KALISPELL (AP) – An employee for Swank Construction was killed in an accident while driving a forklift to a construction site in Kalispell. The Montana Highway Patrol says the commercial forklift veered off the road and tipped over, pinning the victim. The man died at the scene. His name hasn’t been released.

Live Music: Friday: Good Wood Trio at the Rocky Mountain Roadhouse, Badwater Bill at Scotty’s, the Silver Platters at The Cottage and Russ Nasset at the Great Northern Saturday: Another packed schedule, including inaugural DJ night at Red’s Sports: Friday: Flathead Braves vs. Glacier Wolfpack football game at Legends Field at 7 p.m. Saturday: Glacier […]

HELENA (AP) – United Food and Commercial Workers Local 4 has reached a settlement with two Safeway employees in Polson who filed complaints over their efforts to leave the union. Complaints filed this spring by Gerald Rasmussen and Carla Crandall, who work in the store’s meat department, said the Butte-based union inadequately informed them of […]

“It’s been a long haul. Actually, it’s been an almost two-year process,” says Superintendent Russell Kinzer, “We’re definitely a little tired.” And a little disappointed. Bigfork’s Board of Trustees put out a request to voters; $11.1 to update the high school and $5.5 million for the elementary school. The high school bond failed, but the […]

The Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff’s reports for Wednesday included the following: 7:44 a.m. A car hit a bicyclist on Woodland Avenue. The biker was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with a possible broken arm. 8:08 a.m. An aggressive burglar kicked in the door and stole some tools out of a house that […]

Good morning and happy General Casimir Pulaski Memorial Day. The Beacon is chock full of scintillating news today. My story about attending a meetup for presidential candidate Ron Paul at the library in Kalispell last weekend is an interesting window into a small but passionate political group in the Flathead. Bigfork contributor Katrin Frye reports […]

Montana’s lawmakers are trying to make it easier to get along with each other. Following nasty election campaigns, hurt feelings are so rampant that grown men and women need to be separated for a while. Cool off. Find some alone time. It’s legislative timeout. And it was just one of the solutions pitched at a […]

A recent U.S. Supreme Court announcement to examine the constitutionality and cruelty of lethal injection could influence the fate of Montana’s two death row inmates, one of which is a murderer convicted for crimes in the Flathead. The Supreme Court announced in September it will hear the claims of two convicted murderers on death row […]

The ongoing partisan kerfuffle over bookkeeping mistakes in the administration of tax rebates by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his staff has raised some intriguing accusations on the blogosphere: pro-Republican machinations by legislative fiscal division staffers – who are supposed to be nonpartisan. Chuck Johnson, of Lee’s capital bureau, on Sept. 28 first reported the accusations […]

HELENA (AP) – A Canadian man who intentionally crashed a rented airplane into a northwest Montana lake in 1982, leading to the accidental drowning of his girlfriend, has been sentenced for illegally obtaining an American passport five years ago, his attorney said. Jerry Ambrozuk was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Sherman, Texas, to 4½ […]

Tony Prato stops short of predicting what Flathead County will look like in the next 17 years, “This study isn’t meant to be the crystal ball.” But, he is eager to get county officials and citizens thinking about the effects of economic growth and land use policy. Prato and a team of seven others spent […]

HELENA (AP) – Key lawmakers said Tuesday the Legislature made a mistake by using ambiguous language in the tax rebate bill, indicating they would support a special session to fix the problem. Although they still support the governor’s decision to authorize the rebates, they expressed concern that the law was written in such a way […]

A local financial institution exec recently asked me why I have my business account at Wells Fargo. He knew the answer for most people who have personal accounts there is “they’re all over Montana”. For me, the answer is different. They aren’t in Columbia Falls, so why am I willing to burden myself with driving […]

Good morning and I wish you a happy and healthy International Top Spinning Day. I haven’t spun a top in years, but today just might be the day. There’s a monkey in the Beacon office today too. Don’t ask. It’s a booming news day and this week’s Beacons are on the stands. The top news […]

KALISPELL (AP) – A Montana Highway Patrol trooper died in a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 2 near here Tuesday morning, the fifth patrolman killed in the line of duty in the 72-year history of the patrol. David Graham, 36, was southbound at about 9:30 a.m. when a northbound Dodge pickup drifted across the center […]