Good morning; on the Beacon today, the United States Geological Survey reported at 3.9 magnitude earthquake in western Montana. DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., an organization established in 1985 to give disabled children and adults access to recreational opportunities in the Flathead Valley, has been carrying out their mission for 25 years. Once again, Flathead High School proved over the weekend that it’s equipped to win its fifth straight Class AA wrestling championship. Shane Dowaliby, Nick Andrews and Logan Triplett are among four finalists in the Third Annual National College Funny Filmmaker Competition. And Mark Riffey looks for the silver lining in the Smurfit-Stone closure.
Speaking of Smurfit, union leaders for laid-off millworkers at Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.’s Frenchtown mill finalized an agreement Tuesday related to severance pay and medical benefits. Former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns has returned to Montana as he continues to recover from a Dec. 9 stroke. Montana Sen. Max Baucus plans to announce Thursday that five oil and gas companies will relinquish drilling leases they hold on the Rocky Mountain Front, an area prized by conservationists. The Schweitzer administration has canceled the controversial pay raises awarded to 14 employees in the governor’s budget office at a time when most other state workers are facing pay freezes. The construction of a federal courthouse in Billings is on hold. The city of Bozeman is moving forward with plans to protect homosexual and transgendered city employees from discrimination and provide same-sex partners with the same benefits as opposite-sex couples.