HELENA – An effort to restore rail passenger service through southern Montana brought people from around the state to a Helena meeting of the Montana Association of Railroad Passengers. More than 50 people shoehorned into the conference room of the Chamber of Commerce Building for Friday’s meeting. “It just shows you that people in Montana […]

WOLF POINT – Wolf Point Mayor Matt Golik died Sunday when his ATV went through the ice on Fort Peck Lake. City Clerk Marlene Mahlum says Golik was ice fishing at the time. City Attorney Jerry Schuster calls it a tremendous loss to the Wolf Point community. The 59-year-old Golik was area manager for Montana-Dakota […]

A downtown improvement project that includes major streetscape changes and a three-story parking garage could clear its first major hurdle tonight at Whitefish’s city council meeting at 7:10 p.m. The council is expected to vote on a recommendation to approve the project’s conceptual design plans. Some residents, including business owners, have expressed concern over a […]

Yesterday, I found a rare jewel on the Wal-Mart discount CD shelf. I grabbed it, amazed at the sheer luck of my find, and went to work on cracking the impossible cellophane wrapping as soon as I reached the parking lot. I know of only one other person that would’ve shared my excitement, or even […]

HELENA – Trout Unlimited is asking for Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s help in advancing a balanced energy policy. The conservation and sportsmen group says it wants a federal energy policy that recognizes that some areas require special protections. Trout Unlimited’s Kendall Van Dyk also says hunters and anglers want a seat at the table on discussions […]

HELENA – Environmental groups filed another lawsuit aimed at blocking the proposed copper and silver mine beneath Montana’s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. The lawsuit, filed Friday on behalf of 10 environmental groups, alleges the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t adhere to the Endangered Species Act. The groups say the mine would harm bull trout and […]

The Flathead Braves gave up 28 points in the fourth quarter to blow a late lead and lose to the Missoula Big Sky Eagles 76-71 in a divisional contest at Flathead High School Saturday night. With the win, the Eagles advance to the state tournament held in Great Falls March 6-8. The Braves finish the […]

In a divisional match-up with a state tournament berth on the line, the Flathead Bravettes jumped out to a 9-2 lead en route to 21 first-quarter points and never looked back, taking down Missoula Hellgate 62-44 at Flathead High School Saturday afternoon. The Bravettes, 13-8 (8-5), will be Western AA’s No. 4 seed in the […]

When Ariel Berg takes the reigns of a horse, it’s a lot like music. “Both take a lot of dignity to perform,” said the sophomore French horn player in Glacier High School’s concert band. “It takes grace to present yourself in a certain way and to feel the horse,” Berg said, relating her competition horse […]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Dallas-based company looking to build a $10 billion oil refinery in southeastern South Dakota has billed it as a “green refinery,” but there’s little consensus on what that means. On its Web site, Hyperion Resources describes the proposed Hyperion Energy Center as a “state-of-the-art” refinery and gasification power plant that […]

In a divisional match-up with a state tournament berth on the line, the Flathead Bravettes jumped out to a 9-2 lead en route to 21 first-quarter points and never looked back, taking down Missoula Hellgate 62-44 at Flathead High School Saturday afternoon. The Bravettes, 13-8 (8-5), will be Western AA’s No. 4 seed in the […]

The National Transportation Safety Board says that pilot error led to the crash of a sky-diving plane near Marion last May. The small plane operated by Skydive Lost Prairie crashed May 12 near a private airstrip. The Cessna 182 had just taken off when it circled back, approached too low and went down 200 feet […]

KALISPELL – A radio station’s former office manager is accused of inflating purchases of supplies so that he would receive gifts from vendors. Kent Etchison, 33, of Kalispell, pleaded not guilty to mail fraud Thursday before a federal judge in Missoula. Etchison’s duties at station KOFI included ordering office supplies and managing payments owed and […]

HELENA – The six-year-old lawsuit that challenges Montana’s school funding as inadequate is not relevant under current conditions and therefore is moot, the state attorney general argued in documents filed in court on Friday. The documents are in response to a request the Montana Quality Education Coalition made early in February, seeking a new hearing […]

I’m going to come right out and say it: Until last month, I was one of those insufferable, effete snobs who didn’t have TV. A torrent of vital cultural reference points have been passing me by for years. “Did you see CSI: Miami last night?” a co-worker would ask. To which I would have to […]