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CODY, Wyo. (AP) Winter has descended on Yellowstone National Park, blanketing the region that includes northwestern Wyoming, southern Montana and eastern Idaho with snow.

Managers of America's first national park say late-season visitors should expect winter weather and driving conditions, including temporary road closures and delays.

That goes for the next few days, when storm systems could drop additional snow and make driving on the park's roads treacherous.

The Beartooth Highway is set to close for the season at 8:00 tomorrow morning, as is the road between Tower Fall and Canyon over Dunraven Pass.

The road from Gardiner, Mont., at the park's North Entrance, to Cooke City, Mont., at the park's Northeast Entrance, is open to wheeled vehicles all year.

Yellowstone's 24-hrs road updates line can be reached by calling (307) 344-2117.

COLD SPUDS Cold temperatures threaten MT's seed spud crop BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) Record-low temperatures in southwestern Idaho are threatening to destroy at least a portion of this season's crop of seed potatoes.

Spuds still in the ground could be saved by a layer of snow; a dusting had fallen on Bozeman and the surrounding region by yesterday.

The director of the Montana State University Potato Lab, Nina Zydak, says most area farmers have already started digging.

But many farmers expect to lose some of their potatoes.

Larry Van Dyke, who owns Van Dyke Farms in Townsend, told the Bozeman Chronicle, "It's over." He says when it's this cold for too long, the frost penetrates and the taters are toast.

The main goal now is to make sure the spoiled potatoes don't make it into his cellar.

Temperatures on Saturday evening dipped to 17 degrees.

The last time it was this cold, this early, in southwestern Idaho was more than two decades ago in 1985.

(Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com ) FETAL ALCOHOL Inmate, others say alcohol in womb led to problems BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) A woman who helped her boyfriend kill a hiker and bury his body in Glacier National Park in 2001 says it came as a relief to her when she was diagnosed with a condition related to her mother's heavy drinking at the time of her pregnancy.

After eight years in prison, Michelle Ford says she believes she's rightly being held responsible for crimes she knowingly committed.

But she also says she believes the mitigating factor of fetal alcohol syndrome helps explain why she did what she did.

Ford told the Billing Gazette, "If I had been not brain damaged, I don't think I would have committed that crime." The 30-year-old Ford is one of many people who have spent their lives coping with the lingering effects of their mothers' substance abuse.

Some estimates put the number of American babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome at about 10,000 a year, with another 30,000 infants less obviously affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol.

(Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com ) smoking ban-MONTANA HOSPITAL Montana psychiatric hospital bans smoking WARM SPRINGS, Mont. (AP) The air is clearing up at the Montana State Hospital campus, where smoking was snuffed out this summer to boost the physical health of patients who've landed at the facility for psychological care.

But Chief Executive Officer Ed Amberg says a few patients and employees at the Warm Springs hospital have been caught violating the policy; patients are caught with tobacco or lighters once or twice a week.

The changes went into effect in June as administrators sought to find healthy social activities to replace smoking, which had become a popular means of connecting staff and patients.

Amberg says the staff was doing a disservice to patients by encouraging and continuing their addiction to tobacco.

Employees can no longer smoke during lunch or breaks, either.

Studies show a disproportionately high use of tobacco products among those with mental illness.

Sixty-five percent to 85 percent of schizophrenia sufferers smoke.

(Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com ) MONTANA CLUNKERS Montana car dealers say 'Clunkers' program helped GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) There's plenty of debate over whether Congress's Cash for Clunkers program will provide a longterm boost to the nation's economy.

But Montana car dealers say there's no disputing the trade-in plan helped their bottom lines at a dark time for purveyors of new autos.

The general sales manager of Bennett Motors in Great Falls, David Krebs, says new car sales spiked in July and August, while people who came scouting for transportation also bought used cars.

Krebs told the Great Falls Tribune that business was down for about 12 months and caused pent-up demand, but the Cash for Clunkers program helped break the dam.

Nearly 700,000 people nationwide swapped eligible older vehicles and got $4,500 lopped off the cost of a new, more-efficient car.

(Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com ) WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR-BEETLES Beetle-killed trees change wildfire behavior in Montana Missoula, Mont. (AP) Veteran wildland firefighters say their job is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable as pine beetles ravage western Montana forests and kill off vast swaths of trees.

At least six big wildland fires made major runs across western Montana in the last week of September. Several fires tripled or quadrupled their acreage in one or two days.

A frequent factor was the presence of "red-and-dead" beetle-killed trees. Fires can jump from tree crown to tree crown in such fuel-rich environments, sending firefighters scrambling for safety.

What to do with the dead trees is unresolved.

Logging beetle-killed timber to cut down on fire risk is a low-profit endeavor and carries environmental consequences, but leaving the forest alone leaves the public exposed to increasing fire hazards.

(Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com ) FASTEST MOUTH Montana auctioneer's rapid-fire chant wins kudos GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) For years, Ty Thompson came up just short of being judged the fastest, smoothest mouth in the world.

The Billings auctioneer finished in the top 10 of the Livestock Marketing World Livestock Auctioneer Championship seven times.

This year, however, the son of a feed yard owner finally took the top honor.

After 18 years as an auctioneer, Thompson says practice is the only way to the zenith of this slick-syllabled world of top auctioneers, the best of whom not only can rattle off steer bids like a Gatling gun, but also infuse their mellifluous tones with expression.

He'll be commentating at next year's world championship in Oklahoma City starting June 17, 2010.

(Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com ) (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 10-12-09 0231CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list