WHITEFISH (AP) – High school tennis players and coaches on a charter bus taking them home to Whitefish managed to get off the bus before a fire destroyed it along with luggage and other contents. No one was injured as the fire burned the bus Saturday evening along Interstate 90 about 15 miles west of […]

Former students and teachers haunted their old halls as they said good-bye. Linderman School opened its doors to the community for a history lesson and a farewell on Tuesday night. “Saying good-bye to Linderman is like saying good-bye to an old friend,” former teacher Nancy Ross explained. Current students decorated the walls with posters proclaiming […]

Flowers, herbs, plants, fruits, vegetables, and eggs line up in vendor stalls at the farmer’s markets. As folks seek out nutritious natural foods, the weekly outdoor markets display the freshest locally-grown produce plucked dripping ripe the morning of market day. In the past decade, local markets have nearly doubled to 4,385 nationwide. Whitefish has not […]

Twenty-five to 30 Columbia Falls tennis supporters and CFHS tennis players showed up Monday evening at the Columbia Falls City Council meeting to voice their opinions about the state of the city’s courts. After a prepared statement was read aloud by group spokesperson Mary Ellen Getts, several members of the group – including CFHS Athletic […]

Bonds that fund concrete and steel bars that are the building blocks of a county jail are less appealing than, say, a nod for a new public school. Thus, Flathead County officials have a tough sell. And they know it. At a county commission meeting earlier this month Commissioner Gary Hall, speaking to an architect […]

Whitefish High School may soon need a separate building to store its trophies. The school’s main hallway is crowded with awards. The gymnasium’s walls are blanketed with championship banners that hang over the athletic director’s office – the one Jackie Fuller will move into this fall. She knows expectations are high. “I’m just jacked,” Fuller […]

One of the most spectacular and accessible views of the Flathead Valley is from the summit at Lone Pine State Park. “It’s one of the few places you’re really in the woods and still in town,” John Dittman said. Dittman and his wife, Bev, have been hiking the park a couple times a week for […]

Children will have a chance to wet a line at upcoming events just for kids. These fishing days, organized through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, have been scheduled in northwest Montana to give young anglers an opportunity to fish and participate in fishing-related activities: • June 2, Shady Lane Kids Fishing Day, 9 a.m. to […]

“Stay ‘till May! Stay ‘till May!” That was the drumbeat during a House Republican caucus in the closing days of the 2007 Legislature, which will go down as one of Montana’s most embarrassing. Surely, the majority of legislators played nice during their four-plus months at the Capitol, trying to reach compromise on tax cuts and […]

If you want to go for a walk and see some good art at the same time, get ready for the Kalispell Art Walk June 1. Several downtown Kalispell businesses will have art, food, music and more during this event. Following are the participants. Paint, Metal & Mud Featured Artist Exhibit Opening — Pia Eaves […]

A windswept, snow-covered ridge in the Jewel Basin is a long way from Flathead High School. But for students in the school’s Alpine Club, this is Outdoor Adventure 101. The school’s Alpine Club — and a similar program at the Kalispell Junior High School called the Adventure Club — brings a wide array of outdoor […]

There are 1,679,925 drive-thru coffee shacks in Flathead County. OK, that’s not true, but there are more in this valley than I knew possible. If the amount of cars lined up at the hut near my house in the mornings is any indication of supply and demand, we need a few more. I love coffee […]

The strain on public services caused by the region’s rampant growth was all too obvious at the May meeting of the Flathead City-County 911 Administrative Board, where some members railed against an emergency response system they said was dangerously antiquated, and questioned why the board, in recent months, can’t agree on a solution. At issue […]

Before I get into that, I should introduce myself and this column. I’m Mark Riffey, and among other things, I teach small business owners seven strategies to get more clients, be more productive and be more profitable. You can learn more about me at www.markriffey.com. WARNING: I’m sure I’ll say something that will annoy you […]

Rushing water heralds the changing seasons in Bigfork. Mountain snow pack swells the river; class V rapids test kayakers. But almost 100 years ago logs, not boats, traversed the spring runoff. It’s spring in Bigfork, one year ago. Jack Whitney is sitting in his home with the windows shutting out the roar of the river […]