I'm Carly Flandro, a journalism student at the University of Montana in Missoula. 

 

Today is Earth Day, and students across campus are celebrating. For some, like the Students for Real Food, that means planting a garden. Others are making Earth Day T-shirts on the grassy oval in the middle of campus. Dozens of people are hiking up Mount Sentinel's switchbacks to the "M," a mountainside landmark that sets the university's background.

 

But a few blocks away in downtown Missoula, the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse is likely much quieter -- empty of the attorneys, jurors and witnesses who have been congregating there for nine weeks.

 

The U.S. v W.R. Grace case, which could be one of the largest environmental crimes trial in U.S. history, began on Feb. 19. Judge Donald Molloy predicted the case could last up to five months, but now -- just more than two months later -- it could be nearing an end.

 

The government announced it would end its case on Tuesday, but controversy over a witness and new documents from government attorneys will prolong it to next week. Molloy, who is out of town to see his son graduate from flight school, will return when court resumes on Monday.