Operation Party Patrol made its debut this past weekend in Missoula. Despite its name, it’s not a reality TV show or college frat-boy antics. Quite the opposite actually. For the next six weeks, Missoula police will boost patrols for raucous parties, underage drinking, drunken drivers and alcohol-related violence as part of their “Comprehensive Strategic Response […]

In the current national housing slowdown, real estate auctions have gained popularity as a way to speed sales in a sluggish or paralyzed market. Now, the trend has made its way to the Flathead Valley where next month 14 Whitefish condominiums will go to the highest bidder. Real estate auctions are no longer limited to […]

Another round of netting fish in Swan Lake aims to nail down the number of lake trout swimming into the bull trout fishery. Starting on September 9th, and running until the 23rd a group of state and national agencies are conducing a “depletion population estimate.” They’ll net fish, and remove all the lake trout sampled. […]

WASHINGTON – The majestic grizzly bear, once king of the Western wilderness but threatened with extinction for a third of a century, has roared back in Montana. The finding, from a $4.8 million, five-year study of grizzly bear DNA criticized by Republican presidential candidate John McCain as pork barrel spending, could help ease restrictions on […]

While Kalispell officials struggle to balance the city budget, another overriding debate that could prove a key piece in the puzzle to solve the city’s revenue problems is not going away: transportation impact fees. Last week the Chamber of Commerce invited Mayor Pam Kennedy and City Manager Jim Patrick to their second meeting with Kalispell’s […]

With Wall Street embroiled in crisis, both major presidential candidates have jumped to the fore with proposals. John McCain, the Republican, faces the tougher challenge. Fairly or not, as the nominee of the party controlling the White House, Senator McCain faces the prospect of guilt by association. McCain spoke on seven morning talk shows Tuesday, […]

WASHINGTON – A rural road in southeastern Montana has become entangled in the long-running Jack Abramoff scandal, factoring into the arrest of a Washington lobbyist last week. Kevin Ring, a lobbyist who worked for Montana’s Carter County for several years, pleaded not guilty Sept. 8 to a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of conspiring with […]

7:02 a.m. Two neighbors on Parker Road in Columbia Falls continually pester each other. On Thursday, one neighbor allowed a hunter on to their property. The hunter, though, crossed the property line, starting the day’s bickering, The second neighbor subsequently fell a tree and left it across the property line. 10:21 a.m. Advice was given […]

Good morning and happy Independence Day to our Central American readers. On the Beacon this morning, the North Valley Music School is opening satellite learning centers throughout the Flathead. The new Lone Pine State Park Visitor Center intends to teach the public about living in the Wildland Urban Interface. Kitchen Guy Jim Gray proclaims his […]

BOZEMAN – The Bozeman School District plans to require that every high school student wear or carry identification badges during the school day and at after-school events. Other new security measures at the school include installation of digital video-recording cameras activated by motion. The cameras are throughout the school. Superintendent Kirk Miller says requiring ID […]

A new showy pink wildflower has sprouted along roadsides in the last couple weeks around Whitefish. Not just on any roadside, but where swaths of earthwork uprooted previous vegetation for highway projects. The five-foot-tall plant has confused more than one driver along the Big Mountain Road and Highway 93 south of town. It resembles a […]

At last week’s national Native American Procurement Conference in Kalispell participants took part in an event akin to speed dating. They were searching for the perfect mate, someone with all the right assets: similar goals, healthy financials and opportunity for lasting commitment. The matchmaking meet-and-greet, though, was creating professional relationships instead of romantic ones. Every […]

NEW YORK – A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling precipitously Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials sliding 500 points in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors reacted badly to a shakeup of the financial industry that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. […]

America’s financial crisis has entered a difficult new phase as policymakers try to contain the fallout from the collapse of the fourth largest US investment bank. The challenge is partly in the ripple effects of Lehman Brothers going into bankruptcy. But it’s also much more. Lehman’s fall, a battle for survival at insurance giant AIG, […]

WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Monday threw out plans to allow more than 500 snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone National Park, saying that many snowmobiles would increase air pollution, disturb wildlife and cause too much noise in the nation’s first national park. The National Park Service’s Winter Use Plan would have allowed 540 snowmobiles […]