Good morning; on the Beacon today, at the end of April, the 1-163 Cavalry Regiment’s more than 500 troops from cities all over Montana received deployment orders for the fall to do convoy security in Iraq. Columbia Falls City Council members met with representatives from NorthWestern Energy Monday for a presentation less than two weeks after one of its employees was killed in an explosion here. A decision on whether to dissolve and distribute roughly $1.8 million currently held in a tax increment fund was delayed for another three months by the Kalispell City Council Monday. A 23-year-old man has appeared in court on charges stemming from a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist on U.S. Highway 83 near Seeley Lake. And Mark Riffey discusses how the firebombing of medical marijuana dispensaries in Billings could affect your business.
Any doubt about just how toxic the political environment is for congressional incumbents and candidates hand-picked by national Republican and Democratic leaders disappeared late Tuesday, when voters fired Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, forced Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a run-off in Arkansas and chose tea party darling Rand Paul to be the GOP nominee in Kentucky’s Senate race. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is joining the federal government’s fight to stop states that want to exempt themselves from national gun control laws, arguing the effort threatens public safety. The Montana Highway Patrol says state roads were safer overall last year than they were in 2008. The Missoulian’s Michael Jamison covers the mass sign-up of Libby asbestos victims for expanded health care coverage due to the recent health care overhaul legislation. The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund has endorsed Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont. Money set aside in the federal government’s health care reform law will help states experiment with alternatives to medical litigation, an expert on the legislation said in Billings on Tuesday. Montana utilities and environmentalists are giving a cool reception to what appears to be the U.S. Senate’s main global-warming bill. The Montana Board of Investments voted unanimously Tuesday to continue to steer clear of investing any state pension fund money in hedge funds for now. And both Cascade and Anaconda are moving to ban medical marijuana.