Good morning and happy Election Day – get out there and vote in municipal elections today.
Dedicated endurance reporter Myers Reece was up until the wee hours last night at Whitefish city council to get the vote on the growth policy – which passed with a number of amendments. Katrin Frye writes on a question more pressing than Hamlet’s existential quandary, “To Be or Not To Be?” But in the Flathead, we debate whether you call those trees Larch or Tamarack? John McMenamin writes a guest op-ed on the need for property tax reform. The Whitefish High speech and debate club is kicking butt as its season begins. And after the Beacon ran an AP story on Republicans pressing for the records of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, an interesting dialogue developed in the comments section between readers and the GOP member seeking many of those records, state Rep. John Sinrud, R-Bozeman and Chair of the Appropriations committee.
In state news, the AP reports that more than 1,000 Montanans have frozen access to their credit records, taking advantage of a new law. The Great Falls Tribune reports that enrollment at state colleges is down slightly, with enrollment at MSU down, and UM and community colleges increasing slightly. Also in the Trib, trout populations in the Missouri and Smith rivers remain “remarkably” strong, despite low flows. If you look to the sky early Wednesday morning, you may be able to see the space shuttle Discovery returning to earth. And another scary Grizzly encounter, this time near Ovando.
And finally, the NY Times reported over the weekend on the delightful and illegal usage of people using cellphone jammers to extinguish annoying conversations within a 30-foot radius. A good read for vicarious thrills. Enjoy the day.