Good morning; on the Beacon today, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, Montana’s top election official, plans to introduce a bill in the 2011 Legislature that would institute all-mail ballot elections. On the eve of the landmark Whitefish planning doughnut decision, the Beacon has decided to look back at the last three years, at the convoluted timeline of doughnut talks and quotes that accompanied those moments. Authorities say a 21-year-old man, Chason Buxton, was killed when the car he was riding in was struck by another vehicle heading in the opposite direction near Seeley Lake. Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman has filed a complaint with the state Commissioner of Political Practices concerning an advertisement he says misrepresents his position on property rights. Diane Pickavance, a Bigfork bar manager accused of allowing alcohol to be served after hours to a man who died in a head-on crash with a Montana Highway Patrol trooper, has pleaded guilty to violating the conditions of her parole. And Kitcehn Guy Jim Gray instructs on how to make a mind-blowing cheese cake.
Supporters of an initiative to cap interest rates on payday and title loans are making a final campaign push after the measure’s opponents failed to convince a judge to remove it from the Nov. 2 ballot. Two years after the bankruptcy of Montana’s Yellowstone Club laid bare a massive real estate scheme fueled by greed, fraud and hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-advised loans, criminal investigators are probing the activities of one of the founders of the ultra-exclusive resort. Michael Steele, embattled chairman of the Republican National Committee, brought his “Fire Pelosi” bus tour through Billings over the weekend. The two Republicans running for the Montana Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities and enforces the renewable-power law, are attacking renewable-power mandates as needless government meddling that has driven up costs for consumers. Chuck Johnson has an interesting column about when third-party candidates should be included in debates. Medical marijuana patients, caregivers and supporters from around the state spent Sunday in Helena asking questions and listening to panel discussions about the medicinal plant that’s generated significant interest since voter approval in 2004.