You may never have noticed it, but it’s been around for a while. “Probably from the [19]30’s; based on this German siding and the shakes,” says Pete Hendricks, “it was built before plywood.” “It” is the little shack-type-barn overlooking highway 35, just behind El Topo and south of the canyon. Upon closer inspection, it’s two […]

Three-and-a-half years after a law passed increasing state oversight of independent contractors, ranging from farmhands to musicians, the Department of Labor and Industry is ready to begin imposing fines up to $1,000 per day on both the hiring agents and the contractors who are not properly insured through workers’ compensation or exempted by the state. […]

It’s unlikely that we’ll ever have a hurricane here in Montana, but we have plenty of other things to keep our attention, disaster-wise. A friend who lives in a small town in central Louisiana has been texting details about his community’s situation post-Gustav. His most recent message:More people with no way to store food or […]

BILLINGS – Two district judges in Montana have reached opposite conclusions about the constitutionality of a federal law that requires sex offenders to register with local authorities when they move to another state. District Judge Richard Cebull in Billings ruled Friday that the Adam Walsh Act and the included Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act […]

6:30 a.m. There was a bear headed for a man fishing near U.S. Highway 2. Upon investigation, the Columbia Falls Police Department couldn’t find the bear or the man. 8:29 a.m. New homeowners on Highway 40 are already getting on their neighbors’ nerves. Allegedly, the new couple keeps using their lawn and driveway to turn […]

Good morning and happy birthday Roger Maris. It’s a wet Wednesday and the new Beacons are on the stands. Our top story this week looks at a regulation on independent contractors being newly enforced by the Department of Labor and Industry that could stifle the relationship between musicians and bar owners, among other business relationships. […]

My cycling buddies wanted me to write about what happened on this year’s GAG Ride, which stands for Geezers Around Glacier, but I had decided against it. Until I read all the recent negative news about the escalating conflict between cyclists and motorists on our roadways, that is. Everyday, it seems, I read a new […]

With its fire hall in a state of disrepair and demand for services surging, the Evergreen Fire Department is asking voters to support a $4.4 million bond request to fund a new station. If passed, the proposed station would be about 17,000 square feet and include expanded fire bays for equipment and vehicles, staff offices, […]

WEST GLACIER – Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road transit system reported a small decline in the number of riders this year. Park officials attribute the decline to the fact that the system ran fewer hours each day and on fewer days than in 2007. The transit system had 105,639 riders in 2008, compared with 132,093 […]

ROUNDUP – Gov. Brian Schweitzer has established himself as the P.T. Barnum of Montana’s energy resources, coaxing corporations to tap the state’s huge reserves of fossil fuels even as he touts the environmental advantages of wind power and capturing greenhouse gases from power plants. The Democratic chief executive has been walking a fine line, drawing […]

Below a massive red mountain, bears rustle ash branches, pluck berries, dig bulbs and overturn rocks in a frenzied food search. In the throes of hyperphasia, both black and grizzly bears focus on one impulse – bulking up for winter. Like a magnet, Many Glacier lures bears in fall. When its abundant wild berry crop […]

GREAT FALLS – Police say the body of a toddler recently found in the trunk of his mother’s car may have been there for months as she drove around town, evaded questions about the child’s whereabouts and was even arrested. The mother, Summer ManyWhiteHorses, was charged Monday with deliberate homicide. Authorities say the body of […]

HELENA – Helena police will begin killing mule deer in the city limits next week. Police Chief Troy McGee told city commissioners Monday that he expects officers to reach their quota of 50 deer by the end of October. The pilot project is part of an effort to control the city’s growing population of mule […]

A state judge ruled late last month in favor of a Kila-Smith Lake community group in a lawsuit against Flathead County, revoking the county commission’s approval of a 74-lot subdivision. A victory for the Kila-Smith Lake Community Development Coalition, Flathead County District Judge Ted Lympus’s ruling says the county violated its own subdivision regulations and […]

Good morning. Happy birthday to Tom Wopat, best known for his role as Luke Duke in the long-running television series The Dukes of Hazzard. On the Beacon this morning, a Flathead County District Court judge ruled in favor of a Kila-Smith Lake community group, revoking the county commission’s 2006 approval of the Haskill Mountain Ranch […]