HELENA – A memo from the Legislative Audit Division indicates problems with issuing permits continue to pile up for the state Department of Environmental Quality. The memo says a backlog of wastewater permits at the DEQ’s Water Protection Bureau is affecting the agency’s ability to protect Montana’s ground and surface water quality. The memo says […]

1:39 a.m. Someone in Whitefish threw an old mattress away then set a nearby dumpster on fire. 3:22 a.m. A mountain lion was seen near Rhodes Draw in Kalispell. 8:30 a.m. An employee at an Evergreen laundry mat likely stole $400 from the safe. 10:24 a.m. A golf club was stolen from a vehicle at […]

Kalispell City Council set a public hearing for August 4 to consider creating a parks maintenance district at its meeting Monday night, by a vote of 5-3. The district could help to raise money to maintain city parks, but some council members, including Councilman Bob Hafferman, are clearly not enthusiastic about the idea. The proposed […]

Good morning; on this date in 1889 the Wall Street Journal was first published. On the Beacon this morning, Kalispell City Council votes set a public hearing for a Parks Maintenance District Aug. 4 and approves a women’s addiction recovery center to locate on Northern Lights Boulevard. Several records were broken at this weekend’s invitational […]

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has announced a $32 million plan to clean up a Superfund site in Evergreen, near Kalispell. The agency released its decision Monday on the former Kalispell Pole and Timber, Reliance Refining Co. and Yale Oil Corp. facilities, collectively known as the KRY site. Water and soil contamination was detected […]

Most nonprofit organizations rely on banquets, auctions or even car washes and bake sales to raise funds to finance their work. For the Flathead Attention Home, though, sending athletes running, biking and paddling through 55 miles of Montana scenery has proved the trick. The Glacier Challenge is a six-leg multi-sport race that’s perennially the biggest […]

Patriotism is hard on the body. For those who choose to imbibe into the wee party hours, there’s that post-Fourth of July pain. But whether you choose the nightlife or not, the holiday festivities catch up to you. Too much sun, too little water. Burnt skin and sore eyes. Mosquito bites. Then there are those […]

COLUMBIA FALLS – Columbia Falls Aluminum expects to lay off about 125 hourly workers when it shuts down a pot line later this month. Soaring power prices are the main reason that CFAC officials announced a curtailment in aluminum production at the plant this spring. The company gave a 60-day notice of pending layoffs on […]

HELENA – Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg says the House Appropriations Committee has passed a measure to keep the phrase “The Last Best Place” from being trademarked. Rehberg says he included language in the House Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus included identical language in the Senate funding bill in mid-June. […]

HELENA – Advocacy and special interest groups pushing politicians to embrace universal access to medical coverage are targeting Montana, but did not immediately get commitments from the state’s leading politicians. Health Care for America Now announced Tuesday that it will challenge political candidates to embrace affordable health care coverage for all. The campaign will spend […]

12:28 a.m. A report of people spray painting under an Evergreen bridge turned out to be a man and a woman who were camping out. 1:06 a.m. Two men were reportedly fighting at a Lakeside casino. 7:38 a.m. A man in Hungry Horse was assaulted and then robbed by the driver of a 2008 Toyota […]

Lakes and trails in the Jewel Basin Hiking Area are just starting to open up, enabling fisheries biologists to take their first samples from lakes poisoned last fall. “It was encouraging,” says Fish Wildlife and Parks biologist Matt Boyer, “to see, from our samples, life coming back.” Boyer and his colleagues are taking samples to […]

HELENA – Presidential candidate Barack Obama says some talks between Plum Creek Timber and the Bush administration amounted to backroom dealing that threatens public access to hunting and fishing in Montana. Obama referred to talks in which Plum Creek and the Forest Service discussed easements that allow company use of national forest roads to reach […]

A Somers man pulled two injured men from burning wreckage when a small passenger plane crashed early Tuesday afternoon just south of the Kalispell City Airport near Ashley Creek. The plane’s two passengers were transported by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for treatment. The victims’ ages, names and conditions were unavailable, according to Flathead […]

This coming Thursday (July 10), the First Best Place Task Force will be hosting the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce After Hours Mixer at Glacier Discovery Square. You might recognize the address: 540 Nucleus Ave. Glacier Discovery Square is the home of the Glacier Discovery Center, formerly known as the First Citizens Bank building, recently […]