MISSOULA – Sen. John McCain may be the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but supporters of Ron Paul in Montana refused to abandon their candidate. The group led an impassioned, but friendly fight Friday at the Montana GOP convention, shaking things up in an effort to secure the state’s 22 national convention delegates for Paul — […]

WHITEFISH – Patti Hirst has been interested in ghosts for years. Not scary ghosts, but snow ghosts, the towering snow-covered trees long admired by skiers in the Flathead. Under the right conditions, these trees look like large guardian specters, morphing accordingly to each person’s imagination. “I was always fascinated with snow ghosts,” Hirst, who lives […]

Three state House Republicans defeated in contentious primary-election battles this month say they will file as write-in candidates. John Ward of Helena, Carol Lambert of Broadus and Bruce Malcolm of Emigrant were among 14 GOP lawmakers that Republican Rep. Roger Koopman of Bozeman complained were not conservative enough. They were subjected to a heavy dose […]

HELENA – The campaign of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says it is sticking with former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns as its state chairman, following his comments last week that McCain was not his first choice. Earlier Thursday, Montana GOP officials had said Burns was being replaced as the campaign’s speaker at the state party […]

The Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Wednesday included the following: 9:41 a.m. A Columbia Falls resident called in to report trespassing toddlers who were walking through their house. The caller said the toddlers lived next door. They tried to wake the kids’ parents but were unable to do so and needed some assistance. Deputies came […]

Good morning. On this date in 1975, Jaws was released, and the summer blockbuster was born. On the Beacon this morning, we look at the anonymous online novel chronicling the goings on in Whitefish. Bret Sickmann, 51, of Kalispell is dead after suffering extensive injuries in a dirt bike crash. In Libby, the Environmental Protection […]

Kathleen Loa first began thinking about pursuing a green career while she was a student at Oberlin College. Now, armed with a degree in chemistry, she is taking the first step in that direction. She’s serving as an intern at the nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, D.C. After earning a master’s in energy […]

It’s not supposed to happen this way. Challengers are not supposed to defeat entrenched incumbents in primaries. Yet on June 3rd, three little-known conservatives did just that, and Montana politics may never be the same. Running energetic, issue-driven campaigns, Mike Miller, Joel Boniek and Lee Randall defeated three heavily favored veteran legislators. Their basic message: […]

On the morning of June 21, three Montanans and a Missourian will wake early, throw on their backpacks and begin a journey that will take them 500 miles through the mountains in 10 days or fewer, while climbing 100,000 vertical feet. That’s the equivalent of traveling from Kalispell to Seattle and scaling Mount Everest three […]

Opinion writing can be a tricky business, particularly when it comes to criticism. An influential critic has enormous power. A bad review can put a restaurant out of business within weeks of its opening. A scathing editorial can effectively write a candidate’s political obituary. The opinion writer must take great pains not to destroy whatever […]

Live Music: Friday: Can’t Hardly Playboys at Red’s; Night of Jazz at Swan River Hall; Silver’s Platter at The Cottage; Good Wood Trio at Blue Canyon; Rudy and Gena Mendez at Los Caporales; Splinters at Scotty’s; DJ Q at Finish Line; Russ Nasset and the Revelators at Great Northern; Xtra Sauce at Ricciardi’s; Sonny King […]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Preliminary tests indicate 13 more cattle in a western Wyoming herd may be infected with brucellosis, dampening hopes the disease may be contained to a single herd. “We still have very high hopes that we’ll maintain this to one herd and not lose our free status, but that’s probably just a prayer […]

MISSOULA – A Vietnam war hero joined former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns to tout John McCain in anticipation of a tug-of-war with Ron Paul supporters over the state’s delegates to the national GOP convention. Burns told several hundred Republicans that McCain is “tried and true” and worthy of conservative votes. A Montana man who spent […]

The Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Thursday included the following: 5:34 p.m. Someone stole $10 worth of gas from an Evergreen gas station. 5:38 p.m. Someone threw a dirty bag of trash out and left it on the North Fork Road. 8:04 p.m. A woman in Evergreen punched another woman in the face. 8:17 p.m. […]

CHEYENNE – State and federal agriculture officials began taking blood samples on Wednesday from a western Wyoming cattle herd infected with brucellosis, the first step toward figuring out whether the state will lose its federal status as brucellosis-free. The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory this week confirmed positive brucellosis tests for two cows from the herd […]