Great Falls Tribune from Great Falls, Montana • Page M1

TRIBUNE CATES C.M. Russell High School senior Kassandra Harvey, far right, reacts to a point her opposition makes during policy ebate practice on Wednesday. Harveyis partnering with fellow senior Natalie Hofstad, center, in policy debate. As they head into the Electric City Speech and Debate tournament Dec. 12-13, both Great Falls High and C.M.

Russell High teams are feeling good about where at. or years, both teams dominated AA speech and ebate tournaments and over the last few years ith a few wins here and there watched some of that success slip away and the number of participants dwindle. Both teams, I think we became said Keith Davey, head coach at Great Falls High. year starting to see some Davey said had kids place in the top seven or eight in the last few tournaments and hoping they can improve upon it Dec. 12-13, when the tournament is hosted at Great Falls High.

Hosting at our own tournament, we want to showcase our he said. At CMR, senior Logan Kropp, a one-time Nation- a Forensic League finalist, is once again showcasing his talent, placing in the top tier in the last three ournaments CMR has attended for his dramatic and humorous interpretation, according to coach Tom Cubbage. hough the number of students participating at CMR has stayed roughly the same over the last few years 35 kids Cubbage said a number of experi- nced seniors graduated. Fortunately, the Talking Rustlers saw a spike in freshmen enrolling in their rogram and a number of seniors who joined the team for the first time ever. Teams giving students something to talk about High schools are prepping for speech meet By Kristen Cates Tribune Staff Writer TRIBUNE CATES Aidan DeBrae, a freshman at Great Falls High, practices his Lincoln Douglas debate speech with fellow teammates his week.

ONTANA Thursday, December 4, 20 14 GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE WWW.GREATFALLSTRIBUNE.COM For tips or corrections: Call City Editor Scott Thompson, 4 06-791-1482 or 800-438-6600, or email irculation: 888-424-TRIB(8742). ACROSS the BIG SKY K1 Look for breaking news and updates hroughout the day at www.gftrib.com 1 2 QUESTION Do you think appropriate to attach a public land bill to a national defense bill? tory on 1A VOTE ONLINE To vote, go to www.greatfallstribune.com WEIGH IN BY PHONE Dial 771-9824 QUESTION Do you think GMO labeling hould be required? 1. Yes: 2. No: COMMENTS Responses selected from recorded messages and the online forum at ww.greatfallstribune.com Yes, and I want the GMO abeling on absolutely every plant man has manipulated since the Garden of Eden. A.M., Great Falls o.

GMOs have proved to be safe, are needed as options to use on occasion. If we had to rely on organic farm- i ng, starve. Great Falls Yes. If Monsanto can force you to eat GMO through purchase of government, you should be able to know what ou are going to die from. J.B., Great Falls No, Mother Nature has been genetically modifying plants and animals since the beginning of time just part of nature, no big deal.

J.D., Great Falls Yes. The morecompanies try to keep us from knowing what has GMO in it, the more Iwant to know why I know what is in my food. E.O., Cascade Absolutely, absolutely, abso- utely. Maybe it is one of the causes of obesity, or maybe we be around long enough to find out. etiree, Great Falls SOCIALIZE Like us at facebook.com and follow us on Twitter Airspace decision ould be soon PIERRE, S.D.— U.S.

Sen. John Thune says a final decision on an expansion of training airspace for bomb- rs from Ellsworth A ir Force Base in outh Dakota and i nto parts of Mont ana and Wyoming ould come as soon as February. The Republican enator says the Air Force is expected to make its decision on the proposed expan- ion of the Power River Training Comp lex late next onth. he Federal Avia- ion Administration then would consider it. hune says worked with the agency to get an a nswer in about 45 ays.

