The Whitefish City Council is set to continue discussion on a controversial critical areas ordinance tonight a week after it decided to delay voting due to unresolved concerns regarding the document. The ordinance essentially outlines regulations to protect sensitive storm water drainage areas – or critical areas. A variety of concerns were raised at the […]

Good morning; today is the anniversary of the Challenger shuttle disaster. It’s a frigid morning in the Flathead with blizzard conditions – stick with the Beacon for updates on school closures and the latest weather reports. In other news, Myers Reece reports on the North Valley Food Bank, which makes the most of roadkill by […]

Last week, my dad celebrated his 35th year with his company. It’s the same small engineering firm that he joined straight out of college, and worked his way up the ranks over the years to become part owner. His dad worked for 41 years at Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore. He started as a laborer in […]

At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the line to load Whitefish Mountain Resort’s Chair 1 grew. Five inches of overnight snow called even the lazy from their beds. Chomping to hit powder, the line pressed forward as the clock ticked past the lift’s scheduled opening time. The new $5.2-million chairlift installed by Doppelmayr C-Tech of Salt Lake […]

UPDATE 1:20 p.m. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the West Glacier region and Flathead and Mission valleys at 9:25 a.m. for blowing and drifting snow and dangerous wind chills. The advisory remains in effect until 5 p.m. Monday. Also, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department is still advising “emergency travel” only […]

The Lake County Sheriff’s Department have made two arrests in the Dec. 31 Ferndale-area homicide of Clyde Wilson, 24. According to a statement issued by Sheriff Lucky Larson Monday afternoon, detectives obtained an arrest warrant Jan. 27 for 19-year-old Ronald Lon Petersen of the Bigfork area. Petersen was arrested by local authorities late Sunday evening […]

HELENA (AP) – The group that spearheaded the lawsuit leading to the 2004 court decision declaring state funding of schools inadequate says it’s heading back to court to try to get more money for public education. The Montana Quality Education Committee board voted Thursday to return to state District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena, arguing […]

After losing a 2007 class heavy with one- and two-time state champions, it was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Columbia Falls High School’s speech and debate team. However, champions rarely seem to listen to what is supposed to be. Columbia Falls speech and debate team members won their tenth Class A state […]

BILLINGS (AP) – John McCain’s campaign on Saturday unexpectedly appointed former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns as chairman of his Montana presidential campaign, a post that belonged to Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger for four weeks. McCain spokeswoman Crystal Benton announced the change toward the end of the Montana Republican Party’s Winter Kickoff in Billings. The lieutenant […]

To 6-year-old Garret Kegoli, with brush in hand, creativity is only limited by the amount of paint at his disposal. For the last three weeks, Kegoli and other Somers/Lakeside Boys and Girls Club members have been working on bringing color back to downtown Bigfork. “It’s so dreary after the Christmas decorations come down,” Local Color […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Three mountain avalanches killed a skier and left as many as four others missing Friday as California strained under nearly a week of snow and rain. One avalanche struck Friday afternoon at Wrightwood in the snow-laden San Gabriel Mountains. Michael McKay, a 23-year-old employee of the Mountain High ski area, was […]

  Shiloh Knudsen (35) snags a rebound in the JV game.

It never ceases to amaze me how some stories come out of nowhere to become media blitzes, like the ongoing Fairfax, Virginia snow-day-Youtube-debacle. But while this story may appear quirky and insignificant, it raises real questions about the rift between parents’ generation and teenagers, questions of respect and boundaries, and the increasingly scarce commodity of […]

Good morning and happy Burns Supper. It’s another cold day in the Flathead, but at least the weekend is approaching. Dan Testa catches up with Kalispell firefighter Brandon French who, when not dousing flames, wins ski mountaineering races. The parole hearing for Jacob Woods, the Kalispell man convicted of intentionally running over two bicyclists, has […]