Good morning; on the Beacon today, Kalispell’s Christian Center church is ringing in the holidays with one of the best theatrical shows in the valley. Geoff Hogan, a 2007 graduate of Flathead High School, is in his third year as a walk-on playing for the Tulane University Green Wave basketball team. State wildlife officials killed a mountain lion that had been killing barn cats in a residential area about five miles north of Kalispell. Police in northwestern Montana say a 56-year-old man who had been sleeping in his car died of hypothermia after the car’s battery died, shutting off the electric blanket he was using for warmth. And Mick Holien acknowledges the difficulties of scheduling Griz basketball.
Attorney General Steve Bullock on Thursday proposed a statewide expansion of a pilot program that requires anyone arrested more than once for drunken driving to take a breath test twice a day. The federal tax package negotiated between President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress contains many elements that will affect Montanans. The former chairman of the Hungry Horse Fire Department board of trustees has pleaded not guilty to taking about $2,600 from the district. Mary Whittinghill is retiring later this month as president of the Montana Taxpayers Association and will be succeeded by Nancy Schlepp, the group announced this week. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., is asking the Air Force to delay decision-making on a massive training area over Montana so his constituents can weigh in. The three members of Montana’s congressional delegation say they haven’t decided yet whether to support the federal tax package negotiated by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.