Courts

Stories by Jeff Smith of Anderson Broadcasting for the Valley Journal

Janson pleads not guilty to criminal endangerment

POLSON — A Pablo man is accused of exposing an infant to the deadly drug fentanyl. Robert Wayne Janson III, 25, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson on Dec. 14 to criminal endangerment and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, both felonies.

According to court records, on Dec. 1, law enforcement and emergency services responded to a report of a baby that was having trouble breathing and may have been exposed to illegal drugs. At the scene officers spoke to Janson who explained that after he had smoked fentanyl he placed a “tooter” on a TV stand in the living room before laying down for bed along with an 8 month old baby. A tooter is paraphernalia used to inhale vapors of dangerous drugs. Janson said when he woke about four hours later the baby was no longer in bed and no longer in the bedroom. Janson told police that he located the baby on his back in the living room with the tooter nearby. The baby’s lips were blue and the baby was hardly breathing. Janson indicated that he had seen people overdose

before and that he suspected that was happening with the baby. Janson admitted that while another person was calling emergency services, he put his boots on, went outside with the tooter and through it into the snow outside of his residence. That established grounds for the tampering charge. The baby was transported Robert Wayne by ambulance to St. Luke

Janson III Hospital in Ronan and stabilized. The baby was kept at the hospital for the next 24 hours. The tooter was never located. Judge Molly Owen set the case for trial June. 5. Janson is at liberty under certain release conditions.

Haynes sentenced for criminal endangerment

POLSON — A Polson man was committed at District Court in Polson on Dec. 14 to the Montana Department of

Corrections for three years with all that time suspended on one count of felony criminal endangerment. Tommy Lee Haynes, 20, was initially charged with felony aggravated assault for allegedly punching his wife in the face, but the charge was amended to criminal endangerment as a part of a plea agreement reached in a previous court appearance.

According to court records, on June 6, staff of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center reported to Polson Police that they were treating the victim of an assault and that Haynes was refusing to leave. Haynes fled prior to Police arriving. Despite having visible injuries to her face that included a swollen nose, bloody lips, and swollen eye the victim refused to press charges. It was later learned that the victim suffered a broken nose and orbital bone.

Judge Molly Owen gave Haynes credit for time served of 146 days in jail and ordered restitution in the amount of $1,704.67.

Tommy Lee Haynes

National security wins for MT, pay raise for troops sent to President’s desk

News from the office of Senator Tester

U.S. Senate — The Senate passed key defense priorities today spearheaded by U.S. Senator Jon Tester as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 to bolster our nation’s national and homeland security, and support Montana’s servicemembers, military families, and veterans.

These priorities include authorizing a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers, provisions to replace the aging Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with next-generation Ground Based Strategic Deterrent at Malmstrom Air Force Base, and improve homeland security with Tester’s PREVENTS Act to crack down on fentanyl, as well as his Fairness for Federal Firefighters Act.

“This bipartisan bill makes critical investments in our military men and women, their families, and bolsters our nation’s security at home and abroad,” said Tester. “From working to implement the next generation of ICBMs at Malmstrom, to giving our servicemembers a well-deserved pay raise, and supporting our military families and veterans—we’re keeping our country safe and tackling emerging national security threats. I’m especially proud I was able to secure my bipartisan bills in this effort to tackle fentanyl trafficking, and finally do right by our firefighters suffering from illness related to their service.”

Other Montana Priorities:

Prohibits the early retirement of five Navy littoral combat ships, including the USS Billings

Renames Butte Military Entrance Testing Site as Silver Bow Readiness Center Land

Veterans: Continues to allow private or non-government entities to donate property or facilities to VA to help them advance VA construction projects; Directs VA to evaluate productive expectations for Vet Center staff to examine staff welfare and overall quality of care: Creates a three-year pilot program for Vet Centers to combat veteran food insecurity Military Families: Increases the Basic Needs Allowance threshold from 130% to 150% of the federal poverty line, to ensure that all servicemembers can meet the basic needs of their families; Codifies an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment as Chief Housing Officer to address Basic Needs Allowance for housing in high-cost eras and tackle housing shortages for servicemembers Countering China: Extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative through Fiscal Year 2023, which is a key subset of the DOD’s efforts to strengthen regional deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region; Establishes a joint force headquarters within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, which includes China War in Ukraine: Authorizes $6.9 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative; Requires a report on the DOD’s Inspectors General framework to oversee US assistance to Ukraine and give a full accounting of how taxpayer dollars are being spent

