Monday 7/23 8:02 a.m. Someone on Conrad Drive found a miniature motorcycle. 8:15 a.m. A Marion resident said that the neighbors dug a big culvert on his property then filled it up with water. 8:37 a.m. A Kalispell man was mad at his sisters. 9:39 a.m. A man on Sunnyslope Road in Lakeside claimed that […]

BISMARCK, N.D. – A new study says North Dakota’s oil production could jump more than threefold by 2025 to more than 2 million barrels a day. The study released Wednesday by Bentek Energy LLC of Colorado also says natural gas production could more than quintuple by 2025 in the Williston Basin. The basin includes the […]

GREAT FALLS – Ten Blackfeet tribal members are claiming they have seats on the nine-member Tribal Business Council after a council member was removed, replaced and then voted with four others to return himself to the board. Councilman Bill OldChief told the Great Falls Tribune that a group of five council members voted Monday to […]

In Montana’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Jon Tester and Republican challenger Denny Rehberg, each campaign has put forth its own fall debate schedule while accusing the other of avoiding debates. As of last week, Tester and Rehberg were set to debate twice in Billings on Oct. 8 and Bozeman on Oct. […]

Things seem to finally be rounding into shape on area rivers. I got out on the North Fork finally, and the float had all the sensations of summer. There was the all-important feel of moving water beneath the boat. Lakes have their place – somewhere to fish when rivers are high – but that feel […]

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has informed Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead that he shares the governor’s desire to end federal protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears. Salazar wrote to Mead late last week, saying he expects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies will finish their analysis of the effect of the […]

BIGFORK – Lokita, a Chinese Water Dragon, rested comfortably on her handler’s arm and gazed back at a crowd of onlookers. Some in the crowd were focused on Lokita, while others were staring at a much larger water dragon in the background, cruising across Flathead Lake with 22 people inside it. Lokita, who normally resides […]

HELENA – The state Supreme Court was asked to remove a campaign finance initiative from the ballot that declares corporations aren’t people and that money isn’t political speech. If passed, I-166 would direct Montana’s congressional delegation to support a constitutional amendment undoing the effect of aspects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. […]

Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus once said, “You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing in upon you.” Essentially, rivers are always changing, always offering new experiences even though they run in roughly the same channels. This is something local kayaker Chris Evans understands about the Swan River […]

A late-night storm on Sunday generated more than 100 lightning strikes in the Flathead National Forest and sparked seven small fires. By Tuesday six of the fires had been doused and only the eight acre Snow Peak Fire continued to burn in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. According to the forest’s public affairs specialist, Wade Muehlhof, […]

HELENA – The commissioner of political practices on Tuesday tossed out four complaints alleging misrepresentation of a candidate’s record after a judge’s decision that the underlying state laws unconstitutionally restrict free speech, the latest development in the ongoing battle over Montana campaign finance laws. In May, U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell ruled a law requiring […]

Larry Barber, of the Missoula Country Club, and Rob Mangini, from Whisper Rock Golf Club in Arizona, won the fifth annual Flathead Beacon Pro-Scratch golf tournament held on July 23 and 24. Barber and Mangini shot a 66 in Monday’s first round at Eagle Bend Golf Club in Bigfork and 64 in Tuesday’s second round […]

Jeff Jefferson of Naches, Wash., won wire-to-wire at the Montana 200 last weekend, becoming just the fourth driver in 22 years to win the signature event multiple times. Jefferson, who also won the 200 at Montana Raceway Park in 2006, held off runner-up Ryan Wells of Hingham and third place Jason Fraser of Snohomish, Wash., […]

While new memories were being made, last weekend’s East-West Shrine Football Game brought back a lot of good memories for Grady Bennett. Bennett played in the East-West Shrine football game in 1986 when he was an all-state quarterback for Flathead. He returned in 1997 and 2007 as an assistant coach from Flathead High. Now the […]

Flathead Valley Community College officials are reluctant to say it’s a sure thing, but the prognosis is good for the college to establish a two-year agricultural program sometime in 2013. The school has been exploring the idea for the last few months using a $121,000 United States Department of Agriculture grant it received in 2011. […]