GREAT FALLS (AP) – Four Montana National Guard units, including the 639th Company in Kalispell, have been ordered to begin additional training for possible deployment. Meanwhile, the 120th Fighter Wing of the Montana Air National Guard has been told to expect deployment in late February or early March. The units ordered to begin extra training […]

“Be confident,” coached Jennifer Boye as 17-year-old Emily Wilson stepped onto the ice. For this 15-minute compulsory test, Wilson executed technical maneuvers on her skates—inside edges, outside edges, forwards, backwards, turns, and circles. No music played. No crowd cheered. Just the click of her blades striking the ice as three judges assessed every move—body position, […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Thursday included the following: 5:27 a.m. Someone called in about a suspicious coatless man who was out hitchhiking in Whitefish. He was wearing a T-shirt and no one seems to be sure whether he was wearing pants. 8:26 a.m. A woman in Whitefish called in to […]

When U.S. Army Maj. Chris Cavin learned the army’s new mobile classroom for training master gunners would be coming from a company in Kalispell his reaction was confusion: “Kalispell, Montana? Where is that?” A year later, Cavin was happy to be visiting the Kalispell for the first time. “I’m very glad we figured out where […]

On Fri Jan 25 and Sat Jan 26, the Columbia Falls High School Speech and Debate team hosts the State Class A Speech and Debate Meet. Competition will be held at the high school and junior high. Columbia Falls’ rich tradition in this competition is visible in the photo above. Nine state championship banners hang […]

Live Music: Friday: Can’t Hardly Playboys at Red’s; Eric Bibb at O’Shaughnessy Center; Silver’s Platter at The Cottage; Karaoke at Grizzly Jacks; Brad Lee at Scotty’s; Good Wood Trio at Blue Canyon; Russ Nasset at the Great Northern; Mobile Beat DJ at Red’s Saturday: Danny McIntosh at Belton Chalet; Barrel Stove at The Lodge at […]

The end of 2007 saw a flurry of new conservation easements in Montana and Flathead County. Good news? Perhaps not. First, the main reason for this flurry isn’t idealism. It’s money. Stuffed way down in the Pensions Protection Act of 2006, apparently by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is Section 1206 covering “provisions relating to exempt […]

Good morning and happy Global Belly Laugh Day. The freeze continues in the Flathead, but the news is moving. The open house at the Hungry Horse ranger station today will introduce possible changes to motorized travel in the Hungry Horse and Glacier View districts. Myers Reece checks in with Bigfork’s hardy retailers, soldiering through the […]

Nowadays, many new cars are rigged with navigation systems. For their lucky owners, gone is the embarrassment of having to stop and ask gas station clerks for directions. These gadgets have liberated us from the consequences of relying on the unreliable internal compass. Technology has made some of us smarter. But no satellite would have […]

HELENA (AP) – A parole hearing for a Kalispell man convicted of running over two men on a bicycle in 1978 has been postponed until March, said Fern Osler, a parole analyst in Billings. Jacob H. Woods, 45, was scheduled to appear before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole this week. Woods was convicted […]

Every small town has its sports heroes. Every few years, some local kid puts up big numbers playing hoops or football, gets recruited by a university, and ends up reaching for a wider kind of fame in a distant city. But not every town has someone like Brandon French, an accomplished athlete at a sport […]

Any varsity squad led by a kid named Stormy Day brings an element of excitement to the wrestling mat. Especially when the kid’s only a freshman. Day, the Glacier Wolfpack’s freshman phenom wrestler, has grappled his way to a 31-5 record this season, which is an impressive feat no matter how old or in what […]

The Democratic majority in Congress means more wilderness bills will be debated in the nation’s capitol this year. It will inspire debate across the West, too. And it will bring many long-heard mischaracterizations about the wilderness designation. It’s already happening here in western Montana, where some recent editorialists set their sights on the proposed Northern […]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – An extreme skier being filmed Tuesday in the backcountry of Big Cottonwood Canyon jumped a cliff, landed in a rocky area and died from his injuries. Billy Poole was flown to University of Utah Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m. MST, spokeswoman Vickie King said. Poole, 28, […]

Following a public workshop where new information came to light and previously established concerns persisted, the Whitefish City Council decided to hold off on voting on a proposed critical areas ordinance at Tuesday night’s city council meeting. The councilors unanimously agreed to temporarily halt discussion on the ordinance, citing the need for more time to […]