Good morning and happy National Grammar Day.
It’s a wet, snowy morning in the Flathead, and the city council meetings ran late last night. Despite a five-hour meeting, Whitefish City Council again tabled discussion of the controversial downtown improvement project. In Kalispell, an update to area transportation plan was criticized by almost everyone who spoke up about it. Environmental groups filed a lawsuit seeking to halt a copper and silver mining project beneath the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness. The jury has been selected for a Heron sex abuse trial, with the father, James Douglas Guill, charged with two counts of incest, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of sexual assault against his daughter.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus is leaving nothing to chance in his re-election bid. He has hired 35 campaign staffers and opened eight campaign offices around the state, despite having no serious Republican challenger. Baucus has also been rated the sixth most powerful senator. Montana’s Catholic Church will not campaign for an anti-abortion ballot initiative sponsored by Ronan Rep. Rick Jore of the Constitution Party that would change the state Constitution to say that life begins at conception. Trout Unlimited is attempting to enlist Gov. Brian Schweitzer in advancing a balanced energy policy that protects certain areas.
And finally, once again, Germany is serving as fodder for the last link in the Buffet – the dessert, as it were. A new German parliamentary report found that German soldiers are chubby, smoke too much, and don’t participate in sports. Have a great day.