Roger Koopman, the former state representative from Bozeman, has returned this primary season with hopes of grooming Republicans in his image and fielding challengers to those who don’t make the conservative cut. He has sent out a questionnaire to GOP candidates under the banner of his newly formed group, Montana Conservative Alliance, so he can […]

I would like to address the horse slaughter issue (Feb. 10 Beacon: “Hard Times for a Western Icon”) and put it in terms that can be understood. One of the first principles of life is that we all must eat. In the animal world there are some that eat vegetation only, but many do not. […]

I sit here in front of my computer with some residual morphine and about 10,000 other drugs making writing a lot of work for the first time in my life. My broken back offers only some minor pain right now because of who-knows-what. I know I will be rambling, but at least I am back […]

There’s been a lot of talk in the Columbia Falls and Bad Rock Canyon area about the potential closing of Canyon Elementary School. While some may feel like celebrating because they object to public education or public funding of education, most of the folks I’ve spoken with are concerned about losing a neighborhood school. Enrollment […]

Jim Clark’s letter (Feb. 3 Beacon: “Now a Nation of Big Business”) about the Supreme Court’s decision on campaign finance left out a very important point and was factually incorrect on another. The unions were also included in the decision along with corporations. Union membership comprises about 12 percent of the working people of this […]

Love politics? Well, you’ll have more to love soon now that the Supreme Court recently knocked down a major hunk of “campaign finance reform.” Conservatives are treating the ruling like the Second Coming, while liberals are acting like the Supremes shot their puppy. The issue was the federal McCain-Feingold 60-day blackout period on “independent” expenditures […]

By now, most folks will attest that the Legislature does not have a clue about the pain caused by high property taxes. On many policy decisions, we’re mired in partisan argument with no appetite for fixes, listening only to lobbyists. If the Legislature had the will, we could easily impose a fix. I voted against […]

I don’t normally respond to letter writers who disagree with me. But in the case of Mr. Jim Spaulding’s letter (Feb. 10 Beacon: “Allegations Against the Planning Office Overstated”), I have no choice but to respond. Mr. Spaulding was my client back in 1998, and I did a big job for him by my company […]

Butte native Bryon Wilson is having a good week after winning a bronze in men’s moguls. Meanwhile, the Revenue Department is facing another lawsuit over property taxes. HIGH GORDON CAMPBELL – The administration of the British Columbia premier announced a ban on mining and drilling in the Canadian Flathead. BRYON WILSON – This Butte native […]

Those tasked with estimating state budgets and federal deficits are coming under fire after many of their predictions have proved grossly inaccurate over the last several months. And while much of the blame is coming from politicians hoping to deflect criticism away from themselves, the numbers do provide a glimpse at how rarely forecasters predict […]

The numbers are painful. Last year, 1,700 Montanans lost jobs in our timber industry. Timber harvest across our state plummeted a staggering 40 percent. Several mills – including Montana’s largest – boarded up. If we do nothing, Montanans who work in the woods will get hit even harder. It’s an industry that today directly employs […]

No one with a lick of sense would suggest that the economy is setting cash registers on fire. Few people know this more than restaurant owners, which is why you see them going out of their way to please their customers these days. Just the other day, a friend was in a new restaurant in […]

Congressman Denny Rehberg had a good week after a Federal Election Commission report showed his campaign coffers dwarf his challengers’. Meanwhile, Amtrak reported fewer Montana riders in 2009. HIGH NEW ORLEANS – With Mardi Gras about to begin and a Super Bowl championship team, one of America’s great cities seems poised for resurgence. JON TESTER […]

My name is Jim Spaulding and my wife is Debbie Spaulding, the chairman of the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan committee. I felt the need to respond to Allegation No. 8 of Moonlighting Detective Agency’s investigative report to the Flathead County Commissioners. In this allegation, Jeff Larsen stated that he was defamed because Flathead County Planning Director […]

History may be the best indication of where things go from here. Property rights groups opposed Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall in the 2008 Republican primary, and he lost to Jim Dupont by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Some of those same groups campaigned against Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy in 2009, and she lost to […]