When the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation proposed selling 440-acres of school trust land in Woods Bay, the community came out adamantly against the plan. The land is a popular recreation area with Cougar Canyon, hiking trails, and Estes Lake. The DNRC manages it in a trust for Montana Tech’s School of Mines, and […]

At Serena Software, water-cooler talk has been replaced by Facebook chatter. Nearly everyone in the company, headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., uses the social-network site to hang out with fellow workers, access internal communications, or even challenge the Sydney branch to a movie quiz. That includes the CEO. In a bid to create a sense […]

The current financial crisis has injected a note of seriousness into a presidential campaign that was getting pretty dumb. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have descended to a ridiculous tug-of-war over who really represents “change” while employing the most hackneyed, bland, clichéd political attacks in the book. How can I tell? Because the Museum […]

Live Music: Friday: Can’t Hardly Playboys at Red’s; Dan Dubuque at The Cottage; Good Wood Trio at Scotty’s; Russ Nasset & the Revelators at Great Northern; DJ Q at Finish Line; Sonny King at Blue Moon; Mobile Beat DJ at Red’s Saturday: Brad Lee at The Lodge; Russ Nasset and the Revelators at Great Northern; […]

A Flathead County District Court jury decided Wednesday night that local radio host John Stokes knowingly made false, on-air comments about Davar and Todd Gardner and awarded the Gardners damages totaling $3.8 million. The jury said Stokes’ broadcast remarks caused $900,000 in emotional and monetary damages to each of the Gardners. Because the jury also […]

HELENA – Republican Roy Brown, aiming to knock off incumbent Gov. Brian Schweitzer, said Wednesday that he will cut property taxes if elected and would have reduced overall rates by $300 million if he had been in control of the last state budget. Brown, speaking about his budget priorities in an interview with The Associated […]

Good morning; on this date in 1793 George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building. On the Beacon this morning, a jury decided Wednesday that radio show host and KGEZ station owner John Stokes must pay $3.8 million to Todd and Davar Gardner for knowingly making false statements about the Gardners on air. […]

As the popularity of motorcycles continues to grow, fueled in part by high prices for gasoline, so does the number of fatalities across Montana. State officials are stressing safety and it appears more people are heeding the advice, with motorcycle rider safety classes filling up at an increasingly rapid rate. This year’s statewide turnout for […]

POLSON – Flathead Lake is headed down. PPL Montana, which operates Kerr Dam, has begun the annual drawdown of the lake. It should be a foot below full pool by the end of this month and two feet below the high mark by the end of October. Jon Jourdonnais is PPL Montana’s director of hydro […]

In recent years more golfers nationwide have quit the sport than picked it up. But the Flathead Valley has managed to buck that trend. The growing popularity of an after-school program is a clear indication that golf isn’t going to fade here anytime soon. About 200 students will be participating in a youth program called […]

At the beginning of the 21st Century, America sits on the edge of an energy revolution not unlike the digital revolution we had in the waning years of the 20th Century. The increased use of computers and digital technology didn’t happen overnight. Developing a new economy around energy alternatives is no different. While no one […]

6:16 a.m. Someone’s son flipped out at a Haywire Gulch residence. Apparently, his mom wouldn’t give him money, so he gave her an ear-full. 6:27 a.m. Someone on Spotted Bear Road in Martin City woke up to find the vehicle they had just bought had been stolen. The man had yet to register or license […]

Whitefish’s controversial “planning doughnut” could be back under Flathead County control sooner than anticipated. Flathead County commissioners have accelerated their plans for taking over jurisdiction of the two-mile planning and zoning area surrounding the city, aiming to shift all land with city zoning inside the doughnut to county zoning before the end of this year. […]

Who is running at the top of the GOP presidential ticket? The stories are squarely focused on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin is parodied on Saturday night live. Eyeglasses sell because of Palin. Montana gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown is praising Palin. Who needs John McCain, anyway? Not the crowds at his stump speeches. While […]

Motioning to a finished drawing on his computer, Dwayne Harris points out that the Skaven, which are massive bipedal rats capable of advanced medieval warfare, have developed an efficient system of sorcery to hunt down their human enemies. For Harris, this world makes sense. After all, he created it. Harris, an illustrator with a background […]