Good morning; on the Beacon today, in 2010, bank-owned – or real-estate-owned (REO) – properties accounted for 28.3 percent of residential sales in Flathead County, according to Jim Kelley of Kelley Appraisal. Glacier High School has had strong boys swimming teams in the past, but this is the first time the Wolfpack have been unbeatable. Will Hammerquist, former Democratic legislative candidate for Whitefish’s House District 4, was arrested Thursday and charged with partner family member assault, a misdemeanor.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer lambasted Republicans running the Legislature Monday for approving money to get new laptop computers for lawmakers, arguing the move is hypocritical since they ran campaigns opposing government spending. An Army intelligence officer from Montana who was fatally shot while jogging on a recreational trail in North Carolina was remembered Monday as a soldier and friend who always strived for excellence. Montana Republicans in charge at the Legislature — largely opposed to the federal health care law — might also consider getting the state completely out of Medicaid. Opponents of a plan to allow ConocoPhillips to ship oversized oil-refinery equipment from Idaho to Montana are challenging a hearing officer’s recommendation that the proposal move forward. As state lawmakers on Monday considered hiring a police officer to beef up Capitol security after a congresswoman was shot in Arizona, Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, has a bill to allow legislators with concealed gun permits to bring their weapons into the statehouse for protection. The much talked about purchase of the Macy’s building in downtown Missoula is now a done deal. The horrific shooting of 20 people in Tucson over the weekend has stirred public debate about the security of public officials, though most say the threat level has been elevated for some time. Two major issues of the 2011 Legislature intersected in a House Judiciary Committee hearing Monday morning as lawmakers heard testimony on a bill that would prohibit illegal immigrant workers from collecting workers’ compensation benefits.