Good morning; on the Beacon today, a deadline in the agreement between Montana and British Columbia to protect the North Fork from mining is in doubt. The Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center serves hundreds of children every year, both through schools and on an individual basis, along with an increasing number of adults. Flathead County commissioners voted unanimously to maintain current salaries for most elected county officials for the 2010-2011 fiscal year on Tuesday, holding to the County Compensation Board’s recommendation that there should be no cost of living adjustment for any base salaries. And Mark Riffey muses on what makes a product “compelling.”
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Tuesday that pipelines likely pose the biggest threat in Montana for a sizable oil or gas spill, although the chances appear very remote and any spill wouldn’t be anywhere near the size of the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. Crews are fixing a section of track near Power northwest of Great Falls after two BNSF Railway locomotives derailed. To sustain the fragile economic rebound, the Federal Reserve is sure to leave interest rates at record lows and is likely to repeat a pledge to keep them there for a while. The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. He’s also a new member of a secret national security court. Glacier National Park officials said crews are working to open Logan Pass to motorized vehicle traffic as soon as possible, but Going-to-the-Sun Road night work started Monday. Structural engineers and insurance representatives were at the Rimrock Auto Arena in Billings Tuesday following last weekend’s tornado, looking over the building and briefing Yellowstone County officials on how to handle insurance claims. Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal wildlife officials say a grizzly bear cub was struck and killed by a vehicle just north of St. Ignatius. The state Public Service Commission Tuesday said it won’t set the price for two proposed Montana wind power projects to sell power to NorthWestern Energy, because they don’t qualify as small projects. A Chippewa Cree tribal leader says more than 200 families are without drinking water due to flooding on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation.