Good morning; on the Beacon today, Flathead County’s Board of Commissioners voted to pass the 2009-2010 county budget, touting it as an effort that realistically reflects the current recession. State Sen. Greg Barkus pleaded not guilty to three felony charges resulting from an August boat crash on Flathead Lake that injured five people, including Congressman Denny Rehberg. Wildlife officials say a Columbia Falls man has been cited for killing two wolves during a closed season in northwestern Montana. Authorities are investigating after a judge’s office in Eureka was broken into and set ablaze over the weekend.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says fellow Montana Sen. Max Baucus has co-signed a proposal to both add more wilderness and require more logging on federal land. The federal government dropped murder-related charges against a man in the 2001 deaths of three women at a Florence hair salon shortly after attorneys filed a motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct and outrageous government conduct. Michael Jamison interviews the family and friends of Libby soldier J.R. Stright, who was killed in a training exercise off the coast of Virginia last week. Supporters of the climate bill in Congress are releasing a report that says the measure would create more jobs in Montana. Montana has issued its first license for an industrial hemp-growing operation, setting up a possible test case of whether the Drug Enforcement Administration is willing to override a state law allowing propagation of the plant. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to close the state’s inaugural wolf hunt in southern Montana Monday after the quoata of 12 was reached.