At this week’s Northwest A divisional tournament in Kalispell, Libby’s boys and girls teams, led by standout brother-sister duo Jim and Jackie Mee, will be looking to play spoiler. Ranked fifth and second respectively in the conference, the Loggers have proved themselves capable with close games and a few upsets this season, but as expected, […]

Good morning and happy Hoodie-Hoo day. No, it has nothing to do with Outkast, it’s a day to go outside at noon and shout “Hootie-Hoo!” in order to hasten the end of winter. It’s a crisp, sunny day in the Flathead; the news is bumping and the new Beacons are on the stands. Our top […]

When Publisher Tom Donnelly bought a Nintendo Wii for his – ahem – children, he and I spent an afternoon breaking it in over several competitive virtual tennis matches. Sweating in his living room, swinging the motion-sensitive controllers wildly, another co-worker filmed the duel to prove how absurd two grow men could look – or, […]

KALISPELL (AP) – The family of a Somers man who was struck and killed by a drunken driver is unhappy with a plea agreement in which the driver could serve as little as a year in prison, followed by alcohol treatment. Daniel W. Resler, 32, has pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide for […]

Prompted by news of the subprime mortgage crisis and soaring foreclosure rates, several callers a day contact Kalispell’s Century 21 Home and Investment Center asking for information on foreclosed homes in the Flathead Valley. The response – given national forecasts – isn’t what they’re expecting. “People call with the idea that one, there’s going to […]

Bill Schneider’s last column lives up to his “Wild Bill” marquee, with his wish for environmental groups to stop bickering and get Congress to pass a “wild bill” for Montana. Let ‘em bicker. First, the original Wilderness Act, signed by President Johnson in 1964, designated 9.1 million acres of big-W wilderness up front. Section 3(B) […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Tuesday included the following: 5:50 a.m. Someone called in about a suspicious person at Valley Fitness in Evergreen. The entirely unsuspicious person turned out to be a delivery driver. 6:34 a.m. Someone called in to report a ball of fire falling from the sky near Lone […]

The Bigfork Elementary bond sold, and trustees say a low interest rate means savings. When the Bigfork School Board originally estimated the cost of expanding and updating the elementary school, they factored in a 5-percent interest rate. Trustee Denny Sabo says the bond sold to Stifel Nicoles & Co. at 3.45-percent. Sabo says the Net […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Montana to file a lawsuit against Wyoming over water rights in two rivers that flow through both states. Montana wants the court to rule that Wyoming is using too much water from the Tongue and Powder Rivers, while Montana residents are not getting enough water in […]

Good morning; today is the anniversary of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. On the Beacon Web site, this morning, our top story is ourselves (It doesn’t hurt that it’s a pretty slow news day). We’ve given the Web site a […]

HELENA (AP) – Montana’s U.S. Sen. Max Baucus says he’s seeking re-election for a sixth term. The 66-year-old Democrat has been raising millions of dollars for his campaign fund, and the decision to run again was expected. Baucus last faced a serious challenge in 1996, when current U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg ran against him. This […]

Like something from Lake Woebegon, Whitefish folks are watching a rock. It sits on ice that will melt sometime in the next two months. The status of the rock is more than just passing amusement. Whitefish Lake Institute placed the rock on the ice in front of The Lodge at Whitefish Lake as a fundraiser […]

Several years ago, I slept in a hammock on a volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua for three days with six dollars. The six dollars got me food and a beer on my second night but, surrounded by rural fishing and farming families who had not yet fully embraced a monetary system, I felt lavish. Then, […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – Amtrak will start randomly screening passengers’ carry-on bags this week in a new security push that includes officers with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains. The initiative, to be announced by the railroad on Tuesday, is a significant shift for Amtrak. Unlike the airlines, it has had relatively little […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Monday included the following: 2:18 a.m. An intoxicated and argumentative couple on Ridgewood Drive in Kalispell needed to be counseled on the proper use of 911. 3:13 a.m. The intoxicated woman on Ridgewood Drive called in again because she couldn’t get her boyfriend to leave. Soon […]