Good morning; on this date oil was struck for the first time in the United States in Pennsylvania.
On the Beacon this morning, a family business is now offering curbside recycling in the Flathead. The state trooper who died in a head-on collision near Columbia Falls has been identified as Evan Schneider of Kalispell. We look at the use of Tax Increment Finance districts, the primary tool used by municipal governments to improve areas of Montana cities. John L. Heine of Kalispell will be charged with animal cruelty for abandoning 12 puppies in a bag at the Somers dump – 10 of the dogs were dead by the time the puppies were discovered. Tyson Warner and Stella Holt won the Glacier Nordic Ski team’s annual run up Big Mountain. And Beacon columnist Wild Bill Schneider offers some ideas for a way out of the legal impasse of wolf delisting in the Rockies.
In Billings yesterday, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama pledged to do more to support veterans than his opponent, John McCain. The Missoulian is laying off several full- and part-time reporters. New Glacier Park superintendent Chas Cartwright is staying busy. Joseph Edward Duncan III was sentenced to death for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 9-year-old Idaho boy Dylan Groene. The former executive director of the Helena Indian Alliance pleaded guilty to stealing $40,000 from the nonprofit.
And finally, cats in China are growing wings. Kind of cute, kind of gross. Have a great day – the holiday weekend is just around the corner!