Wednesday: Park Visitation, Jobless Benefits, SUPCO Gay Rights

By Dan Testa, 10-07-09

Good morning; on the Beacon today, after numerous benefit extensions, the end of September marked the exhaustion of unemployment benefits for more than 2,800 Montanans, according to the National Employment Law Project – and by the end of the year, that number is expected to top 5,600 if benefits are not extended. Glacier National Park officials say more than 325,000 people visited the park in September — an increase of about 24 percent from a year ago. Whitefish has garnered national attention for the outdoorsy, fun-loving atmosphere that we have all come to know well by being named one of the top 10 "coolest" small towns in America by Budget Travel Magazine. By the middle of the month, the Kalispell Bar will reopen with a decidedly more laid-back atmosphere than in its rowdier heyday. Be sure to check out Lido Vizzutti's sick slideshow of the 16th Annual Glacier Jazz Stampede. Authorities on Tuesday still wouldn't say whether charges would be filed in an August boat crash that involved a state senator and left five seriously hurt, including a U.S. congressman. Wal-Mart is re-evaluating its plans to build a supercenter store in Polson even though it recently won a protracted court battle over the proposed store.

A college business professor from Laurel, A.J. Otjen, says she is going to enter the Republican primary to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg. The Montana Supreme Court came down strongly on the side of homosexual rights with a 6-1 majority that upheld a ruling giving parental rights to a Missoula woman who had been in a 10-year lesbian relationship that included two children legally adopted by the other woman in the partnership. And after hearing assurances that a California company will have nothing to do with providing law enforcement in Hardin, Big Horn County commissioners voted Tuesday to allow the city to create its own police department. [End of article]