Good morning; on the Beacon today, it’s unclear where the ongoing tax dispute between Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the online travel booking industry is heading, but as of last week, one thing seems clear: Neither side is giving an inch. Incumbent Republican Verdell Jackson faces off against Democrat Edd Blackler in the race for Senate District 5, the 550-square-mile district that runs along the east shore of Flathead Lake and encompasses Bigfork, Somers and Swan Lake. Kalispell City Council remains unable to render a decision on whether to issue a permit to a facility for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. And Mark Riffey makes the case for treating employees well.
The global economy will likely strengthen the rest of this year and in 2011 as China and other emerging powers offset weakness in the United States and Europe. Montana State University has announced a $1 million donation for the expansion of Bobcat Stadium made in honor of former Montana State football player and coach Sonny Holland. Americans kept spending carefully last month, buying electronics and back-to-school clothes but holding back on luxuries. Rep. Denny Rehberg came to Hamilton Tuesday hoping to hear people’s thoughts on the wolf issue. With three months left in the calendar year, Yellowstone National Park has already broken last year’s record visitation. Dan Wenk, a man who got a job in Yellowstone National Park in 1979 then rose through the ranks to become interim director of the entire National Park Service will return to his old stomping grounds as superintendent in early 2011.