http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/ The Flathead Beacon is devoted to delivering thought-provoking news and commentary to the greater Flathead Valley. Printed every week in tabloid form and updated daily at flatheadbeacon.com, the Beacon encourages its readers to participate in discussions about their valley. en webmaster@flatheadbeacon.com Copyright 2009 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:36:52 MDT Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:36:52 MDT kalispellhttp://feedburner.google.com Dan Testa http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/FV_4pSBEo9s/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/road_delays_fire_chiefs_want_more_notice_from_mdt/11879/ Front PagePoliticsKalispell Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:36:52 MDT Rodney Dresbach received an unwelcome surprise when he opened his e-mail account on a recent Monday to find that the Montana Department of Transportation would be chip sealing a road he travels regularly that same day. For most drivers, such roadwork poses a mild, if necessary, inconvenience. But Dresbach is chief of the rural West Valley Fire Department, and when he learns of roadwork along the routes his firefighters travel to and from emergency calls, he must plan around detours and the possibility of delays. Which is why he has grown frustrated with MDT for giving what Dresbach considers insufficient notice to him and other emergency services when it conducts roadwork that can cause travel delays. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/road_delays_fire_chiefs_want_more_notice_from_mdt/11879/ Dan Testa http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/ZVMfovPgRoc/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/educators_praise_community_college_funding_initiative/11868/ Front PagePoliticsKalispell Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:54:33 MDT President Barack Obama’s announcement of a $12-billion initiative boosting funding for two-year education programs was a welcome one at Flathead Valley Community College. “The amount indicates that President Obama and his administration recognize what an important role community colleges can play in the economic recovery,” Kathy Hughes, FVCC’s vice president of instruction, said. “This investment is significant and definitely sends the right message.” http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/educators_praise_community_college_funding_initiative/11868/ Keriann Lynch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/3TgJK0DtEWI/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/finding_the_wests_best_bar/11735/ Front PageFeatureArts & EntertainmentColumbia FallsKalispellWhitefish Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:18:31 MDT Damon and Eric Ristau were college students living in Missoula when they met an old, homeless man named Northway late one night at the Oxford Bar. The brothers invited him home, and for the next month Northway lived on their couch. “He was this old codger who just had this energy about him – one of those people with crazy charisma and magnetism,” Damon Ristau said. Northway had recently lost his wife, and was living in a van until it was stolen, along with most of his possessions. The old man would come and go, sometimes leaving the brothers for days at a time. On one such occasion, he left and never returned. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/finding_the_wests_best_bar/11735/ Keriann Lynch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/Cf0EnB3th-0/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/private_investigator_hired_to_probe_county_planning_office/11803/ Front PageFeaturePoliticsKalispell Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:38:35 MDT Flathead County commissioners decided Thursday to hire an independent private investigator to look into allegations of illegal activities within the county’s planning and zoning department. Commissioners Jim Dupont and Dale Lauman voted unanimously to hire Ike Eisentraut of Moonlighting Detective Agency, a Kalispell-based firm, for the job. Commissioner Joe Brenneman was out on vacation. “I think it adds credibility to hire someone from outside our system to do it,” Lauman said, adding that detractors wouldn’t be able to call the investigation biased. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/private_investigator_hired_to_probe_county_planning_office/11803/ Myers Reece http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/tODnht7z3V0/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/from_a_small_club_to_the_biggest_skydiving_event_in_northwest/11736/ Front PageFeatureSports & OutdoorsKalispell Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:23:47 MDT Forty-two years ago, members of a Kalispell skydiving club invited some comrades from Calgary to the city’s airport for a weekend jump. The weekend went well, so they did it again the next year. Perhaps those original skydivers were merely looking for friends with which to share the Flathead skies, but they were unwittingly building a tradition much bigger – the biggest skydiving event in the Northwest United States. Today the Skydive Lost Prairie Boogie is one of the five largest jump meets in the nation. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/from_a_small_club_to_the_biggest_skydiving_event_in_northwest/11736/ Dan Testa http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/WlbYbP7UCKE/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/patriotic_or_problematic/11733/ Front PageFeaturePoliticsKalispell Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:45:53 MDT POLSON – In a conference room above the V.F.W. on a recent evening, Richard Mack took the microphone and advised the crowd gathered before him to set aside their concern over theories on the goals of the Federal Reserve Bank, the causes of the 9/11 attacks, or whether the “chem-trails” left in the sky by aircraft are dangerous. “You’re going to get off all these other conspiracy theories and you’re going to focus on this,” Mack said. “None of that scares me any more than the simple fact that the U.S. government is destroying my and your Constitution.” http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/patriotic_or_problematic/11733/ Myers Reece http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/eKKFYTSfBNo/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/straight_blast_gym_moves_fighter_turns_pro/11760/ Sports & OutdoorsKalispellMontana Sidelines Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:43:29 MDT Straight Blast Gym continues its transformation from a small martial arts gym to a respected school for both emerging grapplers and professional-bound fighters. Not only has the gym upgraded to a larger building in downtown Kalispell, one of its fighters, Jake Oyler, is scheduled for his first professional mixed martial arts fight on Friday July 17 in Missoula at Osprey Park. That same day, teammate Zach Dickson will be defending his amateur title in the 145-pound division, which he won at a Kalispell Kombat event at Majestic Valley Arena in April. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/straight_blast_gym_moves_fighter_turns_pro/11760/ Keriann Lynch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/BMWH9UchpSc/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/hundreds_living_on_the_brink_of_eviction/11732/ Front PageFeatureBusinessKalispell Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:42:11 MDT In the past six months, the job description for homeownership counselors at the nonprofit Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana has shifted dramatically: from helping people buy a home to helping them cling to the one they already have. “I would say they’re probably seeing at least as many people in danger of foreclosures as they are first-time homebuyers – or more,” Lil Dupree, an administrator at CAP of NW MT (formerly Northwest Montana Human Resources), said. As the recession continues to hammer the Flathead Valley, more of its workers are facing sudden reversals in financial stability because of layoffs and reduced hours. As a result, an unprecedented number of homeowners here are falling behind on their mortgages and finding themselves in serious danger of losing their homes. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/hundreds_living_on_the_brink_of_eviction/11732/ Keriann Lynch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/C9Pij6v6ozo/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/county_commission_approves_preliminary_budget/11713/ Front PageFeaturePoliticsKalispell Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:02:11 MDT The Flathead County commission unanimously approved a $71.5 million preliminary expenditure budget last week – an approximately $630,000 decrease off last year’s spending. According to the preliminary budget, the county is starting the year with a projected balance of $30.8 million. Its total revenue projection is about $69.6 million, while expenditures are expected to total $71.5 million. “This year is close to a freeze,” County Administrator Mike Pence said. “There’s between a zero and 1 percent change in nearly all of our basic operating budgets.” http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/county_commission_approves_preliminary_budget/11713/ Dan Testa http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kalispell/~3/_rOPASxLw4c/ http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/city_races_shape_up/11698/ Front PageFeaturePoliticsColumbia FallsKalispellWhitefish Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:59:44 MDT The deadline for candidates to file for city office has passed, making clear which elected offices throughout the valley will be contested, and which ones will not. In a so-called “off-year” election – meaning an election held when there are no bigger state or national elections going on – voter turnout is often much lower. The success of any candidate for municipal office could hinge on their ability to get out the vote, and margins of victory tend to be much smaller. Look for the campaigns to begin in earnest this fall, before the Nov. 3 elections. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/city_races_shape_up/11698/