A new study by the Congressional Research Service (found here) notes that more GOP senators tweet than their Democratic colleagues, and congressional Republicans are similarly technologically savvy.

Those numbers hold up locally: Neither Jon Tester nor Max Baucus bothers with Twitter, while Rep. Denny Rehberg Tweets regularly. Rehberg's opponents this year, however, do take to Twitter.

The details of who's registered for Twitter, according to the study:
103 House GOP vs. 61 House Dems
21 Senate GOP vs. 18 Senate Dems

But perhaps here's a better question than the headline: Is Twitter really important enough to garner a Congressional Research Service study?

A new interactive map shows the "deteriorating transformation" of the U.S. economy from January 2007 to January 2010. Not exactly fun for the whole family, but just watching western Montana turn from a serene yellow to the color of a nasty bruise offers a little perspective.

This week's installment includes several odd happenings from across the pond, including a self-hypnotizing sword swallower and a study that finds over half of British adults have been injured in cookie related incidents.

Curses, Foiled Again
Police said Raul Gaucin-Valenzuela, 33, and a friend broke into a home in Evans, Colo., intending to beat up the friend’s ex-wife’s new boyfriend. The plan failed because the woman living there was baby-sitting Gaucin-Valenzuela’s two children, ages 8 and 11, who recognized their dad, even though a bandanna covered his face. Police said Gaucin-Valenzuela didn’t realize his kids were at the home. (Greeley Daily Tribune)

Sen. Jon Tester announced a slew of proposed changes to his Forest Jobs and Recreation Act this afternoon in Missoula, changes he says are based on feedback he's received from thousands of Montanans since he introduced it last July.

The brutal beating of a kitten at a Missoula residence Sunday night generated widespread and explosive public comment over the past week, with online comment boards openly displaying a lynch-mob mentality directed at the kitten's alleged abuser. Police attempted to arrest Gary Lee Bassett on charges of felony aggravated animal abuse Thursday afternoon, only to have Bassett commit suicide before he could be apprehended. The tragic conclusion to the incident had little to no impact on the tenor of the outcry.

"The comments that have been made to me since it happened were, ‘Justice has been served,’ ‘Glad he did it,’ ‘We don’t have to pay the cost of a trial,’ ‘If he hadn’t done it, somebody else probably would have,'" Karyn Moltzen, founder and president of AniMeals, told the Independent this afternoon. "You can’t believe some of the things people have said about it.”

Moltzen joined the public commentary earlier this week, telling the Missoulian, "I say hang him. You can quote me on that. Hurt him. Sorry." She was hardly alone in her sentiments. A single story in the Missoulian Feb. 4—the same day as Bassett's death—garnered 89 online comments. Most called for "an eye for an eye" or referred to the kitten's abuser as "a scum and a coward." One blog, the Wilderness Sportsman, went so far as to deem the man "Tool of the Week."

“I wanted to hurt the guy," Moltzen said today. "I wanted to hit him. I wanted him to feel pain like that kitten felt pain, and I think everybody wanted him to hurt like that. So if somebody had gone and beaten the living daylights out of him, it wouldn’t have fazed me a bit.”

Moltzen said that opinion hasn't changed in light of Bassett's death. She believes those who commented on the incident and those who gathered at the police blockade yesterday afternoon to witness the arrest were "very, very angry," but doesn't think anyone "wanted him dead. That's pretty severe." Moltzen regrets how the situation finally played out.

“I don’t want to see anyone taking their own life for any reason," Moltzen said. "I had real mixed emotions about the whole thing. ‘Justice has been served’ is not something that came into my mind. It was more shock, and I felt pretty empty, actually. I just think the whole thing all the way around was very unfortunate."

Okay, so there aren't a ton of local angles to this weekend's big game, but we know all of you — save for some Wilco fans — will be watching, and we know you crave every possible thing there is to know before kickoff. For you, we've found a few local links to the Saints and Colts, and maybe the coolest spoof video we've seen all year.

First, the video, courtesy of Slate, in which they wonder what the Super Bowl would like look if it was directed by famous filmmakers like Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Werner Herzog and Missoula-born David Lynch. (See, we told you we found some local connections.)

Other semi-local angles:

We're betting you need a weekend as much as we do, so here's the latest installment of our new Friday column Happiest Hour—posted just in time to give you some inspiration.

This week: Marvin's Bar and Grill.

Claim to fame: Pick one. Marvin’s began gathering bar flies in 1937, when Marvin Gratiot stacked the log walls himself. John and Ann LaFlesch bought the place in the late 1940s and started hosting stock car races on a dirt track out back. The old gas pumps outside used to work, says bartender Cyn Karns. Willie Nelson even played a concert at Marvin’s once, or so the story goes.

What you’re drinking: Taster’s choice, but the regulars usually go for domestic beers at $2.75. Which brand varies depending on the day of the week.

What you’re eating: The burgers. Cyn says they’re a longstanding Missoula legend.

Who you’re drinking with: “It’s a working man’s bar,” says Cyn, casting her eyes over a few mid-afternoon drinkers. Standard dress consists of jeans, thick-weave button shirts and caps. Adam Kurtz has been hitting Marvin’s on his way home from work for five or six years. It’s convenient, with a good atmosphere. “Just an old, dingy bar,” he says.

Atmosphere: Rustic with a Las Vegas fringe. The wagon wheels hanging from the ceiling are lined with neon tubes. Custom panties hang behind the bar next to old hand-colored photos of hunters and their hounds. A piano collects dust in the corner by the fireplace, its base still peppered with shotgun pellets from a bungled robbery more than 40 years ago. “The bartender came running around with his gun,” Cyn says. “Blew the guys kneecaps right off.”

Happy hour: A foreign concept around here.

How to find it: 7995 U.S. Highway 10, at the turnoff to the old Smurfit-Stone mill.

Happiest Hour is a new column that celebrates western Montana watering holes. To recommend a bar, bartender or beverage for Happiest Hour, e-mail editor@missoulanews.com.

It’s art time, people! This First Friday happens to be one of the most jam-packed evenings in months, so we suggest you take as much time between 5 and 8 p.m. (the hours most art venues are open) to tour the galleries, museum and shops for shows before getting the rest of your evening under way.

At the Missoula Art Museum (MAM), artist Tom Foolery shows off dioramas that are sort of a satire on Western kitsch. It’s easy to get lost in the details of his work.

At the Cutting Crew hair salon, you’re in for the treat of two intriguing artists. Katt Ahlstrom shows off a series of her window pane paintings, which we guarantee are always either funny, thought-provoking, beautiful or all of the above. At the same time, Krissy Frost shows off her truly funky handcrafted lampshades.

It’s going to be a while before boom times come again, at least according to University of Montana economists who predict the state’s economy likely won’t begin growing again until 2013.

An arrest warrant for aggravated animal cruelty ended in suicide this afternoon at the 38th Street residence where a kitten was found brutally abused on Sunday night. Police have not released the name of the victim, but Sgt. Travis Welsh said at the scene that officers were in touch with the man by phone before the incident.

"At this time, it appears that he took his own life," Welsch said.

According to Welsch, an officer entered the apartment at 2419 38th St. after 1 p.m. to serve the warrant when he heard a gunshot. The officer exited the building, and several squad cars and a SWAT vehicle soon arrived as backup. Police blockaded the area and redirected traffic into the nearby K-Mart parking lot.