Flathead Valley News Buffet: Kalispell, Montana News

Good morning; on the Beacon today, amid deep Congressional gridlock, Montana Sen. Jon Tester visited the Flathead Beacon offices last week for a wide-ranging discussion of what the upcoming year holds for the Senate, where he painted a picture of a Democratic caucus dissatisfied with the lack of progress while acknowledging its own culpability. Gabriel Perjessy, a Kalispell dentist in the area for more than 30 years, recently installed a system at his office that is said to rearrange the molecular structure of water to give it qualities that promote better health. And business columnist Mark Riffey observes some remarkably poor customer service.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff from Friday through Saturday to honor a Montana soldier, Sgt. Jeremiah Wittman, who was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan. States again saw sharp declines in tax collections in the last quarter of 2009 — a record fifth straight quarterly drop, according to a new report that predicts more looming spending cuts or tax increases. The founder of the millionaires-only Yellowstone Club goes on trial Wednesday to face claims that he fleeced the private Montana resort out of at least $286 million. A Montana convenience store manager who is tired of being robbed has expanded the no shoes, no shirt, no service dress code to include a ban on hoodies and ski masks. Here's one point on which Democrats and Republicans agree on health care: President Barack Obama's much-touted televised summit has virtually no chance of breaking the political logjam. Stymied at the Montana Legislature, some groups said Tuesday they instead will ask voters to cap at 36 percent the annual interest rates that payday lending businesses can charge, compared with the current 400 percent maximum. Yellowstone County Attorney Dennis Paxinos struck back Tuesday against accusations by a former employee that he sexually harassed and assaulted her. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana is one of three senior Senate Democrats who have been named to a bipartisan panel established by President Barack Obama to find a plan to wrestle the budget deficit under control. Fears of the Obama administration enacting radical gun control have made receipts for the Pitman-Robertson Fund, funded by an excise tax on guns and ammunition, increase 40 percent nationwide.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Kelsey Schmid-Sommer of Whitefish is preparing to defend her national telemark ski racing title at the championships in Whitefish next month. Both the boys and girls from Columbia Falls won last year’s divisional tournament and are the top seeds in this year’s brackets. The Montana Supreme Court says a state District Court has jurisdiction to hear a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the widow of a member of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes against a physician and a Polson clinic.

Eight Democratic senators from industrial states, including Montana Sen. Max Baucus, are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate pollution blamed for global warming. A bipartisan jobs bill cleared a GOP filibuster on Monday with critical momentum provided by the Senate's newest Republican, Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Congressional Democrats cautiously embraced President Barack Obama's new health care plan as their last hope for enacting a comprehensive overhaul. A monthly poll showed consumers' confidence took a surprisingly sharp fall in February amid rising job worries. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus says he is scheduling an economic development conference for Butte in the middle of September. Two Georgia men convicted and sentenced to jail for abusing four horses during a wilderness pack trip were back in Hamilton on Monday hoping a second Ravalli County jury will be more sympathetic. Calling himself “a constitutional Republican,” Mark French of Paradise has filed as candidate for the U.S. House seat held by fellow Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg and promptly accused the five-time congressman of violating his oath of office. Montana Republicans are asking the Department of Commerce to target Oregon businesses in an advertising blitz that looks to steal jobs and promote Big Sky Country as a friendlier place to do business. Lower than average precipitation this winter could spell trouble for Western Montana's rivers and streams come summer.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Flathead County Fair Board chose not to renew veteran Fair Manager Jay Scott’s contract with a 3-1 vote on Feb. 11, a move that prompted one board member to resign over philosophical differences. An appeals court for the third time has upheld a probationary sentence given to a former Eureka man who pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud in 2004, despite arguments from federal prosecutors and a dissenting judge that it wasn't adequate punishment. Take a step back in time while touring the 100th Anniversary Boy Scout Exhibit at The Museum at Central School near downtown Kalispell. The Flathead Economic Summit seeks to spark ideas about how the Flathead’s economy can best benefit from the Glacier National Park centennial. This city is back in the restaurant-liquor business after a recent decision by Polson City commissioners to resume vendor responsibilities at the Polson Golf Course. And Kitchen Guy Jim Gray duplicates Bang Bang Shrimp.

