I usually avoid screaming on Sundays. It seems inappropriate and strenuous. But this past Sunday evening I yelped – loud and prolonged. What can I say? I was really excited about swimming, if only for a few minutes. Jason Lazek’s epic final leg in the 400-meter free relay, which ensured that Michael Phelps still has […]

At one time, Great Falls had more American elm trees than any other city in Montana, around 14,000. Early urban planners planted the tree due to its majestic size and shape. It grows quickly and is able to thrive in the compacted soil and air pollution of a city environment. But sometime in the 1980s, […]

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. – Two single-engine planes collided in mid-air Sunday a few miles from the Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport, killing all three people aboard, authorities said. Local officials received 911 calls of an “explosion in the sky” around 12:26 p.m., said Det. Dick Blust, a sheriff’s spokesman. Debris from the burned wreckage was scattered […]

Good morning and happy birthday Hulk Hogan! On the Beacon this morning, two Whitefish cousins with sports scholarships will reunite as Griz at the University of Montana in the fall. Plum Creek Timber Company has been working with the state to widen its road easements and what it is allowed to do with them, essentially […]

PABLO – Firefighters continued to battle a 600-acre wildfire Monday about three miles west of Elmo. Wind gusts up to 40 mph caused flames to jump across the fire line Sunday, leaving the main blaze and a nearby 30-acre fire uncontained. Because the two fires are so close to one another, they are being fought […]

6:06 a.m. A man who was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt was acting suspicious near a Bigfork home. Apparently, he was gazing into the windows before running away. 7:58 a.m. A transient was accosted at the baseball fields near Woodland Park by two other homeless men. The men said they would fight him if […]

The itty-bitty dogs. The bad reality TV show. The catch phrases “Likes it,” and “That’s hot.” It all makes it so easy to dismiss blond, doe-eyed heiress Paris Hilton as a spoiled ditz. Before last week, I’d only admired Hilton for her ability to take an identity most everybody despises and a resume devoid of […]

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. – Authorities say the victims of a mid-air collision between two single-engine planes over southwestern Wyoming include a local student pilot and men from Ohio and Illinois. The collision happened just before 12:30 p.m. Sunday about five miles northwest of the Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport. Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell said Monday […]

After nearly nine years of legal wrangling, a group alleging that the operation of Kerr Dam has damaged their lakefront and riverfront properties is set to bring oral arguments before the Montana Supreme Court and has settled an offshoot case that will pay about $200,000 to two local environmental groups. The case was originally filed […]

OUTSIDE TSKHINVALI, Georgia – Russia and small, U.S.-allied Georgia headed toward a wider war Saturday as Russian tanks rumbled into the contested province of South Ossetia and Russian aircraft bombed a Georgian town, escalating a conflict that already has left hundreds dead. Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said the country was “in a state of war” and […]

POLSON – Lake County sheriff’s officials say two wildfires are burning in western Montana. Both are burning near Highway 28 north of mile marker 38. One fire is estimated at around 250 to 400 acres, while the other is about 25 acres. Sheriff’s officials say there was no immediate need to evacuate Saturday night. The […]

GREAT FALLS – The Montana Board of Public Education says nearly 30 percent of the state’s public schools are failing to meet accreditation standards, in large part because teachers are conducting classes in areas outside their expertise. Educators from rural schools, especially, say they are failing to meet standards because they don’t have the money […]

Although the trailhead is located just north of the Farm-to-Market Pork farm, a good day biking a single track never stinks. Offering miles of trails winding, weaving and looping their way through Department of Natural Resources and Conservation school trust property, the Pig Farm is prime riding space for all abilities. “You can make it […]

GREAT FALLS – As Plum Creek Timber repositions itself as a real estate company, it is working with the state of Montana to expand its logging road easements, so it can bring improved access and underground utilities to land that it can later subdivide into rural communities. The state negotiations may shed some light on […]

Courtney and Ashley Ferda, soon to be reunited at the University of Montana, are cousins, celebrated athletes and household names in Whitefish. And they’re best friends. Courtney, who graduated from Whitefish High School in 2007, is entering the second year of her track and field scholarship at UM, while Ashley, a 2008 Bulldog graduate, is […]