Good morning and happy birthday to President Ronald Reagan.
And on the morning of Ronald Reagan’s birthday, Montana wakes up to the results of the first ever GOP caucus – from which Mitt Romney emerged the winner. It was an exciting night at the Flathead County caucus, and Ron Paul supporters dominated the crowd, but the Texas congressman came in second to Romney. Check out my running coverage of the night and Lido’s photo slide show of the event. Reconstruction costs for Glacier Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road are skyrocketing from inflation in the cost of construction. Myers Reece checks in with those in the local meat industry uneasy about the recent FDA approval of cloned meat. Whitefish is hosting a series of art fund raisers. And unless we’re being hoodwinked, it looks like the handler of legendary groundhog Punxsutawney Phil is commenting on the Fat Rodent blog.
The state news is dominated by the caucus results in individual regions. Romney mopped up the floor in the Bitterrroot, while Paul pulled off Lake County. Romney also took Gallatin County, while Paul won in Madison. Romney carried Yellowstone County as well. In other state news, the Montana Quality Education Coalition filed a lawsuit against the state seeking more school funding for the 2008-2009 school year.
And finally, a Florida newspaper tells the story of some folks on Superbowl Sunday beer run with their priorities all messed up: While driving they buckled in a case of beer but not their baby.