The return of horse racing to Missoula has some enthusiasts cheering the impact it could have on the industry statewide. Officials say there's an 18 month inventory of condos in Missoula rather than a healthy six months' worth. Lee's Jennifer McKee explores whether Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs Bill really was written in secret. A lot of Westerners are watching whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is about to pursue Endangered Species Act protection for the greater sage grouse. Federal wildlife officials say people killed 20 grizzly bears in north-central and western Montana, which is about average.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, leaders from Montana and British Columbia have signed an agreement that bans mining and drilling in a valley along the U.S.-Canadian border north of Glacier National Park. Two upcoming music events hope to harness that support and showcase local talent in order to send aid to Haiti. Lido's got a photo of the aftermath of a southbound tractor-trailer hauling a piece of logging equipment that clipped the cross beam of the light tower causing it to detach from its base and fall into the center turn lane. The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department says whitetail deer hunting will be limited to bucks in northwest Montana's Region One for the next two years. Warren Miller writes his column on morphine with a broken back this week. And Mick Holien second-guesses Eastern Washington University's decision to install red turf.

A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launched a suicide attack on the agency Thursday by crashing his small plane into an office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers fleeing for their lives. Bozeman commissioners have asked the city's planning department, police and legal staff to compile a list of concerns about medical marijuana so they can discuss the possibility of temporarily restricting the local industry. With tax collections tanking and jobless rates at record highs, state legislators hundreds of miles from Washington have found an easy way to appeal to conservative voters: Bash the federal government. A Polson judge ordered a mental evaluation for the man charged with attempting to claim ownership of several vacant homes by filing paperwork as the owner. Amid the budget-cutting pessimism facing state government, some rays of optimism emerged for the next fiscal year from both Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s budget director and the Legislature’s chief revenue forecaster. And a Hamilton man was arrested for breaking into the newsroom of the Ravalli Republic newsroom, looking at porn, logging onto his Facebook account and leaving a trail of snacks leading authorities to his whereabouts following the burglary.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Whitefish City officials who previously used the building boom as a bountiful revenue source for their municipal budgets are now facing the reality of vastly diminished construction revenues. Joining other cities around Montana and in the Flathead confronting the issue, Kalispell City Council voted Tuesday night to impose a temporary prohibition on medical marijuana caregiver facilities, referring questions of how and whether to regulate such businesses to the planning board for its review and recommendation. Leaders from Montana and British Columbia are scheduled to sign an agreement that bans mining and drilling in a valley along the U.S.-Canadian border north of Glacier National Park. Flathead County recently agreed to a tentative settlement with the developers of the North Shore Ranch Subdivision, a decision that could put the county on the hook for $1 million and the cost of constructing the development’s road system. And Dave Skinner delves into the real implications of the Supreme Court decision freeing up campaign donations. Bill Schneider writes about the rift Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is causing in the conservation community.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the United Nations on Wednesday to intervene in the case of a Montana State Prison inmate the ACLU says is being subjected to "torturous" treatment. Nearly 50 of the 88 bison that have been held in a quarantine compound outside Yellowstone National Park were loaded in large stock trailers Wednesday morning for the two-hour ride to their new home on Ted Turner's ranch. The Missoulian's Vince Devlin writes about a Polson drifter who was allegedly breaking into homes to file paperwork in an attempt to steal those homes. One year after the passage of the federal $787 billion stimulus bill, Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont, wants to scrap the measure in exchange for payroll tax cuts. A computer glitch in the state’s expanded children’s health-insurance plan that has randomly booted families out of the program is causing some patients to forego refilling critical prescriptions, according to several Bozeman doctors. Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot has taken a seat on the Plum Creek Timber Co.’s board of directors. Sen. Max Baucus told a Helena audience Wednesday that he still believes Congress can and should pass a health-reform bill, but offered no details of what a compromise measure might include.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, a controversial proposal to gill net lake trout in Flathead Lake has highlighted the distrust and often-cantankerous relationship between some Northwest Montana anglers and government. On Feb. 13 at the MetraPark in Billings, the Flathead Braves won their fifth straight Class AA wrestling tournament and sixth in the past seven years. Flathead County officials have released the name of the 19-year-old Eureka woman, Lakeisha Dawn Thibault, who died in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 2 north of Kalispell last week. Butte native Bryon Wilson is having a good week after winning a bronze in men's moguls. Meanwhile, the Revenue Department is facing another lawsuit over property taxes in our weekly index of what's up, down and in between.

