Weekend: Stokes Denied, Tester in Troy, Sheriff Recall Fails

By Dan Testa, 10-09-09

Good morning; on the Beacon today, state Sen. Greg Barkus said Thursday he plans to finish his Senate term if possible, even as he fights felony charges in a high-profile boat crash that injured Congressman Denny Rehberg and three other passengers. A federal bankruptcy judge Thursday denied John Stokes extra time to argue that he deserves bankruptcy protection authorized under Chapter 11 rather than liquidation. Flathead Electric Cooperative has joined a dozen other Pacific Northwest utilities and energy providers in a partnership aimed at demonstrating how improvements in Smart Grid technology could potentially save money and increase efficiency. The Glacier High School golf program skipped the baby steps and just took off running. Tester will be in Troy on Saturday morning for a meeting at the high school discussing his bill, dubbed the "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act." Organizers of a petition drive to recall the Lincoln County sheriff in western Montana have failed to turn in any signatures. A 21-year-old Polson man accused of shooting his father to death in woods west of Kalispell pleaded not guilty Thursday to deliberate homicide. And the legendary Warren Miller reveals how he decided what to shoot in his 50-year career making ski movies.

President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The backcountry wolf hunt in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park will be halted half an hour past sunset Friday by order of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A U.S. House vote Thursday put Congress on the verge of significantly expanding hate crimes law to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation, over the objections of many Republicans. And the Billings Gazette has acquired a memorandum of understanding between Hardin's economic development agency and American Police Force, released by the agency on Thursday, laid out a proposal under which APF would provide a police force for the city of Hardin. [End of article]