A bipartisan coalition is much more likely to pass some form of Medicaid expansion to provide health coverage for approximately 70,000 uninsured Montanans in the ongoing legislative session than last session, Governor Steve Bullock said after a tour of St. Luke Community Hospital on Feb. 18.  Bullock and Republican State Representative Dan Salomon said the lines in the sand that were drawn last session over the issue are breaking down, and some type of reform is likely to pass – though everyone has their own idea of what it will look like.  “I think we are proposing a great plan,” Bullock said. “But I’ve said all along that the most important th...

ARLEE — Environmental assessment is underway to determine if Arlee Headstart facilities present a danger to students, after an unused glass pipe was found in the laundry room of the building last week.  According to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Spokesperson Rob McDonald, low-levels o...

POLSON — Corey Robert Franklin of Lakeside was charged with felony theft in district court Feb. 13 for his alleged part in the heist of an automated teller machine from Community Bank.  Franklin’s record shows he has a previous conviction for burglary and was on probation in Kalispell. ...

The statement “let’s throw some rocks” sounds like kids at the lakeshore, but it’s a call for curlers to take the ice.  Polson curlers Dave and Suz Rittenhouse interested friends in the winter sport, and now a group of Polsonites makes the trip to Missoula to curl at the Glaci...

POLSON — Female vocalist Robin Geoff of Bigfork’s Blue Smoke crooned songs such as Etta James’ “At Last” at Mission Valley Elks Lodge Saturday, where mason jars glowed on dinner tables alongside antique kitchen implements, enamel wear and horseshoes. Attendees basked in the c...

ST. IGNATIUS – It was a different time. Bernie Azure’s dark hair was cut short and he was finishing a term in Vietnam.  “I was out on May 1, 1969,” he said. As he waited to be discharged, he was told to get some civilian clothes so he would blend in with the general populat...

POLSON — A gym full of children playing carnival games run by Polson High School students brought back an old tradition Saturday evening. The Heart and Soul project found many locals had fond memories of the winter carnival, a staple event at the high school until the 1990s.   Last year the ...

ARLEE – It’s been referred to as the Academy Awards of teaching. “They even had an envelope and a drumroll,” Arlee English teacher Anna Baldwin said.  Baldwin was selected as one of the top five teachers in the nation at the National Education Association Foundation’s...

People from across the Flathead Reservation and the state packed themselves into the state Capitol last week to give testimony on a proposed bill that would approve the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Water Compact.  The compact quantifies the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ water rig...

 ARLEE – Charley Lyons used to take a bath in one on Saturday nights when he was a kid. It wasn’t your regular full-sized tub, but the small metal type — the kind that makes your knees bend up so you can fit.  “It was an old-fashioned bathtub,” Lyons said.  ...