Good morning; on the Beacon today, if seeing Bigfork football at the top of the standings makes you take a second look, Columbia Falls may give you the same reaction. For those looking for places to don some ghoulish garb and participate in All Hallows Eve festivities, here is a quick rundown of some of the weekend’s events. Tamar Lambert has died after being involved in a single vehicle roll over crash on Church Drive, east of Stillwater Road in Kalispell, according to a report issued Thursday by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office. A Montana-owned bank, Mountain West, says it will lay off six employees at two locations and cut lobby hours at one branch. No job at Riebe’s Machine Works is too small or too odd. And, according to Mick Holien, the Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll compiled by the Sports Network has a problem.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer says he supports a cap on so-called payday loans. But he opposes a constitutional initiative to prohibit certain real-estate taxes and a call to convene a new constitutional convention. A first-time Republican candidate for one of two Public Service Commission seats up for election has received more than double the campaign contributions of his Democratic opponent. Planned Parenthood of Montana has sued the state for denying teen girls access to birth control through Montana’s low-income health insurance program. The Montana Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Anthony St. Dennis in the 2007 beating death of Forrest Clayton Salcido, a sometimes-homeless veteran from Missoula, saying there was no conflict of interest in his defense. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 10 suspected illegal Mexican immigrants in northeastern Montana on Tuesday.