The online magazine Folio: (which serves the magazine publishing industry) recently compiled a collection of magazine covers featuring the 2008 presidential election. The slide show can be seen (here). How different magazines treated their subject is quite interesting. Some of the covers are outstanding and some are downright unforgivable. This got me thinking about how […]

Over at FlatheadMemo.com, local blogger James Conner reports that he encountered a bit of confusion when he logged onto the Montana Secretary of State’s voter registration Web site. The site allows you to enter some personal information and then it will tell you whether you are properly registered, your state house and senate district, and […]

Update: Starbucks may be in violation of federal law if they follow through with giving voters free coffee today. No word yet if they’re going to outlaw the cookies at polling places or “I Voted” stickers, too. Starbucks is offering a free cup of coffee on Tuesday to customers who say they voted. They’re not […]

Republicans seek to dissuade the media from jumping to conclusions about the winner of the presidential race on Election night based on exit polling, out of fear that skewed results could influence voter behavior. According to this memo to the media issued by McCain’s internal pollster, Bill McInturff, exit polls historically skew election results in […]

HELENA – A record number of Montanans are taking advantage of laws that allow anyone to vote absentee, setting up a large turnout this election season. The secretary of state’s office says about 175,000 absentee ballots have been cast so far. That number will increase on Election Day, as those who register for same day […]

Shortly after Christmas, the Majestic Valley Arena will go dark. Owners Bob and Jan Parker hope the closure is only temporary, but the venue’s fate, like so much else right now, ultimately comes down to economics. The plan is to close from January through March, the Parkers said, and then see if economic conditions allow […]

I had better wear a disguise on my next visit to Italy because it seems that one of my recipe videos has caused a minor uproar and great offense. Apparently, there are some Italians who think that I’ve committed the ultimate sin, offending their sensibilities, by using rotini instead of spaghetti in my Pasta Frittata. […]

Columbia Falls Wildcats win round one in the State A playoffs, defeating Corvallis’ 27-26 to earn their first home playoff win since 1970 – the year the Cats hosted Havre for the state championship. The key factors in the game were many, and I cant possibly mention all of them: Columbia Falls forced a number […]

This is Montana Sidelines. It is a continuously running blog where sports rule. My focus is the Flathead, but anything within the athletic realm is fair game. I will derive some of the writing from athletic events that I cover with my regular reporting duties, while much of it will stem from my relentless, if […]

The Montana Highway Patrol says a 39-year-old man is dead, following a one-vehicle crash south of Whitefish. Timothy Kramer, a pediatric dentist from Whitefish, died shortly before midnight Friday when his pickup rolled on a private road. Trooper Dustin LeRette says the pickup veered to the right side of the road, and Kramer overcorrected and […]

If you’re reading this, then you’ve found your way onto the newly redesigned Beacon Web site, and our new blog political blog, Continental Divides. We hope you like the new look and feel of the Web site, and find it to be easier to navigate once it becomes more familiar. As for this blog, it […]

After several weeks of work, we’ve launched our redesigned Web site with you, the reader, in mind. The idea is to make flatheadbeacon.com easier to navigate, more visual and with the capability to better showcase both our staffers and commentators. First, instead of all of our latest stories showing up in the “Latest Headlines” box, […]

This is your blog as much as it’s mine. We’ll talk about a whole lot on here. It’s meant to be an online collection of observations, ruminations, local happenings, tall tales, online links, jokes, quotes, insights and diatribe. All in an updated-whenever-I-feel-like-it format. Or something like that, anyway. As a twenty-something, I’m expected to embrace […]

While Kellyn pointed it out in an earlier blog posting, I’m going to take the opportunity, now that Continental Divides is live and online, to link to the reporting by the ABC news crew that was here in October. They spent some time at Red’s open mic, talked to some folks on the sidewalks of […]

A few more kids – younger this time – from Friday night’s free Halloween Carnival at Glacier Gateway Elementary School. The carnival is organized by the Glacier Gateway Parent-Teacher organization.