The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Wednesday included the following: 8:15 a.m. A wild driver ran over and smashed a mailbox on Lore Lake Road. 9:46 a.m. A one-hundred-dollar bill, sunglasses and laundry soap were taken out of an unlocked vehicle in front of the Rainbow Bar. 11:56 a.m. A man that […]

While heavy rains swept away most traces of valley snows this week, Whitefish Mountain Resort saw a different story. Snow. Lots of it. Groomers reported 25 inches of new snow on Sunday and Monday, and forecasters are predicting even more snowy weather and colder temperatures heading into the opening day on Dec. 8 for the […]

BOZEMAN (AP) – Rebecca Mercer scored 30 points, including four 3-pointers, to help lead Montana State to a 79-69 victory against Utah Valley on Wednesday night. The win snapped the Wolverines’ 11-game winning streak that dated back to last season. Sarah Strand added 12 points for the Bobcats (3-4), while Krislyn Wallace and Erica Perry […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Laura Cote scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to help put Montana past Portland 67-63 on Wednesday night. Sonya Rogers added 15 points and Johanna Closson had 12 for the Lady Griz (4-3). Britney Lohman led the team with 10 rebounds. Montana trailed 25-20 at the break but chipped away […]

BIGFORK – At the beginning of November a Bigfork High School student found a note in a bathroom titled “People to Kill” with three names written on a piece of toilet paper. In a post-Columbine world of “zero tolerance” and heightened awareness, the school and the whole community heeded the warning. It was an extreme […]

HELENA (AP) – Another Democrat says he is not going to run against Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg. Kendall Van Dyk of Billings says he has decided to stay in the state Legislature instead. Democrats have been looking for someone to replace Bill Kennedy ever since the Yellowstone County Commissioner dropped out of the race […]

Good morning and happy birthday to the longest reigning monarch in the world, Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The new Beacons are on the stands, and packed with new features, including an ongoing weekly column by the godfather of ski filmmakers, Warren Miller. For his premier column in the Beacon, he lambastes Al Gore for bleak […]

The Flathead County Sheriff reports for Tuesday included the following: 1:21 a.m. An inmate in the detention center needed to be put into a padded cell after repeated run-ins with the wall. 9:04 a.m. A felon broke into the back door of Fast Toys in Kalispell and escaped with two motorcycles. 9:04 a.m. A resident […]

If you are to believe Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, who also received an Academy Award for his documentary about global warming, everyone should immediately sell any ski or snowboard equipment they own and give up their futile search for powder. To that scenario I say, “Forget it, Al!” All weather is unusual and the […]

Stunned by the sub-prime mortgage crisis and staggering under a soaring increase in home foreclosures, the national real estate market was a veritable minefield in 2007. Montana took a hit, though it did not suffer nearly as much as some other states. And while Realtors and economists anticipate some slowdowns and “market corrections” in 2008, […]

Advertising for and selecting your staff is one of those areas where you can get plenty of “learn by doing wrong” experience, but it’s not a good place to make a lot of mistakes. The first time I placed an ad for programmer, silly me used the word “assembler” in the ad. Everyone and their […]

I’ve recently written three stories for NewWest.net on what makes and keeps Whitefish special. You might think that’s a lot of coverage for one little town in northwestern Montana, and you’re probably right. Many cities are trying to do the same things, so perhaps Whitefish isn’t all that special when it comes to city governance […]

BIGFORK – In recent months, voters in the Bigfork and Somers-Lakeside school districts denied construction bonds put forth as an answer to buildings that are full and outdated. The verdict was obvious, but now two small schools are struggling to find solutions to problems that haven’t gone away. At Lakeside Elementary School, storage closets have […]

I was heartbroken when I learned, at a party a few weeks ago, that Whitefish Cuban restaurant Mama Blanca’s had closed. I’ve made no secret of my love for that place; the food was so good that I would routinely make the detour on my way back to Kalispell after a day in Glacier. Its […]

HELENA (AP) – A Forest Service plan to move forward with a timber sale in northwestern Montana jeopardizes grizzly bears and should be blocked, an environmental group contends in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The suit the Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula says the Forest Service arbitrarily advanced the […]