Good morning and happy No Pants Day! (Warning: This link is slow to load. The No Pants Day site is, understandably, receiving quite a bit of traffic today.)
On the Beacon this morning, an Evergreen man has been charged with murder in the March 5 fatal shooting of a 19-month-old girl. The presidential campaign of Barack Obama will open a campaign office in Kalispell Saturday. Whitefish suffered a setback yesterday in the battle with the county for jurisdiction over the “planning doughnut” when a judge denied the city’s request for a preliminary injunction. In related news, Columbia Falls is worried it could be affected by the fallout from the showdown between Whitefish and the county. Keriann Lynch profiles two enterprising teenagers who started a commercial production business. And three months before the Event at Rebecca Farm, an Olympic coach has been inspecting the course he designed.
Congress has extended the farm bill for a sixth time in hopes of cobbling together a bill Pres. Bush won’t veto. A new proposed ballot initiative seeks to ban political contributions from individuals and groups, including labor unions, with contracts with state and local governments until two years after the contracts expire. A state legislative interim committee began drafting a bill for the 2009 session that would give landowners more rights, should drilling and mining operations pump carbon under their property in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Western historians are trying to halt an expansion of the visitors’ center at the Little Bighorn Battlefield in favor of building a new center. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will intervene in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s delisting of gray wolves in the northern Rockies.
And finally, at a concert in California, Pink Floyd’s giant, inflatable pig broke its tethers and flew away, only to turn up in someone’s backyard. An odd thing to wake up to. Have a great weekend and enjoy this spring weather.