After a summer full of Brad Lee’s music, ceramics, clothes, rugs, herbs, furniture, artwork, pottery, pizza, coffee, crafts, homegrown produce, crepes, and last week, a tasty jar of Hutterite-made sauerkraut, it’s about to be all over. Of course, I’m talking about the Columbia Falls Farmers’ Market from 4:00pm to 7:30pm all summer long. September 4th, […]

HELENA – Perennial candidate Bob Kelleher said Wednesday that he can beat U.S. Sen. Max Baucus this time around — and is willing to spend part of his savings to do it. Kelleher, 85, won the six-way Republican primary in June, and now faces a Democratic incumbent who has raised nearly $11 million at last […]

Good morning; on this date in 1886 Apache Chief Geronimo surrendered. On the Beacon this morning, the conversation is already clearly kicking over my story on whether third-party candidates will affect the outcome of the presidential election in Montana. Bigfork High School Principal Thom Peck will be departing from his position after six years, though […]

As online options increase at local schools, more students – from high school to college – will take their education from the traditional complex of brick-and-mortar buildings to interactive online message boards. Enrollment in online credit classes at Flathead Valley Community College increased 42 percent in the 2007-2008 school year, and is expected to jump […]

Vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, will visit Kalispell Sunday afternoon to host a discussion with area voters. Presidential candidate Barack Obama chose the six-term senator as his running mate last month. Details about the event’s location, time and tickets are still being worked out, according to the Obama campaign.

HELENA – U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg says he does not believe Montana is a presidential battleground. The Montana Republican says the state party is telling Sen. John McCain to focus his campaign effort on other states. Rehberg says Democrat Barack Obama is not going to be able to overcome the state’s strong conservative tradition when […]

Former President Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama have already visited Kalispell. Now vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden is en route. Meanwhile, on the state level, GOP party officials are telling McCain that he needn’t worry about Montana since it’s not a battleground state. Really? That’s the party’s position? At least send back Mike Huckabee. In a […]

8:46 a.m. Someone in Polebridge is missing a fishing pole. 9:35 a.m. Two construction workers had a disagreement at a Vonderheide Lane home in Kalispell. 12:08 p.m. Medication and a digital camera were stolen from a Sweebe Lane home in Columbia Falls. 12:14 p.m. A colt that was tangled in a fence got out safely. […]

Kalispell’s city government is cutting five positions in an effort to reduce its operating budget for this year, and depending on what the city council indicates at its work session Monday, there could be more cuts on the way. As part of the “reduction in force,” two positions in the Parks and Recreation Department are […]

GREAT FALLS – Glacier National Park officials said Tuesday that they would discontinue regular searches for a 27-year-old man who went missing during a planned 100-mile hike. Park Superintendent Charles “Chas” Cartwright said in a news release that he was disappointed that he couldn’t explain what happened to Yi-Jien Hwa, a seminary student from Lexington, […]

POLSON – A man arrested after a 48-hour standoff with law enforcement officers was arraigned Tuesday in Lake County on charges of deliberate homicide stemming from the shooting death of his father. Ross Johnson, 20, was arrested Monday night at his parents’ home near Polson after authorities subdued him with a stun gun. He had […]

As part of an uncommon year for water accidents in Northwest Montana, six people drowned to death in the generally safe low-water period of late July and August, five of them either in the Flathead River or Flathead Lake. The sixth was in the Kootenai River near Troy. On the year, there have been at […]

Step one after the fire is out or the flood waters have receded (or both) – if you haven’t already done so – is implementing your comeback plan. Yes, I said implementing the comeback plan, not creating one. The time to make a serious, well-thought-out recovery plan is not while smoky water drips on your […]

1:59 a.m. A woman thought she found a sack of weed. But when deputies examined the green stuff, it was determined that it only smelled like pot, but was not. The bag and its contents were destroyed. 2:34 a.m. Someone called authorities to tell them that their drunken brother was yelling at him for no […]

Hundreds of people, including law enforcement officers from all over the state, attended the funeral of a Montana Highway Patrol trooper killed last week in a head-on crash while pursuing another vehicle. The funeral for 29-year-old Evan Schneider was held Tuesday at the Christian Center Assembly of God Church in Kalispell. His mother, Becky Sturdevant, […]