BILLINGS – A student pilot whose plane crashed into a snowy mountainside during a training flight survived overnight by wrapping himself in a tarp and then hiked out a mile through waist-deep snow to meet rescuers, authorities said Wednesday. The plane went down late Tuesday in a forested slope on Big Pryor Mountain, about 40 […]

Organizers of the long-proposed Glacier Performing Arts Center recently revamped their building plans – scaling down in size and costs – and expect in the next few months to know whether the project’s a go, or if it’s time, at least temporarily, to close the curtains. “The positive thing is that everybody we talk to […]

Last week, Lady Griz forward Johanna Closson had one focus: moving past the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. But, after losing to Vanderbilt in the final game of her college career, she’s free to begin planning for another “big dance” – her wedding party. “We’ve just kind of been waiting until basketball was […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Tuesday included the following: 7:54 a.m. An intoxicated transient was sitting in an Evergreen resident’s Ford Bronco. The transient said he was just sitting there until the church opened. He was asked to leave. 9:29 a.m. Someone broke into the West Shore Food Bank and scattered […]

You’ve probably heard about pending legislation to allow visitors to our national parks to carry loaded and accessible firearms. The cover story is the concern that people must be able to protect their families from perverts and wild animals infesting our national parks. To this overused assertion, I must ask why doesn’t the gun lobby […]

WEST GLACIER – Officials at Glacier National Park are seeking public comment on proposed upgrades to facilities at Logan Pass. The popular high point along the Going-to-the-Sun Road has become one of the park’s most visited places, especially since a new public shuttle system was implemented. Park officials want to build new waterless restrooms powered […]

HELENA – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is extending her upcoming trip to Montana. Clinton and Barack Obama announced earlier that they will campaign in Butte on April 5 at an annual dinner held by the state Democratic Party. On Monday, Clinton’s campaign said the Democratic presidential candidate also plans a stop in Missoula on April […]

Good morning and happy Pecan Day. It’s another cold morning in the Flathead. On the Beacon Mark Riffey opines about the fact that there are four Columbia Falls School Board seats open but, so far, just one applicant. The Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs is hoping to reduce its number of patients. Seeley Lake […]

After taking a week off for spring break, the cast of The Pajama Game is back at it today, in three days of dress rehearsals for Thursday night’s premiere. As I noted last week, players from Columbia Falls High School will present their interpretation of The Pajama Game, a Broadway play featuring the choreography of […]

Nearing completion of his 56-county tour of the state, U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., traveled through Flathead County this week to discuss trade issues with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and tour North Valley Hospital in Whitefish. Rehberg announced last week his intention to seek a fifth term as Montana’s only U.S. representative, and swung […]

Since my childhood, I have never been able to escape nicknames. Growing up, my father elected himself the Bestower of Bizarre Nicknames and has made sure that my birth name Myers, which he surely had some role in coming up with as well, is used as sparingly as possible. At some point, he settled on […]

MISSOULA – Federal mine regulators have proposed over $90,000 in fines against Troy Mine, based on inspections carried out after a mine worker was killed in a cave-in last summer. The Mine Safety and Health Administration charges that mine managers did not take adequate steps to keep miners safe. “We view that as completely false,” […]

People just don’t need studs like they used to. On March 19 Stimson Lumber Co. announced the closing of two stud mills in Bonner and Coeur d’Alene as a response to nationwide struggles in the housing and lumber markets. A little up north in the Flathead, Plum Creek Timber Co., the giant of the timber […]

BILLINGS – A man associated with the anti-government Freemen was ordered released from prison after serving nine years of a 15-year sentence. John P. McGuire of Calistoga, Calif., appeared before U.S. District Judge John Coughenour of Seattle Monday for resentencing, after a Missoula judge ruled in February that McGuire had ineffective legal counsel and vacated […]

DENVER – A 21-year veteran of the National Park Service, Charles “Chas” Cartwright, has been named superintendent of Glacier National Park in Montana. The Park Service intermountain regional director, Mike Snyder, says Cartwright will assume his new position in late May. He will replace Mick Holm, who served as Glacier superintendent for six years before […]