Good morning. On this date in 1947, Air Force test pilot Charles Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier as he flew the experimental Bell X-1 aircraft — which had been named the Glamorous Glennis — over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
On the Beacon this morning, cooperative efforts between Whitefish and Flathead County officials over the future of the controversial “planning doughnut” have broken down again. On Sept. 30, County Commissioner Gary Hall sent an email to Whitefish Mayor Mike Jenson, ending transition team meetings between the two municipalities. Whitefish’s Alpine Theater Project has expanded its kids program, adding performance-based instruction beginning next week with auditions for The Jungle Book KIDS. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has distributed about 8,000 blood sample kits to landowners, hunters, outfitters and guides near Yellowstone National Park in an effort to gauge the brucellosis infection rate of elk in that part of the state. And death penalty opponents, including David Kaczysnki, brother of Ted Kaczynksi, are touring the state to encourage Montana to abolish capital punishment.
In other news around the state, the shuttered Bonner sawmill will begin auctioning its assets this week as Stimson Lumber Co. continues to look for someone to buy the 155-acre property. A pair of hikers discovered the body of an unidentified man Saturday evening while traversing the north edge of Mount Sentinel. In Bozeman, a climber and Pilates instructor is getting back to work just two months after a boulder dislodged while she was descending Mount Cowen, severing her spinal cord and leaving her paralyzed. And it might be next spring by the time to state AA golf tourney is decided; the tournament was postponed again due to snow until today.
And it’s that time of year: yep, that’s right, giant pumpkin weigh ins. In California, Thad Starr’s giant pumpkin set a record at 1,528 pounds. Starr won last year with a pumpkin that that was four pounds lighter and also set a record. His pumpkin growing secret? “We really pamper them.”