Good morning, happy Monday and happy Republic Day to our Turkish readers. The Beacon rounds up weekend Flathead sports this morning. Mark Riffey has loads of killer photos of Hamilton’s stomping of Columbia Falls. The Sports Buffet has just about everything else. An analysis by Lee Newspapers shows that Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s salary ranks 274th […]

I love the bizarre in sports. The bloopers. The trick plays. The plain darn lucky. Sure, I respect talent. I enjoy watching talented athletes. But, I love watching the lucky and bizarre. And I’ve seen few things more bizarre than what happened in a Division III football match-up between Trinity and Millsaps Saturday. Millsaps, up […]

It’s not sneakers and balls, but suits and the Economist magazine. Instead of sweating and running laps, hours of practice are spent on pronunciation and filing. It’s Flathead High School’s speech and debate team and members don’t find it at all odd that they spend their after-school hours voluntarily learning. “I think it’s other people […]

HELENA (AP) – The first meeting of a legislative committee charged with investigating wildfire costs learned that the state’s firefighting bills have surpassed $100 million for the first time in recent years. Lawmakers were told Monday that the state’s bills for the 2007 fire season totaled $107 million. Most is being paid by the federal […]

WHITEFISH – With new subdivisions a norm in Whitefish in recent years, it seems unlikely one would be the first of its kind. But when Whitefish residents call Remax sales associate Scot Blair asking about lots they assume are for condos or townhouses, they’re surprised to learn no one will call this subdivision home. The […]

HELENA (AP) – A 15-judge federal appeals court panel will review a smaller panel’s decision that reversed a number of pretrial rulings in the government’s asbestos case against W.R. Grace & Co. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco announced the review Monday. A date has not been set. The case involves […]

HELENA (AP) – An 85-yard drive engineered by senior quarterback John Barnett helped Carroll College to a 10-3 victory over Montana State-Northern on Saturday, giving the Saints the Frontier Conference football championship. No. 2 Carroll (9-0 overall, 8-0 conference) held the Northern Lights (5-4, 4-4) to 234 yards of offense as the Saints managed just […]

BUTTE (AP) – Senior Corey Warner ran 38 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner with 1:20 remaining, as No. 24 Montana Tech defeated unranked Montana-Western 28-21 on Saturday. Warner scored on runs of 16, 5 and 12 yards. His last score capped a six-play, 62-yard drive in response to a […]

BILLINGS (AP) – Senior quarterback Drew Hedrick passed for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and Mike Thomas ran 86 yards for another score, as Rocky Mountain College beat Eastern Oregon 21-17 on Saturday. Hedrick passed to wide receiver Brian Guisti for touchdowns covering 25 and 24 yards. Thomas rushed 17 times for 154 yards, including […]

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Cole Bergquist threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns as No. 3 Montana beat Northern Arizona, 21-16 Saturday for the 10th straight time. Montana (8-0, 5-0 Big Sky Conference) hasn’t lost to the Lumberjacks since 1997 and is 19-1 against the Lumberjacks since 1988. Montana scored on its opening two possessions of […]

Both Columbia Falls High School and Whitefish High School lost in the first round of the A football playoffs Saturday. Beacon contributor Mark Riffey covered the first home playoff game in Columbia Falls in more than three decades where the Wildcats fell 24-0 to Hamilton. Whitefish was also ousted Saturday by Frenchtown 35-7. On Friday, […]

KALISPELL (AP) – A federal wildlife agent killed a young male wolf west of Kalispell this week. The animal was killed after the Hog Heaven Pack killed two domestic calves in the Brown’s Meadow area, about 15 miles southwest of Kalispell. A wolf management specialist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Kent […]

KALISPELL (AP) – Two fugitives from Oregon accused of shooting at Flathead County deputies Thursday morning have made initial appearances in Justice Court here. Brian Rendon, 36, and Donald Schwindt, 40, are being held without bail on fugitive from justice charges. Extradition hearings were set for Nov. 23. The men were arrested after Rendon’s girlfriend […]

One monkey off our back. Next year, we’ll unload a few more. For the first time in thirty one years, the Columbia Falls Wildcat football team hosted a round one playoff game. On an otherwise gorgeous fall afternoon, the Broncs’ big offensive line was just too much for the Cats, who fell 24-0. Three things […]

HELENA (AP) – Canadian officials have been advocating Montana commute the death sentence of a Canadian national on death row, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday. Ronald A. Smith is one of two people on death row in Montana, and is believed to be the only Canadian citizen on death row in the United States. In […]