Associated Press

ANACONDA, Mont. (AP) — Police in Anaconda say a towel found in a garbage can in Anaconda contained the blood of a 41-year-old woman who was last seen on Dec. 23.

Police Chief Tim Barkell told the Associated Press that other items found in black garbage bags, including strands of hair and bloodied throw rugs, are still being analyzed at the state crime lab in Missoula

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A 46-year-old Helena woman faces federal charges after investigators say she stole rent checks when she worked for the Anaconda Housing Authority. The Associated Press reports former Anaconda resident Coleen Furthmyre is charged with taking in rental payments between January 2009 and November 2011, and depositing more than $28,000 in her own bank account

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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone County sheriff's deputies are searching for a suspect after a shooting in Lockwood early Tuesday morning left one person injured. Capt. Bill Michaelis tells The Associated Press that authorities have identified the suspect

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill to permit the government to borrow enough money to avoid a first avoid default for at least four months, defusing a crisis looming next month and setting the stage for a springtime debate over taxes, spending and the deficit.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war.

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A man who apparently summoned the courage to rob a Montana pizza restaurant changed his mind as the clerk started to hand him money, broke down crying and ended up leaving with a pizza to feed his hungry family.

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A secretive conservative group may simply vanish after spending four years dumping candidate attack ads in Montana elections and leading high-profile challenges to state campaign laws.

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BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is alerting its global suppliers that it will immediately drop them if they subcontract their work to factories that haven't been authorized by the discounter.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities in New Mexico say the teenager accused of gunning down his family over the weekend had reloaded his guns after the attacks and planned to go to a Wal-Mart and randomly shoot people.

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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative has reached an agreement to leave its bankrupt power provider, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission.

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