DENVER – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has named a new regional director to oversee eight Western states. Steve Guertin was named the acting regional director last fall. He was the agency’s budget officer for eight years in Washington, D.C., before his interim appointment. Guertin has a bachelor’s degree from Norwich University in Vermont […]

SOMERS – Last August Jeff Pernell sat down with parents and told them why the Flathead Valley Montessori Academy was not financially capable of continuing. Now he’s sitting down with them and trying to plan a language immersion session in Costa Rica for the students. The FVMA has weathered its financial difficulties with the help […]

Good morning, and happy President’s Day. On the Beacon this morning, representatives of the gay community have demanded an apology from U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg over a prank he played on another congressman. Kalispell Regional Medical Center is hosting an exercise next week to address how to deal with possible pandemics. Editor Kellyn Brown speculates […]

It’s time for the Whitefish City Council to vote on the critical areas ordinance. At a meeting beginning at 7:10 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the council will hold its final public hearing on the complex storm water drainage law. A vote is expected on the ordinance’s first reading. The meeting will be held at City […]

HELENA (AP) – A $250,000 federal grant will be used to help figure out ways that Montana areas long dependent on the wood-products industry can make the transition to different economic foundations. The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded the grant to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, which sought the money in November […]

Yesterday, I watched as a snow leopard ran across the rocky slopes of the Himalayan Mountains, leapt 50 feet in the air, and landed without missing a step in its pursuit of a markhor. One of the rarest and shyest animals on the planet, people who dedicate their lives to researching snow leopards consider themselves […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – An election-year dispute over whether to allow loaded guns in national parks is holding up a vote on a massive bill affecting public lands from coast to coast. Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to score political points by injecting a “wedge” issue like gun rights into a noncontroversial bill. Republicans counter that […]

How do you prepare for something you have yet to see? Plan for the worst but hope for the best. “It’s our job to get ahead of the curve and take responsibility,” Public Health Nurse Allison Bishop said. “We need to be in a position to mitigate this situation and get through it with as […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Thursday included the following: 6:17 a.m. A man on Columbia Falls Stage Road called the Sheriff’s Department to inform them that he had captured a 12-year-old runaway who was trying to steal his car. Deputies picked him up and returned him to his family. 3:43 p.m. […]

HELENA (AP) – Representatives of the gay community demanded an apology Friday from U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana over a prank involving an Idaho congressman. Last month, Rehberg reportedly placed a package on the airplane seat of fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson during a Middle East congressional delegation trip. The package included a […]

David Lewis has been waiting a long time. But now he has a giant smile on his face. In December, the chef-owner of Pescado Blanco in Whitefish finally got his cabaret license from the state. “It was three long years waiting for the license,” he said. But no sooner had he received the blessing of […]

Tiana Burns (22) gets off a shot as she catches an elbow (and perhaps more) from Polson’s Christa Red Crow (24). Burns (22) boxes out as a teammate shoots the second of two free throws. Kelsey DeWitt (40) rips an outside jumper during the varsity game. Kayla DeWitt (42) takes a ‘bo as she defends […]

When the Montana Republican State Central Committee voted back in August to create a Presidential Preference Caucus on Feb. 5, 2008, we made an educated guess that Super Tuesday essentially would determine the Republican nominee for president. One of the main reasons we decided to hold a Feb. 5 caucus, instead of waiting until the […]

Mark and Christy Harkins were warned about high school romance. They were told it’s puppy love – it won’t endure after graduation. Two decades after they finished high school in Snohomish, Wash., the Harkins, both coaches and teachers at Glacier High School, are preparing for their 16th wedding anniversary. “It’s a hard thing because you’re […]

Good morning; today is Remember the Maine Day – the anniversary of the U.S.S. Maine’s sinking in Cuba’s Havana harbor in 1898, an incident which eventually led to the Spanish-American War. On the Beacon this morning, a Hungry Horse man is dead after accidentally shooting himself in the face while carrying several loaded weapons. As […]