Good morning and happy birthday Jack Kerouac.
On the Beacon this morning, Dwayne Scott Smail of Evergreen was found not guilty of deliberate homicide, but guilty of negligent homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter. President Barack Obama’s proposal to slash farm subsidies has riled some farmers in Montana. A 19-year-old Ronan man was sentenced to 10 years in state custody due to a fiery motorcycle crash that killed two people. Four Northwestern A girls have been named to the Class A all-state basketball team.
The Montana University system says it needs $8.2 million more than the stimulus offers in order to avoid raising tuition. Tackling the stimulus yesterday, lawmakers learned they could spend $275 million of it however they want – so long as it’s legal. And Lee’s Mike Dennison breaks down the distribution of funding in the stimulus so far. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus has sent three names to President Obama listing his top picks for U.S. attorney in Montana. A key bill to narrow public appeals of energy development projects died in a House panel, though another bill that does roughly the same thing is likely to pass. And Gov. Brian Schweitzer has said he will veto a GOP-backed bill to sequester carbon over the legislation’s failure to define who owns the underground areas where the carbon dioxide is stored.
Finally, check out this weird egg shaped like a bowling pin laid by a hen in England. And have a great Thursday.