Sunny Skies — for Now Oks Transit Facility Contracts by Sam Klomhaus Enterprise Staff Writer
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☛ ☛ NTERPRISEt h e l i v i n g s t o n E Tuesday, May 18, 2021 •Livingston,Montana•Vol.115 No.106 $1.00 County Sunny skies — for now OKs transit facility contracts By Sam Klomhaus Enterprise Staff Writer The Park County Commissioners approved Tuesday the contracts for con- struction of a transit facility at the Park County Fairgrounds. Edman Builders of Fort Collins, Colo- rado has been contracted as the con- struction manager for the project and Slate Architecture, of Helena, is the architect. The facility will serve as a bus barn for Windrider Transit’s buses, and will allow the county to do maintenance on larger vehicles. Park County received a $700,000 grant, with no match requirement, from the Montana Department of Transporta- tion through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the project. The construction contract includes a guaranteed maxi- mum price for the project of $600,000. The new transit facility will measure approximately 5,568 square feet, according to the contract, and will house the county’s buses. Plans call for the facility to include three bays, one wash bay with a wash curtain, a conference/training room, bathrooms, three offices, a break room, a storage/copy supply room and a mez- zanine for storage. Construction on the facility is slated Enterprise photo by Sam Klomhaus to begin July 9 and wrap up by the end The sun beams down on Paradise Valley just south of Livingston Tuesday afternoon. The pleasant weather will change, as the National Weath- of 2021. er Service says rain showers to move in Wednesday and last through Sunday, with temperatures dropping to a low around 33 Friday night. Changed by pandemic, many workers won’t return to old jobs By The Associated Press There’s a wild card in the push to return to pre-pandemic life: AP Many workers don’t want to go The Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in back to the jobs they once had. Washington. Layoffs and lockdowns, com- bined with enhanced unemploy- ment benefits and stimulus High court to take checks, gave many Americans the time and the financial cushion to rethink their careers. Their for- up major abortion mer employers are hiring again — and some, like Uber and McDon- ald’s, are offering higher pay — rights challenge but workers remain hesitant. In March, U.S. job openings WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme rose 8% to a record 8.1 million, Court agreed Monday to a showdown but overall hiring rose less than over abortion in a case that could dra- 4%, according to government matically alter nearly 50 years of rul- data. ings on abortion rights. Nate Mullins quit his job as a With three justices appointed by Pres- bartender last November after ident Donald Trump part of a 6-3 con- clashing with managers over servative majority, the court is taking mask rules and worrying that he on a case about whether states can ban would spread the coronavirus to abortions before a fetus can survive his immune-compromised sister. outside the womb. Mullins’ unemployment checks Mississippi, which is asking to be don’t match what he was making allowed to enforce an abortion ban after at his Oak Harbor, Washington 15 weeks of pregnancy, is not asking the bar, but they’re enough to get by court to overrule the 1973 Roe v. Wade while he looks for jobs that would decision confirming a woman’s right to provide health care and retire- AP an abortion, or a decision 19 years later ment benefits. Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clash- that reaffirmed it. “This opportunity to take a step ing with managers over enforcing mask rules, poses for a photo near a street mural Monday in Mount But abortion rights supporters said back and really think about what Vernon, Wash. the case is a clear threat to abortion you’re doing really changed my rights. “The court cannot uphold this mind,” said Mullins, 36. “(It) made the benefits to show they are ers back. Shierholz added that unemploy- law without overturning the principal me think long-term for the first actively searching for work, and a In April, she said, at least 25% ment benefits are designed to protections of Roe v. Wade,” Nancy Nor- time.” few will stop providing the sup- of U.S. schools weren’t offering give workers the time to find jobs thup, president and CEO of the Center Workers like Mullins are one plement. in-person learning, forcing many that are better suited to their abil- for Reproductive Rights, said in a call reason U.S. hiring slowed in April. But Heidi Shierholz, a senior parents to stay home. And health ities. with reporters. Employers and