all. It is a well-known, and well-respected, local company. Wagner’s Home Furnishings is undergoing what you might call a face lift. They are getting a brand spanking new storefront.
In order to make this change, they took the entire front of their store off and built a brand new one. This renovation gives the store a more residential and homey feel, instead of a big box store feel. The new design reflects the arts and crafts design that Wagner’s has been known for.
They also want to make Wagner’s Home Furnishings the nicest place you ever shop. The goal for Wagner’s renovation was to reinvest in Missoula by using only local businesses, craftsmen and products. In all, Wagner’s employed 24 different local businesses to aid in the renovation. First Security Bank, Quality Construction and Gavin-Hanks Architects are just a few of the local companies they employed.
Wagner’s has been proudly serving Western Montana and Missoula by offering “quality home furnishings and excellent customer service since 1953.” They have “a sincere desire to help you make your home the nicest place you ever go.”
Wagner’s will be holding an open house to celebrate the completion of their new store front from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 17, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 p.m.

Joy Larson is a mother of four boys, graduate of The University of Montana, animal lover and writer.

Photo courtesy of Beyond the Trail[Gary

Thirty-five head of livestock escaped from the property of legislative candidate Scott Boulanger last Thursday morning at around 4 a.m. The gate had been unlocked and pushed inward leading Boulanger to assume that the escape of his horses was no accident. The livestock wandered onto the highway creating a collision hazard before they wandered into the heart of town. In a recent interview with KGVO News, Boulanger explains what he found when he inspected his property and why he believes he is the target of politically motivated vandalism.

Police are looking into the incident. Boulanger believes that he may be targeted because of his “very strong stance on trying to get the population of wolves reduced.”  If the horses were let out by vandals, it wouldn’t be the first time Boulanger’s property has been attacked. He says he lost nearly $1,500 worth of signs that were either cut or spray painted since he began his run for House District 87.