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Opinion

Business Is Personal

What Do You Want Me To Do Next?

This past week, I had the pleasure of visiting the still somewhat chilly seaside of Oregon thanks to a handful of out of town appointments. In between the productive parts of the week, we managed to visit a couple of western Oregon wineries. While a good time was had by all, I found it interesting […]

By Mark Riffey
Closing Range

Pearls Among Swine

Have you tuned out the mindless screaming about raising the debt ceiling? Pat yourself on the back for being rationally ignorant, as there’s little we riffraff peons can do to prevent America from joining Greece as a deadbeat nation. Vote? Sure, after 18 more months of porcine pandery? Well, I was about to mute the […]

By Dave Skinner
Like I Was Saying

Making it Worse

State unemployment numbers were released last week and – guess what? – Flathead County’s is exactly the same as it was one year ago. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in June was once again 11.4 percent. Meanwhile, as places like Northwest Montana tread water, Washington is doing its best to make things worse. Before now, […]

By Kellyn Brown
Opinion

Addressing Climate Change is Neither Frivolous nor Criminal

In his July 6 Beacon commentary, Dave Skinner accused a number of attorneys and their clients of “criminal frivolity” regarding a petition filed in the Montana Supreme Court. The author doesn’t appear to be well-informed on the petition, science or basic tenets of our constitutional system of government. It is an odd “crime.” Six busy […]

By Jim Manley
Business Is Personal

Serve Homemade Apple Pie

Recently, Borders book stores reported that they were closing their remaining 399 stores, including our local store here in Kalispell. The store has about three months, enough time to liquidate their existing stock. Survival of the fittest demands that some prosper, some get by and some die. Borders was not one of the fittest booksellers around, […]

By Mark Riffey
Uncommon Ground

Do Something Congress

In politics the Senate acts more civil than the House. Both chambers are needed since compromise moves the nation forward. Lawmaking is an ugly and painful process to watch, but it works. Though distasteful to party bases, compromise does advance the people’s interest. The lack of progress in 2011 Congress is stifling to the small […]

By Mike Jopek
Like I Was Saying

Environmental Circus

The environmental activists who barged into Montana’s capitol last week to chant, dance and chain themselves together did little to persuade anyone to join their cause. In fact, they quite likely accomplished the opposite. Protests like these – a cocktail of theatrics, trespassing and often vandalism – largely make the opposition look like a joke. […]

By Kellyn Brown
Opinion

Freedom to Salvage an Important Right

Thanks to the Flathead Beacon for keeping us up to date on the county’s desire to make criminals of those who salvage from the green boxes. Dave Prunty, Flathead County public works director, thinks prohibiting salvaging is necessary for the safety of those who salvage and for the protection of the county from lawsuits if […]

By Verdell Jackson
Business Is Personal

The Freedom To Hire

I’ve been listening carefully over the last month as a number of people offered their analysis of the jobs problem in today’s economy. One thread of discussion from a sizable number of folks really stuck out. “It’s health care reform. No one is going to hire anyone until that’s resolved.” Generally speaking, I understand the […]

By Mark Riffey
Closing Range

Money Isn’t Everything, But It Sure Helps

Too often, news articles miss the real story: Casper Star Tribune reporter Jeremy Fugelberg’s July 3 effort covered “The Department of the Interior’s Economic Contributions” report on the agency’s role in our nation’s economy – 146 pages of “Fund Us Lavishly, We’re Really Important.” In Wyoming, which is 30 percent Bureau of Land Management (plus […]

By Dave Skinner
Opinion

Oil Spill Should Sound the Alarm

The recent fouling of Montana’s Yellowstone River is a warning alarm that we must be more diligent to secure the integrity of our priceless waterways. Yesterday’s farmers, ranchers, miners and honyockers needed the rivers. Now, under increasing industrial and population pressures, the rivers need us. As with other states, Montana once mistreated many of our […]

By Pat Williams
Like I Was Saying

Summer Vacation

President Barack Obama had apparently planned a trip to Whitefish last weekend. His near visit was news around town and local law enforcement for weeks had been preparing for his arrival. The president canceled, of course, after the debate over the debt ceiling ended how things in Washington do – with more debate. There are […]

By Kellyn Brown
Business Is Personal

Perpetuating Stereotypes

Today I’m going off the beaten path a little bit, but trust me… at its core, this is all about business in Northwest Montana. You might have noticed a couple of weeks ago when editor Kellyn mentioned my gigging him on Twitter about his “all Canadians are pacifists” comment in his column about stereotypes and the […]

By Mark Riffey
Uncommon Ground

Compromising Debt

As President Barack Obama was sworn into office, America had an annual unbalanced budget deficit of $1.3 trillion. This was the result of previous years when Congress did not pay its way, including a Wall Street bailout. America has never been out of debt, except once. Former President Andrew Jackson holds the honor for detesting […]

By Mike Jopek
Like I Was Saying

Road Conditions

There are so many questions surrounding the proposal to implement a so-called retail transaction fee to pay for Kalispell roads that it’s now clear the idea is simply an awful one. City Manager Jane Howington emphasized that the fee is just “the very beginning of a community conversation” about how to address the fact that […]

By Kellyn Brown