Trudeau hosts the world on biodiversity, but dismisses first nations at home

News from the CSKT, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Ktunaxa Nation Council

CANADA — As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosts the international community in Montreal this week for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, the six Indigenous governments from the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation are calling him out on his own country’s failure to honour the Ktunaxa Nation’s sovereignty and protect ecosystems and species from mine pollution.

In a joint letter, the six Ktunaxa Nation governments call for the leaders of Canada and the U.S. to act now to address the legacy and ongoing impacts of open-pit coal mining in the Elk Valley of southeast British Columbia. Over a century of mountain top removal mining has laid waste to the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, contaminating the transboundary Kootenay(i) River and fish that depend on it, and delivering mine pollution hundreds of kilometres downstream, into Montana, Idaho and into the Columbia River watershed, as it flows back into Canada.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Nation’s unanswered request that Canada join with them and the United States on a reference to the International Joint Commission to address legacy and ongoing contamination from largescale coal mining in the Transboundary Kootenay(i) Watershed. “We write to remind you of your commitments to Indigenous governments and ask that you adhere to the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909,” the six Nation governments urge in the letter, adding, “Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and the United States commitment to Nation-to-Nation engagement and Environmental Justice for Indigenous Peoples are being flagrantly disregarded.”

Nasuʔkins (Chiefs) and Council Members from the six Ktunaxa governments of Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation [Tobacco Plains]; ʔakisq̓nuk̓ First Nation [Windermere]; Yaqan Nuʔkiy [Lower Kootenay Band]; ʔaq̓am [Cranbrook]; Kupawiȼq̓nuk [Ksanka Band, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes]; and ʔaq̓anqmi [Kootenai Tribe of Idaho] have joined together across their traditional territory, which spans the boundary between the United States and Canada, to demand action on the environmental and cultural devastation arising from the Elk Valley of southeast British Columbia.

Canada’s role as host to the United Nations Biodiversity Conference this week underscores the country’s hypocrisy in refusing to honour the Ktunaxa Nation’s request to join them in a reference to the International Joint Commission to address the mining impacts in the Kootenay(i) River. “How is it that Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada can commit to halting biodiversity loss through real collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, and yet completely disregard our plea to act in solidarity for a decade? Is this what honoring Indigenous governments looks like in Canada?” asks Chairman Tom McDonald from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, sister government to the Ktunaxa in Canada.

Insult was added to injury when recent Freedom of Information requests revealed collusion across the mining industry, the province of British Columbia and Trudeau’s government; all aimed at defeating the Ktunaxa Nation request for an International Joint Commission reference, excluding them from decision-making, and preventing an objective and transparent process to address this legacy mining issue.

“We stand united in the Ktunaxa principle of the reciprocal stewardship of ʔa·kxam̓is q̓api qapsin (All Living Things),” said Ktunaxa Nation Chair Kathryn Teneese. “This means a one-river approach that isn’t hindered by a willful lack of engagement or coal mining profits and that recognizes the fundamental need for clean water, healthy fish, and the protection of biodiversity. There are solutions to be found—the IJC reference is the next step to finding them.”

Vice Chairman Gary Aitken Jr., leadership of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, shared the following remarks, “The Kootenai River is the lifeblood of our people, and of the Kootenai River white sturgeon and burbot. Pollution from these Canadian mines threatens to permanently destroy all of this. How can Trudeau promise to stand by Indigenous governments and address global deterioration of biodiversity and ignore this request at home to honor UNDRIP and the Boundary Waters Treaty?”

As the international community gathers in Montreal this week for the United Nations COP15 Biodiversity Conference, we’re calling on Canada to truly commit to the meeting’s goal of protecting nature and respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and join the United States and the six governments of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation in a joint reference to the International Joint Commission.

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Vasser

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