Good morning and happy National One Hit Wonder Day. I don’t know who decides these things; I just obey and turn up the Vanilla Ice.
We’ve got a new feature on the Beacon – check out Stephen Templeton’s cartoon about the debate over forest management in the wake of the 2007 fire season. At the bottom, a link pulls up a larger image of the cartoon, and allows you to scroll through his previous drawings, a visual catalog of the region’s issues in the biting satire that only a cartoon really gets across. Pretty sweet. We hope to offer a similar feature with Lido Vizzutti’s photos soon. Also on the Beacon, Myers Reece blogs about his dog, Penny, who is enviously dozing on the floor right now. And Columbia Falls contributor Mark Riffey writes about the traditions of the Boy Scouts.
Lee Newspapers reports out of Washington D.C. that U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., plans to vote in favor of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) today in congress, after opposing previous versions. And let’s hear it once again for our beloved role models, Montana’s college football players. The Missoulian reports that Timothy Parks, senior cornerback of the Griz, was arrested Friday for allegedly holding a woman at gunpoint and slapping her. These stories are getting repetitive. An AP article drawing massive feedback on the Billings Gazette Web site details the defeat of a massive proposed Glasgow wind power project by environmentalists. What’s odd is the angle the Great Falls Tribune takes on the same story – implying that wind power is still likely to be developed in that region, but in a much smaller facility. NewWest.net reports on the remarks last night by Western historian Patricia Limerick on energy development at the University of Montana’s Public Land Law Conference and a disturbing investigation looking into the possible manipulated breeding of a wolf-hybrid killing sheep in eastern Montana. And the Bozeman Chronicle spends some time with video gamers camped out in front of a store to get the newest edition of the alien-killing classic, Halo 3.
Speaking of, um, video game enthusiasts, yesterday was Geek Day at Glacier High for the school’s Spirit Week (Homecoming without alumni). A shame I missed it; it would have been the one day I could walk freely through the hallways there, reliving my high school days. Today is Twin Day at the school, which doesn’t sound quite as fun.
Someone forwarded a pretty funny e-mail making the rounds in British Columbia – by Fernie folks attacking the proposed Cline Mine project in the Canadian Flathead with a sense of humor. Worth a view. Enjoy the day.