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The Cascade County Attorney’s Office held a pair of coroner’s inquests Monday regarding two in-custody deaths at the Cascade County Detention Center.
Zachary Tyler Swanson, 30, died of a drug overdose on June 22, 2020. Mitchell Joseph Wright, 40, died of asphyxia due to hanging on July 28, 2020.
A jury took only minutes in each case to return decisions that the deaths were not by criminal means. They were the first coroner’s inquests since before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Montana in March 2020.
Zachary Tyler Swanson
According to testimony, police arrested Swanson on a warrant for suspicion of violating his release conditions by using methamphetamine.
Groton Democrats, who control the Town Council, announced a council slate that did not include incumbent Portia Bordelon, though she received endorsements for Board of Education and Representative Town Meeting.
Republicans put forward a slate with both newcomers and people long involved in town politics, and are vying to reestablish two-party rule on the Town Council, which has been all-Democratic for the past two election cycles.
Democrats on Wednesday announced a slate that included council incumbents Juliette Parker, administrative assistant to the Groton City police chief; Rachael Franco, business manager at Norwich Family Dental Associates; Juan Melendez, who also has served on the RTM and Water Pollution Control Authority; Aundré Bumgardner, a city Planning and Zoning Commission members and former state representative; and Democratic Town Committee Chairman Conrad Heede.
Published June 23. 2021 5:14PM
David Collins reporting on the Oral School project was disturbing and is embarrassing to Groton citizens, “Groton overlooks oral school developer’s history of bribing officials,” (June 17). The disputed size of the project may prove to be inconsequential.
Collins being denied access to what I assume are public documents is not a good portent of things to come. If true, what is even more indicative of poor judgment is an agreement he described without defined goals and penalties, especially considering developer Jeffrey Respler s checkered history. The council and Town Manager John Burt are responsible for this project, and they should take immediate steps to inform us about exactly what has been enumerated in this agreement and what protections are in place. I must say, having had much experience with developers, that you enter into any agreement with a developer at your peril if everything is not spelled out in writing.