The gondola is crowded this morning as it climbs rapidly in the clear blue French sky. On board are 75 other snowboarders and skiers. With a lot of pushing and shoving I barely manage to get onto the third gondola load. The 22 inches of powder snow has gotten everyone in town up early. The […]

Just after 8 a.m. in the KOFI radio newsroom, Mike Holton leans into the microphone to report a story on budget increases at Glacier National Park. Snow caused several car accidents overnight and Holton is working on getting more details. Later in the day, the trial resumes for Steffanie Ann Schauf, accused of killing a […]

The Flathead Valley’s backbone and engine for economic fertility remains small business. But as the national economy flounders and the price of some goods rises faster than inflation, many moms and pops are finding it harder to stay afloat. Nationwide, everything from wheat to coffee, from cheese to raw materials, has increased in price over […]

HELENA – A lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana challenges the lethal injection procedure the state uses in executions. “As it stands today, there are more safeguards to ensure that an inmate getting his wisdom teeth pulled receives proper anesthesia, so that he does not feel pain during the procedure, […]

Chris Fritz graduated from Montana State University in 2006 with one goal in mind: to move back to the Flathead and reinvigorate agriculture in this region by making it profitable, self-sustaining, and a leader in the growing market for biofuels. And he is betting it all on a little known European weed called camelina. “I […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Wednesday included the following: 9:17 a.m. A wayfaring dog in Columbia Falls was caught in an animal warden trap. 1:03 p.m. Parents and students at Somers Elementary School were counseled after a child, who thought his teacher gave him too much homework, wrote a list of […]

HELENA – Montana’s commodity exports rose nearly 35 percent in 2007, to a record $1.74 billion, the state Commerce Department said Tuesday. Bulk shipments of wheat led the exports. Those wheat shipments reflect $613 million in sales, up nearly $203 million from 2006. “We have seen an increase in both our exports and in manufacturing […]

HELENA – The Montana Board of Realty Regulation has voted to repeal a rule that bars real estate brokers from offering rebates and other incentives to their customers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday. The decision was made in response to an investigation by the department’s Antitrust Division, the agency said in a news […]

GREAT FALLS – Former President Bill Clinton tried to woo not only voters on behalf of his wife during a four-city stop in Montana on Tuesday, but also the state’s seven undecided superdelegates. Clinton poked fun at the situation superdelegates suddenly find themselves in. In a close contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, […]

Head coach Josh Munro isn’t the only one excited about Glacier High School’s inaugural tennis season. The 55 students who showed up for the first day of practice apparently are ready to go too. Munro, coach for boys and girls tennis at Glacier, said even though many of his players are freshmen, they aren’t necessarily […]

When Darryl Kistler first met Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., Kistler was a graduate student in seminary school assigned to chauffer Wright, a keynote speaker, for the week. He remembers Wright as a charismatic and talkative man, eagerly engaging Kistler in conversation ranging from church theology to professional basketball. “You’d ask him one question, and he’d […]

Last week we talked about becoming the Google of your market. Part of being the Google is keeping an eye on yourself, your competition and your market niche. Sounds like a heck of a lot of work, doesn’t it? It can be, but the internet has a way of making things like this far easier. […]

HARDIN – Gov. Brian Schweitzer toured the empty Hardin jail on Tuesday and defended himself against frustrated city and detention center leaders who said the state hasn’t done enough to try to open the facility. The fate of the center is in a legal battle between the city, which owns the jail, and the state, […]

Good morning and happy birthday Hans Christian Andersen. It’s a sunny morning in the Flathead and the new Beacons are on the stands. Our top story this week looks at the reaction of the local branch of the United Church of Christ to the controversy surrounding comments by the pastor of another branch of its […]

BILLINGS – A Billings disc jockey got into some hot water with the Department of Environmental Quality over an April Fool’s Day joke in which he told listeners the city was under a boil order because of a virus in the water. Casey Paul told listeners of FM rock station KRPM that city residents should […]