Good morning; on the Beacon today, the Baldy Fire near Lakeside is now 220 acres and additional crews are expected to arrive Monday morning to help fight the blaze. Flathead residents may have less reason to dread turning on the heat, as a national drop in natural gas prices is expected to be passed on to Montana customers. The “Bigfork Enhancement Contribution,” a voluntary 1 percent assessment on tourists, is off to a slow start. An overtime interception helped the Griz win 41-34 over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in overtime Saturday. Montana State used a swarming defense to defeat Northern Colorado 25-7 in Big Sky Conference play. The Tribal Health and Human Services Clinic under construction in downtown Polson represents more than bricks and mortar – it is a visible example of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s objective to at once provide adequate primary health care to tribal members and show their commitment to Indian health care providers. And Garrett Conners’ career on the Glacier High School gridiron got off to an impressive start.
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe train hauling coal in Wyoming derailed Sunday morning, marking the second time within 24 hours that trains belonging to the railway company went off the tracks. Officials with the National Interagency Fire Center say a wildfire in the southeastern part of Yellowstone National Park has grown to 14 square miles. White-supremacy materials being distributed in Bozeman mark the re-emergence of a hate group with a history in Montana, a human rights group says. Zoning seems to be biggest battle that opponents of the proposed gravel pit and asphalt plant on the western edge of Red Lodge will have to fight. Premiums for some health insurance plans that cover Montana state employees are increasing as much as 21 percent for 2010, and others costs like deductibles and co-payments are going up as well.