Good morning; on the Beacon today, a fugitive and his suspected female accomplice who have been tracked across the West — from Arizona to New Mexico to Wyoming — have apparently fled to an area near Montana’s Glacier National Park, authorities said. Eight bighorn sheep, all rams, were struck and killed by a recent lightning strike on Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake. The Flathead County Commission has appointed Bryan Schutt as the interim legislator for Kalispell’s House District 8. At its Aug. 16 meeting, the Whitefish City Council will consider a zoning text amendment that would alter long-standing zoning regulations and increase the types of businesses allowed along U.S. Highway 93 South. And in the Police Blotter, a guy in a van looked, “spacy.”
Worker productivity dropped this spring for the first time in more than a year, a sign that companies may need to step up hiring if they hope to grow. Authorities say one charge has been dropped in the poaching case involving a top aide to U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg. Former Republican state Sen. Ken Miller says he will again make a run at the governor’s office. Grizzly bears were moving through wide-open wheat fields south of Brady on Saturday — just as farmers were preparing to harvest — as the threatened species continues to venture farther east into historic plains habitat. A Helena woman found guilty of exploiting an elderly man by living off of his income until he was nearly destitute will spend at least three years in prison and was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.