BILLINGS – Gov. Brian Schweitzer was on a state-funded trip when he gave his speech to a lawyers’ group claiming to have influenced a 2006 congressional election. Schweitzer was in Philadelphia in July for a National Governors Association conference and later addressed the American Association for Justice. The governor has said he was joking when […]

Plum Creek Timber Co. announced Tuesday that it is suspending operations at its finger-joint stud manufacturing facility in Kalispell for the rest of the year, leaving 24 employees at the plant out of work. “This specialty wood product is used almost exclusively in new residential construction,” Hank Ricklefs, vice president for Northern Resources and Manufacturing, […]

If you know anyone who has had a coaching session with me, they may have mentioned that I have a habit of asking some annoying questions. They aren’t meant to annoy. Most of the time these are very simple questions, but they often end up being the ones that generate the most hand-wringing. Or maybe […]

A new study on health care coverage for farmers and ranchers highlights a long-discussed and deepening concern: Families that live off the land have difficulty affording health insurance and, in many cases, spend a disproportionate percentage of their total income on premiums and out-of-pocket costs, especially in Montana. The report, sponsored by the Robert Wood […]

Good morning and happy birthday to the late, great Jim Henson. It’s Wednesday and the new Beacon are on the stands. Our top story this week looks at how health insurance costs for Montana farmers and ranchers dwarfs that of any other state in the U.S. Plum Creek Timber Co. announced it is suspending operations […]

Last week, as I stared out the front window of our office and longed for distant sandy beaches, my daydream was interrupted, not by a prudent desire to get back to work, but by a parade: Flathead High School’s homecoming parade. Everybody in our Main Street office stepped outside and took the event in, clapping […]

Bigfork Volunteer Ambulance’s new building isn’t quite a castle made of sand, but its shape has changed as has their goal. Bigfork’s Ambulance and Fire are looking to re-emerge as one entity by July 1, 2009. BVA started a capital campaign during the summer of 2007 to raise funds for a new building out by […]

It’s been a typically busy year for the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force, which, in September, busted marijuana growing operations in Lake, Lincoln and Flathead counties with an estimated worth of $84,000. So far this year, the task force reports it has made 166 arrests, 144 searches, seized two meth labs, located seven marijuana grow […]

A lot of people are hot and bothered about the Bush administration’s proposed rule to allow concealed weapons in national parks, but practically, is this really worth our time and effort? Yes, it’s maddening to tolerate such low-end, election-year politics spurred by the National Rifle Association (NRA), but I say give the gun lobby this […]

1:58 a.m. A sheriff’s deputy, who pulled into the wrong driveway in Somers, ended up backing his patrol car into an embankment. 7:25 a.m. Someone who lives near the train yard in Whitefish is upset because they hear train whistles in the middle of the night. 7:57 a.m. A portable toilet was damaged over the […]

NEW YORK – Republican presidential nominee John McCain challenged rival Barack Obama on Wednesday to suspend their heated campaign, postpone Friday’s debate and work together to deal with the nation’s financial troubles. Obama did not immediately respond to his rival’s bold political move, but Obama campaign officials say the senator is inclined to move ahead […]

WHITEFISH – Middle and high school students seeking to seriously train for skiing competition can do so in Montana with the creation of the Whitefish Alpine and Freestyle Ski Academy. Whitefish Mountain Resort, the Whitefish school district and the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation worked to create the academy for the 2008-09 school year and […]

HELENA – A new poll shows Republican John McCain holds a solid lead in Montana over rival Barack Obama, and indicates Ron Paul could be a factor in the state. The CNN/Time Opinion Research poll shows McCain leading Obama among likely voters by 11 points — 54 percent to 43 percent — in a heads-up […]

For the past several months, Barb Wagner, a senior economist with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, has been examining the gender pay gap in Montana. For women, the results of the study are worrisome: The median wage for a Montana woman is the least of any state in the nation and about $12,000 […]

HELENA – Education groups asked a judge Monday to rule that the state has failed to address his 4-year-old ruling that declared the state’s school funding system unconstitutional. The old court battle over school funding was renewed in Helena District Court, where arguments over the issue are expected to last most of the week. Earlier […]