Good morning; on the Beacon today, the accomplished soprano Katie Maker Martin found several ways to give back to the people who helped her through school and supported her as she fought and overcame cancer. As the Montana Public Service Commission shifts from a 4-1 Democratic majority to a 3-2 Republican majority in 2011, the outgoing commissioner representing the Flathead, and the head of Montana’s leading environmental group say they have deep concerns about the direction energy policy in Montana could take under the GOP. A former chairman of the board of the Hungry Horse Volunteer Fire Department is charged with felony theft for allegedly taking $3,000. A 27-year-old man who shot his father to death as a teen in their Ferndale home wants to represent himself as prosecutors try to extend his time in prison for allegedly violating the conditions of his release. And Mick Holien offers a preview of what’s at stake in this weekend’s Griz-Cat Brawl of the Wild.
The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will ask the federal government for a permit that would allow a limited wolf hunt in southwestern Montana because of the threat to the elk population there. A federal judge says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was wrong to refuse to turn management of gray wolves over to the state of Wyoming. Jobless benefits will run out for 2 million people during the holiday season unless they are renewed by a Congress that’s focusing more attention on a quarrel over preserving tax cuts for people making more than $200,000 a year. Stillwater Mining Company is moving to extend its two platinum and palladium mines in south-central Montana’s Beartooth Mountains. The temperature could reach 15-below-zero in some places in western Montana by next week, according to the National Weather Service, which is warning of potentially dangerous wind-chill values in the days and nights leading up to Thanksgiving. The Montana Board of Regents will likely adopt a plan Friday that charges out-of-state graduate students in-state tuition rates. Authorities searched the offices of Missoula medical marijuana provider Jason Christ on Thursday, leaving with records and at least one laptop computer. This week, most of Montana’s newly elected state legislators came to the Capitol to learn about bill drafting, fiscal notes, transmittal deadlines and other mechanics of setting policy for the state. A hearings examiner has upheld the Commerce Department’s firing of the state’s tourism director.