Good morning; on the Beacon today, it was a tragic weekend in the snow, as a skier, snowboarder and snowmobiler were killed. Scott Allen Meyer, 29, died after falling into a tree well at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Also on Jan. 8, ski area employees found a 68-year-old man unconscious in the middle of a ski run at about 1 p.m. and started CPR. He was taken to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish and was pronounced dead. And Bruce Lee Jungnitsch, 53, was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling near Hungry Horse Reservoir. Joe Arnone is preparing to mount his bike for a 12-hour ride on Jan. 29, entirely on a stationary bicycle inside Kalispell’s Sportsman and Ski Haus, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. What better way to celebrate the New Year than by sliding across the frozen surface of the Woodland Park pond with family and friends?

The suspect accused of killing six people and wounding Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was decribed as a disturbed young man who was rejected by the military and frequently disrupted his college class. An ambitious list of priorities for new House Republican leaders is topped by a plan to boost the natural resource industry by limiting lawsuits filed against development projects, along with plans to spur business growth in several other ways. Attorneys from Montana and Wyoming are scheduled to square off before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a cross-border dispute over the region's scarce water supplies. The Missoula City Council is considering draft regulations when it comes to naming public parks and trails with corporate names in exchange for money. Glacier Bank officials say they are rebuilding their Eureka branch on the site where fire destroyed their building in October. Taking aim at a $14 trillion national debt and annual federal budget deficit of about $1.3 trillion, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., has co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget — a move he has made every Congress since he first entered the House in 2001. Montana's job market appears to be improving but is changing from construction work to employment in health care and education, state officials say. Mike Dennison breaks down how the Legislature's budget battle reflects the differing philosophies of Democrats and Republicans. A Belt native who is a wrecker operator in Afghanistan was selected as the Regional Command (Southwest) Marine of the Year on Jan. 2.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon, a tap dance tradition, the Feat x Feet Youth Tap Ensemble, directed by Ashley Wold, will perform its 12th annual set of shows, “Contagious Rhythms,” in Whitefish. Rebecca “Becky” Broussard, who founded The Event at Rebecca Farm in 2001, died after a battle with cancer on Christmas Eve at the age of 68. Rep. Janna Taylor of Dayton was hospitalized Thursday after taking a fall down the main staircase in the Capitol building. And Mick Holien remarks on recent victories by the mens and womens Griz basketball squads.

The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month, its lowest level in 19 months. That was because more people found jobs, but also because some people gave up on their job searches. Federal environmental officials said Thursday they plan to reject Montana air quality rules that allow oil and gas companies to obtain emissions permits after they have already started drilling. An advocacy group is defying the state medical board's ban on using video teleconferences to examine people seeking medical marijuana cards, saying the medium is necessary for people who don't have access to a doctor. State Revenue Director Dan Bucks told lawmakers Thursday if they want to chop his agency's budget, they also will be reducing the amount of state tax revenue available for the next two years. A temporary U.S. Forest Service firefighter who lit some small fires and later worked on extinguishing them was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Missoula to two years of probation and ordered to pay $1,111 in restitution. Members of the Legislature's joint natural resources and transportation subcommittee grilled the head of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Thursday over property acquisitions, potential bison relocations, the implications of the voter-approved abolishment of outfitter-sponsored nonresident big game licenses and an FWP bookmark one senator found at a local library. More visitors entered Yellowstone National Park by snowcoach last month compared with December 2009, though overall visitation to the park decreased slightly, officials reported Thursday. Still shaking his head that the IRS had taken so long to notice, U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday sentenced a Miles City man for collecting more than $1 million in illegal tax refunds. Nearly 100 employers from across the state will be telling legislators at four hearings Saturday what changes they think are needed to get Montanans back to work. As of Jan. 1, snowpack is 12 percent above average — and 46 percent greater than on Jan. 1, 2010, according to NRCS.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon today, Montana was one of seven states to raise its minimum wage, joining four other western states – Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Colorado – along with Vermont and Ohio. Employment and the economy might be on the minds of many Montana legislators and residents, but the 62nd Legislature will also see a host of bills dealing with the state’s approach to social issues. A Marion area couple are expected to be charged with animal cruelty after authorities last month seized 120 cats that were living in squalid conditions. Episcopal Church and Montana officials say a retired priest is facing child sexual abuse charges and is awaiting extradition to Maryland from his home in Yaak.