Officials say the xpanded training a irspace would be used by B-1and B-52 bombers and could save the military 23 million a year by educing the num- er of sorties now being sent to Utah a nd Nevada for xercises. hune says the xpansion is key to the long-term survival. Montana anoe found ELIZABETH CITY, Authorities ay the overturned canoe of a Montana man who was canoe- i ng down the East Coast has been ound in eastern North Carolina. Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy artwright tells a rea media outlets that a canoe belonging to 63-year-old ichard Conan was ound overturned in a creek near Elizabeth City last Satu rday. Cartwright ays the canoe had gear inside.

edia outlets report that Conan flew from Bozeman upstate New York several months ago. He started his trek own the East Coast rom Lake Champlain near the Canad ian border. artwright says the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is earching water- ays while the U.S. ith a high-powered rifle struck its heart. he own- found the animal ead in its corral a long Moulton Reservoir Road on Sunday, and police sus- ect the shooting occurred sometime over the weekend.

olice do not elieve the shooting was intentional. he owner of the orse told officers he heard shots fired throughout the weekend, but that is ormal during hunt- i ng season. oast Guard has conducted searches rom the air. Albino horse illed near Butte Police uspect a confused hunter might have hot and killed an albino quarter horse ear Butte. Butte-Silver Bow ndersheriff George Skuletich tells The Montana tandard the horse, which was worth a bout $5,000, died after a 100 miles Butte Missoula Billings Great Falls Bozeman Glasgow Miles City 90 90 15 15 90 94 Kalispell Glendive Compiled from staff and wire reports and regional newspapers Helena Havre 2 3 State 2, 3, 4 Classified 7, 8 City officials have been warning of increased demand on aging equipment and minimal staffing at Great Falls Fire Rescue and on Tuesday, the City Commission directed staff to explore the cost, need and location of a new fire station.

he information would then be sed to make the case for a future ublic safety mill levy. City Manager Greg Doyon told the ommission the city should hire a third-party to assess the need, costs and possible funding options. Staff will develop the base of that assess- ent so the commission can then de- ide whether to issue a request for proposals. A ssistant Fire Chief Steve Hester told the commission during a work session that in 1988, GFFR had 68 fire- fighters. The department went down to 60 firefighters and the only position added since then was the deputy fire marshal, which was created and filled this year.

I that same time, their call vol- me has increase from about 1,000 alls per year to nearly 6,749 in 2013. Hester said that the four fire tations were built in 1969, but the city has expanded since then with no additional fire station. know how much longer we can do he said. GFFR calls the Montana Air National Guard fire department for assistance more often, Hester said. That means response times are longer and staffing levels are lower, which caused the rating from the Insurance Services Office to drop.

That rating is what many insur- a nce agencies base their rates on. ast summer, Great Falls home- wners complained of significant increases in their insurance rates, hich fire Chief Randy McCamley Issue inches toward forefront City Commission gathering facts on possible public safety levy By Jenn Rowell Tribune Staff Writer Hester McCamley Doyon Mark this on the calendar Monday, Dec. 1, was the day analog television died in Great Falls. A least not aware of any other analog signals still kicking around in the Electric atmos- here. Monday was the day television tation KBGF turned off its fuzzy an- a log signal after upgrading to a digital and, in the case of network pro- ramming, a high-definition picture.

KBGF is an NBC-TV affiliate. Some viewers accustomed to tun- i ng into Channel 50 using an antenna were in for a rude awakening this week, a station official told the Trib une. not going to see any- The day analog TV died in Great Falls By Richard Ecke Tribune Staff Writer Three of the top industries driving economy coal, agriculture and oil rely heavily upon ail to deliver their products. owever, industry executives ave increasingly voiced concerns over the past two years about the largest rail carrier, Burlington Northern Santa ability to bring hose products to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. The Northern Tier is suffering the worst service meltdown in mode rn Northern Plains Resource Council rail consultant, Terry Whiteside said in a 2013 interview with the Billings Gazette, it tarted with surging coal and oil hipments in he explosive growth of oil field production in North Dakota which is now only second to Texas in total domestic oil production combined BNSF pledges billions in fixes By David Murray Tribune Staff Writer.