Good morning; on the Beacon today, restrictions on bull trout fishing in Lake Koocanusa will get tighter, and limits on lake trout fishing in Flathead Lake will loosen under new changes proposed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for Northwest Montana. Knapweed is in full bloom, and officials say the Flathead Valley is approaching the best time to attack them. Authorities in Columbia Falls have dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against a woman that was filed after a judge reported she “shook her fist and made a face” at him during a traffic dustup. Although Tally Lake is best experienced by boat, even without a watercraft a day at the lake is worth driving the nine miles of dusty road from Farm to Market Road to the recreation area. And Kitchen Guy Jim Gray urges diners to eat local.
The Montana Highway Patrol says a University of Montana football player faces a drunken driving charge after crashing into a fence early Sunday. A Connecticut man, Kenneth A. Schneider, owner of American Bridge Funding in New York, has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in a Montana case. Great Falls police believe a weekend stabbing and shooting that left a woman and man dead was a murder-suicide. A noxious weed that can entangle swimmers, fish and boat propellers has been discovered for the first time at two separate locations of the Missouri River. Cooler weather with some rain helped firefighters in Montana make good progress Sunday on a pair of fires that had forced evacuations over the past few days, fire officials said. In the race for an open seat on Montana’s Supreme Court, the two candidates are officially “nonpartisan,” or without party affiliation — but the contest between attorney Beth Baker and District Judge Nels Swandal may be shaping up as a partisan affair. The state’s leading business lobby has chosen to endorse both candidates in Montana’s contested Supreme Court race — and is getting some grief from one of the campaigns.