Flathead Valley Business: Kalispell, Montana News

The Kalispell Planning Board voted 4-2 Tuesday to amend the zoning ordinance so it prohibits any new medical marijuana business from operating, in a sign that city officials plan to take a hard line against the dispensaries. The planning board’s decision now heads to the city council for consideration.

The specific vote was to prohibit any land use within Kalispell that conflicts with federal, state or local law, thus prohibiting medical marijuana businesses. Marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law despite a 2004 voter initiative in Montana that legalized its sale and use for medicinal purposes. The Obama Administration recently announced it would not prosecute medical marijuana cases, and the industry has since begun expanding rapidly in Montana.

Flathead County commissioners voted 2-1 Monday to pursue a settlement on the North Shore Ranch Subdivision lawsuit, with an amendment that provides for a 30-day deadline that allows various entities to purchase the entire property and make it protected land.

The commissioners also voted 3-0 to release all depositions related to the settlement to the public.

WASHINGTON – In private pitches to Democrats, President Barack Obama says he will persuade Congress to pass his health care overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn't have the power to keep.

That, in a sometimes darkly joking way, is what the president is telling Democratic House members as he begins an all-out push to coax Congress into passing his proposals despite voters' misgivings and Republicans' dire warnings.

When he retires from Plum Creek Timber Co. at the end of the month, Hank Ricklefs will feel much better about stepping down from his position as vice president of northern resources and manufacturing than he would have a year ago at this time.

“It was absolute turmoil,” he said of 2009. “No one had a solid feeling for where the bottom was.”

Located about 90 minutes southwest of Kalispell, the tiny community of Hot Springs is a pretty great day trip for anyone feeling truly chilled to the bone by winter. Its natural mineral hot springs, prized by American Indians for hundreds of years, are considered among the most healing and therapeutic in the world.

But soaking isn’t the only reason to make the drive. You’ll also find a number of interesting shops and restaurants. On our short visit, we checked out Montana Movie Posters, which has an extraordinary number of original vintage movie posters, particularly those filmed in Montana (308 Main St., 406-741-5170).

The effects of an international mining and drilling ban in the Upper Flathead Valley are beginning to ripple on local and federal levels, with new limits on gravel extraction and production in the North Fork of the Flathead River and proposed legislation in Congress.

The recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), agreed upon by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, stops all coal, oil and gas exploration and development upstream of Glacier National Park.

NEW YORK – General Motors Co. will reinstate 661 dealerships it sought to drop from its sales network.

GM executives said Friday that 661 dealerships — more than half of the 1,100 seeking to stay with the automaker — will receive letters giving them the option to remain open. The company said it made the move because it would not have enough time to negotiate with all 1,100 dealerships within a four-month window imposed by the federal government.

BILLINGS – Growth in liquor sales was tempered in 2009, likely due to the economy and the indoor smoking ban that took effect for bars and casinos in October, state officials said.

Figures from the Department of Revenue's Liquor Control Division show liquor sales grew 1.9 percent in 2009 after growing at least 5 percent a year over the past decade. The worst month was October, when liquor sales were down $1.5 million compared with the same month in 2008.