Jack over at The Western Word offers his thoughts about the continuing saga of Barry Beach, who was convicted in 1983 of killing a Montana teen in 1979. A little over a year ago, Beach was released from the Montana State Prison when a judge determined that Beach should get a new trial. Last week, the Montana Supreme Court said no, he doesn’t get a new trail, and Beach was sent back to prison to serve the rest of his 100-year sentence.

Heather at Moderately Crunchy talks about what it’s like to be a “PWS” – a Person Who Stutters: “I want to tell you a little more about my daily life as a PWS and hopefully clear up some myths and prejudices along the way.”

The Kitchen Witch always has interesting recipes (and great photos) – here’s two you might like: Double Chocolate Almond Joy Pretzel Cookies and No-Bake Nutella and Pretzel Cookies.

Jenn Rowell has a neat profile/interview of Courtney, the “Queen Bee” (and blogger-in-chief!) at Glacier County Honey.

Jamie Ford is almost ready to take the top spot on the New York Times best-seller list again – the launch date for his next novel “Songs Of Willow Frost” is getting closer!

Claire noticed that a couple of Great Falls natives who achieved fame (for varying definitions of “fame”) in their chosen industry may not ring a bell with most folks: “Welcome to Great Falls, Montana, birthplace of Linda Ann Hopkins and Sheila Young.”

Shutterbugs: Curtis saw a big snake, and Todd saw a majestic eagle!

UPDATE: another one!

All my lady friends in Great Falls- If any of you are free Saturday afternoon for a couple hours, we need some more volunteers for the Fashion Show at Big Sky Harley. 2pm-4pm. You’ll get to model some of the brand new fashions for Harley-Davidson! Please let me know ASAP!!

If you want to help, email kirsten.steele@bigskyharley.com or call Big Sky Harley at 727-2161.

And on Wednesday morning, someone clipped a traffic signal at Central Avenue and 7th Street.

And the red light is still flashing!

Tornado ripped a path very similar to the F-5 on May 3, 1999…my kid sister and her family lived about a mile from there back then, but were spared any direct damage.

I had moved from Enid, Oklahoma (about 90 minutes north/NW of Moore) to another state less than a year earlier, and back in the 80s lived in Midwest City and Choctaw…seeing so many familiar place names during yesterday’s coverage is…surreal.

Interesting to see how many people in this MeFi thread would much rather risk a hurricane or an earthquake, rather than a tornado.

I think tornadoes are sort of like Great White Sharks…no matter the context, no matter the actual or perceived risk, there’s just something instinctive and visceral about the word itself and mental imagery of a tornado.

That article stayed up on the ABC/Fox Montana website for at least two hours, when of course the news was the exact opposite: The MT Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Tuesday that he would not get a new trial, and he was taken back to the Montana State Prison on Wednesday.

Seth Swingley and Casey Kingsland plan to open Mighty Mo Brewing Company at 412 Central Avenue in October. The brewery, located in a space last occupied by an architect firm years ago, will have a tasting room open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Even though I don’t drink beer, this is pretty cool. Great Falls is also home to the Public House brewery located inside Faster Basset, and Bowser Brewing Company on 10th Avenue South.

(click the pix to embiggen)