Posted: Saturday, April 12, 2008 12:00 am
Judge: Man is fit to stand trial
BOZEMAN, Mont. - A District Court judge has decided a man charged with attempted murder in a shooting south of Bozeman last year is fit to stand trial.
District Judge John Brown set a May 6 trial date for Christopher W. Wagner, 34. He was arrested in Wyoming following a Jan. 17, 2007 shootout with Michael Peters, 34, of Bozeman.
Peters said he was driving away from his house that day when a man stopped him, pointed a handgun at him and attempted to get into Peters' truck. Peters pulled a handgun from his pocket and fired three shots at the man, hitting him in the chest, court records said.
The man shot back three times, hitting Peters in the chest, and than ran into the woods, sparking an eight-day manhunt.
Wagner was arrested at a house in Greybull. He remains jailed on $750,000 bail.
Peters has said the shooting was over a former girlfriend of both men.
The trial was delayed in January after Judge Brown decided that Wagner's mental condition hindered his ability to assist in his defense. Wagner was treated at the state mental hospital in Warm Springs, and therapists say he is now mentally fit to stand trial.
"I think the judge made a good decision when he ordered him to get treatment," said Wagner's public defender, Mary Kramer. "We want to go to trial."
Company shifts cell tower plan
Alltel Corp. has agreed to relocate a cell tower proposed near the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in the community of Gardiner, Mont., after complaints from residents, the National Park Service and conservation groups.
"They really resolved the issue and did it in a great way," said Tim Stevens of the National Parks Conservation Association, one of the groups that had complained about the original proposal. "They did an extremely thorough job in getting everyone's ideas."
According to a statement released by Alltel, based in Little Rock, Ark., the company will locate its cell tower on a water tank north of town.
"The new location will meet Alltel's requirements for providing cellular coverage to Gardiner while at the same time preserving the aesthetic qualities of the surrounding community," the company said.
Because the water tower is owned by the city, payments for lease of the site would go back to the town, Stevens said.
The company had originally planned to erect a 115-foot tower on private property off White Lane, near the town's main street.
Park crews work to open roads
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - Park roads are being cleared of snow for the opening of the spring season.
The first gateways to the park's interior, including Old Faithful and the West Entrance, are scheduled to open April 18.
Park spokesman Al Nash said the east and south entrances are scheduled to open May 2, and the northeast entrance over the Beartooth Highway is scheduled to open over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26.