Employees at Plum Creek Timber Co.’s fiberboard plant are back at work today picking up the pieces of this week’s explosion and fire in Columbia Falls. Company spokesperson Kate Tate says all 183 medium density fiberboard plant employees are assisting in the cleanup as the investigation into the cause of Tuesday’s explosion begins.

Tate said an initial inspection of the facility showed that much of the equipment inside the fiberboard plant escaped the blast unscathed, but there was extensive water damage to the facility’s computer systems. Tate estimates that the plant could be reopened in a month.

8:35 a.m. A Columbia Falls man reported that his tenant has refused to relocate her goats to the area of the rental property that has been specifically designated for goats.

10:20 a.m. A man who was likely intoxication was seen driving up an down the streets of Martin City, yelling obscenities out the window.

WHITEFISH – As more crude oil rides the rails, BNSF Railway held a town hall meeting in Whitefish on June 10 to inform the public about measures the company is taking to prepare for the worst. Movement of crude oil by rail has been scrutinized recently after a series of high-profile derailments.

Spokesperson Matt Jones and other BNSF officials outlined the steps the railroad company has taken to respond to a spill or fire if an oil train were to derail. They also discussed steps the railroad is taking to prevent derailments in the first place.

Police in Missoula continue to improve their investigation of sexual assault reports and are demonstrating better communication with victims and community sexual assault resources.

The evaluation is required under the department’s May 2013 agreement with the Department of Justice to improve policies and training in handling sexual assault and rape cases.

President Barack Obama is in Indian Country for the first time as president, witnessing two sides of Native American life — a celebration of colorful cultural traditions on the powwow grounds and a view of the often bleak modern-day conditions on tribal lands.

The president and first lady arrived by helicopter as native songs and dances at the Flag Day Celebration were already underway at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which straddles the border between North Dakota and South Dakota. The couple first was meeting privately with tribal youth about their challenges growing up on the reservation that was home to legendary tribal chief Sitting Bull.

A bomb scare Friday afternoon shut down traffic on Meridian Road and forced the evacuation of residences within a quarter-mile of a UPS facility, located at 1151 North Meridian Road.

According to a press release from the Kalispell Police Department, the report of a possible bomb at the UPS shipping facility, located at the intersection of 3 Mile Dr. and North Meridian Rd., prompted emergency response personnel to evacuate surrounding homes during the investigation.

On June 3, 33 percent of the voters voted for Ryan Zinke for U.S. House.

Sen. Ed Walker misses out on some of the facts in his letter.

Even staunch supporters of President Barack Obama are at a loss to explain his ill-advised trade of five Taliban generals for one U.S. Army deserter.

A preliminary investigation by the Plum Creek Timber Co. has found that a “catastrophic bearing failure” on a raw material belt line caused Tuesday’s explosion at the company’s Columbia Falls’ medium density fiberboard plant, company officials tell the Beacon.

According to spokesperson Kate Tate, the bearing failure on the belt line ignited raw wood fibers and the belt itself. The fire then spread to insulation on a duct pipe above the line, which ignited wood fibers inside the pipe and caused a series of explosions. Tate said company officials would continue their investigation next week.

?The Flathead County Commission will have a new member starting in January 2015, and voters will choose between Republican candidate Phil Mitchell and Democratic candidate Stacey Schnebel in November’s general election.

Mitchell beat GOP challenger and current county commissioner for District 1 Cal Scott in the June 2 primary election. Mitchell garnered 70 percent of the vote with 9,193 votes, handily routing Scott’s 3,753 votes.

Schnebel won the Democratic nod over her competitor John “Jack” Garlitz, also earning 70 percent of the vote with 2,068 votes compared to Garlitz’s 849.

There are a lot of great things happening in Montana.

HELENA — Montana became the only state in the nation that does not ban at least some drivers from texting when a new law took effect in South Carolina this week.

State Department of Transportation Director Mike Tooley said Wednesday that while he believes Montana needs such a ban, the state has never led the charge for new laws regarding highway safety, leaving it to municipalities.

NEW YORK — American teens are smoking less, drinking less and fighting less. But they’re texting behind the wheel and spending a lot of time on video games and computers, according to the government’s latest study of worrisome behavior.

Generally speaking, the news is good. Most forms of drug use, weapons use and risky sex have been going down since the government started doing the survey every two years in 1991. Teens are wearing bicycle helmets and seat belts more, too.

Decades after they made waves as part of Frankie Valli’s Four Seasons, members of the iconic music group are back at it and heading for Whitefish this weekend. The Hit Men, which is comprised of two members of the original Four Seasons, have been touring nationally for three years and will perform at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish, June 13-14.

“We’re not a tribute band, we’re the actual guys,” Lee Shapiro, a keyboardist and original member, told the Beacon last week.