Good morning and happy 50th birthday Barbie.
On the Beacon today, construction is nearly done on the third floor of the Earl Bennett building, creating a home for the county health center. The trial begins today for Dwayne Smail, charged with shooting his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter to death. Gov. Brian Schweitzer intends to use $10 million in federal stimulus funds to preserve Montana’s flagging wood products industry. In between Columbia Falls and Whitefish, a store boasts the largest supply of scrapbooking material in the region.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who is leading the charge in Congress for health-care reform, said he favors taxing health benefits as a way to help pay for the system. Congressional pork is still flying fast and furious. State lawmakers are supporting a new distance learning program to establish a kind of virtual academy for Montana school kids. Authorities have recovered a body in the debris from last week’s explosion in Bozeman. According to one national study, Montana’s real estate market is widely believed to have dodged the national downturn. And several recent proposed projects to build coal-fired power plants have been scuttled by environmental campaigns and cost.
Finally, the Iowa Department of Aging gas decided not to use its tag, “DOA,” lest any confusion with “Dead on Arrival,” ensue. Have a great day.