Page 5 - Flathead Beacon // 6.18.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
JUNE 18, 2014 | 5

NEWS

WORDS
••••
of the Week

AN INDEX OF
RECENT
NEWSMAKERS

TEA PARTY

Just as it appeared the
narrative of the GOP primaries
had changed to favor more
establishment candidates,
House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor lost badly to Tea-Party
backed David Brat.

BARRY BEACH
The state Board of Pardons
and Parole rejected Barry
Beach’s fourth bid for clemency

since 1994 last week. Beach
was convicted of a 1979
beating death of a high-school
classmate. He adamantly
denies the charge.

DEBATES

U.S. Sen. John Walsh and U.S.
Rep. Steve Daines, and John
Lewis and Ryan Zinke debated
for the irst time June 14 in All workers are safe after an explosion hit the Plum Creek Timber Co. medium density iberboard plant in Columbia Falls.
Butte.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON Plum Creek Explosion Rocks Columbia

(STORY, PAGE 14)

Falls, Shuts Down Fiberboard Plant
WORLD CUP

The 2014 FIFA World Cup
began June 12 in Brazil, where
teams from 32 national teams Company oicials, OSHA
while, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Oc- accounted for.
converged to play 64 matches cupational Safety and Health Administra- “We are so grateful to all of the ire-
in 12 cities in the sprawling, investigate cause of
month-long soccer tournament.
tion has opened a full investigation into ighters and emergency responders and
the accident.
their eforts to protect our people,” said explosion and ire
Shortly after 3:15 p.m. on June 10, Plum Creek Spokesperson Kate Tate.
SEXUAL ASSAULT
more than a dozen emergency agencies “They did an amazing job.”
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
from around the Flathead Valley respond- As smoke poured out of the building
In an agreement with the ed to an explosion at Plum Creek’s Me- and hung over the community, ireight- COLUMBIA FALLS – A week after
Department of Justice, the dium Density Fiberboard plant that par- ers began an hours-long efort to suppress an explosion and ire rocked Plum Creek
Missoula County Attorney’s
Oice will implement new tially blew out one of the facility’s exterior the blaze. At one point almost 70 ireight- Timber Co.’s iberboard plant, informa-
standards and procedures to walls. Initial reports said that more than ers and 13 diferent agencies were on site. tion on what caused the blast is emerging
improve its handling of sexual 50 people were missing inside the smol- Columbia Falls Fire Chief Rick Hagen said
from the rubble. Company oicials say
assault investigations.
dering building, but 66 workers and two a “catastrophic bearing failure” was the
contractors were quickly evacuated and
See Plum Creek PAGE 30
root cause of the June 10 explosion. Mean-