HELENA – U.S. Sen. Max Baucus is returning more than $20,000 in campaign donations to defense contractor L-3 Communications Holdings and its executives after a subsidiary came under scrutiny for setting up shell corporations in offshore tax havens, spokesman Barrett Kaiser said Thursday. “As soon as Max heard about the situation, he immediately directed his […]

HELENA – U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy didn’t abuse his discretion when he required the government to produce a pretrial list of witnesses and evidentiary documents in its asbestos case against W.R. Grace & Co., a federal appeals court has ruled. The case involves public exposure to asbestos in the Libby area, where Grace used […]

“We’ve had rain and wind,” lamented Ann Donahue of the Dirty Hands Garden Club. The club opened their farmers market on May 1, but with wintry weather lingering on, the market was small and sparsely attended. But today brought a different story. With sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, smiles bloomed down the row […]

HELENA – There was no deal on the table to commute the sentence of a Canadian on death row in Montana, and recent reports to the contrary are just “Canadian domestic politics,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Tuesday. The governor’s comments follow reports by a Canadian news agency that he told a top Canadian consular official […]

Shortly after Sen. Hillary Clinton gave her victory speech following a decisive primary win in West Virginia Tuesday, her husband climbed onto the flatbed of a red Dodge truck in Kalispell and told a shivering crowd of thousands they would “never ever ever have a chance to vote for somebody who is a better change-maker” […]

At its most recent meeting, the Kalispell City Council voted 6-3 to purchase a little more than a half acre of property on the south end of town at a cost of $332,000 to allow for the future expansion of the city airport. While the vote was relatively uncontroversial and the meeting sparsely attended, the […]

This is the finale of my look at Flathead business websites, so let’s look at places to sleep around the Flathead – or more accurately, let’s look at their websites. Again, we’ll skip the franchise/national chains since they are all going to be operating whatever web site infrastructure their corporate parent gives them. This week, […]

At a public comment forum for a proposed prerelease center last week, members of a local working committee gauged community support for the project for the first time, receiving a largely positive response from about 30 people in attendance. Prerelease centers are designed to ease inmates from life in a correctional facility to living independently […]

Good morning and happy birthday to MC Hammer. No surprise here, but the top story on the Beacon this morning is former President Bill Clinton’s visit last night to Kalispell. Clinton arrivied an hour late but, despite chilly, rainy weather, was greeted by a sizeable crowd at FVCC. Check out Beacon photographer Lido Vizzutti’s slideshow […]

The five-year anniversary of Darlene Wilcock’s murder passed with a whisper. There were no rallies or memorials. Family members and friends simply did what they do so many other days – they mourned deeply and made it through the day. On April 17, 2003, Wilcock was found strangled to death in a Motel 6 room […]

WASHINGTON – The House moved Wednesday toward passing a $290 billion farm bill that contains more subsidies for farmers as well as big increases in food stamps and other nutrition aid to help people with skyrocketing grocery prices. Supporters hoped for enough votes to override a promised veto by President Bush. Some Republicans criticized the […]

DEARBORN, Mich. – Democrat John Edwards has given his long-awaited endorsement to Barack Obama. It’s a major boost from a former presidential rival as Obama tries to shrug off Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is determined to press ahead. Edwards was to appear with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as Obama campaigns in a critical general […]

While they may not be matched in numbers, the amount of passion Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s supporters enjoy is second to none. When it became clear weeks ago that Sen. John McCain had all but wrapped up the party’s nomination, Paul supporters nationwide were undeterred. Locally, when former Pres. Bill Clinton stumped in Kalispell […]

Tomorrow, May 15 from 5 to 6:30pm, Edward D Jones, Fairway Mortgage, Sterling Title and the Alpine Clinic (and perhaps others) will host Columbia Falls’ May Business After Hours session. Come by and meet the staff members at these businesses, see your neighbor, munch on some of the fine hors d’oeuvres (aka munchies) and do […]

BROWNING – Federal officials are investigating the shooting death of a 3-year-old girl in Browning. Mya Angel Pepion died of a gunshot wound on Thursday, according to her obituary. Jessica Fehr, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Billings, confirmed that her office is investigating the case with the FBI. She says the FBI […]