For a girl who thrives on improvisation now, Amanda Weigand used to stick solely to the basics of gymnastics: forward rolls, simple trampoline jumps and weaving through an obstacle course. The simplicity of her early routine is easily explained – she was only 2 years old. After Weigand participates in the West Regional Girls Gymnastics […]

When Lindsey Nelson ties her cleats, slips her hand into a leather mitt and takes her position on the diamond – patience is her greatest ally. A senior at Columbia Falls High School, Nelson grew up in Libby where she enrolled in Little League in the fourth grade. “I grew up around it,” Nelson said. […]

The thousands of dollars Congress recently allocated for roadwork in Flathead National Forest will have ecological and economic benefits for the valley, U.S. Forest Service officials and environmental groups say. But with a road maintenance backlog estimated to cost millions it’s not nearly enough. “This is a great chance to get a jump on some […]

As a fan of both comic writing and trenchant cultural criticism, I found myself dismayed and, later, hopeful at two pieces I read this week. The first essay, from Slate.com, laments the current state of political satire in modern media, taking aim squarely at Saturday Night Live’s lame sketches with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. […]

WASHINGTON – Montana Sen. Jon Tester on Thursday called for the government to investigate the downfall of investment bank Bear Stearns and whether it was related to insider trading. Bear Stearns informed the government last month that it was on the verge of having to file for bankruptcy protection because nervous creditors were demanding to […]

Good morning and happy Barbershop Quartet Day. Congress has opted to allocate thousands of dollars for roadwork in Flathead National Forest, a small dent in a hefty backlog. FWP in Kalispell is auctioning non-perishable wildlife parts to the highest bidder. Amtrak sees a ridership boost in Montana, although the numbers in Whitefish are down a […]

HELENA – State legislators, city councilmen and a prosecutor are among 37 past and present Montana public officials who announced their support Thursday for Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential bid. The Obama campaign held a Capitol news conference with about a dozen of the supporters, among them Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder, a state legislator […]

HELENA – Building a state psychiatric hospital for children is under consideration as a way to serve more than 180 Montana children now receiving care in hospitals around the country. Providing hospital care in Montana might be better for the children and for taxpayers, said Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor. A state-run juvenile psychiatric hospital has […]

POLSON – The director of the Montana Department of Transportation is exploring whether the state can impose limits on large truck traffic on Highway 35, where a tanker truck overturned and spilled almost 6,400 gallons of gasoline near Flathead Lake last week. DOT spokeswoman Charity Watt Levis said director Jim Lynch has asked his staff […]

When Community Concerts first debuted in Kalispell in 1939, the railroad town was nearing its 50th anniversary. Money was tight in the United States; the country was still making its way out of the Great Depression and would soon be entering World War II. Arts were a welcome distraction – films like “The Wizard of […]

From street cleaning to snow plowing, from emergency services to extra parking – all could be paid for if Bigfork established itself as a resort area and instituted a resort tax. “There’s a lot of people out there where ‘tax’ is just a naughty word,” said John Lang, part of the committee that’s spent the […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Thursday included the following: 10:10 a.m. A woman called in to say that while she was at either the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish or a saloon near Columbia Falls, someone spray painted her car. 11:33 a.m. A man who was out walking reported that he saw […]

Last month hundreds of us stood on the banks of the Clark Fork River which courses through 120 miles of the largest superfund site in the nation. We were there to watch the river run free for the first time in 100 years. In doing so we were recognizing the advent of a new economy […]

Live Music: Friday: Can’t Hardly Playboys at Red’s; Silver’s Platter at The Cottage; Karaoke at Grizzly Jacks; Rudy and Gena Mendez at Los Caporales; Big Wheels Basket “BALL” at Kalispell Elks Club; Andre Floyd at Blue Canyon; Smart Alex at Great Northern; Good Wood at Raleigh’s; Splinters at Scotty’s; Sonny King at Blue Moon Nightclub; […]

HELENA – The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state over ballot access rules for independent and minor-party candidates, seeking to get an independent candidate eligible for the U.S. Senate race. The ACLU says its federal lawsuit charges that Montana’s system for such candidates to get on the ballot is burdensome and unconstitutional. It […]