Good morning; on this date in 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the U.S. Revolutionary War. It’s a brisk autumnal day and the Beacons are on the stands. This week, Myers Reece looks at the unusually high number of drownings in northwest Montana this summer. Glacier Park officials are halting regular searches for […]

It’s not such a beautiful day in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. In many places around the country, PBS is now officially done with our gentle cardigan-wearing neighbor. Ratings are apparently declining. I wonder what Fred McFeely Rogers, the show’s deceased host, would have to say about this treatment if he was around? He’d probably say something […]

In case you missed it, on Aug.12 in Cheyenne, federal Judge Clarence Brimmer issued a permanent injunction against the Clinton Administration’s so-called “roadless rule.” The roadless rule, of course, was the “most significant public lands measures of the last century,” according to the Wilderness Society. Or, the biggest political con job ever … as Judge […]

BILLINGS – Montana has lost its federal disease-free status for brucellosis, triggering mandatory testing of cattle being shipped out-of-state. Brucellosis, which can cause female cattle to abort their young, has been found twice in Montana in the last two years near Yellowstone National Park. Eradicated elsewhere in the country, the disease persists in Yellowstone’s bison, […]

Regardless of whether Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama wins Montana’s three electoral votes for the presidency, the margin of victory is likely to be narrow. Recent polls show the two candidates locked in a dead heat here, which opens the door for 2008 to be an election in which the outcome of the […]

BISMARCK, N.D. – Full exploitation of the oil-rich Bakken shale formation in western North Dakota will require extensive infrastructure expansion so oilmen do not idle rigs, government and industry officials say. North Dakota oil production is hamstrung by the lack of refineries, pipelines and rail facilities to move the crude to market, said Sen. Byron […]

In recent months a torrent of debate has surrounded the role that parents and teachers should play concerning kids and drug use at Whitefish High School. The debate culminated on Aug. 12 when the school board approved a suspicion-based drug-testing policy for all WHS students with a 5-2 vote. Critics are sure to speak up. […]

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Douglas Holtz-Eakin is a serious person. He’s John McCain’s top economic adviser, and before that he was chief economist of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and director of the Congressional Budget Office, among other things. He’s taught economics at Columbia and Princeton. So what was the first question reporters asked […]

A motorcycle crash in the Flathead Valley has killed a Kalispell man. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Department says 56-year-old Vince Mordja III died when the motorcycle he was driving went off a road on Monday. Officials say Mordja suffered head trauma and died at the scene. He was not wearing a helmet.

POLSON – A 48-hour standoff between a man and law enforcement officers near Polson ended with the man’s arrest after authorities subdued him with a stun gun. Twenty-year-old Ross Johnson, wanted for questioning in the death of his father, was arrested Monday night at his home. Authorities say he barricaded himself there on Saturday. The […]

Good morning. On this day in 1945, World War II combat ended in the Pacific Theater when Japan’s surrender was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. On the Beacon this morning, Montana Tom’s Chocolate Factory and Cannery in Columbia Falls sent 250 pounds of chocolate to the Democratic National Convention this year. […]

We’ve all heard wedding horror stories. The bride – once your kind and considerate friend – becomes an unrecognizable monster, armed with planning notebooks, bridal magazines and swatches of silk fabric. The best man details the groom’s past exploits in his speech or forgets his lines. Bridesmaids endure garish, ill-fitting dresses in Easter-egg colors and […]

A year after its budget was stretched by an intense fire season, Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is enjoying the respite – and less red ink – of a summer with few big blazes. In sharp contrast, the U.S. Forest Service has watched its budget dwindle as the cost of fighting large fires […]

HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer says this year’s annual Labor Day report shows Montana’s economy is as strong as ever. Schweitzer says job growth is strong, and wage growth is increasing. Montana’s unemployment rate of around 4 percent continues to be better than the national average. And although Montana’s average wages are among the lowest […]

If some John McCain supporters suffer from what pollsters have called an “enthusiasm gap,” those of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul might be accused of an enthusiasm surplus. More than 10,000 members of the Ron Paul Nation paid $17.76 (get it?) to attend a convention in Minnesota to celebrate the Texas congressman’s candidacy and advance […]