A number of articles have appeared statewide in recent days announcing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park’s (FWP) decision to oppose threatened status for Montana’s wolverine. Some of these articles have argued that the threats to wolverine populations have nothing to do with trapping, implying that the trapping should therefore continue. This argument flies in the […]

When you talk to your customers about their business, do they ever respond “Wow, I didn’t know that” or “Really?” Does your sales and marketing process provoke your prospects with questions they have to think about? Or does it simply say “Look at us! Look at us!” Far fewer spend their energy and money educating […]

With politicians and journalists jitterbugging in blood, a giant sucking sound heard at gun shows and gun shops all across America, and now word that President Barack Obama may ban guns through executive order – is new gun control likely in the wake of the Newtown slayings? One certainty: The political fight over Evil Black […]

By John Fuller Since the atrocity at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Democrats have resurrected the gun control issue in their never-ending attempt to expand government power. Claiming that guns are the problem, they see an opportunity to continue their long-time efforts to disarm American citizens and convert them from free citizens into subjects. Regardless of […]

The decision of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to institute a closure to the wolf hunting season in areas surrounding Yellowstone National Park was a welcome intervention to what has gained international attention as a tragedy in the making. We applaud their moderate decision as not only the right thing to do, but as a […]

Crazy people have been doing horrible things since the dawn of time and will continue to do so regardless of what anti-gun laws you or lawmakers decide to impose on citizens. More guns do NOT create more murders. Nearly every home in Switzerland has a gun and yet they have one of the world’s lowest […]

Stocks surged the day after Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached a compromise to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff, but fewer people invest in stocks anymore, so fewer people cared. According to a recent Gallup poll, 54 percent of Americans say they hold stocks, the lowest level since the polling firm began […]

With the new session of Congress just beginning, the U.S. Senate has an opportunity to reform its filibuster rule, an arcane parliamentary device which has paralyzed the proceedings of the entire legislative branch of our government and crippled our nation’s ability to meaningfully address the issues of our time. Long before cable television, 24-7 news […]

In the last five minutes of this clip from a speaker panel at St. Petersburg College called “Cosmic Quandaries”, noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about the one percent difference in DNA between chimpanzees and people. Of particular interest is his discussion tying the scope of that tiny one percent difference to each species’ capabilities. […]

As the 63rd Montana Legislature convenes, about one-third of the lawmakers are new. Flathead voters sent a couple freshman representatives to Helena. Some House veterans transferred to the Senate. Term limits reliably mix up the Legislature. Term limits throw out the good with the bad policy brokers. On day one of this Legislature, roughly two-thirds […]

Whenever a year wraps up we are inundated with lists that subjectively measure everything. Songs, political moments, cat photos, you name it. So, I thought it would be appropriate to compile my own list of memorable moments from the Flathead Beacon newsroom, except I’m going to span its entire five-and-a-half year history. For those of […]

By John Fuller We begin 2013 with the nation facing crippling tax increases, a renewed debate on gun control and another debt limit ceiling predicament. The Obama Administration (after four years) continues to act like middle-school delinquents declaring that, “It’s not our fault,” or “The Republicans did it.” Claiming that these three “crises” demand ever-increasing […]

You and I met at about 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. I was waiting in line for a taxi in downtown Whitefish. You were slumped over the steering wheel of your running vehicle at the corner of East First Street and Central Avenue. It took a minute to realize what was about to happen […]

I am writing this letter, merely an expression of my experiences. I am disappointed to see so many dogs run off leash throughout the town of Whitefish, and saddened to personally witness two of them hit by cars on U.S. Highway 93 this past summer. Let’s see. A family has a woodpile in their backyard […]

It is completely predictable that government officials and their compliant media would use the tragedy of a mass killing to promote governmental tyranny in the form of gun control for law-abiding citizens. Such an approach will increase mass shootings because those with evil intent will still be able to obtain firearms, and even the most […]