Good morning; today is the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion.
On the Beacon today, the Wiley twins of Whitefish are dominating the track. In a tough economy, first-time home buyers are taking advantage of a new credit that makes buying a house a little bit easier. Snowpack across the state is looking great heading into spring. And state GOP chairwoman Liane Johnson lambastes Democratic U.S. House candidate Dennis McDonald for what she sees as an overriding ambition.
In the Legislature, the state Senate passed out a property tax reappraisal mitigation bill that Democrats object to, and which will now head to a conference committee. Both parties are submitting conference committee members to hammer out final negotiations. The House resoundingly rejected the Senate’s budget yesterday, setting up serious negotiations for next week. Republicans on a Senate panel killed a bill that would have helped homeowners and business finance alternative energy generation systems. The state auditor is alleging that a business in Polson was running the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of Montana. Recent snowfall in many areas is making backcountry travel hazardous due to avalanches.
And finally, two Florida women who shoplifted from a Wal-Mart made things real easy on investigators when they left packets of recently developed photos, of themselves, in the abandoned carts. Have a great weekend.