Good morning; on the Beacon today, Gov. Brian Schweitzer told western Montana community leaders that he wants a letter of support for leasing the Otter Creek coal tracts before he releases their share of $3.8 million in state grant money. Montana Sen. Max Baucus spoke at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce about how the health bill will benefit small businesses (and blasts Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the process). The local health care industry is preparing for changes scheduled to take effect by the end of this year, even as it wonder what the full impacts of these changes will be.
Schweitzer says regardless of reform, Montana should still import cheaper medicine from Canada. Seventeen-year-old Pablo angler Stephen Naethe reels in a 30-pounder during Mack Days. In Wyoming, subdividing frenzy has slowed a bit. A New Mexico man has been charged with killing his sister, a Fort Benton woman. Idled Burlington Northern rail cars are being put back in service. And the Bozeman Daily Chronicle has a series on the “Return of the Wolf” that is worth a read.