Good morning and happy birthday Thomas Alva Edison.
On the Beacon today, Columbia Falls residents are bracing for the Aluminum Company to shut down, and maintaining their resiliency. The teen who brought a loaded gun to Smith Valley School has been expelled. Whitefish Mountain Resort hosted “Wounded Warriors,” a group that teaches disabled veterans how to ski. ‘Gravel Week’ is underway in the Legislature, with a spate of bills to reform how gravel pits are permitted working their way through committees. The author of a study critical of the Montana Meth Campaign is urging Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the Legislature not to give any state money to the anti-drug advertising effort. Schweitzer is questioning whether the state’s university system is following its own accountability guidelines for the millions in federal research money it receives each year. Winifred Republican Rep. Ed Butcher has a bill encouraging a horse slaughterhouse to open in Montana. A bill to ban the death penalty in Montana is headed to the Senate floor for a vote. Missoula lawyer Tyler Gernant is considering challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg for his House seat in 2010, the second Democrat to announce his candidacy so far. Rehberg’s other challenger, Montana Democratic Party chairman Dennis McDonald, said he won’t seek re-election as party chairman this summer, and may step down sooner.
And finally, a Pennsylvania woman has been charged with arson after she was caught on a surveillance camera singing, “The fire department is going to be mad at me.” Not the stealthiest way to avoid getting caught. Have a great day.