Kalispell’s city attorney could be stepping in as interim city manager after a misunderstanding involving the state’s retirement program led the previously approved manager to relinquish the position before starting this week. Charles Harball, Kalispell’s city attorney since May 1, 2001, is in line to become the temporary chief administrative officer effective immediately, he told […]

BILLINGS – A dog that was feared dead after it was swept away in a weekend avalanche that killed its owner showed up four days later at the Montana motel where its owners had stayed the night before going backcountry skiing. Search and rescue team member Bill Whittle said he was “positive” that the Welsh […]

Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Libby involving a husband and wife. Police Chief Jim Smith says 51-year-old Dale Kinniburgh Jr. called 911 at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and told the dispatcher he had just killed his wife, 55-year-old Katherine Kinniburgh, and was about to kill himself. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department says officers […]

The U.S. Postal Service is featuring an image of Logan Pass in Glacier National Park on an international rate postage stamp to be issued later this month. The stamp was designed by art director Ethel Kessler, based on an image taken by National Geographic photographer Michael Melford. The image shows Logan Pass, the highest point […]

Staff at Kalispell Regional Medical Center say a 7-year-old girl is recovering in the hospital after being attacked by four American Bulldogs over the weekend. A hospital spokeswoman says the girl was moved from the intensive care unit to the pediatric unit, and was listed in stable condition Wednesday. Flathead County deputies say the girl […]

Eight votes. Of the 122,255 votes cast on a frosty January evening in Iowa, that’s all that separated the winner of the state’s storied caucuses, Mitt Romney, from his surging rival, Rick Santorum. In an almost eerie coincidence, Mr. Romney won nearly the same percentage of the vote, about 25 percent, as he did in […]

HELENA – An investigation into allegations of sexual assault at the University of Montana has found evidence of non-consensual sex going unreported at the university, according to a report released Tuesday. Former Montana Supreme Court Justice Diane Barz was hired by the university to review allegations that two female students were given a date-rape drug […]

LAKESIDE – Kevin White is quiet and methodical these days, prone to empty gazes and carefully selected words. He has shrapnel in his lungs, trauma in his brain and nearly 20 medications in his system, and he finds it difficult to keep pace with life’s daily proceedings. He is 29 years old and on this […]

Monday 1/2 10:16 a.m. A man on Two Mile Drive said that his houseguest bought a bunch of pornography through his cable provider then left without paying for it. 10:44 a.m. A woman on Farm Road said that she was confronted by a collie while out walking her dog. She said the dog growled then […]

Those hoping for a little sanity in federal public-lands policy got an early Christmas present when Sen. Jon Tester’s wilderness bill, the disingenuously named Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA), was cut from the trillion-dollar must-pass 2012 omnibus budget. Tester’s bill was quietly shuffled through one Senate committee hearing (on “miscellaneous public lands and forests […]

WHITEFISH – After discussion went deep into the night on Jan. 3, the newly assembled Whitefish City Council unanimously approved a resolution of intention to commit $2.5 million in tax-increment finance funds to a high school reconstruction project, surpassing the city manager’s original proposal of $1.75 million. On a night when multiple people mentioned how […]

As timber mill owners and managers in Montana, we’re disappointed that the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a bill to create jobs for loggers and millworkers, was prevented from passing in Congress last month. Hundreds of workers in our mills, along with hundreds of independent contractors and vendors we work with, all supporting hundreds of […]

WASHINGTON – The oil industry’s top lobbyist warned the Obama administration Wednesday to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline or face “huge political consequences” in an election year. Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said it would be a “huge mistake” for President Barack Obama to reject the 1,700-mile, Canada-to-Texas pipeline. Obama faces […]

Flathead County officials say a 7-year-old girl suffered extensive injuries over the weekend when she was attacked by four American Bulldogs near Kalispell. Sheriff Chuck Curry says deputies, animal control officers and an ambulance were called to a residence near Creston shortly before noon on Saturday. Curry says the girl and her father were visiting […]

DES MOINES, Iowa – In the kickoff contest of the 2012 presidential race, Republican candidates argued up to Tuesday’s finish line in Iowa over which candidate the voters can trust and who they can count on to defeat President Barack Obama. With large numbers of likely caucus goers still undecided or willing to change their […]