Good morning; on the Beacon today, at a Kalispell meeting focused on wolves last week, outdoorsmen and ranchers made it clear they want three things: the return of state management, revised wolf population numbers and, in the absence of local control, federal rule changes that better protect livestock in Northwest Montana. Here’s a rundown of what to expect at this weekend’s first flat-track roller derby bout. Check out Lido’s killer video feature of the 17th Annual Glacier Jazz Stampede. Whitefish city councilor Bill Kahle has been in intensive care in a Great Falls hospital with a broken pelvis and brain contusion following a Saturday car accident while on a pheasant hunting trip. Whitefish Girls Soccer are again in the hunt for a state title.
Authorities say a man who was running down a Billings street naked before police subdued him with a stun gun over the weekend died Tuesday afternoon. Up to 40 state attorneys general are preparing to launch a joint investigation into the mortgage industry over the foreclosure-document mess. The Obama administration is lifting the six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico imposed after the BP oil spill, officials said Tuesday. Montana State University officials say they have just over $3 million of the $4 million needed by late November to begin work that would add 2,500 seats to the south end zone of Bobcat Stadium. The Obama administration on Tuesday greatly expanded protections for waterways critical to the restoration of threatened bull trout, making it tougher for agencies to approve logging, mining and livestock grazing across a large swath of federal land in the West. Public Service Commissioner Ken Toole, D-Helena, this week blasted the multimillion-dollar rewards that Qwest executives would receive for a company buyout, saying it’s an outrageous use of company funds. Montana regulators have resolved an action alleging the North Carolina company ACN Inc., was operating a pyramid scheme in Montana. By a 6-3 vote Tuesday night, Helena School District trustees approved the health enhancement curriculum that caused a tidal wave of opposition from parents who thought it taught too much sex education too soon. NorthWestern Energy, the state’s largest electric utility, filed Tuesday for a 5 percent increase in electric rates to cover costs of its new gas-fired power plant near Anaconda.