Good morning; on the Beacon today, fans of Northwest Montana’s smaller ski areas will have the opportunity to make turns in excellent snow as Lakeside’s Blacktail Mountain and Libby’s Turner Mountain prepare to open for the 2010-2011 season. The Flathead City-County Health Department has confirmed four cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, in the county and authorities are concerned about the possibility of an outbreak. The small crowd cheered and doled out high-fives at the Flathead County Commissioners’ meeting room on Dec. 1, a jubilant reaction to the 2-0 vote to adopt the final resolution approving the Lakeside neighborhood plan. On Tuesday, the Flathead County Commission unanimously approved a revised interlocal agreement for the “planning doughnut,” two weeks after the Whitefish City Council approved the same document.
Senate Republicans derailed legislation Saturday to extend expiring tax cuts at all but the highest income levels in a political showdown that paradoxically clears a path for a compromise with the White House on steps to boost the economy. The Grizzlies secured a 66-57 win over UCLA. D.J. McNorton rushed for 207 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as North Dakota State overpowered No. 4 Montana State in the fourth quarter en route to a 42-17 victory Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs. An official with the state wildlife agency has told Montana State University’s president that cooperation between the two entities could end due to one of the school’s scientists challenging the agency’s conclusions on how significantly a proposed wolf hunt would reduce wolf populations. Mike Dennison looks at the opposition in oil-rich eastern Montana counties to Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s plans to distribute more of the royalties they enjoy to schools statewide. The future of the U.S. Forest Service will depend more on private citizens even as its responsibilities for land management expand, Regional Forester Leslie Weldon said last week. Seventeen people applied by Friday’s deadline to replace Dennis Unsworth as the state’s commissioner of political practices.