November 4, 2002

Mayors from seven cities in Montana and the Dakotas met October 18 in Billings to learn ways to prepare for disasters caused by terrorist attacks.

Billings Mayor Chuck Tooley was host to mayors from Laurel, Kalispell, Glasgow, Glendive, Rapid City, S.D., and Minot, N.D. for the one-day training seminar sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Emergency Response Resource Training Center at Texas A&M University. The training program was funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

"One of the most valuable parts of this seminar was understanding the different ways that you can access federal programs when these types of things happen," Tooley said at a break in the seminar.

Tooley said the training will help local government officials develop plans and cooperative relationships for dealing with all kinds of attacks as well as natural disasters and other emergencies.

Attending the seminar were Montana Mayors Pam Kennedy of Kalispell; Willie Zeller of Glasgow; Jerry Timison of Glendive; Mayor Bud Johnson of Laurel; Mayor Chuck Tooley of Billings; Jerry Munson of Rapid City (SD); Curt Zinbelman of Minot (ND); and Billings Fire Chief Marv Jochems.