WASHINGTON – Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg is pushing the federal government to expand health care to Vietnam war veterans affected by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. The Department of Veterans Affairs requires that Vietnam veterans prove that they were on land to qualify for Agent Orange-related illnesses. The coverage doesn’t extend to those who were […]

In the 1970s, a wave of 20-something ski bums migrated to Whitefish, some shacking up in the now defunct Montana Hotel and 7th Street Commune. A few left town, but many stayed, evolving years later into business-owners. That influx of skiers also ushered in Backroads, a local band popular in the Flathead. “They were one […]

Good morning. Happy birthday to Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield, the cat with attitude, who hates Mondays and loves lasagna. On the Beacon this morning, one of the first big rock bands in the valley has reunited. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says he has succeeded in expanding the electoral map in his race […]

RED LODGE – Heavy airtankers dropped fire retardant along a ridge near the Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort on Sunday to protect the resort from an advancing wildfire. Resort employees stood by, ready to operate the resort’s snowmaking equipment to send cascades of water against the fast-moving Cascade fire, said Forest Service fire information officer […]

BOZEMAN – Montana motorists and gas station owners are paying more attention to the accuracy of gas pumps due to the high price of gasoline. Complaints from motorists have nearly doubled from last year, said Tim Lloyd, chief of the Montana Weights and Measures Bureau, which tests and licenses all gas pumps in the state. […]

HELENA – An outspoken Montana gun group is endorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown, splitting from the National Rifle Association, which endorsed Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The Montana Shooting Sports Association says the governor does not have the lengthy voting record on guns that Brown does as a state legislator. And the association says it did […]

During a hot, dry weekend in sunny Conrad, the Columbia Falls Swim Team qualified 41 of the 49 swimmers who traveled to the Western Divisional meet. Those 38 swimmers will head to Fort Benton next Friday for next weekend’s Montana Federation of Swimmers State Meet. Columbia Falls placed second in the meet, well behind long-time […]

7:15 a.m. Kids on 4-wheelers tore up the grass near Fairmont Egan School. A parent of one of the miscreants was notified and said they would handle the problem. 9:14 a.m. A young man who called in to report that his parents had pawned his Playstation was taken to jail on a contempt warrant. His […]

As the beginning of a recent Slate business and money commentary states, “It’s not exactly insightful to point out that young people don’t feel the need to have old-fashioned telephones, the kind that are tethered to a house via a wire and provided by a descendant of the original AT&T.” When reporter Daniel Gross conducted […]

WASHINGTON – Montana U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer is briefly mentioned — but not admonished — in an internal report released Monday that says politics illegally entered into hiring decisions at the Justice Department. The report criticizes Monica Goodling, a top aide to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and department liaison to the White House, for […]

RED LODGE – Risk from a wildfire in the Custer National Forest about 12 miles west of Red Lodge has led to evacuation of some homes and a Girl Scout camp. An employee at the Carbon County Sheriff’s Department says she has no reports that any structures have burned. The employee, declining to give her […]

MILES CITY – Montana Democrats adopted a resolution Saturday calling for legislation to address the “double standard” of letting 18-year-olds fight in wars, but not legally drink alcohol. “It simply acknowledges there’s a contradiction and it wouldn’t be fair to ignore,” said Denver Henderson, the 26-year-old Democratic state committee member from Missoula who authored the […]

MISSOULA – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rallied volunteers for the campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday while in Montana for the wedding of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and actress Jennifer Siebel, a relative of software tycoon and part-time Montana resident Tom Siebel. Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, also spoke to […]

I recently celebrated a milestone birthday that included some very expensive meals at some high-end restaurants in California. As a working chef, the price of food is always foremost in my mind. When you’re in business you have to make a profit, otherwise you’re not in business. So I got to thinking about the prices […]

MARION – Joel Atkinson always wanted to be in the sky. When he jumped from an airplane, whether as a skydiving instructor or just on his dives, he was immediately thinking about getting back in the air once he reached the ground. This is the Atkinson friends and family remember. Now his memory is permanently […]