Conservation easements are a hot topic. There is no shortage of opinion and some folks aren’t shy about voicing those opinions. I read newspaper editorials every day and believe, without a doubt, that the editorial forum remains one of the strongest bastions of America’s defense of free speech. I enjoy reading opinions reflecting philosophical beliefs […]

Bill Schneider’s last column lives up to his “Wild Bill” marquee, with his wish for environmental groups to stop bickering and get Congress to pass a “wild bill” for Montana. Let ‘em bicker. First, the original Wilderness Act, signed by President Johnson in 1964, designated 9.1 million acres of big-W wilderness up front. Section 3(B) […]

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, emphasizing good news on a bad night, told supporters in the early goings of Super Tuesday to cheer up. He may have been trounced by his opponents in several states, but things were looking up in Montana. Montana? Mitt mentioned Montana? It was a desperate attempt to highlight good news; […]

When the Montana Republican State Central Committee voted back in August to create a Presidential Preference Caucus on Feb. 5, 2008, we made an educated guess that Super Tuesday essentially would determine the Republican nominee for president. One of the main reasons we decided to hold a Feb. 5 caucus, instead of waiting until the […]

Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger’s relationship with his own political party is an awkward affair. The state’s Republicans are a large extended family and Bohlinger plays the brazen uncle who often riles his cousins. But the latest spat, contrary to previous ones, appears more calculated than predictable: reoccurring in-law infighting. Bohlinger is upset over the fact […]

The Jan. 24 edition of the Flathead Beacon carried a column by Dave Skinner that seemed to suggest conservation easements were not “good news” for the Flathead Valley. The truth is conservation easements are very “good news” for the Flathead and its current and future residents and businesses. Conservation easements are good news for the […]

When you read this, the results from Super Tuesday should be in with the major parties settling on their guy or gal. I’m gonna have some fun here and put on my Great Carsoni swami hat: On the D side: Hillary Clinton. The Democratic establishment has too much vested in her and Bill to take […]

It’s fitting that earlier this month the Great Falls Sox minor league baseball team opted to change its name to the Voyagers, an ode to UFO sightings – specifically from the grounds where the team plays and reoccurring cow mutilations happen nearby. Fitting because every so often the unexplained invades the news cycle in America […]

The sudden tragic death of David Gogolak came as a shock to family and friends from around the globe. Dave was a special individual with energy and a positive outlook that you don’t find in people very often. A young man, father of two, loving husband, friend to thousands, and employer of hundreds, the loss […]

The holiday season, to the dismay of some, hasn’t officially ended. The abundant pink and red hearts and cupid decorations are a reminder that Valentine’s Day approaches. In the Flathead, like elsewhere, the time is ripe to assess a dating scene that seems – wherever you are – in dire straits. This time of year, […]

The end of 2007 saw a flurry of new conservation easements in Montana and Flathead County. Good news? Perhaps not. First, the main reason for this flurry isn’t idealism. It’s money. Stuffed way down in the Pensions Protection Act of 2006, apparently by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is Section 1206 covering “provisions relating to exempt […]

The Democratic majority in Congress means more wilderness bills will be debated in the nation’s capitol this year. It will inspire debate across the West, too. And it will bring many long-heard mischaracterizations about the wilderness designation. It’s already happening here in western Montana, where some recent editorialists set their sights on the proposed Northern […]

On a dark street in suburban Whitefish, something sinister was underway. A private eye, sipping cheap coffee from a dirty Styrofoam cup, peered through binoculars at a neighborhood window, smirking at the apparent scandal he had uncovered. His eyes slitted, he pulled a cigar from his rumpled trench coat and lit up, the smoke climbing […]

The people of the greater Whitefish area are united in our love for the land and water. From Happy Valley to Big Mountain, around the lake, and all along the Whitefish range we share a common bond. We love our hills, lakes, and streams. We are truly grateful to the heart of downtown, to aquatic […]

In 1952 Sen. Estes Kefauver defeated President Harry Truman in the New Hampshire primary with the momentous result that Truman announced he would not seek re-election. In that same primary, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower defeated Ohio Sen. Robert “Mr. Republican” Taft, grandee of congressional insiders. If the plans of party leaders hadn’t been upset by a […]