HELENA – The Montana Democratic Party has out-raised its Republican counterparts 2-to-1 through September. Through September, the Democrats had $3.4 million to spend on the 2008 campaign, compared to $1.6 million for Republicans. More than half of the Democrats’ funds are from out-of-state sources, including $324,000 from the Democratic National Committee and at least $290,000 […]

BILLINGS – Record numbers of Montana voters are expected to cast early ballots this election season, as a tight presidential race stokes interest and more people take advantage of laws that allow anyone to vote absentee. The heavy pace of voters requesting absentee ballots stretches from Republican strongholds such as Yellowstone County to Democratic bastions […]

A list of 1st Place winners: Chocolate Desserts – Jennifer Graham with “Chocolate Zucchini Muffins” Non-Chocolate Desserts – Rocky Feckete with “Drunken Pudding” Cookies – Jeanette McCormick with “Chocolate Hello Dolly’s” Pies – Bob Kun with “Walnut Oat Pie” Soup/Stews – Robin Magaddino with “Beef Ragout” Chili – Terry Teich with “Elk Chili” Pickles – […]

Cooperative efforts between Whitefish and Flathead County officials over the future of the controversial “planning doughnut” have broken down again. On Sept. 30, County Commissioner Gary Hall sent a letter to Whitefish Mayor Mike Jenson, ending transition team meetings between the two municipalities. “It has become very apparent over the past several weeks that you […]

Last year, Alpine Theatre Project launched its kids program with classes taught by professional actors. This year, the project goes one step further by adding a performance-based instruction program. “The feedback was that kids want more performing opportunities,” said project founder Betsi Morrison. “So we’re combining the two.” Geared for Flathead Valley younger kids ages […]

The past few weeks have been deadly ones on Flathead Valley highways. On Sept. 27, two Bigfork-area men, Matthew Emslie, 27, and Sean Purcell, 26, died when their vehicle rolled over on Montana 209 near Ferndale. Neither was wearing a seat belt. A four-vehicle accident on Montana Highway 82 last Thursday, killed one man, Trenton […]

This may be a stretch, but I chose my topic for this column to show some sort of simpatico with the color theme for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’m virtually certain that your grandmother or home-ec teacher told you that pork had to be cooked until it was bone dry and bright white in order […]

HELENA – Nine state and local government pension funds showed a paper loss of $386 million for the year ending June 30, the executive director of the Board of Investments said. Carroll South said the losses have continued to mount, but retired public employees will still get their pension checks. South told the Legislative Finance […]

Aaron Young started playing golf with Tiger Woods. Granted it was on a video game, but according to Young it was the game that sparked his interest in the sport. Soon Young wrapped his hands around a golf club and hit piles of balls in a backyard field near the Stillwater River. “I had hit […]

HELENA – A district judge heard arguments Friday in a lawsuit by a terminally ill Billings man, four Missoula physicians and a nonprofit patients’ rights group seeking to legalize doctor-assisted suicide in Montana. The plaintiffs argue that mentally competent, terminally ill Montanans should be allowed to take prescribed medication that would bring about a peaceful […]

When municipal budgets get tight, programs like parks and recreation often lose funding first in favor of services like law enforcement and road maintenance. With recent cuts in the city of Kalispell’s Parks Department and Flathead County’s future budget projections looking bleak, the county’s parks and recreation department is working to get ahead. For the […]

June 8, 2007, is a date indelibly fixed in Gary Walters’s memory. That’s the Friday his boss at Nokia called to inform him that his job had been eliminated. “He told me that by the end of the day, my access to e-mail and the company network would be terminated,” says Walters, who spent 10 […]

HELENA – The director of the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research addressed a legislative committee Thursday and said, had he been speaking a year ago, his talk may have been titled, “Will the Montana boom continue?” Now, economist Patrick Barkey said, a more appropriate title might be, “What will be the […]

WHITEFISH – By the end of fall, Drew Coco will be wrapping up arguably the greatest cross country season in Class A history. He’s undefeated on the year and it’s clear nobody will catch him. He’s left with setting personal goals for himself: a state record and breaking the 15-minute barrier. The school records have […]

GREAT FALLS – U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have asked the Air Force to add Malmstrom Air Force Base to the list of possible sites for a new command center to oversee the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The Air Force recently decided to consolidate under one command center control over land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, […]