Montana

WASHINGTON - When the Supreme Court ruled that corporations had the right to political free speech, it set loose a tidal wave of campaign money that helped elect a new Congress in 2010 and is now reshaping the presidential race. But the impact of the Citizens United decision has been as surprising and controversial as the ruling itself. Although the high court's 5-4 decision is best known for saying that corporations may spend freely on campaign ads, the gusher of money pouring into this year's campaigns has mostly not involved corporate funds.

The first rule of adventurous traveling: Things are almost never as bad as your mother thinks. The second rule of adventurous traveling: The "almost never" exceptions can be pretty bad. Further, if you're writing a book called “The Kindness of America,” as hitchhiker Ray Dolin is, you might be tempting fate. Dolin learned this when a stranger shot him Saturday evening in rural Montana where Dolin was trying to hitch a ride. Dolin, a 39-year-old from West Virginia, had been traveling across America to work on his book, a memoir, and was on a highway near the Bakken oil patch, authorities told the Associated Press . "He was sitting down to have a little lunch, and this guy drives up,” Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier told the AP. “He thought he was going to give him a ride and as he approached the vehicle, the guy pulls out his weapon and shoots him. It's as simple as that.” Dolin, 39, will live; he got hit in the arm and was being treated at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital in Glasgow, Mont.

The U.S. Justice Department's decision to open a civil rights investigation into the handling of sexual assault cases in Missoula, Mont., follows months of efforts by city officials to deal with escalating complaints about rapes at the University of Montana, two of them involving members of the school's football program. The Justice Department said it would look at 80 reported sexual assaults in the city over the last three years. Many of the cases appear to involve young women at the university who said they were victimized - sometimes gang-raped - in attacks that often involved drugs and alcohol.

Ryan Leaf was arrested early Monday morning in Montana on charges of burglary, theft and two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs - two days after posting bail for similar charges. Central Montana Drug Force Commander Chris Hickman says Leaf was arrested in Great Falls on charges stemming from a burglary on Sunday and was also being detained on a probation violation. The former NFL quarterback has a court hearing later Monday but cannot be released from jail since the probation violation does not carry a bond.

  The Judicial Council of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals opened a misconduct review of Montana's chief federal District Court judge for forwarding a racially charged email about President Obama from his courthouse computer. Judge Richard F. Cebull asked for the review as calls mounted Thursday for his immediate resignation. Legal ethics experts predicted the incident would result in a public admonishment. The judge, appointed byPresident George W. Bush12 years ago, maintained after the email became public that it was meant to be seen as anti-Obama and not racist, but added, "I can obviously understand why people would be offended.

Montana's chief federal judge Wednesday admitted forwarding an email to friends about President Obama that appears to equate African Americans with dogs and raises questions about the president's mixed racial ancestry. “Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine,” Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull wrote before forwarding the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The Supreme Court served notice Friday that it would not let states or state judges casually defy its much-disputed ruling in the Citizens United case that gave corporations a right to spend freely on election campaigns. The justices put on hold enforcement of a Montana election law. But the case could force the high court to reconsider the corporate spending issue if its liberal justices insist on doing so. On Dec. 30, Montana's high court said it was refusing to follow Citizens United as a binding precedent.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post A novel Emily M. Danforth Balzer & Bray: 480 pp.: $17.99, for readers age 14 and up There's something about the open spaces of the Great Plains that make the exploration of nascent homosexuality even more alienating and risky than the same experience in a big city or suburb. At least that's the story detailed in Emily Danforth's young adult debut, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post," a book that reads like a literary response to the Katy Perry hit "I Kissed a Girl" if it took place under a big Montana sky. Cameron Post is just 12 when she kisses her best girl friend on a dare - ostensibly as practice for future liaisons with boys.

Move over, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark. Scoot aside, Steve Young to Terrell Owens. Make room for The Catch 3.0. San Francisco's Alex Smith fired a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with nine seconds remaining Saturday, lifting the San Francisco 49ers to a 36-32 victory over the New Orleans Saints in a wild divisional playoff game at Candlestick Park. A defensive gem of a game transformed into a shootout in the final minutes, with a series of rapid-fire touchdowns -- four in the final 4 minutes 2 seconds.

From San Francisco — One of the San Francisco 49ers' biggest supporters, a cornerstone during the club's finest years, wouldn't dare set foot inside Candlestick Park on Saturday. By his estimate, he has turned down dozens of invitations to watch the 49ers play host to New Orleans in a divisional playoff game. But he's staying put at his ranch in Montana, rooting from afar. "I'll be perched by myself, right here with my dogs, watching the game," said Eddie DeBartolo, whose teams won five Super Bowls during his 23 years as owner, from 1977-2000.