Good morning; on the Beacon today, long-awaited debate over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul kicked off in the Senate with lawmakers trading bitter partisan words over the measure to remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Vince Padilla, who is a partner in the Eastside Brick Community development, recently opened up the Boiler Room coffeehouse. The owners of Scarff Auto Center in Kalispell announced plans to shut down on or around Dec. 5, citing the loss of its General Motors franchise, a poor lending environment and the staggering economy.
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a portrait of Mother Teresa painted by a California con man, Michael Hilton, who failed in his bid to take over the Hardin jail is up for sale on the Internet auction site eBay. A Minnesota company has partnered with a Montana developer to pursue more than 500 megawatts of community-owned wind power in central Montana. Police in Missoula County say they have arrested six people for allegedly trying to poach deer and steal gasoline from a ranch in the Ninemile area. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department officials say fewer hunters got deer and elk during the last weekend of hunting season, but the total number of deer and elk killed this fall is higher than last year’s take. The Meth Project Foundation has been ranked among the top foundations worldwide by Barron’s Magazine. Frozen, parched and chewed down by grasshoppers, 13 Montana counties were declared natural disaster areas Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 130 industry and government leaders from Montana and Alberta celebrated Monday the start of construction of a 214-mile trans-border transmission line, with the developer estimating the line will prompt $1 billion in wind farm development. Wildlife managers are considering a wolf archery season for next year.