Election Day: Vote, Energy Scam, Death Penalty Halted

By Molly Priddy, 11-02-10

Good morning, be sure to vote today by 8 p.m.; on the Beacon today, we've got a breakdown of the information you might need if you're not registered to vote yet or you don't know who's who in the races. Judge Katherine Curtis ruled Monday that the homicide trial for Evergreen teenager Justine Winter will stay in Flathead County if the jury selection process successfully yields a jury. Flathead Electric Cooperative and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office are warning valley residents of a possible energy product scam and are looking for people who may have already been affected. PPL Montana says it is pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court is asking the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General to look into its case over disputed rent with the state. A judge in Helena on Monday halted the execution of the only known Canadian on death row in the United States, even though a date for the death has not been set. Brucellosis has been found in Ted Turner's 4,600-head bison herd in Montana, the first time we've seen the bacterial disease in a domestic herd in Montana in two years.

Voters are deciding whether to give Republican Denny Rehberg a sixth term as Montana's congressman and where the balance of power will fall in a state House that is now evenly split. Former state commerce director Tony Preite has accepted a job at Montana State-Northern. Environmentalists said a 3-2 decision Monday by the Idaho Supreme Court focusing on proposed oil-equipment shipments on U.S. Highway 12 likely means the state highway agency now must hold a formal hearing where foes of the wide loads can air their grievances in public. The Big Sky Conference is adding North Dakota and Southern Utah to its ranks. A Missoula judge has issued a restraining order preventing three former employees of the Montana Caregivers Network from operating a medical marijuana consulting business as their lawsuit against the network proceeds. [End of article]