HELENA – Big Sky Conference coaches and media that cover the league predict the University of Montana will win the conference football championship this fall. Eastern Washington was second in both polls, which were released Tuesday at the league’s summer kickoff in Park City, Utah. Montana had seven first-place votes in the coaches poll, while […]

After almost an hour of discussion, the Kalispell City Council voted 7-2 last night to begin negotiating with the county to form a new interlocal agreement for a consolidated 911 Emergency Communications Center. The new center is meant to streamline communications between Flathead County, Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell emergency services. The county’s 911 center […]

After three years of legal wrangling, the lawsuit over the Kootenai Lodge Estates, a development at the northern tip of Swan Lake, appears to have been settled. The Swan Lakers, a community group opposing the 42-acre subdivision, and the defendants, Florida-based developer, the Milhous Group and Lake County, confirmed last week that a general settlement […]

With about half of its team at the meet, the Columbia Falls swim team fought to a fifth place standing this weekend in Shelby. Colton Babcock was one of the team highlights, taking the boys high point award for his age group. Babcock won the 100 yard individual medley, the 25 butterfly and the 25 […]

DENTON – Authorities have released the names of four teenagers from Denton, killed in a fiery one-vehicle rollover Saturday. The victims were 17-year-old Jace Jelinek, 14-year-old Dayne Heble, and brothers 17-year-old Kale Phelps and 14-year-old Kade Phelps. The Montana Highway Patrol says six people were in the vehicle when it drifted on the shoulder of […]

WHITEHALL – Firefighters caught a break Sunday on a 620-acre wildfire west of Whitehall as higher humidity and calm winds slowed the blaze almost to a standstill. “Activity is pretty light right now. It’s pretty quiet,” the Bureau of Land Management’s David Early said late Sunday afternoon. About 150 people have either permanent or seasonal […]

Good morning. Today was the birthday of famous novelist Ernest Hemingway. In local news, a Kalispell teen accused of killing a 67-year-old man at the Sylvan Lake Campground, southeast of Libby told authorities the man’s death was linked to a dispute over money and sex. For the past 32 years, the Glacier Raft Company in […]

Kalispell City Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. to take up a number of issues, including a public hearing on the city’s 2008/2009 fiscal budget, a one-year extension of the contract between the firefighters union and the city and consolidation of Emergency 911 Services with the county. Following the regular meeting, the council will hold […]

Despite a wet, prolonged spring, fire season has snuck in the back door. Over the weekend, crews from Flathead National Forest contained a wildland fire in the Whitefish Range. Approximately 20 fire personnel constructed a fire line and laid water hose on the Red Meadow 1 Wildland Fire – a suspected holdover from a lightning […]

MISSOULA – The Missoula County sheriff’s office has released the name of a 14-year-old boy killed on U.S. Highway 83 while riding a motorcycle near Seeley Lake. Noah Nicholas was pulling out of the Big Larch Campground along Highway 83 at about 2:30 p.m. Friday when he was struck by a pickup truck. The Montana […]

Rewind to the winter of 2001. I am driving my three-cylinder Geo Metro from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Missoula. I had rushed, packing everything I owned into every bit of available space of the tiny two-door hatchback. Had it been a game of Tetris, it certainly would have been a world-record high score. My beagle, Oliver, […]

There’s a new option for Kalispell-area horseback riders, mountain bikers and hikers looking to get outside without having to travel too far. A coalition of local groups recently completed work on a new trail extending up from the corner of Herron Park that climbs atop a ridge, with sweeping views of Foys Lake, Lone Pine […]

If you’re a foodie and you have foodie friends – and if you’re looking to have, start or perpetuate an argument – then try to decide which movie about food is the best. OK, I’ll start. I really like “Big Night,” with Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci. It’s the story of two brothers struggling to […]

WHITEHALL – A roughly 100-acre wildfire burning 10 miles west of Whitehall prompted some voluntary evacuations Saturday, fire officials said. The blaze was reported at about noon and was burning primarily on Bureau of Land Management land. “It’s moving away from any structures,” BLM spokesman David Early said Saturday evening. “Nothing is threatened at this […]

DENTON – Four Denton teens were killed in a fiery one-vehicle rollover near Denton this morning. The Great Falls Tribune reported that a Highway Patrol dispatcher told them six people were in the vehicle when it drifted on the shoulder and rolled when the driver overcorrected. The vehicle caught on fire after ending up overturned […]