Despite Libby’s hot outside shooting, Columbia Falls’ patient offense and often enveloping defense guided them to a 59-53 win Friday night in C-Falls. Zane Ridings (21) and Mackey Nolan surround Logger Joel Fuller (32). Grant Getts (44) battles for a rebound. Mackey Nolan (22) slices and dices for a layup between Jordan Gragert (50) and […]

BOZEMAN (AP) — A standout performance by Montana State’s Carlos Taylor couldn’t have come at a better time — at home, in the Big Sky Conference opener, and against cross-state rival Montana. Taylor scored a career-high 34 points to help lead Montana State to a 74-58 victory over Montana on Saturday night. “I just wanted […]

In a close game with a patient opponent, defense is often the difference between going home happy and going home grumpy. As they’ve demonstrated repeatedly in recent weeks, the Cats love pestering opponent offenses with a frustrating combination of traps and half court presses. Saturday night, that defense and a timely 3-point play in the […]

A team of dogs, harnessed two-by-two to a gangline, pull a sled to the starting line of the first ever Flathead Sled Dog Days at the Del Rey Trail Head on the north end of Whitefish Lake. The 12-dog teams began their 100-mile run, two days of 50 miles, at 8 a.m. Saturday with the […]

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MISSOULA (AP) – Sonya Rogers scored a career-high 32 points to help lead Montana to a 78-65 victory against Montana State on Friday night in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams. Rogers was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and made all nine of her free throws. Tamara Guardipee was the only other Montana player […]

The New Year is an opportunity we set aside to make lofty goals. Work out. Cut down on the alcohol. Eat fewer cheese fries. We make and break these promises each year. So, instead of again feeling guilt-ridden, I will provide resolutions for our city and county governments. I hope they enjoy them. Fewer and […]

Bolstered by recent snowstorms, snowmobiling season in the Flathead Valley is firmly underway – and under new rules – albeit a little later than usual this year. “The first day we’re allowed to groom is Dec. 1,” said Robbie Holman, the Flathead Snowmobile Association’s grooming chair. “We didn’t get out until the 10th this year; […]

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to become the nation’s first black president, captured the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, opening test in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory in the Republican caucuses. Obama, 46 and a first-term senator from […]

After reading more than 300 comments from readers and having a few heated phone calls concerning my last two columns on NewWest.Net about Cabela’s Trophy Properties, the giant retailer’s land marketing division, and a similar endeavor by Orvis, plus a long chat with Cabela’s senior vice president Mike Callahan, a few things have become quite […]

As engaged couples look for ways to make their weddings unique and memorable, they’re taking their nuptials and their pocketbooks further from home, and more and more frequently into the Flathead Valley. The number of destination weddings has increased nationally by a staggering 400 percent over the past decade, according to a survey by the […]

PHILADELPHIA (Dow Jones/AP) – W.R. Grace & Co. is getting ready to gamble the company on the decision of a lone bankruptcy judge who will take up a question that would otherwise be in the hands of an army of judges and jurors. The question set for trial this month is how much the Columbia, […]

Good morning and, the morning after the Iowa caucus, happy Dimpled Chad Day! Our top story this morning describes W.R. Grace & Co.’s trial this month in a Delaware bankruptcy court, to assess the value of the company, and determine its asbestos liabilities. Keriann Lynch examines the lucrative wedding industry in the Flathead. Katrin Frye […]

There was blood everywhere, yet there was no horrific scene. In fact, it was probably more peaceful than a caucus taking place in Iowa that same afternoon. The only violence was the repeated suffering of a small blue ball. Every eight weeks, the Red Cross comes to Columbia Falls in their blue lab coats. In […]

BOZEMAN (AP) – Former Montana State men’s basketball player Brandon Miller pleaded guilty Friday for his role in the shooting death of a cocaine dealer in a case that stunned the community and led the school to re-evaluate its athletics recruiting policies. The 23-year-old Miller pleaded guilty to murder and tampering with evidence in connection […]