It was not surprising that Tammi Fisher won Kalispell’s mayoral race, but the margin with which she did it certainly was. She beat incumbent Mayor Pam Kennedy by more than 25 percentage points (63-37) in a defeat that cannot be blamed on low turnout in an off-election year. At 31 percent, it was actually quite […]

In January, I posed a question on flatheadbeacon.com asking when the U.S. Highway 93 Bypass would be finished. Of the 127 readers who responded to the unscientific poll, 53 percent of them said “never.” And who could blame them? The idea of building a highway to circumvent downtown Kalispell had been discussed for decades. Then, […]

At a candidate forum last week, the moderator asked the six contenders for city council their opinion of downtown Kalispell. It was an area in which all of them agreed – they support its prosperity. Yet as someone who has worked in the center of the city, albeit for just over two years, it’s hard […]

In response to Democratic Sen. Max Baucus’ health care votes against the public option (or government-run insurance plan), liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas has aimed his sights squarely on Montana’s senior senator, vowing to strongly oppose him if he seeks reelection. In 2014, Moulitsas hopes to lure Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer as a primary opponent for […]

Years from now, historians may not agree on whether the federal stimulus plan was effective in reigniting the country’s flailing economy. What should be settled, however, is that the taxpayer-funded program – like others before it – is heavy on waste. This isn’t a referendum on the broader effectiveness of the so-called “American Recovery and […]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes to see it “modified.” Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi says it “spends too much, and it does too little to cut health care costs.” West Virginia Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller claims that it follows a model that has “largely failed.” Even the White House’s response to Montana Sen. Max Baucus’ […]

Just days after Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued his “Labor Day Report” that was cautiously optimistic about the state’s economy, the Federal Reserve struck the same tone in its regular government survey of the national one. But how this will trickle down into jobs for the hundreds of under- and unemployed in the Flathead is, […]

The argument that Congressman Denny Rehberg was to blame for the boating accident that seriously injured him and four others began long before investigators towed the vessel off the rocks it collided with. And while much of the criticism has merit, the majority of it doesn’t. A quick refresher, for those of you who have […]

Politicians who didn’t hold town halls last month had a variety of excuses as to why not. And those offered by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus were just as weak as any of their congressional colleagues. Baucus said he was listening to Montanans’ concerns while visiting public places across the state – […]

Whatever your view of the so-called “castle doctrine” bill passed by the 2009 Montana Legislature, the fact remains that a Billings man who shot his Wal-Mart co-worker in the head at point-blank range has still not been charged with a crime. And the county attorney there blames the recently enacted self-defense law. To be sure, […]

As President Barack Obama landed at Gallatin Field airport in Belgrade last week, both Fox News and MSNBC were, for once, in agreement: the president was expecting a more confrontational town hall and perhaps even welcomed one after the yawner in New Hampshire a few days prior that prompted speculation that the audience was hand-picked. […]

There are two very visible sides to this debate over whether and how the U.S. health care system should be improved. On the left end are those who argue that a public option (or government-run insurance plan) must be part of any final legislation, and on the right end are those who oppose any form […]

We tend to forget that Web-based e-mail is relatively new, emerging just 10 years ago as a popular form of communication. Then the inevitable happened: It began implicating people, for crimes small and large, from politicians to CEOs, who apparently thought once they sent a Hotmail message its trail would vanish into the thin air […]

In a politically divided region, one that often pits county and city officials against property owners (the lawsuit against the Flathead County planning office is the latest example), the summer evenings in Kalispell have offered some unity. And in a town that can be described as apathetic, with just three of the five much-maligned city […]

Despite appearing as the desperate half in the relationship, Montana’s courting of Hollywood will continue for some time. In 2007, the Legislature voted to sweeten the incentives offered to filmmakers in hopes of luring more movies here and this last session lawmakers extended “The Big Sky on the Big Screen Act” until 2015. And, although […]