On Feb. 23, 1934, the starting gun went off and 57 men on skis shoved out of the starting gate at the same time. The finish line was 3,000 feet below, two miles away and none of the course had been packed. There was only a start and finish line with no gates in between. […]

With a tumultuous financial market, foundations at Flathead Valley Community College and the University of Montana are wary of the negative effects an economic recession could have on millions of dollars in school funding held in endowments. An endowment is created through donations intended for the long-term support of a nonprofit organization – from churches […]

The announcement by British Petroleum last week that it was dropping plans to drill for coal-bed methane in the Canadian Flathead was cause for celebration for just about everyone in Montana downstream of the proposed project. But BP’s pullback only underscores the ongoing proposals to mine and drill in the area that remain. The blunt […]

COLUMBIA FALLS – In this valley of change, with a new generation of land-use laws emerging and a population growing distant from the area’s timber tradition, the F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company looks to the future through the eyes of a new manager. Chuck Roady, who replaced retired Ron Buentemeier as general manager at […]

Strategy #7 – What we have here is a failure to communicate. The famous line from the movie “Cool Hand Luke”, right? Well, your business most likely experiences this same failure: Not communicating often enough with your clients. Yeah, I know. You think this is common sense, but it’ll never work for you because “your […]

Good morning and happy independence day to our readers in the Dominican Republic. In our top local story, the Northwest Montana chapter of the Red Cross is being effectively shut down. Myers Reece also checks in with the new management at Stoltze Land and Lumber, as they try to guide a company nearly a century […]

On Tuesday the two full-time employees of Kalispell’s American Red Cross office were informed they will lose their jobs, effectively shutting down Northwest Montana’s only Red Cross office. Rod Kopp, the chief executive officer of American Red Cross in Montana, delivered a letter detailing the layoffs to the Kalispell office. “Apparently there is some thought […]

As an adolescent growing up in Spokane, Wash., a common complaint among myself and my small posse of troublemakers was that there was never anything to do (“I’m bored”). Of course, in hindsight, there was plenty. And, despite our constant whining, as teenagers we did plenty. One of our favorite activities was loitering in front […]

BILLINGS – The field for fall’s gubernatorial election is now set as Republican candidate Roy Brown tours the state with his new running mate, Steve Daines, to challenge Gov. Brian Schweitzer on taxes and economic development. Daines is a Bozeman technology executive perhaps best known for his sponsorship of an Internet-based campaign last year demanding […]

While the eyes of most sports fans in the valley were on the Northwest divisional basketball tournament, at the Summit Fitness Center in Kalispell, a very different – more vertically oriented – competition was taking place. Thirty-seven rock climbers from around the valley gathered to test their skills ascending the wall, the only indoor climbing […]

In January, I wrote a column about the most expensive deer in the world, which happen to be running around my house in Helena. I concluded, conservatively, that killing these deer cost $2,000 or more per animal. Out of the comment section came the question: What would be a more cost-effective option? Since then, I’ve […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Tuesday included the following: 9:13 a.m. A man who lives in the Forest Acres trailer court called in because he saw someone he has a restraining order against drive by his house and point at him. 9:52 a.m. A woman in the Willow Glen trailer park […]

There’s a whirring, like fans, and a light chattering of metal on wood as mint-tins-turned robots spin, shake, and slide across tables at the Flathead Valley Montessori Academy. “Your robot’s so cool Caroline, it goes straight,” says FVMA student Ellie Eberts. This is the final day of a more than eight-week project. For the better […]

In an intense rivalry game with a state tournament berth on the line, the Whitefish and Columbia Falls boys basketball teams put on the show many people expected, with the Bulldogs edging the Wildcats 68-66 in Monday night’s challenge game. Whitefish, along with Northwest A champion Ronan, will play in the Class A state tournament, […]

HELENA – University system supporters, students and others said Monday that voters should again renew the statewide property tax for higher education. The six-mill levy, worth about $13.4 million to the university system, goes to the voters every 10 years and is on the ballot this year. It was last approved in 1998 with 61 […]