Republicans in control of the Montana Legislature are planning early votes next week in opposition to the new federal health care law, putting the spotlight on a major campaign theme for many in the GOP. Gov. Brian Schweitzer's education adviser has told lawmakers that another tuition freeze is in sight if they follow the governor's budget plan. Montana's Democratic secretary of state said Wednesday she's working with a Republican lawmaker to switch the state over to mail ballots for all elections. Ravalli County planning director John Lavey has resigned, saying his two-year effort to revise the county's subdivision regulations was a waste of time. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, in Seattle on Wednesday to press Washington state for approval of a port for Montana coal, said he wants a level playing field for permitting the project worth millions to Montana's economy. Gov. Brian Schweitzer says the 2008 ethics case against him should be dismissed for “inexcusable delay” — but the Montana Republican Party thinks otherwise, and says his request should be rejected. Montana's economy would lose 13,500 jobs and more than $1 billion in personal income if Montana State University didn't exist, says a new economic study.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon today, Montana’s 62nd Legislature, commencing this week, has more lawmakers from Northwest Montana in leadership positions than any session in recent memory. A 36-year-old man who was arrested after a six-hour standoff at a Kalispell hotel in which he is accused of barricading himself in a bathroom with a 17-year-old boy has been charged with kidnapping and criminal endangerment. The "Crosstown Talkdown," scheduled for Jan. 7 at Glacier High School, is an exhibition speech and debate showdown between the two Kalispell high schools aimed at showcasing two of Montana's premier programs. Lake County commissioners were unable to reach an agreement on a replacement for a state senator serving the Polson area and are asking the Lake and Flathead County Republican central committees for three more names. Whether it’s the cold weather or a sudden pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, the beginning of the year is generally the busiest time for most fitness clubs in the Flathead.

A fractured Republican majority at the Public Service Commission on Tuesday reluctantly coalesced around firebrand Brad Molnar as the body's vice chairman — preventing a prolonged deadlock over leadership choices amid charges of backroom deals and undue influence of lobbyists and legislators. Freshman Republican commissioner Bill Gallagher of Helena was picked to lead the body after fellow freshman Travis Kavulla of Great Falls refused to vote for the veteran Molnar. Montana's governor is heading to Washington state to discuss a new Columbia River coal port being challenged by environmentalists over greenhouse-gas concerns. Montana wildlife officials are seeking approval to create a bison management plan and scope out sites that would be suitable to relocate dozens of bison from the genetically pure Yellowstone National Park herd. Buffeted by the recession and later the indoor smoking ban in taverns and casinos, video gambling revenues in Montana dropped 2 percent in fiscal 2009 over the previous year and then plunged by 16 percent in fiscal 2010, the state Gambling Control Division reported. It's been below zero, and the weather will likely dip down there a few more times this winter, but that won't freeze out western Montana's mountain pine beetle epidemic. And winter bicycling in Yellowstone is, apparently, not allowed.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon today, 16-year-old Niclas Waeschle died after spending several days in the hospital in critical condition. He was discovered unresponsive in a tree well at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Dec. 29. Sergeant First Class Tavia Syme, of the Army National Guard's Kalispell recruiting office, was honored as the top recruiter in the country. Glacier National Park's centennial year was also its busiest as the park saw more than 2.2 million visitors and held more than 130 centennial events.

The Montana Legislature opened Monday the way it is likely to finish: with Republican lawmakers sparring with a strong-willed governor's office over budget priorities. The Montana Public Service Commission's first meeting stalled Monday over the new Republican majority's attempt to pick one of their own as a chairman — leaving the panel without a leader and the GOP with a very public internal fight on its hands. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said Monday he plans to marry his girlfriend and former state director over the summer. Sen. Jon Tester plans to reintroduce his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act this year with no changes, but hopes to bring more Montanans to its support. A Republican senator on Monday accused Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget director of cooking up inflated tax collection projections that don't reflect economic reality in Montana. Wildlife officials say a multiyear investigation into the illegal killing of elk in northcentral Montana's Phillips County has led to the convictions of 11 hunters from several states. A cable television company has returned nearly $24,000 to the campaign of a district judge after the company failed to air the judge's advertisements in the weeks leading to November's Montana Supreme Court election.

