That’s what’s being discussed among city leaders as the Core Revitalization Plan is passed around. And, for good reason, it has provoked some excitement from residents who have seen it. To be sure, there are some who believe downtown Kalispell is just fine the way it is. I’m not one of them. I love the […]

If you turn on your television set, you’re bound to see a politician saying that he or she should be elected because he or she will remove obstacles in the way of “responsible” energy development. He or she will “cut the red tape.” And that will fix everything. If only it was that sample. True, […]

In recent weeks, both Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and his challenger, Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg, have worked to distance themselves from policies supported by their respective parties and may be unpopular in Montana. It is a competition between the two over who can establish himself as more independent, or (what’s that hollow, overused word?) a […]

The other day at the gym my teacher forewarned the class in front of him that the next exercise made a previous student puke from exhaustion. So goes the slog to get and maintain the physique to keep up with many of my colleagues, specifically my friend and second-in-command in the newsroom Myers Reece. Reece […]

Montana has a unique problem on its hands. It is flush with money, at least according to the governor’s office, which is touting a $453 million surplus for the fiscal year ending June 30. That’s the state’s second-largest surplus on record, just behind 2007’s mark. Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, with a knack for the theatrical, […]

The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization, reported that Montana’s proportion of college graduates has increased over the last three years faster than any other state’s. It was a bit of good news for a higher education system that needed some. For months, stories about the unsettling events at the University of Montana have dominated […]

Flathead County’s jobless rate fell to 8.5 percent in June – not exactly a reason to cheer but perhaps for guarded optimism. Yes, the rate is non-seasonally adjusted. And no, it doesn’t factor in those who have given up looking for work altogether or simply left the area. But we still haven’t seen a number […]

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal Obamacare – for the 33rd time. After the 244-185 decision, Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg said, “This law will actually do more harm to our health care system than good, and on top of that, it’s also holding back our economy.” Also last week, the Montana […]

Every time a judge hands down a controversial decision, it is parsed by pundits suddenly deemed constitutional scholars when their qualifications for such a title involve little more than having the loudest, and most outrageous, opinion. With the high number of unemployed law school graduates, you would think the networks could afford to stock a […]

It’s unfortunate that such a beautiful area is also home to the region’s nastiest political skirmishes. So it goes in Lincoln County, where before one government dispute is resolved another one hits the front page. Earlier this year, in the tiny town of Troy, the council decided that the mayor didn’t play well with others, […]

Going into the debate between incumbent Sen. Jon Tester and his challenger, Congressman Denny Rehberg, I expected a mostly sleepy discussion. This was, after all, their first debate of many in a room brimming with stuffy journalists in Big Sky for the annual Montana Newspaper Association conference. But I was mostly wrong. A half hour […]

Last week’s primaries set the stage for plenty of interesting matchups, but one that may have gone unnoticed is the race for the Public Service Commission District 3 seat, where incumbent Democrat John Vincent will face Republican Roger Koopman in a general election showdown of epic proportions. Having worked in Bozeman, and witnessed the animosity […]

Political advertisements don’t have to be true. That’s what I gather from a ruling issued last month by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell. And corporations can spend as much as they want on third-party efforts as long as they aren’t coordinating with political candidates, but no one is interested in determining whether that is […]

Americans Elect was a novel idea, even as it appears to be a failed one. The group acknowledged last week that it could not agree on a suitable third-party candidate and would suspend its search. Apparently the notion of launching a third party is a lot more appealing in concept than reality, which is a […]

The presidential election is just four-and-a-half months away and few politicians will risk giving up ground before they know the results. So, until November and beyond, expect a lot of complaints about nothing getting done by the people in Washington, DC who aren’t getting anything done. But there still is what most of us would […]