Good morning; on the Beacon today, incoming county commissioner Pam Holmquist is taking a breather before beginning her new job. Authorities are looking for a man who robbed a Lakeside bank and escaped on a motorcycle. Under a plea agreement filed Tuesday, Kalispell Republican state Sen. Greg Barkus will plead no contest to felony criminal endangerment as part of a deal on charges stemming from an Aug. 27, 2009 boat crash that injured five people. Arizona State’s backup quarterback Brock Osweiler, who is from Kalispell, says he wants to play basketball in addition to football. And Dave Skinner takes aim at the Land Board’s approval of the issuance of $21 million in bonds to buy the “Montana Legacy Project’s” Potomac parcel near Missoula.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday that state workers will get a four percent raise over the next two-year budget period under a proposed deal with employee unions. Montana’s attorney general has asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by seven gay couples seeking the same rights as married couples in making decisions about their families’ health care and finances. Sarah Palin is the most polarizing of the potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, while impressions of Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney lean more positive, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. Bozeman Republican Steve Daines is expected to announce Saturday he is challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in 2012. A legislative council will consider Friday whether Wyoming should join Montana and Idaho in hiring a lawyer to negotiate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about removing wolves from the federal endangered species list.