Flathead Valley News Buffet: Kalispell, Montana News

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Flathead County’s Board of Commissioners voted to pass the 2009-2010 county budget, touting it as an effort that realistically reflects the current recession. State Sen. Greg Barkus pleaded not guilty to three felony charges resulting from an August boat crash on Flathead Lake that injured five people, including Congressman Denny Rehberg. Wildlife officials say a Columbia Falls man has been cited for killing two wolves during a closed season in northwestern Montana. Authorities are investigating after a judge's office in Eureka was broken into and set ablaze over the weekend.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says fellow Montana Sen. Max Baucus has co-signed a proposal to both add more wilderness and require more logging on federal land. The federal government dropped murder-related charges against a man in the 2001 deaths of three women at a Florence hair salon shortly after attorneys filed a motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct and outrageous government conduct. Michael Jamison interviews the family and friends of Libby soldier J.R. Stright, who was killed in a training exercise off the coast of Virginia last week. Supporters of the climate bill in Congress are releasing a report that says the measure would create more jobs in Montana. Montana has issued its first license for an industrial hemp-growing operation, setting up a possible test case of whether the Drug Enforcement Administration is willing to override a state law allowing propagation of the plant. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to close the state’s inaugural wolf hunt in southern Montana Monday after the quoata of 12 was reached.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, based on a meeting held last week at Flathead High School that drew more than 40 people, wariness and outright opposition to any expansion of the Kalispell city airport appears to be growing. Army Staff Sgt. James R. Stright of Libby, 29, was killed Thursday night when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training off the Virginia coast. The Flathead City-County Health Department on Oct. 20, in collaboration with North Valley Hospital and Mountain Mall gave 667 vaccines for the H1N1 virus. Flathead High's Mary Allen, 17, moved to Kalispell this past summer to be with her father and four younger siblings, but when Allen speaks about volleyball, it is always in terms of her new family on the court. If an informational meeting held recently in Polson is any indication, chances that city voters will approve a 3 percent local option tax, placed on the Nov. 3 ballot by city commissioners, are few and far between.

Montana is redesigning its basic license plate design for the first time in five years, and is looking at a retro-inspired design that harkens back to the plates of the 1970s and earlier. Matt Nichols threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns, lifting Eastern Washington to a 35-24 victory Saturday over Montana State, which was down eight players because of the flu. Running backs Chase Reynolds and Thomas Brooks-Fletcher combined for 245 yards and four touchdowns in Montana's 45-30 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday. State wildlife managers say one wolf kill was reported as Montana's general hunting season opened Sunday with an estimated 100,000 hunters spreading across public and private lands. Montana Public Radio is dropping "Car Talk" from its schedule. A long-awaited decision is due today on whether the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana deserves federal recognition. Lee's Chuck Johnson writes about the effort to draft Billings Republican state Sen. Taylor Brown to run for governor. And Mike Dennison talks to state cabin leaseholders who do not think the new rent structure endorsed by the state Land Board is fair to leaseholders.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Bigfork High School volleyball team hopes to keep its dreams alive with a state title. The closing of Kalispell's Planned Parenthood has elicited a variety of responses from the local community. The University of Montana is trying to oust a student from campus housing after failed to register as a violent offender. Warren Miller discusses the how important the name of the Huega Center, an MS treatment center in Vail, Colo., is to him. And smokers head to tribal casinos after the Clean Air Act kicked in at the beginning of the month.

Authorities arrest three men in connection with the $60,000 theft of a melon farm safe. Ghost hunters in Cody, Wyo., search for the specters with the Wyoming Area Paranormal Society. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock won't install an outside investigator to look into an abuse case regarding a Great Falls teacher's aide and her autistic student. The bus carrying the Westminster volleyball team crashed near Helena, thankfully hurting no one.

That's it for now, have a safe and fun weekend!

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Montana Transportation Department Director Jim Lynch talked about the intractable problem of fatality rates on the state's highway system at a dedication ceremony for fallen troopers in Kalispell. Candidates for Kalispell City Council took questions from the Beacon on why they're suited for the job. The Glacier Park International Airport Authority Board, sticking by its decision to privatize its airport security force, met with local federal security workers who are worried about job security. And Wild Bill talks with the makers of a new documentary about an infamous 1967 night in Glacier National Park when two women were killed by grizzlies.

A Missoula jury on Wednesday awarded $3.2 million to a woman suing the maker of a bone-strengthening drug in a decision that could have a bearing on hundreds of cases against the company nationwide. Montana will resume its gray wolf hunt in parts of the Absaroka Range this Sunday with the start of the general deer and elk hunting season. The Missoulian's Rob Chaney previews the conditions for the big game season. David Ortley, a justice of the peace from Kalispell, and Peggy Probasco, a state child-support enforcement attorney from Butte, are two of the attorneys seeking appointment to a future vacancy on the Montana Supreme Court. More fun in Hardin: The former vice president of First Interstate Bank in Hardin will spend six years in federal prison for stealing more than $1.6 million from the bank to cover gambling and other losses racked up by her husband. And casinos on Indian reservations that still allow smokers are doing big business. Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, seeking his sixth term, reported having about $734,000 cash left in the bank on Sept. 30, the largest war chest in the 2010 Montana congressional race. Gov. Brian Schweitzer and NaturEner USA officials celebrated the completion of the state's largest wind farm south of Ethridge on Wednesday.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. announced Wednesday that the company will curtail all production at the end of October. The economic issues facing Kalispell and how the city government has handled them comes into sharpest focus in the nonpartisan race between incumbent Mayor Pam Kennedy, seeking a third term, and her challenger, attorney Tammi Fisher. A new judge will preside over the case of Kalispell state Sen. Greg Barkus, who is charged with three felonies after an Aug. 27 boat crash on Flathead Lake. The debate on whether to allow truck traffic on a narrow highway along the east shore of Flathead Lake has been renewed after another tractor trailer crashed and caught fire, injuring the driver. The Beacon's Mick Holien interviews the Finley Point man who rescued the truck driver. And business columnist Mark Riffey discusses the difficulty of overcoming professional inertia.

