HELENA (AP) – The speaker of the Montana House says he has no quarrel with Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s request for $55 million to pay for fighting wildfires as lawmakers convene in a special legislative session this week. But Speaker Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said he is against Schweitzer’s other goal for the special session: increasing the […]

Not many high school teams, in any sport, can lose 12 seniors, including three all-staters, and enter the next season feeling good about its chances of winning a state championship for the second year in a row. But for Whitefish High’s girls soccer team, the talent pool runs deep. “There’s a lot, a lot of […]

This addiction wears an unfamiliar face. It’s flush and healthy, instead of gaunt and haggard. It’s middle class, not poverty-stricken. In the greater Flathead Valley, as methamphetamine abuse has slightly decreased, the illegal pain pill market has catered to a new kind of drug abuser. “This is something that’s partially taken (meth’s) place,” Geno Cook, […]

Janey Robertson drove 18 hours from southern California to Whitefish with four big dogs, two cats, three rabbits, two cockatoos and her mother crammed in a Ford Expedition. She shared a hotel room with the same crew. It’s safe to say Robertson likes animals. That’s why she and her husband have run a pet store […]

Twice in one week, Whitefish will play home to 40 vintage automobiles. Slicked up rare cars like Corvettes, Ferraris, Porsches, and Jaguars will cruise into town on the third annual Going-to-the-Sun Road Rally. For its 1,300-mile tour, the rally starts in Helena on Sunday, September 2. The five-day drive crosses Going-to-the-Sun Road, passes through Whitefish […]

I admit it, I’m one of the more than 3.6 million people who logged onto YouTube to see the 22-second clip of UFOs flying over Haiti. Just about every post I saw asked the question: real or fake? What scared me more than the shaky hand-held video of two UFOs giving Haiti residents a flyby […]

A poster for the 1989 film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” has U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg’s and Montana Republican Chairman Erik Iverson’s heads superimposed in place of those of the starring, time-traveling high school slackers. Across cyberspace, a video accuses Gov. Brian Schweitzer of favoring tax credits for Hollywood instead of Montana firefighters. Oh, the […]

How many cups of coffee does Montana Coffee Traders roastmaster drink in a day? “Usually only one,” says Scott Brant, “but it’s really strong.” He’s an aficionado who won’t just chug a mug for the buzz. He knows how to relish redolent flavors. Yet this coffee connoisseur has been known to taste up to 120 […]

It is the summer of 2007, almost four decades since the onset of the well-meaning but, as it turns out, wrong-headed political reforms that have made a mess of our presidential nominating system. The public’s passion for reform was fanned throughout the 1960s and ‘70s by Vietnam, Watergate, assassinations, Nixon, and civil disturbances. The eruption […]

WHITEFISH – Standing on the slope near the end of the race course, the first thing you hear is heavy breathing. Then the clang of the chain bouncing against the mountain bikes’ frames as they descend through the trees. Then the pounding of the tires as the riders mow down bumps. The pack of expert […]

The image appears benign: A smiling Samoyed dog looks down at a bighorn sheep standing on the rocky shore of Wild Horse Island. If it was your pet, you might even stick a picture like that up on your fridge. But bringing pets onto Wild Horse Island state park is illegal, and the dog’s harassment […]

HUNGRY HORSE (AP) – A state wildlife technician was bitten on the elbow by a black bear during a trapping operation Tuesday morning in the South Fork of the Flathead River Drainage above Hungry Horse Reservoir. Clay Miller was treated for his injury at a Whitefish hospital and released, the state Department of Fish, Wildlife […]

Laney Hanzel can’t tell you if the Flathead Lake Monster exists. But he won’t tell you it doesn’t. He has file folders full of recorded accounts, maps, newspaper clippings and various tidbits concerning the creature. After nearly 30 years of working as a fisheries biologist on Flathead Lake, he knows the body of water well. […]

One of the most critical things you can do as a business owner is to regularly ask your clients how they feel about the work you did for them, the products you sell and the services you provide. Recently I was reviewing a client’s evaluation/feedback form. His form had areas for various aspects of the […]

MISSOULA (AP) – Legendary rock star Elton John will give Montanans a weekend to remember as he performs on consecutive nights here and in Bozeman in late September. Missoula’s concert will be held at the Adams Center at the University of Montana on Friday, Sept. 28 while Bozeman’s concert is set for the next night […]