KALISPELL (AP) – A woman involved in a head-on collision in October that killed a Montana Highway Patrol trooper has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. JenniRae Bloom, 22, had pleaded no contest earlier this month to careless driving resulting in a death. Justice of the Peace David Ortley sentenced Bloom Thursday to six […]

This evening at 630pm, Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls will be the scene of our annual Night of Lights Christmas parade. You’ll see Old Glory start the parade (don’t forget to remove your hat as it passes by). There will be crafts and such at the Columbia Falls Senior Center, espresso in several roadside stands, […]

When Michael Gallagher looks back at his career as a Flathead Brave, three football games in particular will come to mind. In 2006, Gallagher and his team faced off against Butte twice on the road. In each meeting under the lights the Braves walked away the victor. “It’s always big to beat (Butte) at their […]

After five years of hosting work for the Community Spirit Monument, Kalispell artist Kay Lynn will soon be getting full use of her studio back. Four pillars, each standing nine feet and weighing around 350 pounds, currently dominate a large portion of Lynn’s workspace. Nearly 2,000 brightly decorated tiles adorn the pillars, forming, what organizers […]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) – Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho’s Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69. Knievel’s death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, […]

Live Music: Friday: Glacier Symphony & Chorale at Bethany Lutheran Church in Bigfork; The Third Wheels at Red’s; Silver’s Platter at The Cottage; Badwater Bill at Scotty’s; Somewhere Down the Road at the Blue Canyon; Smart Alex at the Northern Saturday: Brad Lee at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake; Glacier Symphony & Chorale at Bethany […]

Smoke billows around a firefighter through the open door of a burning mobile home off College Avenue in Kalispell. The Kalispell Fire Department responded to the blaze at approximately 12:41 p.m. Friday after smoke and flames were seen near the rear of the home. Firefighters extinguished the fire in the home and in a burning […]

HELENA (AP) – Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday that two construction liens filed against a home he is building are the result of a dispute between contractors and subcontractors and were being settled. “I guess this is the way it goes when you build a house,” Schweitzer said in a telephone interview Wednesday. News of […]

It’s been great hearing from some of our Montana readers. Keep those questions coming to [email protected]! I live just outside Kalispell in the “pet dumping ground.” Each year I must care for kittens and grown cats that are left to fend for themselves. I am currently caring for a small kitten, too frightened to leave […]

Neighbors of a proposed public lake access site in Lakeside have come out in force against the project, but considering the rarity of acquiring such a property at a low price they’ll be hard-pressed to convince county officials to abandon the idea. Flathead County Weed and Parks Director Jed Fischer said rising costs have made […]

Good morning and happy birthday to Louisa May Alcott. Topping Flathead news on the Beacon today, Keriann Lynch writes about the objections by Lakeside residents to a new Flathead Lake public access being offered to the county at a very low price – particularly when other public recreation sites are increasingly endangered. With federal ID […]

In our short history, I think one of the best things about the online component of the Flathead Beacon is how the story comments help us, as journalists, gauge community interest in one topic or another. Comments often clue us in to aspects of a news story we may not have considered, and helps us […]

MILES CITY (AP) – The Miles City American Legion baseball teams have agreed to use metal bats in postseason tournaments and in games against teams that won’t agree to use wood bats. “We had to make a compromise to maintain an affiliation with American Legion,” said Matt Phillips, president of the Miles City Youth Baseball […]

An article by Peter Coy was posted on Businessweek.com Nov 27th entitled The Housing Bust is Really a Land Bust. The article states that the fall in real estate values is due to the fall in land prices and not so much in a reduction in building costs. This is a great example of a […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Wednesday included the following: 10:01 a.m. An invader with looting on their mind attempted to jimmy the lock of a liquor store in Bigfork. 11:16 a.m. A Kalispell resident stopped into the Sheriff’s office because they saw a dump truck littering. 12:54 p.m. A woman on […]