Good morning, on this date in 1806 Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis.
On the Beacon this morning, the new Fawn Boutique is open for business in downtown Kalispell, with a full-service denim bar available to meet all of your jean needs. Bigfork residents are mounting opposition to a state plan to use a pasture on Lee Road as a waste disposal site. The Montana Wilderness Association is hosting its annual fund-raising film festival this Friday night in Whitefish. And the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will make a stop in Columbia Falls before heading to Washington, D.C.
In state news, the state school funding dispute is back in court. The woman accused of killing her 2-year-old son and hiding his body in the trunk of her car told authorities the boy died when he fell from a high chair. The U.S. Forest Service posted on its web site and second round of information about its road easement discussions with Plum Creek executives after Missoula County filed a Freedom of Information Act Request. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., weighed in on the nation’s financial crisis yesterday, and said a lack of regulation is partially responsible for the meltdown. In Missoula an argument over the drinking game “Beer Pong” led to a stabbing. Federal officials asked a judge yesterday to put the gray wolf back on the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies. At a wildfire fighting conference in Jackson, Wyo., this week wildland fire experts are unveiling a new approach they call “Appropriate Management Response.”
And finally, check out these cool presidential candidate finger puppets. if you’ve got a color printer you make them right away and put off whatever morning tasks you should be accomplishing in favor of a faux debate.