HELENA – Gasoline prices have dipped below $3 a gallon at stations in many Montana cities, while AAA Montana reports the statewide average price of a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.09. Average gas prices fell 3.1 cents per gallon from Thursday to Friday. The average price of diesel fuel was $3.88 on Friday. AAA […]

HELENA – The Montana Supreme Court restored the state’s century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees in a ruling that appears to buck a high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted political speech rights to corporations. The decision grants a big win to Attorney General Steve Bullock, who personally […]

This was considered by some analysts to be the year when the first signs of economic turnaround would arrive. After a difficult start to 2011, that hopeful prediction began taking shape, albeit slowly. Flathead County saw several signs of improvement in the last 12 months, but not until hitting a new rock bottom for unemployment. […]

After finishing with a 9-3 record and winning the first playoff game in school history, Glacier High School’s football team has three players on the roster for the 66th annual Montana East-West Shrine Game, which will be played on July 21 in Great Falls. The rosters for both the West and East teams are announced […]

Politico’s David Catanese obtained recent numbers from GOP pollster John McLaughlin that show Congressman Denny Rehberg with a six-point lead over incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, 46-40. Fourteen percent remain undecided. At least three separate polls on the highly competitive race have been released in the last few weeks. Last month, PPP found Rehberg up 47-45. […]

BILLINGS – Two teenagers were injured when the double chair they were on fell off a lift at Red Lodge Mountain ski resort in southern Montana. Resort spokesman Jeff Carroll says the boys were about halfway up the Willow Creek lift when the chair separated from the haul line at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. The […]

Monday 12/26 6:19 a.m. Reportedly an obnoxious, drunken kid was kicking someone’s vehicle on Highway 35 in Bigfork. 11:50 a.m. A Kila man reported that the neighbor’s dogs “just took down a deer.” 1:29 p.m. Two vehicles traveling through the Columbia Falls area were apparently swerving and intentionally trying to hit each other. 2:38 p.m. […]

With the Iowa caucuses just six days away, the latest poll is good news for Mitt Romney and bad news for Newt Gingrich. It also shows a bit of a surge for Rick Santorum, who now leads the second tier of candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination – particularly among evangelical Christians drawn to […]

For the third consecutive month, the National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Economic Trends report, a key economic benchmark used by Federal Reserve officials and congressional leaders, showed an increase in small-business optimism – a leading indicator of economic growth.? ? While this news gives a glimmer of economic hope, a closer look at […]

A 19-year-old accused of stabbing a Kalispell man during a home invasion earlier this month will undergo a mental health evaluation before his case proceeds in court. Dante Kirpal Kier, of Santa Barbara, Calif., appeared in Flathead County District Court for his arraignment on Dec. 29, but his counsel, public defender Brent Getty, asked District […]

At the end of the runway in Boston’s Logan Airport, the pilot and co-pilot had gone through their check off list before departing. As the twin jet engines on this Boeing 737 began to rev up the passengers were gently eased back in their seats by the 25,000 pounds of thrust generated by each of […]

Wildlife officials say wolf hunting will close in portions of northwest Montana on Thursday after hunters filled the harvest quota for the area. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Tom Palmer said hunters filled the 19-wolf quota for a wildlife management area that includes portions of Lincoln and Flathead counties. Palmer says the season will […]

WHITEFISH – An investigation into a Christmas Eve fire at a Whitefish nursing home concluded that a 93-year-old resident died of natural causes before her lit cigarette set her apartment on fire, authorities said Tuesday. Mae Thompson was found deceased in her Mountain View Manor apartment Saturday after firefighters responding to a fire alarm at […]

The dirt road leading to Montana Academy cuts through a prairie surrounded by forest. Cell phones are no good here. Only a few cabin homes dot the landscape. The closest city is a day’s hike away. Teenagers from all over – California, New York, Florida – arrive in this rural setting and almost always feel […]

Sunday 12/25 10:45 a.m. A man on Sunny Lane reported that an ex-employee took his trailers off his property and is now “holding them hostage” in an undisclosed location. 11:23 a.m. A woman called from Pennsylvania stating that her parents, who live in Martin City, needed some sort of animal warden assistance with a dog […]