A 26-year-old soldier from Billings, Sgt. Jeremiah Wittman, was killed by a suicide bomber while on patrol in Afghanistan over the weekend. The former president of a Billings branch of Yellowstone Bank, William Guy Paul, has reached an agreement to plead guilty to embezzling $17,000 from the bank. President Barack Obama, defending his economic stimulus plan on its first anniversary, is dispatching his Cabinet across the country to try to calm an anxious public as Democrats head into potentially devastating midterm elections. Livingston city officials say the city spent over $21,000 in federal economic stimulus money to resurface its tennis courts last summer. Sen. Jon Tester visited the Flathead County landfill Monday to see how methane is converted to electricity. Lining U.S. Highway 93 in Hamilton, more than 50 members of the so-called tea party movement used the Monday holiday to vent their frustration with the federal government currently being run by Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. Calling for new tribal leadership and a break from the federal government, founders of the first Crow Indian Tea Party movement rallied Monday in Hardin. The Mexican consulate in Idaho has provided services to about 15,000 people in Boise and Montana during its first year of operation, Consul Ricardo Pineda said. The Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program is reporting a preliminary default rate of 1 percent in fiscal year 2008 for the early months of student loan repayment. It is the lowest rate the program has ever recorded.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, after a $6.9 million county-approved bond and years of work, the new Flathead County Dispatch and Emergency Operations Center is in the final construction stages, with regular staffing expected by March 15. The Kalispell City Council plans to consider an emergency ordinance placing a 90-day moratorium on medical marijuana businesses. Flathead County commissioners voted last week to begin negotiating a contract with Kalispell-based 48 North Engineering as the engineering firm for the stormwater system overhaul in Bigfork. Brandon French, of the Kalispell Fire Department, and Ben Parsons, of the Whitefish Fire Department, head to the tiny European principality of Andorra at the end of February for the Ski-Mountaineering World Championships as part of the eight-man U.S. team. And Kitchen Guy Jim Gray describes some of his many pet peeves at restaurants.

Members of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and Montana Taxpayers Association have filed a class action lawsuit against the state Department of Revenue contending property tax increases have not been phased in properly. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, speaking to land use managers, said that state and federal agencies must tell the public that the scarred forests left behind by voracious pine beetles will remain for years. Bryon Wilson Jr. won the bronze medal in the men's moguls event Sunday at the Winter Olympics, making him the first Montana skier to win a medal in the freestyle event. Montana’s U.S. senators are preparing to dive in on another big national issue — climate change and energy legislation — but it appears they’re facing a divided state electorate on the subject. A female patient at Montana’s psychiatric hospital was reportedly raped by a convicted sex offender in March 2008, and the state recently paid a $375,000 settlement to avoid litigation in the case.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Great Northern Brewing Company, on Central Avenue in downtown Whitefish, is once again offering the beer, “Minott’s Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager.” That’s right – for one day, and one day only, Elvis Presley will be in the Bigfork Village for two Valentine’s Day shows. Well, maybe not the actual King, but a pretty solid reproduction. A federal judge who in 2008 banned extended-season snowmobiling in the Flathead National Forest has dissolved the injunction. And Mick Holien debates whether the Football Championship Subdivision is getting too big.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a stripped down "Jobs Bill" that blew apart an agreement with key Republicans like Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who worked with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., for weeks to produce a bill containing the extra provisions. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is lashing back at ads criticizing his support of a "big bank bailout" that he says doesn't exist. Montana wildlife commissioners on Thursday struck down a proposed lead shot ban for game birds, tightened elk hunting rules as herd sizes plummet in southwest Montana and approved a youth-only hunt for this fall. The state Land Board might consider lowering the minimum bid for 570 million tons of state-owned coal in southeastern Montana’s Otter Creek Valley, after getting no bids by a deadline this week, state lands officials said Thursday. Gov. Brian Schweitzer says the Department of Livestock is coming under budget with implementation of its brucellosis plan. The federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose next month that metals contamination at the 250-acre smelter and refinery complex on Smelter Hill in Great Falls and some residential properties in Black Eagle be cleaned up on under the federal Superfund program, federal officials said Thursday.