Good morning; on the Beacon today, the company operating two of the Flathead’s biggest sporting goods stores, Sportsman & Ski Haus, will double in size with the acquisition of four Idaho-based retailers. Incumbent Justice of the Peace Mark Sullivan faces off against newcomer Travis Bruyer in the race for Flathead County Justice of the Peace, Department 2. The University of Montana wants to produce its own energy in the future by building a $16 million wood-fired biomass boiler to complement its existing heating plant.
Friends and family say a 23-year-old Harrison man, Army Sgt. J.D. Williams, serving in Afghanistan has been severely injured by a land mine. Real estate mogul Tim Blixseth is alleging that a judge who issued a $40 million fraud judgment against him is biased and should be removed from the case. The principal of a predominantly Native American middle school where five children killed themselves last year is under pressure to resign after she called dozens of failing children to the gym floor during an assembly. Kristi Allen-Gailushas has dropped her complaint against a proposed Helena School District sex education program. A resurgent Republican Party aims to recapture dozens of seats it lost in 2006 and 2008, putting junior Democrats under political duress from New Hampshire to New Mexico. The Missoulian reports on a heated three-way race for sheriff in Sanders County. Authorities say a 53-year-old Lewistown woman, Jan Kirkham Duncan, was killed in a climbing accident in the Crazy Mountains over the weekend.