HELENA – The president of a small Montana gun manufacturer has been asked to resign after an Internet uproar over his support for Democrat Barack Obama. Dan Cooper co-founded Cooper Firearms of Montana. The company posted a statement on its Web site saying employees, shareholders and the board of directors do not share the political […]

Live Music: Friday: Can’t Hardly Playboys at Red’s; Dan Dubuque at The Cottage; Xtra Sauce at Ricciardi’s; Canyon Creek Ramblers at Grizzly Jacks; Kiniption Fit at Great Northern; Tim Torgerson at Blue Canyon; A Street Band at Silver Bullet; Sonny King at Blue Moon; Sonny King at Blue Moon; Mobile Beat DJ at Red’s Saturday: […]

Cindy Kruse likes the idea of homegrown health. In a greenhouse attached to her home near Foys Lake, a south-facing window provides natural light for her rows of wheatgrass, which is grown and sold around the Flathead. With wheatgrass, Kruse has found both a way to make a living and a way to spread her […]

GREAT FALLS – Montana’s secretary of state predicted Wednesday that 70 percent of the state’s voters would cast ballots in what he said would be a smoothly run general election. “We honestly don’t anticipate any significant problems,” Brad Johnson said. New state laws in 2006 that allowed voters to register through election night created challenges […]

WEST GLACIER – Searchers looking for an overdue hiker in Glacier National Park found his body in the remote North Fork area Wednesday. Bruce Colburn’s, 53, of Reading, Pa., remains had a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest and the Flathead County coroner has ruled it a suicide. Colburn was last seen Oct. 10 […]

Good morning and happy 70th birthday to Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds. On the Beacon this morning, the wheatgrass business in the valley is growing faster than, well, wheatgrass. The body of a missing hiker was found in Glacier Park, in the North Fork Wednesday. A $462,000-federal grant will help workers recently laid off […]

To call it simply an underdog story doesn’t give appropriate justice to the Bigfork Vikings’ improbable 2008 soccer season. After finishing the regular season with only two wins to go along with seven losses and three ties, the Vikings were fortunate to even make it to the state tournament, though they had done what they […]

Names have always been a very trendy reflection of the times. For example: Many of today’s young adults have one-syllable names, such as Brad or Deb, maybe Chris or Bart. Names that read well in their high school yearbook or on their letterman jackets. The shorter the name the younger the person seems to be. […]

At the heart of climate change conversation is water: in the ground, running down the mountains, falling from the sky. And as less water becomes available for a growing number of people with competing interests and priorities, leaders from a diverse cross-section of groups in Montana are putting their heads together to come up with […]

2:15 a.m. An uncooperative inmate was shot with a Taser gun. 9:08 a.m. The same inmate was booked for disorderly conduct. 9:37 a.m. While moving, a renter broke a window. 12 p.m. A medical marijuana grow operation was robbed by three men impersonating officers. In all, 27 plants, two guns – a rifle and a […]

NEW YORK – The idea behind a Barack Obama infomercial was too easy to mock: “Vote Now and Get The Second Four Years for Free!” But from a technical point of view – at least in terms of a pitch to the 6 to 8 percent of undecided voters – the half-hour ad his campaign […]

WHITEFISH – Part of Kohl Bebee’s problem was that his ice skates were two sizes too big. Even more troublesome, though, was the fact he had never skated before. But don’t underestimate the willpower of a 12-year-old Montana boy in hockey pads. Six years later, Bebee’s willpower is accompanied not only by a sturdy knowledge […]

Wildlife officials say they’ve killed two wolves in northwestern Montana after wolves killed livestock in the area earlier this month. The wolves killed Tuesday west of Niarada were members of the Hog Heaven pack. Kent Laudon, a wolf management specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, says the pack has five to seven members left. […]

Craig Witte-R There are any number of reasons why the 2007 regular Legislative session, hobbled by partisanship and incapable of compromising enough to craft a state budget, adjourned with its work left undone. But for Craig Witte, the Republican representing Kalispell’s House District 8, the bitter tone was set before the 2007 session, when Glasgow […]

Mick Holm-D In 2006, Democrats wrested control of House District 3 when Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, beat a three-time Republican incumbent. But Cordier isn’t running for reelection and his old opponent, along with another well-known resident, have jumped at the opportunity to fill his spot. In a year where the two major political parties […]