Good morning; on the Beacon today, after talks with the federal government collapsed, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter ordered Idaho wildlife managers Monday to relinquish their duty to arrest poachers or to even investigate when wolves are killed illegally. Montana and the Flathead Valley were well represented at the 16th Annual 24 Hours of Moab, one of the premier mountain biking endurance races in the country. The state is moving forward with plans to buy 32,000 acres of former Plum Creek Timber Co. land near the Blackfoot River as early as next month, even though it will cost the general fund $1.5 million a year. And on the Police Blotter, a parent on White Birch Lane said their 14-year-old son was being sassy and fighting with his sister.
A state judge says Montana’s century-old ban on corporate political spending is unconstitutional. Supreme Court candidate Beth Baker has outraised and outspent her opponent, District Judge Nels Swandal, in their latest campaign finance reports to the state. As the effort to remove beetle-killed trees along forest roads gets under way this week, it appears that the number of mountain pine beetles in trees on the Helena and Beaverhead/Deerlodge national forests is declining, which could signal that the epidemic has peaked here. A 45-year-old man accused of punching his girlfriend so hard she needed reconstructive surgery has been charged in Billings with aggravated assault.