MISSOULA – As the Plum Creek Timber Company becomes increasingly prominent in the real estate game, the nation’s biggest private landowner is learning to deal with the ebbs and flows of those two unpopular headline grabbers of late: the weak housing market and its associated credit worries. Less than a week after the timber giant […]

Good morning and happy Dia De Los Muertos. There’s lots on the Beacon this morning. The top regional and state-wide story is that the families of two 1982 murder victims pleaded with Gov. Brian Schweitzer yesterday not to commute the sentence of the murderer, who is a Canadian national. Schweitzer recently said the Canadian government […]

Montana’s top news story Thursday morning was the tearful, impassioned pleas made to Gov. Brian Schweitzer by the families of two Blackfeet men murdered in 1982 by Ronald A. Smith, of Red Deer, Alberta. The families met with Schweitzer after he revealed last week that he has been under pressure from the Canadian government to […]

Don’t be fooled by Glacier High School’s Kramer Wilson. He may have dressed as actress Mary Kate Olsen on “twin day” spirit week with classmate Chad Dawson who played Ashley Olsen, but Wilson also is a starting corner and co-captain on the Wolfpack football squad. The junior is the points leader on defense and second […]

Montana has some new copper barons, but they may not be around for very long. Thieves are risking their lives to steal copper; spurred by the rising value of the metal, they’re taking it out of everything from phone lines to air conditioners to electrical substations. And while the theft hurts businesses and individuals at […]

Republican state Sen. Roy Brown swung through Kalispell Thursday to formally announce his candidacy for governor against incumbent Democrat, Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Speaking to a crowd of about 30 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Brown described his intent to lower property taxes, eliminate the business equipment tax, and increase the accountability and integrity of Montana’s […]

Whitefish got its mountain bike dirt park with the flick of a wand. So many volunteers showed up to help that the park virtually shaped up in two days. Even a tot on a Hot Wheels tricycle lent a hand. “The fence went up in three hours, because 20 people worked on it,” laughs Armory […]

The Kalispell Fire Department suffers from low morale, high turnover, distrust in leadership, poor communication between senior officials and line firefighters, and a lack of focus regarding training, according to several former and current firefighters within the department. But Fire Chief Randy Brodehl said he is guiding his young squad through a period of intense […]

Imagine that your attention to quality is so weak that you could make enough bad product today (or next week) to actually kill your company.Who was monitoring their sanitation processes, other than the understaffed, seemingly incoherent USDA, who actually thought about it for a few days before asking for the recall, for reasons that none […]

Elton John is returning for an encore performance in Missoula in April. All those people who were irate after waiting in line for naught to see him get another chance to land tickets to the “Rocket Man: Number Ones” tour. If the name of the show is any indication, I’m assuming Elton will, once again, […]

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good adventure, and I’m excited to embark on a brand-new adventure with this weekly column. As a resident of Flathead Valley, “Ask Jack” is here for my Montana neighbors, who I know love the outdoors and wildlife as much as I do. I’ve loved animals since I […]

The day Jeffrey Bowman collapsed during football practice air quality monitors in the valley reported unhealthy conditions. Bigfork High School coaches, however, weren’t the only ones who deemed it safe to run drills: All but possibly one of the area’s five other public high schools held outdoor practice on Aug. 13. Bowman, 17, died a […]

There was no getting around the fact that it would be a tough night. A father coming to share the legacy of his daughter, a 16-year-old girl shot and killed in the worst high school shooting in American history. There were tears, but also applause, laughter, and song. People filled Glacier High’s new auditorium to […]

HELENA (AP) – The state Corrections Department says an internal investigation into Montana State Prison e-mail found “disgusting” behavior by employees — and may lead to the discipline of as many as 47 staffers. The prison system said Monday it has notified the FBI and the Montana attorney general after finding e-mails with sexually explicit […]

Good morning and Happy “Lose Your Entire News Buffet First Draft” day. State Sen. Roy Brown, R-Billings announced he will challenge Gov. Brian Schweitzer in the 2008 election. A 20-year-old Butte man was charged in a hit-and-run that killed a girl over the weekend and left two girls hospitalized. The state Department of Corrections is […]