Good morning; on the Beacon today, a controversial deal by a Conrad legislator involving a biomass energy grant has frustrated some of his colleagues in the GOP. At a two-day conference in Polson beginning May 19, experts from throughout the West will gather to discuss the best ways to keep invasive mussels out of the Flathead and the rest of the state – and how to manage their spread if they do turn up in local waters. Flathead County officials have arrested one man and are searching for another after a woman reported being kidnapped and raped Sunday night. The Montana Land Board finalized a plan to raise rents on waterfront cabin sites.
A forest restoration project developed by government officials, conservationists, loggers and rural community leaders in western Montana could receive up to $91 million over 10 years under a new federal program, organizers said Monday. The Montana Land Board endorsed a plan Monday to use roughly $40 million from a settlement with PPL Montana to buy more state land, over the objections of some lawmakers who say only the Legislature can make such a move. Both President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have a stake in intensely competitive Senate races in three states, contests testing the strength of the tea party among Kentucky Republicans and the durability of incumbent Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas and Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania. Montana ranks first in the states in entrepreneurship and innovation and 10th in overall growth, a new U.S. Chamber of Commerce study shows. A trial convenes this week in Billings over a shooting involving a teen with ties to the Creativity Movement white supremacist group. Ed Tinsley, a former Lewis and Clark county commissioner once considered a top pick for Montana’s federally appointed U.S. marshal, has been tapped to head Montana’s Disaster and Emergency Services Division.