Good morning and happy General Casimir Pulaski Memorial Day.
The Beacon is chock full of scintillating news today. My story about attending a meetup for presidential candidate Ron Paul at the library in Kalispell last weekend is an interesting window into a small but passionate political group in the Flathead. Bigfork contributor Katrin Frye reports on the mixed feelings over the mixed results of the school bond vote. Myers Reece reports on the findings of a study on pollutants in Glacier National Park, presented at FVCC Tuesday. Editor Kellyn Brown blogs on the melancholy existence of MSU football coach Mike Kramer, since being ousted for a string of crimes by athletes on his team.
In state news, Missoula Democratic Rep. Holly Raser, also a candidate for superintendent of the office of public instruction, is under fire from the GOP for mishandling her campaign funds. The Montana Supreme Court is considering overturning a lower court decision and open up a slough in the Bitterroot Valley to anglers. The slough, near 1980s rocker Huey Lewis‘s property, tests Montana’s stream access bill as it applies to whether a waterway is man-made or not. Two Polson Safeway employees who had trouble trying to leave their union are settling with the union. The Paradise Valley rancher who lost his herd to brucellosis is appealing to his fellow ranchers across the state to donate a cow each in order for him to continue to make a living. In an attempt to override President Bush’s veto of a bill to expand children’s health insurance, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will be giving the Dems’ weekly national radio address this Saturday. And the Great Falls Tribune reports on a Poplar family outraged over the refusal of federal authorities to investigate the death of their son, whose body was found bruised in a basement.
And finally, if you’re a NASCAR fan, you may want to swing by your doctor’s office before attending the next race. The Department of Homeland Security apparently thinks citizens need to be inoculated against infectious disease before attending such events. That’s why I stay on the couch. Tomorrow’s Friday…