Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 9.2.15

ROUNDUP
FROM BEACON STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES
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3 94 BILLINGS
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KALISPELL
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HELENA
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BUTTE
BOZEMAN
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MISSOULA
GREAT FALLS
DEPARTING FROM LAKESIDE MARINA
DAILY CRUISES AT 1pm
EVENING CRUISES AT 7 pm Sunday through Wednesday
ADULTS $22 CHILDREN $10 UNDER 6 FREE
Reservations Only For Groups Of 10+ DISCOUNT WILL APPLY
Arrive 30 Minutes Prior to Departure Also Available For Private Charters
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Cruises continue through Labor Day,
Monday, September 7th at 7pm
THERE’S STILL TIME!
Book your Special Charter through September.
Advance ticket sales available online.
BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE AT: WWW.FLATHEADLAKEBOATTOUR.COM
SOMERS
1. Woman Killed in Car Crash
An 85-year-old Somers woman was killed in a car accident on Best View Drive on Tuesday, according to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Shirley E. Crary was the only occupant of the vehicle when it went off the road and struck a retaining barrier at about 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 25. Crary was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Montana Highway Patrol is inves- tigating the cause of the accident.
KALISPELL
2. Plum Creek, Stoltze Restrict Land Use Amid Extreme Fire Danger
Amid extreme fire danger, Plum Creek and F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Com- pany are restricting public access and land-use activities on all of their forest lands in the area.
Plum Creek announced earlier this week that the restrictions were in effect on lands in Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, Mis- soula, Sanders and Ravalli counties due to continued hot, dry weather and fire danger.
Stoltze is imposing restrictions on all of its lands in Flathead, Lake and Lincoln counties.
The restrictions prohibit motor- ized vehicles on and off roads, camping, shooting, firewood cutting, smoking, fireworks, fires of any kind and the use of internal combustion engines.
“Plum Creek appreciates the pub- lic’s continued cooperation in helping to protect its timberlands from the risk of wildfires,” said Tom Ray, vice president of Northwest resources and manufac- turing. “The current fire risk situation is extreme and suppression resources are stretched to the maximum.”
Paul McKenzie, lands and resource manager at Stoltze, said the company appreciates the community’s coopera- tion in helping protect the forest lands at risk of wildfire.
BILLINGS
3. Demand for Nurses in Montana Remains High
Rising patient numbers combined with a booming need for more care has created growing demand for more nurses in Montana that’s putting extra strain on health care facilities across the state as they race to fill the need.
“I know that our members are hav- ing huge issues with staffing their nurs- ing staff,” said Casey Blumenthal, vice president of the Montana Hospital Asso- ciation. “There’s not a continual pool of people (to fill the jobs), especially in the small towns.”
But, at least in Montana, some help may be on the way in the form of new programs designed to seek out, educate, train and retain qualified health care workers.
It’s not that there are fewer nurses than before in Montana. There are actu- ally far more licensed today than just seven years ago.
According to the Montana Board of Nursing, a division of the state Depart- ment of Labor and Industry, the number of licensed nurses has increased by more than 1,500 since 2008, from 18,263 to 19,897 as of mid-August.
But with more patients seeking health care due to an aging population and more people using insurance through the fed- eral Affordable Care Act, a steady bump inretirementsasbabyboomersleavethe workforce and not enough students grad- uating nursing programs, among other things, it’s been tough for many facilities to meet the need for more nurses.
A DLI study published in 2013 projects Montana’s health care industry to grow by about 1,300 jobs each year until 2022, with registered nursing expected to see 349 openings annually.
BILLINGS
4. Polygamists Ask Judge to Strike Down Montana’s Bigamy Laws
A Billings man, his wife and his com- mon-law wife filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 27 that seeks to strike down Montana’s
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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