As consumers nationally, worried about their jobs and the market turbulence, have cut back sharply on spending, the fight to bring new retail businesses to empty lots in Kalispell becomes increasingly difficult. “If retailers are thinking about coming here, unless they’re way, way down the line and that money is allocated already, I think they’re […]

A coffee shop in Glacier National Park is being added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Lake McDonald Lodge Coffee Shop, just east of Lake McDonald Lodge, was built in 1965 for $140,000, as part of an infrastructure improvement program called Mission 66. The National Park Service oversaw that program. The coffee shop […]

UPDATE: Republicans today sent out a news release with more party leadership criticizing Democratic House Speaker Bob Bergren of Havre for what they call an “unprecedented power grab.” State GOP Chairman Erik Iverson, former gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown, and former Republican leader Bob Marks of Clancy weigh in: “Montana voters elected 50 Republicans and 50 […]

A 21-year-old Kalispell man was killed early Wednesday in a one-vehicle accident on MT Highway 35. Trevor Scott Olser crashed at about 1 a.m. near the Flathead River Bridge, according to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

As photographers, we are always trying to understand the visual world – to make images of what can be seen. So when photography and science collide, the result is quite intriguing. Gary Settles, a professor of engineering at Pennsylvania State University, uses “shclieren” photography to capture colorful images of scenarios otherwise invisible to the human […]

HELENA – Three female employees at the Montana State Prison resigned Monday after admitting they were involved in or had knowledge of sexual misconduct involving a male inmate. Warden Mike Mahoney says that, during an administrative investigation, one employee admitted having oral sex with inmate Michael Murphy. He says another admitted kissing Murphy and sending […]

3:16 a.m. A Somers Road resident suspected that their house was under fire. The reporting party heard a loud boom and thought it was a gunshot. 8:40 a.m. Someone is missing a stereo. They left their garage door open and their car unlocked. 9:34 a.m. Unidentified objects were moved around on Browns Meadow Road. 9:40 […]

At the food bank in Kalispell, with just a week before the Thanksgiving holiday, Director Lori Botkin is stocking up on supplies: turkeys, huge bags of potatoes and loaves of bread. For the first time in her four-year tenure, she’s out of canned vegetables. And in the food bank’s lobby there’s another first: An overflowing […]

Good morning and happy birthday Mickey Mouse, who first appeared in “Steamboat Willie” on this date. On the Beacon this morning, food banks around the valley are struggling to keep up with the surge in demand for food after a series of layoffs at many of the valley’s larger employers. Harry Sultzer III of Eureka […]

Even though there’s no snow on local ski slopes quite yet, (Don’t worry; it’s coming.) area residents can still get a preseason “fix.” The world’s largest mountain festival, the Banff Mountain Film Festival, has hit the road again this year, with stops planned in more than 285 communities and 30 countries across the world. The […]

The stage is set for large-scale development along Kalispell’s south side, with the city council voting Monday to annex 82 acres between U.S. Highway 93 and Lower Valley Road, and holding a public hearing on a zoning change that would facilitate development of some 550 acres along the west side of U.S. 93. No major […]

The first ever LIFE magazine was published on Nov. 23, 1936. The photograph depicts five concrete monoliths, the architecture made stronger by the stark black shadows and white highlights, contrasted in proportion to the two people at the base of a column. The picture was made by Margaret Bourke-White and her subject was the Fort […]

After meeting in Kalispell for the past 20 years, the Flathead Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society is moving to Glacier Discovery Square in Columbia Falls. There, the plant society, in partnership with the First Best Place Task Force, will be designing several planting beds at Discovery Square, creating gardens to showcase a variety […]

HELENA – The state commissioner of political practices says Gov. Brian Schweitzer violated state law by distributing a public service announcement after filing for re-election last spring. Commissioner Dennis Unsworth says he agrees with the examiner in the ethics case that the law was broken, but is withholding judgment on the recommended $750 fine. Unsworth […]

U.S. Rep. Rehberg sent out a copy of his letter to Barack Obama today urging the president-elect to keep Dwight MacKay installed at his post for another term as U.S. Marshal of Montana. Though a Republican appointee and former state director for U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, MacKay was praised in a recent Billings Gazette editorial […]