business groups economist who researches low- concerns could gain new urgency “We want people well-matched Even if the court does not explicitly argue that the $300-per-week fed- and middle-income workers with for some workers now that the to their skills and experience,” overrule earlier cases, a decision favor- eral unemployment supplement the Economic Policy Institute, U.S. Centers for Disease Control she said. “That’s what helps the able to the state could lay the ground- gives recipients less incentive to said health concerns and child and Prevention has said fully vac- work for allowing even more restric- look for work. Several states have care responsibilities seem to be cinated people can stop wearing tions on abortion, including state bans begun requiring those receiving the main reasons holding work- masks in most settings. See Workers, Page 5 on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks. The case probably will be argued in the fall, with a decision likely in the spring of 2022 during the campaign for Prosecutor: Deputies justified in shooting of Black man congressional midterm elections. Mississippi’s ban had been blocked by ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) ons, said the deputies will face no scene, but it was hard for a view- County deputies attempting to lower courts as inconsistent with — A North Carolina prosecutor criminal charges after he er to discern a detailed sequence serve drug-related search and Supreme Court precedent that protects said Tuesday that sheriff’s depu- reviewed a state investigation of of events. arrest warrants arrived in a a woman’s right to obtain an abortion ties were justified in fatally what happened. While authorities have shown truck and approached Brown’s before the fetus can survive outside her shooting Andrew Brown Jr. Brown’s family released a footage to Brown’s family, a car on foot with weapons drawn womb. because he struck a deputy with statement calling Womble’s deci- judge has so far refused to while ordering him to get out. “States may regulate abortion proce- his car and nearly ran him over sion “both an insult and a slap in release the video publicly A deputy who tried to open dures prior to viability so long as they while ignoring commands to the face.” because he didn’t want to harm a Brown’s car door was jerked over do not impose an undue burden on the show his hands and get out of the The prosecutor also said he state investigation. the hood when the car backed up, woman’s right, but they may not ban vehicle. would not release bodycam video Attorneys for Brown’s family and the deputy’s body was struck abortions. The law at issue is a ban,” District Attorney Andrew of the April 21 confrontation who watched body camera foot- by the vehicle, the prosecutor Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the 5th Womble said at a news confer- between Brown and the law age have previously said that he said. The deputy then found him- U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in ence that Brown used his car as enforcement officers, but he was trying to drive away from self directly in the car’s path as affirming a lower-court ruling that a “deadly weapon,” causing Pas- played portions of the video dur- deputies and posed no threat. The Brown drove forward again, invalidated the law. quotank County deputies to ing the news conference that shooting has prompted weeks of Womble said, and had to push off The Supreme Court had previously believe it was necessary to use news outlets broadcast live. The protests in Elizabeth City and the hood with his hand “to avoid deadly force. Womble, who multiple angles of the footage, calls for transparency. being run over.” Womble said that acknowledged Brown wasn’t played once each on a projector, During his news conference, was when the first shot was fired See High court, Page 5 armed with guns or other weap- depicted a chaotic minutelong Womble said six Pasquotank by a fellow deputy. Page 2, Livingston Enterprise Tuesday, May 18, 2021 OBITUARIES Norman William Tveit NormanWilliamTveit,63,ofLivingston,Montanapassed away at the Riverside Healthcare Center in Missoula, Mon- tana on May 13, 2021 after a brief illness. NormanwasborninLivingstononSept.10,1957.He attended Northside Elementary School and graduated from ParkHighSchool.Normancontinuedhiseducation,attend- ing the University of Montana, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and ultimately earning his Bachelor’s degreeinFilmandTelevisionin1985fromMontana State University in Bozeman. Likehisfather,Normanwasacreativesoul.Aremarkable writer, photographer, and artist, he had a restless spirit, traveling and working in a variety of occupations in several states and abroad.