 

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Happy New Year! On the Beacon today, Mark Lorang, a research assistant professor for the University of Montana at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, heads an annual project in which Christmas trees are collected and then used to slow erosion in Flathead Lake and the lower Flathead River. In a story from our Escape Winter edition, we examine the legacy of Whitefish's skiing pioneers. Flathead Sled Dogs Days, held on Jan. 7-9 in Olney, was born out of a love for dogs. A Polson fire chief says he wants to start charging drivers responsible for accidents a fee when local fire departments are called to respond.

Authorities in Billings say the side of a waste water pond used by Western Sugar Cooperative has collapsed, flooding the factory and some downtown streets. Montana Republicans in dominant control of the Legislature start work this week on an ambitious plan to tackle everything from medical marijuana to the way the state takes federal money to run its programs. A Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman says icy weather has backed up trains on New Year's Day and forced it to halt Amtrak service on its tracks across Montana and North Dakota. Jason Christ, much in the news at the beginning of 2010 for his traveling "cannabis caravans" that signed up medical marijuana patients, ended the year entangled in lawsuits and facing a felony intimidation charge. A raft of fish- and wildlife-related bills will be making their way through the Legislature in the coming months. Charles Johnson looks at the debate over "structural balance" likely to consume much of the Legislature's budget negotiations. Lee also features profiles of Republican legislative leadership, with House Speaker Mike Milburn and Senate President Jim Peterson.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon today, the USDA Wildlife Services bureau recently released statistics that show a huge increase in the number of livestock killed by all of Montana’s major predators, but the report has drawn skeptics. While Northwestern A basketball division has at least two boys teams that appear to be among the state’s elite, the girls are still waiting for their frontrunners to emerge. A man involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist on Highway 83 near Seeley Lake has been sentenced to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections. And Mark Riffey recommends small businesses expand their education.

The U.S. economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Tuesday that banning the contested oil company megaload shipments from state highways could hurt efforts to attract businesses to the state. Republican-leaning states will gain at least a half dozen House seats thanks to the 2010 census, which found the nation's population growing more slowly than in past decades but still shifting to the South and West. Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau told the governor in a meeting Tuesday that she will ask the 2011 Legislature to increase the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 18 years of age. Only the most uncontroversial and cost-free ideas appear to have a chance of passage during the final days of congressional land policy legislation, and that doesn't include most Montana measures. A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $3.4 billion settlement for Native Americans who say the government mismanaged their land royalties, paving the way to begin a search for hundreds of thousands of potential beneficiaries. Environmentalists said Tuesday they intend to sue the Obama administration to force it to restore gray wolves across the lower 48 states — even as Republicans in Congress sought unsuccessfully to strip the animals of protection. On Tuesday, airplane parts manufacturer Summit Aeronautics celebrated its first official day as Boeing Helena, one of now 11 sites worldwide that make up the Fortune 500 company’s fabrication division.

 

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Good morning; on the Beacon today, Flathead County commissioners voted to adopt changes to the county’s subdivision regulations, ending a two-year revision process by a specially appointed committee. Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf said he will write three books about his life, football career and addiction to painkillers. A stolen vehicle driven by a young woman being chased by officers narrowly missed crashing into the Montana Capitol on Monday, police said. A former Ravalli County sheriff's sergeant accused of stealing more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition from the department has been given a five-year suspended prison sentence and must spend 15 days in jail. The U.S. Senate has confirmed Darrell Bell as Montana's next U.S. marshal. Lance Cpl. Thomas Parker, the Marine from Ronan who lost both his legs in Afghanistan earlier this month, was awarded a Purple Heart in a ceremony Saturday.

 

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