HUNGRY HORSE – The U.S. Forest Service says vandals caused more than $5,000 worth of damage to signs along a 14-mile stretch of road at northwestern Montana’s Hungry Horse Reservoir. The agency says the signs included route markers, hazard signs and those marking the location of campgrounds. Signs were pulled from the ground and driven […]

WASHINGTON – A conservative, free-market advocacy group will begin airing ads this week pressing Senate Republicans and Democrats to vote against a bill that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Club for Growth wants to scuttle a bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and John Warner, R-Va., that the Senate is […]

Good morning and happy birthday Wild Bill Hickock. On the Beacon this morning, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will visit Salish-Kootenai College in Pablo today for a town hall rally at 3:30. Vandals caused $5,000 worth of damage along a road near the Hungry Horse reservoir, and the U.S. Forest Service is now investigating. Check […]

HELENA – The percentage of Montanans who say they’ll vote for a Republican over a Democrat in the state Legislature is at its highest point in more than three years, a new poll shows. Forty-three percent of those polled said they were more likely to vote for a Republican for the state Senate or House, […]

HELENA – Sen. Max Baucus and Rep. Denny Rehberg hold comfortable leads over their challengers, a new poll shows. Baucus, a Democrat who is running for his sixth consecutive six-year term, has a 65 percent to 26 percent lead over Republican Rep. Michael Lange of Billings, according to a poll done by Mason Dixon Polling […]

BILLINGS – The National Rifle Association has endorsed Montana’s Democratic governor, Brian Schweitzer, as he seeks re-election to a second term. NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said Tuesday that his organization’s backing reflects the governor’s support of gun rights and laws to preserve fishing and hunting access. Schweitzer’s Republican opponent, Roy Brown, also has been […]

Matt Triplett and Lexy Rianda are typical teenagers with very untypical weekend hobbies. When the school week’s over, Triplett likes to hop on the back of an angry, one-ton bull. Rianda prefers to wrestle down goats and ride horses at breakneck speed. They both understand where their sport stands in the pantheon of high school […]

Eric Berry left behind a legacy. Business partners say he had boundless energy and persistent creativity, which inspired projects like the impressive Eastside Brick condominium complex in Kalispell and a similar renovation project in Libby. Berry, a developer, building designer and innovator, died in a motorcycle accident near Kalispell on May 16 at the age […]

Flathead County authorities say a 42-year-old man was beaten to death along U.S. Highway 2 near Kalispell and a 35-year-old man has been arrested. Steven Maycumber was killed during a fight Monday night. His body was taken to the state crime lab in Missoula for an autopsy. Flathead County deputies say Michael Cuchine was arrested. […]

BILLINGS – Montana’s Democratic presidential primary is narrowing to a battle over undecided voters, as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama look to persuade last-minute fence-sitters to back their campaigns. A recent poll by Lee Newspapers showed Obama with a 17-point lead over Clinton among likely Democratic voters in Montana, although 13 percent said they […]

Betsy Robinson and her husband, Steve Gehman, hunch over a zagging line of paw prints. On this bracing morning in the northern Rockies, the couple raced at first light to the end of a dirt road near Bozeman, Mont., strapped on snowshoes, and went sleuthing for a set of animal tracks supposedly spotted by a […]

Good morning. Please have a relaxing and reverent Memorial Day. On the Beacon this morning, the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company has announced it is considering reducing production at its smelter by as much as two-thirds. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is working on a deal to conserve about a quarter of Plum Creek’s land for public […]

BILLINGS – The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton says her Montana visit on Tuesday will include an appearance in Pablo on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Clinton is scheduled to hold a town-hall-style meeting at Pablo’s Salish Kootenai College at 3:30 p.m. MDT. She plans to be in Billings for a rally at 8 […]

Technically, Memorial Day is not a political holiday. But, in the midst of an election year the two are inevitably intertwined. Today, each of the presidential candidates joined millions of Americans marking the national holiday, while President Bush laid a wreath and spoke at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery. And recent verbal […]

HELENA – A new poll finds Democratic incumbent Brian Schweitzer in front as he faces a challenge by Republican Roy Brown in the race for governor. The poll conducted for the Lee Newspapers of Montana found 55 percent of the likely Montana voters who were questioned back Schweitzer, compared to 30 percent for Brown. The […]