In Helena, Democrats and Republicans are getting along nicely to mitigate the effects of the 2009 property tax reappraisal in a cooperative manner. The Revenue and Transportation Committee is entrusted with finding solutions for local businesses and homeowners to the property tax reappraisal. As one of the legislators on this committee, I see folks rolling […]

The prospects of British Petroleum drilling for coal-bed methane in the Canadian Flathead appeared to dim last week when Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., boasted that the oil behemoth had quivered under intense U.S. pressure. “I made it clear,” Baucus told a boisterous Kalispell crowd, “Ain’t no way that this is going to happen, period.” Cheering […]

Growing up within a bike ride of the Flathead River, I had no idea that my favorite river originated in British Columbia. I just knew that the Flathead River is special and its clean, cold waters were undeniable. As I grew older, I learned that the three forks of the Flathead come together in Bad […]

If you were expecting a riff from me on the Whitefish doughnut war, sorry, but something else is jammed in my craw: Crummy science and even crummier science journalism. Around Valentines Day, the Associated Press reported on Wildlife Conservation Society scientist and University of Montana professor Joel Berger’s “discovery” that jackrabbits have disappeared from Yellowstone […]

Ed Tinsley, so far, is the only Montana superdelegate to have pledged his support to a Democratic presidential candidate. The Lewis and Clark County commissioner has endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama – in a vote weeks premature. Obama is a formidable politician, but with the race between him and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton still […]

On Feb. 7 county commissioners Gary Hall, Joe Brenneman and Dale Lauman voted 3-to-0 for the destruction of not only the quality of life for all the citizens of Flathead Valley, but the complete annihilation of neighborhood plans as we know them and the zoning contained within these plans. They voted to allow industrial operations […]

In the litigious Flathead Valley, there are myriad reasons – good and bad – to sue local municipalities. In recent months complaints have been filed over whether politicians live in the jurisdictions they serve; whether public meetings were, in fact, public; and the degree of slope upon which a landowner can build a mansion. Some […]

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 […]