About three months after we began printing the Flathead Beacon, a grizzled man gripping a copy of our latest edition entered our Main Street office. Calmly, but directly, he asked me, “Are you ignorant or something?” I replied as best I could that I wasn’t, which then began a long conversation about the lack of […]

When a piece of major legislation championed by Montana’s U.S. delegation is passed, the e-mails are inevitable. Such was the case when the House and Senate signed off on the recent Farm Bill with a veto-proof majority. The inboxes filled up in a hurry. “This is a good solid bill for farmers and ranchers in […]

When one is intentionally left out of a debate, or worse, told they can’t participate at all, it’s human nature to assume what’s hidden is fraught with bad intentions. Such is the case with two recent federal land management plans that have been discussed behind closed doors – one involving Plum Creek Timber Co. and […]

As Whitefish High School makes a strong push to begin drug testing its students, school officials supporting the policy should heed the wisdom they pass on to many of their pupils: Don’t overreact. That is not to advocate complacency, especially if the drug problem there is as grave as what was described at an April […]

As Gov. Brian Schweitzer wrapped up an interview with my colleague recently, I quickly interjected to ask two dumb questions: What do you think your chances are at the Democratic vice presidential nomination and whom do you plan on endorsing in the presidential election? He scoffed at the first and ignored the second, deflecting attention […]

Few have the gall of John Earl Petersen. And that’s a good thing. The Spokane man believed to have masterminded the $11 million collapse of Mountain Bank of Whitefish in the mid-1990s was captured in Boulder, Colo., last week. Among his belongings: a blond wig, several dismantled cell phones and a book titled “How to […]

Recently two state departments have reinforced stereotypes that neither wants. It’s become easier to accuse the Montana government of wastefulness upon revelations that its employees are playing video games and swapping dirty e-mails on taxpayers’ dime. Late last year, a Department of Corrections employee reported receiving an objectionable e-mail from a co-worker. A subsequent investigation […]

As Whitefish and Flathead County officials dig in their respective heels for what is sure to be a drawn-out litigation battle, it’s clear the wedge between the two municipalities involves more than the law of the land. As legal arguments focus on who controls the outskirts of a city and what soil can be developed […]

Shay Joshua Garnett acknowledged last week that he has a warrant out for his arrest in Indiana. Despite his legal woes, he promised to continue his fledgling campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., in the upcoming election. And who can blame him? Several elections for higher office, here and […]

Roger Koopman’s so-called “Liberty Project” was intended to lure “pro-freedom Constitutional conservative” candidates to challenge GOP incumbent state lawmakers who he considers to be sellouts in upcoming primaries. And he could have touted the project as a revolution for the right wing of the right, if he himself had filed for reelection – but he […]

There is little stigma attached to Montana. Living here for the better part of a decade, I’ve found the out-of-state response to my adopted home is one of curiosity or adulation or both. Whereas Californians, whether deserved, are often blamed for ruining much of the rural West and New Yorkers the East. But with the […]

Republican candidate Roy Brown, upon hearing the news last week that Stan Jones is running for governor, welcomed the quirky Bozeman Libertarian to the race. If genuine, Brown’s response was certainly gracious. Former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., must not yet have warned him. Third-party candidates are often chastised for playing spoiler and Burns could […]

The prospects of British Petroleum drilling for coal-bed methane in the Canadian Flathead appeared to dim last week when Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., boasted that the oil behemoth had quivered under intense U.S. pressure. “I made it clear,” Baucus told a boisterous Kalispell crowd, “Ain’t no way that this is going to happen, period.” Cheering […]

Ed Tinsley, so far, is the only Montana superdelegate to have pledged his support to a Democratic presidential candidate. The Lewis and Clark County commissioner has endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama – in a vote weeks premature. Obama is a formidable politician, but with the race between him and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton still […]

In the litigious Flathead Valley, there are myriad reasons – good and bad – to sue local municipalities. In recent months complaints have been filed over whether politicians live in the jurisdictions they serve; whether public meetings were, in fact, public; and the degree of slope upon which a landowner can build a mansion. Some […]