Through the vast gassy clouds of sturm und drang from Washington, DC, comes a glimmer of good news: Twin bills in the Senate and House, both entitled the “Wilderness and Roadless Areas Release Act.” This short-and-sweet legislation, (HR-1581 and S-1087) covers Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management holdings that “have not been designated as […]

A narrative is emerging from Montana’s 2012 U.S. Senate race that contrasts with the last general election when dozens of new lawmakers were swept into office riding a wave of Tea Party support. Instead, the early plotline for this contest pitting incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester against Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg is focused on the […]

Over the years here at BiP, we’ve had a few conversations about vendors who lost the trust of their customers – as well as some who earned it in magnificent fashion. Earning, retaining and regaining the trust of your customers is central to what Business is Personal has been about from the beginning. We talk […]

After crafting a lackluster compromise to retire national debt obligations, Congress is on recess. Lawmakers will return to Washington in September for another couple weeks of work. But if the 1st Session is any indication of accomplishments, the public should not expect much help from the 112th Congress. Americans are hungry for work and better […]

I have a dream. A dream where Congress and the President are on perpetual vacation. Most Americans might be outraged that President Barack Obama is spending well over $50,000 a week eating designer ice cream cones on Pleasure Vineyard while Congress watches the country economically implode from behind the wheel of a golf cart, but […]

Montana’s U.S. delegation responded with a series of predictable prepared statements following Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the credit rating of long-term U.S. debt. Glaringly missing from those responses were the politicians’ opinions of a ratings agency whose own approval rating deserves to be as bad as that of Congress. That’s not to say […]

Health, education, welfare … the federal government spends more than $630 billion annually on hundreds of social programs. How many of them work? No one knows. And that’s a problem. Most federal programs have never been evaluated for true effectiveness. And most evaluations that are conducted – and there are many – aren’t worth the […]

In a distant past, my business was rather dependent on a product from a particular outside-the-valley company. As good as it was, this product had a rough life, as it was passed from one company to another. Unfortunately, none of the owners anywhere along this trail seemed to have an inkling of customer relationship skills. […]

What with our long runoff, the Feds re-writing the floodplain, Whitefish agreeing to re-start its vest-pocket hydro plant, Columbia Falls Aluminum Company talks with Bonneville Power, Judge James Redden in Portland slapping down (yet again) agency salmon plans to the glee of Greens, Fort Peck running full bore over the spillway – there’s lots of […]

The federal government has a public relations problem. And while much of this is unavoidable, equal parts can be blamed on its failure to explain complex policy and its knack for responding to legitimate questions with an air of indifference. Let’s look at the proposed floodplain update in Evergreen. Recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency […]

The 2011 archery elk permit drawing results are in, and for some it was a day of reward and excitement. For others there was disappointment in not drawing a permit for this year. For Montana it was an economic bloodletting. Over $16 million in economic activity has been lost due to residents and non-residents who […]

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in the news and around the valley about the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) offering a four year power supply deal to Columbia Falls Aluminum Company (CFAC). As you’ve read here in the Beacon, the deal is subject to environmental review and other what-ifs, so it isn’t a […]

The debt reduction compromise puts a balanced budget Constitutional amendment to a full Congressional vote this year. Montana would ratify the leftover idea from the “Contract with America.” A balanced budget has plenty of populist appeal. “That is not fair to the American people to hold out and say we won’t agree to raising the […]

In February of 2007, when I was beginning to round up a small staff to launch this newspaper, I met Dan Testa at a coffee shop in Missoula. The interview was short. The job was his. And we headed next door to Charlie B’s to toast our new venture, which would later be called the […]

The First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War, was fought 150 years ago on July 21. The sesquicentennial of America’s bloodiest conflict has now begun. Until Vietnam more Americans were killed or maimed in the Civil War than all our other wars combined. Contrary to the “lost cause” interpretation, […]