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 […]

We talk about a wide array of business topics/suggestions here at Business is Personal. Occasionally, I get emails asking how to get all of these things done in a state of overwhelm. It’s an easy problem to have. You have plenty of ideas and read the things I and others suggest, much less see all […]

Last month, I explained how nicely the Nature Conservancy made out on the Swan Lake State Forest checkerboard deal, paying $1,428/acre for land appraised at $2,331/acre and eventually gathering a total of $1,982/acre – a tidy gain of $554/acre (39 percent in two years) in a dead-flat real-estate market. Now, let’s compare how the Whitefish […]

One crazed, evil individual caused irreparable damage to a school, a town, a nation, a world. We feel compelled to act, to do something, anything, in the face of this horrific act. But an emotional reaction only gives up our power into the hands of the sick perpetrator of this crime. Do we really want […]

It has been a couple weeks since the three of you decided to invade our home, our privacy and our lives. I suspect that you think that we deserved it somehow, or that maybe one of our “kids” did. At this point I don’t think it matters, what does matter is that all three of […]