Good morning; on the Beacon today, with the economy in the Flathead still struggling, Tammi Fisher’s mayoral victory was among several others throughout the valley, particularly in Whitefish, that saw candidates running on pro-business platforms swept into office. Plum Creek Timber Co. is enjoying a fruitful energy conservation partnership with the Flathead Electric Cooperative and the Bonneville Power Administration. With all of Northwest Montana’s football teams knocked out of the playoffs, the region’s state championship hopes rest on the shoulders of three volleyball teams: Flathead in Class AA, and Libby and Polson in Class A.
A new AP poll indicated President Barack Obama still has the approval of a majority of Americans, but it’s an increasingly pessimistic nation. Camelina companies say federal officials have approved the use of meal from the biofuels crop as a 10 percent supplement in cattle feed. Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park would be relocated to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, under a recommendation made by state and federal officials Tuesday. Chuck Johnson reports that fixing Montana’s financially unstable state government pension funds through higher investment returns alone will be extremely hard to do after they lost nearly 21 percent of their value last year, the state Board of Investments executive director said Tuesday. Newly released estimates for U.S. wheat, corn and soybean crops may put to rest fears that a wet harvest season in many parts of the country could cut into production. State and federal officials have increased the reward to $11,000 in a grizzly bear poaching case on the Rocky Mountain Front. A Stevensville man wants to change Montana’s constitution to allow citizens, not just judges, to convene special investigative juries in their counties.