Good morning; on the Beacon today, “Jungle Jack’s Zooniacs,” a Saturday morning Whitefish radio show, is run by a group of kids who love animals. A 20-year-old Hungry Horse man has pleaded no contest to two felony charges of assault with a weapon in a shooting that injured a woman during an argument over money. Glacier High School’s Kellen Bates and Liana Bates are siblings contending for state tennis titles this year. The Montana High School Association has disqualified the Bigfork High School golfers from the state Class B tournament after ruling a round of golf the team played on the way to the tournament constituted an illegal Sunday practice. The Montana Highway Patrol says a 20-year-old man has died of injuries suffered in a one-vehicle rollover on a county road north of Eureka. And Warren Miller writes about shooting epic action movies about…horse racing!
The governor said Thursday that the public’s top pick for saving money in government calls for the state to delay purchases of new computers, a plan that will be implemented along with other proposals received during the contest. The state Department of Environmental Quality violated federal and state environmental laws by allowing an exploration company to pump untreated water used in coal-bed methane drilling into the Tongue River, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled. Barely breaking a logjam, the Senate voted Thursday to end debate on a massive financial regulation bill, clearing the way for final passage of the most ambitious effort to write rules for Wall Street since the Great Depression. AAA predicts about 7.6 percent more residents in mountain states will take trips this Memorial Day weekend compared with last year. The trial of a man accused of trying to steal multiple houses in Polson is turning into a circus. The U.S. Supreme Court, by declining to examine a case, has let stand a Montana insurance rule that prohibited policy language giving insurers broad powers to deny coverage. A 46-year-old man with seven DUI convictions has pleaded not guilty to driving his two children to a Lockwood convenience store while intoxicated. The city of Billings on Thursday began enforcing its moratorium on new medical-marijuana businesses, ordering 25 businesses lacking proper state certification to close. A group of clergy and voting activists held a 45-minute impromptu prayer vigil outside Sen. Jon Tester’s Washington office Thursday morning before meeting with the Montana Democrat to urge him to drop his support for a gun rights bill. The Southern Montana Electric Cooperative is not allowing its members to attend board meetings. Each year, every driver in Montana pays an extra $51 in taxes and insurance premiums to help cover the health-care costs of people who don’t buckle up, according to a study released this week by Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle.