Flathead Valley News Buffet: Kalispell, Montana News

Good morning; on the Beacon today, conservation groups are in Spain this week hoping to get a UNESCO commission to declare Glacier and Waterton National Parks World Heritage Sites in Danger. Tempers flared at a meeting last week with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes fisheries division over a plan to reduce Flathead Lake’s nonnative lake trout population. The Kalispell City Council meets tonight to look at its other options for selecting a city manager after its first pick, Matt McKillip, turned down the job offer. Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a public meeting in Somers last week, after a gathering meant to provide information on a potential neighborhood plan dissolved into a shouting match. The new Italian eatery, Bonelli's Bistro, brings Mediterranean cuisine to downtown Kalispell. And Kitchen Guy Jim Gray explains what real Kobe beef is like.

Ample runoff and rain from last winter is bring Montana closer to ending its drought. President Barack Obama has yet to appoint a new U.S. attorney for Montana. And Montana Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester aren't saying how they will vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, as U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., continues to oppose it.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Flathead County confirms its first case of swine flu. The Kalispell Lakers baseball team has jumped out to a very solid 17-7 record so far. The Alpine Theatre Project's "Stones in His Pockets" has two actors playing 13 characters in a small Irish village. Lawrence Sheehan, 62, of Kalispell, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

New Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell plans to spend his agency's $1.15 billion in stimulus dollars quickly. The City of Bozeman is now asking applicants for jobs with the city for information as personal as passwords to Facebook pages and Yahoo chat groups. Montana's unemployment rate rose 0.3 percent to 6.3 percent in May, still lower than the national average.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the EPA has declared a public health emergency in Libby. The state has approved expansion of the Spoklie gravel pit near Glacier Park. Flathead County leads the state in enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program. And Wild Bill Schneider views the passage of a bill allowing concealed weapons in parks as yet another demonstration of the gun rights lobby's power.

Montana forester Tom Tidwell is the new head of the U.S. Forest Service. The recession is causing a run on welfare programs by Montana families in need of food stamps or other assistance. The inclusion of a George Custer action figure in some McDonald's Happy Meals has offended some Native Americans. And the cleanup of Bozeman's downtown explosion is under way.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the gay pride celebration planned for Kalispell this weekend, and the relative lack of controversy it has engendered in one of the more conservative pockets of the state, bears testimony to the advances the gay community has made over the last decade, across the state and the country. The 2nd annual Beacon Summer Guide is in papers this week, with a veritable plethora of activities and destinations for the next several months. Flathead County Commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday morning to increase the salaries for the county's elected officials and employees by almost 2 percent. Whitefish High School activities director Jackie Fuller says Mark Casazza has been promoted to head boys' basketball coach. And business columnist Mark Riffey writes about the value of experience accrued by "crusty old dudes."

Planned Parenthood of Montana says the state's Children's Health Insurance Plan, or CHIP, discriminates against young women because it prohibits coverage of contraception. In Washington D.C., Forest Service officials told lawmakers water supplies for 33 million people could be endangered if millions of acres of beetle-ravaged forests in the Rocky Mountains catch fire. Montana officials are asking the federal government to declare the state's cattle free of brucellosis. A Livingston man has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for possession of a machine gun. And a Bozeman-based political group seeking electronic copies of local government contracts is not getting the response from local governments that it expected.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, charges were dismissed against the final Grace defendant in the Libby asbestos trial. Whitefish High School’s enrollment is plummeting at a time when school officials and community members are actively seeking a new facility for students. In an effort to boost Montana’s sagging wood products and logging industries, a state agency announced early this month it was dedicating nearly $5 million of federal stimulus money toward forest restoration and fuels reduction work. Jon Meyers, a Bigfork native, placed third at the U.S Freestyle Kayaking Team trials in Glenwood Springs, Colo., at the end of May.

NorthWestern Energy's CEO is defending the company amid growing frustration after the explosion in downtown Bozeman. Five groups sued the government Monday for removing more than 4,000 gray wolves in Michigan's upper Great Lakes region from the endangered list. Local and federal investigators are working to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a Butte tire warehouse. State health officials are beginning an aggressive push to get children signed on to the Montana Healthy Kids act. Attorney General Steve Bullock said Monday that his office has taken legal action against AirTEL Wireless, the cellular company that shut down without reimbursing its customers in February.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Glacier Park's namesake glaciers may be totally melted by the next decade. The Going-to-the-Sun Road could be weeks away from opening, due to clearing avalanches and adverse weather. The city of Kalispell is, slowly but surely, beginning to see the fruits of the federal stimulus legislation. It looks like Flathead Lake cherry growers might enjoy a “normal” year, producing about 3 million pounds of cherries worth more than $4 million. Joseph Williams is commemorating the 50-year anniversary of his attack by a grizzly bear in Glacier Park, along with the ranger who saved him. And Chef Jim Gray advises on preparing a spicy, refreshing gazpacho.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg said Saturday that Democrats' major push for social reforms was going to backfire, and Republicans would reap the rewards then. And the Associated Press has a heart-breaking story in the Billings Gazette about the health care crisis on tribal reservations.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the heart of Flathead High School's theater program, David Hashley, is retiring this year. Snowplow operators at Glacier National Park have nearly finished clearing the Big Drift. And Warren Miller recounts how he received his first movie camera.

It's official! Swine flu is a pandemic. And Gov. Brian Schweitzer swears his recent east coast swing was not an attempt to gain a foothold on the national stage. Helena Mayor Jim Smith has filed a complaint alleging that Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association improperly failed to register as a lobbyist. And the Blixseth's legal battle over the Yellowstone Club is growing increasingly bitter.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Stellar Recovery debt collection business in Kalispell is growing rapidly and hiring new workers. A Whitefish man wants to bring back to life a hydropower plant located just north of Whitefish near the city’s water treatment plant. The clerk at a Whitefish hotel who took part in an April 7 robbery has been arrested and police are searching for her accomplice. Lido has another killer slideshow, this time of the Blue Moon Summer Rodeo. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has confirmed that a bass caught on May 2 on the Noxon Rapids Reservoir is a state record. And Dave Skinner lampoons the Whitefish streetscape project.

Fires are raging in downtown Butte. Gov.Brian Schweitzer's new memo on freezing the pay of state employees does not change an earlier agreement on compensation. Another week, another lawsuit against the Feds for delisting the Gray wolf. Montana businesses may find work on federal stimulus-funded projects as bigger contractors hire smaller local contractors. To rebound from recent election defeats, the state Republican Party is being urged to improve its grass-roots efforts, involve more people and communicate its message better to voters. Wachovia Bank has sued Yellowstone Club co-founder Edra Blixseth in federal bankruptcy court.