KALISPELL (AP) – A Hilton hotel scheduled to open here later this month has a conference center that can accommodate 700 people, which the owner and local promoters hope will draw more convention traffic to the Flathead Valley. Bob Voelker, president of the Cleveland-based Gateway Hospitality Group, has Hilton hotels finished or in the works […]

The backdrop is a Montana farm, in Big Sandy this time, and the story is familiar: A politician on recess from his voting duties has returned home. His jeans are dirty. He’s working on a tractor. Antelope prance nearby. And I think I’m about to get sick. You could fill a Herman Melville-length book with […]

For some, the game goes on. The Flathead Bravettes’ softball team ended its season with a tough 5-4 loss to Helena Capital at the state tournament in Kalispell. But for senior stars Brianna Compton, Leslie Quay and Christina Zorn, college ball awaits them, though this doesn’t soften the sting from May 25. “I keep thinking, […]

In my new job here at the Beacon, my desk is a stone’s throw from Main Street in downtown Kalispell. The glass display cases of our storefront translate a lot of sound to our office: the flabby growl of logging trucks, the high-pitched whine of Japanese motorcycles and the squeal of brakes accompanying every red […]

On a warm Wednesday afternoon, two Columbia Falls families got a new start and took their first steps on the road to home ownership. After a brief welcome, Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Patti Gregerson introduced the newest Habitat for Humanity families, a few board members, donors and volunteers and then the fun began. Construction […]

HELENA (AP) – General Electric Co. plans to open a new facility in Montana next year, creating about 150 jobs, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Thursday. The new operation will be a customer care center for GE Commercial Finance, dealing with the leasing and financing of commercial equipment, said company spokesman John Oliver. Oliver said […]

KALISPELL, (AP) – A new proposal to drill for coal-bed methane north of Glacier National Park has Montana officials looking for a permanent solution to energy development issues in southeastern British Columbia. “We’re tired of fighting this project after project after project,” said Rich Moy, water management chief with Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and […]

On a fishing trip on the South Fork of the Flathead River, I caught a small cutthroat trout on my fly line only to witness a large bull trout inhale the fish as I reeled the cutthroat to the boat. You hear them all the time — fishing stories like these, of more anglers hooking […]

Kalispell City Council broke out the big, white binders Tuesday night and began tackling the city’s operating budget for fiscal year 2007 and 2008. Any talk of Memorial Day weekend barbecues evaporated in the face of a two-hour presentation by City Manager James Patrick and other staffers detailing their proposal to maintain Kalispell’s level of […]

With a National Trails Day work project on June 2, the Whitefish-based Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation kicks off their summer volunteer program. The group will hit the Middle Fork of the Flathead for trail clearing and celebrate afterwards with a barbecue. Saturday’s trail work is just a prelude to 17 foundation-run volunteer work trips scheduled […]

Less than three years after Flathead County voters approved the biggest school bond project in Montana history, the bulldozers and hammers will be laid to rest this summer. Architects and builders have spent about $53.5 million on a massive makeover of area schools, adding more than 300,000 square feet and renovating thousands more. Those numbers […]

The corridor of the proposed Highway 93 bypass cuts an imaginary swath through Kalispell’s west side. It’s hard to head west out of town on Foys Lake Road or Sunnyside Drive and not think about the changes those areas will soon undergo, and the changes taking place already. Last week’s rejection of the proposed Ashley […]

Just another typical busy Saturday afternoon of “honey do’s.” Or so I thought. On this sunny Saturday afternoon before Memorial Day when I’d rather be watching kayaking in Bigfork, I had memorable retail experiences at both ends of the spectrum. I stopped by Cenex to grab some potassium softener salt (not the regular sodium-based stuff […]

Glacier Park International Airport is growing up fast. Sheets of plywood surround an expanded security checkpoint still under construction. Airline ticket counters have been moved and overhauled. In the area outside Airport Director Cindi Martin’s office, a copy of New York magazine sits on an end table. People are flying to the Flathead, from New […]

Legislation sometimes affects those who least expect it. This time – the Boys and Girls Club in Columbia Falls. When full-day kindergarten was passed by the Montana Legislature, School District 6 (SD6) suddenly found itself with a need for more classroom space. The obvious place is the old junior high school, which has been leasing […]