The rhetoric in the race for Montana’s congressional seat had already reached laughable levels. But it somehow intensified further after Rehberg Ranch Estates – owned by incumbent Rep. Denny Rehberg and his wife, Jan – filed a lawsuit against the city of Billings alleging that it didn’t do enough to protect the subdivision from a […]

The North Fork of the Flathead River (a.k.a. the Transboundary Flathead) continues to play in the news of late. The news media report that Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are at odds over how to best protect our river, Glacier Park and Flathead Lake from upstream industrial activity. While a […]

American citizens don’t agree on much, but on this point we are united: liberty. As with other broad ideological concepts, many Americans struggle to articulate a precise definition of liberty. Yet this doesn’t prevent us from holding firm to the belief that liberty is a fundamental right, and that if required, we would die for […]

While the world ponders the tax implications of LeBron James’ move to Miami, the rest of us didn’t even look up. We’re working hard to create our next big thing while others shuffle clipboards. Meanwhile, the economy stumbles forward in some ways, races in others, and limps in still others. Change, both for the better […]

If you clicked this link, congratulations on being a sucker for punishment … or at least a citizen concerned about how our government spends money. Here we go: FWP’s proposal is at: http://fwp.mt.gov/news/publicnotices/notice.html?action=getPublicNotice&id=2426 Several things struck me immediately. First, the FWP commission proposed agenda had the commission scheduled to take 10 minutes to consider giving […]

Over Independence Day weekend, the news hit that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has decided to “fast track” buying the so-called Spotted Dog ranch near Deer Lodge and turning it into a 38,000-acre Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The money for the buy ($16.6 million) is sourced from Montana’s Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP), funded […]

As a restoration ecology student at the University of Montana, I’ve been following the statewide discussion over forest management issues very closely. I was born and raised in Carson City, Nev., and I’ve been a Wilderness enthusiast all my life. Since 1999, Nevada has successfully protected over 3 million acres of land as Wilderness and […]

One of the hardest things for a newsroom to do is report on itself. Kalispell’s Daily Inter Lake has been in that position since first covering the story of a missing plane that involved two of its reporters. Journalists who weren’t gathering information about their colleagues last week were searching for them along the Flathead […]

Having recently celebrated Independence Day and the events that brought about the birth of our nation, let us continue to reflect upon the true meaning of patriotism and the responsibility that citizenship entails. The United States of America – and the planet – is facing an unprecedented crisis of a magnitude that would be unimaginable […]

Though our current economic troubles are complex, many mainstream economists have endorsed the simplistic Keynesian theory that massive government spending will produce jobs and prosperity. From such Keynesian thinking have flowed the “stimulus” and bailout measures that have increased the size and power of government and added trillions of dollars to the public debt. The […]

One of the reasons that businesses struggle is that they appear to be working as if the profit from a sale is more important than getting a new customer. Recognizing the difference in importance is critical to turning one-time visitors into long-time devotees. What’s a devotee? A devotee will bring their family and friends to […]

The political environment, that has been created the last few decades, has left us questioning the motives of our elected officials, candidates and campaigns. Are the messages ones of winning arguments or are the messages about solving problems and guiding this country into the future? Where are the civil debates, which we so desperately need, […]

It was early 2009 when, following the tragic death of its finance director and departure of its city manager, Whitefish began to get its finances in order. Amid a recession that had hammered budgets elsewhere, the municipality remained quite optimistic. It reported having robust cash reserves and officials there were confident building permits would pick […]

Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants to know if Canadian, or any other, oil companies “will skedaddle back” to where they came from in case of a spill, “and leave you hanging?” (June 22 flatheadbeacon.com: “Pipelines Bigger Threat Than Wells in Montana.”) Charming. That is a statement hardly worthy of any politician, especially one who’s anxious to […]

One of the most frequently asked questions of legislators these days is, “Why are there conflicting reports on Montana’s financial state of affairs?” The Legislative Fiscal Division reports that expenditures are greater than revenues and significant action will be necessary in the future to balance the budget as required by law. Meanwhile, the governor touts […]