Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Thousands of Montana Birds

A Texas man implicated in an illegal trafficking ring that killed thousands of birds on the Flathead Reservation, including many bald eagles, is finally admitting his guilt.

Federal prosecutors are announcing that 71-year-old John Patrick Butler pled guilty this week to one count of conspiracy, two counts of trafficking both bald and golden eagles, and eagle parts.

The case developed a couple of years ago, when federal investigators found Butler and his coconspirators had poached upwards of 3600 birds. Prosecutors say Butler and the others sold eagles on the black market from November 2020 to the spring of 2021 in the U-S and elsewhere, making "significant sums of cash".

Butler potentially faces up to 5 years in prison and a quarter of a million dollar fine when he's sentenced in April.

100 mph chase ends with a crash

No one was hurt, but there were some frightening minutes in the Flathead Valley yesterday when a suspect led officers on a chase through Highway 2 traffic at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office says the suspect took off after an attempted traffic stop in Columbia Falls, going all the way to Whitefish, where he crashed but was apprehended as he tried to run away.

Daines presses for hydro power bill

Senator Steve Daines says a new measure seeking to boost hydro power, including a new facility here in Montana, is aimed at producing reliable, constant energy.

Daines' "Build More Hydro Bill" passed the Senate months ago. So he, and cosponsor Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington, are pushing to get the measure through the House, where it's been languishing since August.

Daines says some 37 different projects, worth over $6-billion, are jeopardized with the extension of construction deadlines. That includes the Gordon Butte Hydro project in Central Montana.

He says that's critical because of the value of "baseload power."

"Solar and wind are intermittent sources of energy. The sun doesn't always shine. The wind mills don't always blow, and so you have variation in the in the reliability of that energy. Hydro power is baseload power. When hydro is running, it's on. It's constant."- Senator Daines

Belgrade woman admits to smuggling illegal immigrants

A 56-year-old Belgrade could be headed to prison for a decade, with a quarter of a million dollar fine, after pleading guilty to harboring illegal immigrants.

Federal prosecutors charged Eustolia Casarreal-Morales with being part of a ring that smuggled people from Mexico to Montana, where they would look for work. Investigators say they discovered as many as a dozen people when they raided her home in August. They told investigators they would enter the U.S. through a legal, but expired visa, or were directly smuggled into the country. They would pay rent to stay with the defendant in Belgrade.

Rough weekend travel ahead

After a brief respite, it's back to winter across much of Montana, starting tonight and lasting for the next several days.

The National Weather Service has issued a number of Winter Storm warnings and advisories, primarily covering the high country in Western, Southwestern, and Central Montana, where forecasters are expecting feet of snow to fall through the weekend.

Snow levels are rising to 4000 to 5000' through Saturday, so the real snow will be at pass level and above. But there's a chance of hazardous conditions in some of the valleys as well, with mixed rain and snow, or freezing rain. So keep that in mind, especially if you're traveling for the FCS playoff games in Bozeman and Missoula.

READ MORE: Hazardous Pass Travel This Weekend

Flu testing ramps up

The Montana Public Health Lab is increasing testing and tracking for this year's flu season, already marked by more than 200 cases and a single death.

Montana DPHHS says there have already been over 230 cases of influenza across the state this fall. And this week, Missoula Public Health said the first person had died from the flu. That's leading to calls for people to check their vaccinations and be on the watch for symptoms.

Big power outage in Flathead

Utility managers are saying it was a tree in a BPA power line that caused an outage, creating a chilly evening for thousands of customers in Northwest Montana on Wednesday.

Lincoln Electric Cooperative initially said the outage was affecting people over a wide area from Kalispell north to Canada. Service started to be restored after 7:45 pm.