George Wallace made appearances at Great Falls and Billings but garnered only 10 percent of the state’s votes. One-time Wallace backer Barbara Evans returned to the Republican Party and would serve nearly 30 years as a Missoula County Commissioner.
Two masked gunmen stormed into the First National Bank on South Higgins Avenue and Front Street and held up the bank, leaving with more than $3,000. The two men ran into the bank and confronted bank teller Jeanne Anderson at the first cage, demanding money. After Anderson dutifully gave the suspects the money from her cage, they grabbed Anderson and briefly held her hostage as they made their escape, releasing her at their getaway vehicle. The light-blue Oldsmobile appeared to have two women and a dog in it, according to witnesses. Local, federal and state law enforcement combed Missoula city limits and the county. Roadblocks were set up to track the suspects’ car, but later that night, there was no sign of the robbers.
Anderson said that the robbers assured her they didn’t want to harm her, just take the money. A description of the car, the suspects and a partial license plate number were sent along to other law enforcement agencies in hope of a quick resolution of the case.
Whether there was a dog in the car at the time of the robbery was never confirmed, but it was the escape of another traveling companion that led to this group’s capture and eventual imprisonment. Near the Canadian border in Buffalo, N.Y., the group of two men and two women were stopped when a cat riding in the backseat jumped out of the window, drawing attention to the group. Law enforcement retrieved the cat and then investigated those in the car. Within a few minutes, the four people were headed to jail while the cat was taken into protective custody. The two men who staged the robbery were given long sentences. One of the women was given a shorter sentence and the second woman was given a much lesser sentence because she was pregnant.
30 years ago
Missoula city police officers arrested Doris Shea, wife of State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Shea, on 60 outstanding unpaid parking tickets issued over the past two years in Missoula. Shea was taken from her workplace, Montana Scientific Forestry Labs to the city police station and booked in on the charges. After a brief court appearance before Municipal Judge Wallace Clark, Shea was released on her own recognizance. The parking tickets have been accrued over the past three years by Shea on her personal car. She contended that others have received the parking tickets while using her vehicle and thus she isn’t responsible for the tickets. Soon after learning of the Missoula police action Justice Shea said from his Helena office, “This is simply another attempt to harass my wife and embarrass me.” The Sheas have been reticent about pointing out who has driven the car when it has reached tickets, but have been steadfast in their determination to avoid paying the fines. Contacted later, Shea indicated she and her husband were looking into the possibility of hiring an attorney to sort through all the paperwork.
This case dragged on for nearly six years. It reached the State Supreme Court in 1982 and again in 1983. After Justice Shea recused himself the court ruled that his wife was responsible for much of the tickets accrued which by that point totaled over $1,500. This case set stricter guidelines for the responsibility of car owners in the matter of tickets received by the vehicle, whether the owner was driving the vehicle at the time of the offense or not.
10 years ago
The U.S. Capitol Building was struck by terror on a late Friday afternoon. A 41-year-old delusional man from Helena opened fire at a group of tourists and U.S. Capitol Police. The security force was larger than usual as the Republicans were holding a large celebration for the passage of a new health care package. The suspect identified as Russell Eugene Weston shot off more than 30 rounds in killing two capitol policemen and wounding several people, including a tourist. The Capitol Building was pure chaos as tourists were redirected. Congressional staffers leaving for the weekend and other scurrying to get out of the way of the shooting. Finally, Secret Service agents were able to wound Weston three times, causing non life-threatening injuries. Weston has been a person of interest to law enforcement authorities in both the Washington, D.C., area and in Montana, where he has lived for close to 20 years. Weston had earlier in the week told local police that he feared that the government was spying on him both through satellites in the sky and through his satellite dish near his home outside of Helena.
Russell Eugene Weston has failed competency tests three times over the years so has never been sentenced or convicted if the attacks, however a 2001 attempt to get him released from a mental institution was also rejected. Montana tourism officials let out a loud groan with the story as it added weight to the belief that Montana is home to a group of crazies. The Ted Kaczynski case had occurred just two years earlier. Kaczynski had actually made some friends in Lincoln and was involved to a small degree in the community. Weston was very anti-social to his Helena valley neighbors.
A day camp adventure on Missoula’s Marshall Mountain nearly proved fatal for 6-year-old Dante Swallow. Swallow was among a group of seven campers and three youth counselors out on a hike. Swallow was slightly behind the other campers but in front of camp counselor Aaron Hall. As they came around a bend in the hill, a mountain lion came out and attacked Swallow. The mountain lion had young Dante’s head in his jaws when 16-year-old counselor Aaron Hall came to the rescue. Hall diverted the lion’s attention by whacking him with a stick, allowing Swallow to escape. Hall then began hitting the lion in an effort to scare it off. Swallow was taken down the mountain by camp staffers and an ambulance was waiting to transport him to the hospital. Hall received bumps, bruises and scrapes in his battle. Following the attack, officials from the Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks tracked down the errant mountain lion and put it down, believing that he would be a threat to other humans now.
The rescue made national headlines and both Swallow and Hall were media stars for a few days. This newspaper faced a storm of criticism for running the picture of the dead mountain lion on the front page. Animal rights activists were very vocal in criticizing FWP for killing the lion. In December 2001 it would be Aaron Hall who was in need of rescue. Hall was badly injured in a skiing accident and required months of rehab. During his recuperation Hall’s friend Dante Swallow checked in on him several times. Now Aaron Hall is pursuing a career in the aeronautical field. As for Dante Swallow, he’d like a rematch with a mountain lion as he is a top high school wrestler.
At the east entrance of the Western Montana Fair stood two symbols of the fire against forest fires, Smokey Bear and Sparky the Fire Prevention Dog. Seems Smokey and Sparky had gotten kicked out of the Fair. The Missoula County Fair board is enforcing a new law this year that bars costumed animals from the midway. In the past the law has not been enforced but there were complaints last year that there were complaints that the costume animals were causing congestion in traffic lanes at the Fair, both inside exhibition buildings and on the midway itself. One Western Montana Fair official said “It’s natural that small children crowd around these animals, but that blocks traffic and can cause a safety hazard.”
Representatives of the Forest Service that sponsors the two mascots said, “We thought we had worked out an agreement with fair officials until we got here this morning and were refused entrance to the Fair. Forest Service officials said they would abide by the ruling this year but would pursue a change for 1999.
The Fair board and Missoula board of County Commissioners faced an unhappy to group of mascots when this issue was brought up to the board in the winter of 1999. Rules were altered to allow mascots and costumed animals but only in certain areas and always with a handler.
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