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WATER LAWSUIT Montana wins a round in water lawsuit BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) A U.S. Supreme Court appointee has rejected Wyoming's bid to dismiss a lawsuit in which it is accused, by Montana, of taking too much water from rivers shared by the two states.

Montana filed a lawsuit before the nation's highest court in 2007, alleging Wyoming's Agriculture and energy industries were taking too much water from the Tongue and Powder rivers, tributaries of the Yellowstone.

Wyoming countered that its use of the water was not covered by the Yellowstone River Compact, a 1950 agreement intended to settle water rights claims in the Yellowstone basin.

But Stanford University legal expert Barton Thompson, assigned by the court to oversee the case, says Montana water rights that predate the compact still are protected by the agreement.

Thompson's opinion Tuesday did not settle the question of which water rights actually were violated by Wyoming.

POWER COUNCIL Power plan dominates council's agenda WHITEFISH, Mont. (AP) Work on a power plan for the country's northwest region will dominate the agenda of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council when it meets in Whitefish on Tuesday through Thursday of next week.

The regional power plan is revised every five years. It includes predictions of regional energy demand, and a portfolio of resources to meet the anticipated demand.

Energy conservation targets will be discussed at the meeting.

MISSOURI LEVELS Missouri River outlook brightens SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Water levels on the three largest Missouri River reservoirs, which include Montana's Fort Peck, continue to climb.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said lakes Oahe, Garrison and Fort Peck all gained from a foot to 3 1/2 feet of water in May. Water levels on the three have risen by 5 1/2 to 10 feet in the past two months.

The corps expects runoff this year to be 25 percent above normal, and says reservoir storage in the Missouri River system is likely to peak at 56.5 million acre-feet this month. That would be the most water in the reservoir system since 2000.

SNOWPLANE BAN Appeals court says snowplane group has no case CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) A group appealing the National Park Service's ban on use of snowplanes at Jackson Lake, in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, has lost its case.

Snowplanes are propeller-driven machines that can move on skis across frozen lakes. The National Park Service banned them at Jackson Lake in 2001, saying they're too noisy.

Ice fishermen calling themselves "Save our Snowplanes" appealed the ban. In 2007, the group lost its first challenge in federal court in Wyoming. Then the decision was appealed.

This week, a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled the group lacked standing to appeal the ban.

The appeals court says the group's lawsuit had challenged a Park Service winter-use plan that was no longer in effect.

INDIAN HEALTH GAO: Indian health agency still losing equipment Washington (AP) Congressional investigators say the Indian Health Service continues to lose equipment at an alarming rate, despite efforts to better account for agency property.

In a report yesterday, the Government Accountability Office said that between October 2007 and January 2009, the health service lost about 1,400 items worth $3.5 million. Included were $37,000 in lab equipment at a Navajo health care facility, and a $7,300 trailer in Nashville, Tenn.

Those losses came after the GAO discovered according to an earlier report about $15.8 million in losses between the 2004 and 2007 budget years. Investigators charged that the Indian Health Service had falsified documents to cover up some of those losses.

A health service spokesman did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

CROW ELECTION Old Coyote, Jefferson vie for Crow post BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) The field of candidates for the vice chairmanship of the Crow Tribe has been narrowed to two men.

Darrin Old Coyote and Calvin "Coolidge" Jefferson Jr. gathered enough votes in Saturday's primary election to vie in the general election June 20.

Old Coyote received 1,170 votes in the primary and Jefferson received 1,055. The other candidates were Newton JR Old Crow with 374 votes and John Dale Dust with 98.

Old Coyote is 36 and lives in Garryowen. He recently began his second term as vice secretary of the Crow Tribe. The 60-year-old Jefferson lives near Hardin and is a representative for the Indian Health Service.

Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com MOVIE PREMIERE Movie premiere slated for Helena HELENA, Mont. (AP) The Montana Department of Commerce says a movie titled "Call of the Wild 3D," starring Christopher Lloyd, will premiere in Helena.

The movie was Filmed two years ago in Helena, Lincoln, and Philipsburg. It is a retelling of Jack London's classic novel, "Call of the Wild." Lloyd will be on hand for the invitation-only June 11 opening.

The film will open statewide June 12.

The Cinemark theater in Helena said it bought the latest 3-D equipment to feature the film.

The movie directed by Richard Gabai centers on a young Montana girl who attracts the attention of an evil stranger after she rescues an injured wolf.

FISH FOSSILS Museum to show fish fossils MALTA, Mont. (AP) Fossilized fish go on exhibit Saturday at Malta's Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, which opened a year ago.

The fish fossils from the collection of a Lewistown family comprise the latest of three exhibits added since the museum opened.

Specimens in the fish collection include skulls, scales and shark teeth.

The unveiling of the exhibit is part of a festival weekend at the museum.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-04-09 0330CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list