Good morning; on the Beacon today, Lex Hilliard counts his blessings as a Montana boy playing in the National Football League and constantly striving to help his team – the Miami Dolphins – in any way he can. As a part of the park’s 100th birthday celebration, the Glacier Centennial Film Festival will offer seven chances to look into the back story of some of these films and their place in the park’s history. The Montana Land Board is accepting a resolution that is part of a bigger plan to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from oil and gas development. Mick Holien observes the improbable but not impossible task facing the Montana Grizzlies as they cap off opening night of the East Region of the NCAA Tournament against eighth-ranked University of New Mexico Thursday night.
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said Thursday that the start of the ballot initiative process has brought complaints over the way signatures are being gathered. The curious case of Brent Arthur Wilson, who attempted to steal Polson homes in an extraordinarily bizarre manner, was continued for a week, but not before he and District Court Judge Kim Christopher sparred briefly Thursday morning at an omnibus hearing. A federal judge in Missoula has approved a first-of-its-kind settlement requiring the government to suspend 38,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana so it can gauge how oilfield activities contribute to climate change. Some children playing in a Lolo field found what appears to be a homemade pipe bomb on Wednesday, and Missoula County sheriff’s detectives are seeking more information. A man who was shot in the face and stomach west of Kalispell in December has been charged with attempted robbery. The state Land Board, undeterred by anti-mining protesters who disrupted the board’s Helena meeting for 45 minutes until they were arrested, voted 3-2 Thursday to approve leasing 570 million tons of state-owned coal for development of a mine in southeastern Montana’s Otter Creek Valley.