Good Morning and happy Ugandan Independence Day. Compared to yesterday, when many of you had the day off, it’s probably not quite as happy. Dan Testa is at the Faith Summit hosted by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus in Kalispell this morning (we’ll post a story on it later today). So, you’re stuck with me to lead you through some of today’s news. It’s my first time serving the buffet, so bear with me. On the Beacon this morning, contributor Dave Reese writes about a state-of-the-art ball field being built in Kalispell for children with disabilities. The Rotary Club is committing $100,000 to the project. Don’t miss Stephen Templeton’s latest cartoon chiding Montana alcohol law. A day after the Associated Press reported that Gov. Brian Schweitzer had raised $750,000 for his reelection campaign, Baucus made him look bad by reporting a whopping $7.4 million. He hasn’t declared whether he will seek re-election, but since he has already aired a campaign ad I could bet which way he’s leaning.
Mike Stark of the Billings Gazette interviews a Carroll College football player who recounts being attacked by a female grizzly near Gardiner – a photo of the result is included. Over at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Walt Williams reports on a Big Sky man named the state’s “hottest bachelor” by Cosmopolitan Magazine. For the record, no one interviewed myself or Beacon reporter Myers Reece, so we, apparently, weren’t in the running. At NewWest.net, Richard Martin looks at how small towns in the West grapple with success.
And finally, if you’ve been following baseball’s postseason this year, you know my Cubs were swept by, of all teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, Testa’s Yankees fell in four to the Cleveland Indians last night and it appears coach Joe Torre will be first to be sacrificed by irritable owner George Steinbrenner.