Rating:

5.0 (1 vote)

Top Stories Recap for Wednesday Morning, April 27th

-- Lawmakers in the Montana House of Representatives are throwing their support behind the Governor's budget amendments.
Tuesday night's vote in the House came with no debate, even though 46 Representatives still oppose the bill.
Democrats voted against the amendments, saying the bill still cuts too deep, while a handful of Republicans say the bill still spends too much.
The Governor's amendments to House Bill 2 include an additional $38 million dollars in general fund spending and nearly $100 million in federal dollars.

-- The possible move of mail processing operations from Helena to Great Falls drew vocal opposition at a public meeting last night.
Business owners and state lawmakers were among those going head to head with U.S. Postal Service representatives.
The consolidation is part of a much bigger plan to downsize offices and save money nationwide.
The postal service claims the change will save about $200,000, but about seven people would lose their jobs.

-- Initial reports show a Helena man may have taken his own life during a shootout with Lewis & Clark County Sheriff's Deputies on Sunday.
Jefferey Lefferdink died late Easter night following a short chase and shootout with three deputies.
According to Coroner Mickey Nelson, preliminary autopsy results show Lefferdink suffered a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head, among other gunshot wounds.
Nelson says there were at least three gunshots, any one of which could have been fatal.

-- More states in the South and Midwest are bracing for bad weather today.
Communities from Texas to Arkansas to Missouri are already struggling with flooding and tornado damage and are at increased risk when a second storm system rolls through.
April is on track to be a record-setting weather month.

-- The United States will give the Libyan opposition as much as $25 million in non-lethal assistance to protect civilians threatened by Muammar Qaddafi's regime.
That includes medical supplies, uniforms, protective gear, radios and meals.
The White House also eased its sanctions on Libya; that will allow the opposition to sell the oil it controls and use that money to buy weapons and other supplies.

-- Online Playstation gaming is suspended worldwide while Sony investigates a security breach.
Users' personal information was compromised, and credit card data may have also been taken.
Users are encouraged to log on and change their passwords, and to beware of scammers.
Sony says it expects to restore some services within a week.

-- And in case you haven't heard, the Royal Wedding is fast approaching, sparking wedding fever around the world.
An English lady has turned her home into the largest collection of British Royal Family memorabilia in the United Kingdom.
Margaret Tyson claims the record amount of memorabilia, with around 10,000 collectibles.
The wall to wall memorabilia celebrating the British Royal Family contains almost everything, from a replica of Kate Middleton's engagement ring to mistakes such as a mug with Prince Harry's image mistakenly printed for the engagement of Kate and William.