A former University of Montana football player was given a two-year deferred sentence Tuesday for his role in an assault that left a fellow student with a concussion and a fractured jaw. Montana's unemployment rate rose a small amount in September from 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent. Montana has one of the nation's lowest rates of death from child abuse and neglect, a new report released this morning shows. Montana's Attorney General Steve Bullock was on a national cable news show Tuesday explaining why he thinks Montana - not the federal government - should be in charge of finding Montana owners to $55 million in old, unclaimed war bonds.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, from Bigfork to Whitefish, from Class B to AA, the Flathead Valley has no shortage of championship contenders heading into this weekend’s state cross country meet. Kellie Danielson, who became president and chief executive officer of Montana West Economic Development in Kalispell earlier this year, is tasked with finding ways to bring new business to the Flathead Valley in a time of uncertainty. Small towns report they are having a hard time finding and keeping police officers, and often lose them to places that pay better. The Montana Land Board agreed Monday to increase fees for state land leased to cabin sites but also agreed to extend the length of the leases.

U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg says the nation needs to maintain its land-based nuclear missile arsenal at current levels — both as a shield against foreign adversaries and to protect local communities that could be hurt economically if the missiles were removed. The Montana Judicial Nomination Commission has received 11 applications for one soon-to-be vacant spot on the Montana Supreme Court. A rug store owner whose building was significantly damaged by a deadly natural gas explosion in downtown Bozeman has sued NorthWestern Energy. Classes are back in session this week at schools in Anaconda. Memorial services for Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the Church Universal and Triumphant are scheduled for Thursday. And John S. Adams at the Great Falls Tribune reports on how Montana's medical marijuana community is applauding a new Obama administration policy that says federal prosecutors should not target marijuana patients and suppliers in states that allow the use of medical marijuana.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, Whitefish will drill exploratory test holes at 22 different locations in the railway district as part of the first major offsite testing for pollution caused by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s fueling and repair facility. Flathead County and a group of sheriff’s deputies are waiting on a court ruling that will determine how much they are owed after an error led to their past wages being miscalculated for several years. Flathead County Commissioners voted last week to ratify the withdrawal of controversial phases of a proposed Lakeside subdivision, effectively negating a lawsuit seeking to stop the final phases of the development. And Kitchen Guy Jim Gray writes about the logistics of planning a dinner party for 40 people.

In his first start of the season, Cody Kempt threw three touchdown passes, including a 36-yarder in overtime, to lead Montana State past South Dakota 31-24 Saturday afternoon. And the UM Grizzlies defeated the Eastern Washington Eagles, 41-34. The Missoulian has some great stories from the weekend: One by Michael Jamison looks at the Aug. 27 Flathead Lake boat crash as a product of Montana's drinking culture. And Chelsi Moy writes about Griz coach Bobby Hauck's feud with the student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin. Marijuana-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers should not be targeted for U.S. prosecution in states that allow medical use of the drug, including Montana, prosecutors were told Monday in a new policy memo issued by the Justice Department. Chuck Johnson writes about the troubled tradition of the "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" in Montana political history. And the Billings Gazette revisits the development of the Hardin jail, in the wake of the debacle involving American Police Force.

Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Whitefish 1979 team is the only state football champion in school history. A 42-year-old Kalispell woman who was hit by a truck as she walked across Montana 35 in Evergreen has died. Glacier High's Stormy Day is recovering from a broken back to become one of the top kick returners in the state as a junior. And Mick Holien recognizes the underrated greatness of the Griz 1969 and 1970 teams.

Sen. Max Baucus is confident when it comes time to vote, every Democrat in the Senate — and perhaps more than one Republican — will support legislation overhauling the nation's health care system. Officials in the rural town of Hardin say they've received new interest in their empty, 464-bed jail in the wake of collapsed deal with a California company run by a man with a history of fraud. A Missoula accountant is suing Gov. Brian Schweitzer and state Revenue Director Dan Bucks in federal court in an attempt to stop the state from issuing property tax notices based on the latest reappraisal. Chuck Johnson reports that three times as many owners of Montana property have asked the Revenue Department to informally review their new values than did after the last reappraisal in 2003. The family of a woman who was killed in a natural-gas explosion in downtown Bozeman filed a wrongful death lawsuit against NorthWestern Energy on Thursday. A federal judge ruled that officers used unreasonable force when they arrested a retired physician on obstruction charges last year. Two more lawyers, Carlo Canty of Helena and Mike Wheat of Bozeman, have applied for a soon-to-be-vacant justice's seat on the Montana Supreme Court. And Kahrin Deines of the Billings Gazette reports on the heart-breaking death of Adam Davis, the young man from Maine who was found dead in a Billings garbage truck last weekend, described as a talented poet with wanderlust.