Good morning; on the Beacon today, at Mountainview Gardens, they’re creating indoor ecosystems where everything from humidity to ventilation to pollination is carefully regulated to grow nearly 7,000 tomato plants, some sprawling 30 feet along a hanging string system, side by side with 6,000 heads of lettuce and 1,000 cucumber plants. Twenty-seven bras, decorated by local artists, will grace the Hockaday Museum of Art for one week in October to raise breast cancer awareness. The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that Polson officials acted properly when they rezoned land at the foot of Flathead Lake to accommodate a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Managers for Revett Minerals say a tailings pipe at Troy Mine has ruptured and spilled about 40 tons of mine waste, some of it into nearby Stanley Creek. And football columnist Mick Holien praises Portland State Coach Jerry Glanville.
Montana’s attorney general launched an investigation Thursday into a California company that wants to take over an empty jail in the rural city of Hardin, following revelations that the company’s lead figure is a convicted felon with a history of fraud. If Montana has its way in a lawsuit filed Thursday, there will be far less federal gun control in the state as it triggers a fight over whether Montana should have sovereignty over made-in-Montana guns and equipment. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983. Gov. Brian Schweitzer is wrapping up a two-day trip to Washington D.C. with an appearance today at a symposium featuring leading politicians, officials and journalists.