The year 2007 kept this cops and courts reporter on his toes. You can hardly call Butte a “sleepy town.” It may not be big a city, but there’s certainly enough colorful characters and general weirdness bouncing about to keep the pages of the police beat full.

I spent one morning last week sifting through the notes and clips from the past year buried on the piles of papers and assorted junk on my desk. (Incidentally, I was once told a messy desk was a sign of genius. If this is true, then I’m another Albert Einstein.) Here’s some of the stories from the 2007 police beat that, I believe, are worthy of a second glance: MEN ON THE RUN A pair of prisoners at the Montana State Prison got “rabbit in their blood” and decided to check out early in June.

The escape would have been nothing more than a state-interest news story, until it was learned that one of the escapees was rather infamous.

Inmate Kelly A. Frank was once accused of plotting to kidnap the infant son of late night talk show host David Letterman. The escape soon became a national story. I even did a couple of live interviews with the Fox News Network during the manhunt. While being interviewed on national television, I actually used the intransitive verb “skedaddle” to describe the inmates’ flight from justice. I can only imagine what kind of hick those folks at Fox must have thought they were interviewing.

Of course, with all this national attention, the escapees were caught after a few days near Swan Lake. I kind of felt sorry for Kelly’s less-infamous partner, William J. Willcutt, who was serving time for a simple burglary when he decided to up and run. Next time Willcutt plans an escape, he should pick a more low-profile accomplice.

POWERFUL PAYDAY And you think you’ve got a high power bill: NorthWestern Energy was delivered a $21 million tab in February.

A jury decided after a week-long civil trial in Butte district court that NorthWestern should pay $17.4 million to 15 retired Montana Power Co. executives for cutting their supplemental pensions in 2004. The jury also ordered the utility giant pay an additional $4 million in punitive damage just to make sure the company doesn’t do it again.

Billings lawyer Cliff Edwards, representing the plaintiffs — who success-fully tried the case in his trademark cowboy boots and Wrangler jeans — said at the time this case would be a warning to large corporations who try to take advantage of Montanans. Yippee ki-yay!

OSCAR AND THE GROUCH A puppy named Oscar — who had a rough start in life — became one of the heart-warming stories of the year.

Just five months old, the puppy was beaten and left to die at the bottom of a trash bin on a cold December day in 2006. The dog was discovered and, after months of care, made a full recovery.

Justice finally came to Oscar in late March when the pup’s former owner, Loretta Brooks, was sentenced to a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals. Many readers were outraged by what they considered a light sentence — about a month in jail, $500 fine and a lifetime ban on owning pets.

The dog’s plight received much attention. It even prompted a visit from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who gave Oscar a toy during a stop in Butte.

On a positive note, Oscar was well cared for at the Chelsea Bailey Animal Shelter, and has since been adopted by a loving family, according to shelter staff.

OH, DEER!

Now this was just a weird story that seems like it was taken from Mario Puzo’s novel “The Godfather.” A resident in the 1100 block of Iowa Street awoke in mid-November to find a severed deer head in his living room.

A man was sleeping on his couch when he heard a crashing sound about 3 a.m. He discovered a deer head had been thrown through his front window and landed on his table, according to police.

A second severed deer head was found just outside the home. Police Capt. George Skuletich said it appears that head was thrown, but the window didn’t break.

Skuletich admitted he’d never seen anything like it in his time with the department. Police still don’t know who threw the head through his window. I just hope this Iowa Street resident doesn’t keep a prized horse in his stable.

TEA-TODDLIN’ TOWN?

Imagine walking down Main Street in Uptown Butte on St. Patrick’s Day evening with a tall cup of lemonade in your hand.

If some city officials got their way, lemonade would have been the strongest drink you could have in your cup.

In February, Sheriff John Walsh first told me about his proposed open container ban. This issue created a bigger buzz than the Jagermeister tap machine at Club 13.

People on the side of a city ordinance that would ban consuming alcohol in the streets believed the law was necessary to improve Butte’s image. They also think that Butte’s image as a tough, hard-drinking town is taking its toll on the public’s health.

Opponents argued that it would take away something that makes Butte unique. They also contended that the proposed law was unnecessary, because police can simply enforce laws that are already on the books to control drunk and disorderly behavior in public.

After much public debate and letter writing — both pro and con — city officials decided in November to trash the proposed open container law and search for a different solution.

I’m sure many will drink to that idea.

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