Whitefish Montana News | Whitefish Newspapers

Whitefish worried about shift, lack of regulations

County Moves Quickly to Take Back Doughnut

Whitefish’s controversial “planning doughnut” could be back under Flathead County control sooner than anticipated.

Flathead County commissioners have accelerated their plans for taking over jurisdiction of the two-mile planning and zoning area surrounding the city, aiming to shift all land with city zoning inside the doughnut to county zoning before the end of this year. Previous estimates – as late as the end of last month – had put that work at about a year, and divided the transition efforts between the county and the city.

Whitefish Mountain Resort Gears Up for Winter

Nordic Trail Joins Superpipe on the Chopping Block

Skiers tour the groomed Whitefish Mountain Resort trail around Rainbow Pond. --Becky Lomax, file photo for the Beacon

As Whitefish Mountain Resort enters the final weeks of its annual discounted season pass sale, resort personnel gear up for winter. Earlier in the year, the resort announced that the Superpipe would no longer be built. Now, the groomed Nordic trails also meet the ax.

Resort officials cite two reasons for ceasing maintenance of the cross-country ski trail: grooming difficulties and use.

How Candidates Fit the Internet into State Strategies

In Montana Politics, Web Still Puzzling

Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

When Erik Iverson took over as chairman of the Montana Republican Party last year, the GOP had not updated its Web site since 1999. Believing a state party’s Web site conveys a “first impression” about the organization, he was dismayed by the portrait of Montana Republicans painted by the GOP’s site.

“It was a turnoff,” he said. “It reflected poorly on the party.”

Going Once, Going Twice

Whitefish Condos For Sale to the Highest Bidder

The Deer Creek at Whitefish condominiums are being sold via auction on the Internet. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

In the current national housing slowdown, real estate auctions have gained popularity as a way to speed sales in a sluggish or paralyzed market. Now, the trend has made its way to the Flathead Valley where next month 14 Whitefish condominiums will go to the highest bidder.

Roadside Wildflower

Weed or Not?

The Rocky Mountain bee plant is aptly named for it attracts bees. --Becky Lomax, for the Beacon

A new showy pink wildflower has sprouted along roadsides in the last couple weeks around Whitefish. Not just on any roadside, but where swaths of earthwork uprooted previous vegetation for highway projects.

The five-foot-tall plant has confused more than one driver along the Big Mountain Road and Highway 93 south of town. It resembles a noxious weed. But the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant is native, and it's part of the reseeding mix used by the Montana Department of Transportation.

North Valley Opens Satellite Locations

Music School Spreads Across the Valley

Izzy Ray, 12, left, performs her song "Lost and Found" with accompanying instructor Christian Johnson. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

In its 10th year, North Valley Music School in Whitefish is reaching a crescendo.

For years the school’s reputation and enrollment have been building, stressing the confines of its small building – a 1930s house on Spokane Avenue. Now, to accommodate the growth, the school is adding teachers and opening two satellite locations – one in Columbia Falls and another in Kalispell.

Cowboy Style

Accessory Shop Plays to Rodeo Crowd

Spanky's and Gus carries boots, hats, belts, and other cowboy accessories. --Becky Lomax, for the Beacon

In the back roads west of Whitefish, East Edgewood Drive runs to the Blue Moon through several old family ranches. Horse and cow pastures line the road. Bleachers even ring a few small rodeo arenas. Now just at the west entrance to Edgewood, a cowboy shop is ready to play to its rodeo crowd.

Walk into the corner house of Spanky's and Gus for the sensual smell of leather. Sandra Guzman's shop, which opened late last month, specializes in cowboy accessories. But Spanky's is not a new shop; it first grew in Eureka. Guzman, who titles herself on her business card "The Mother," uses a family name for the shop. Her partner is Gus, her six-year-old son named after four "Augustus" generations.

Whitefish Lake Institute

Monitoring Lakes for Water Quality

Whitefish Lake file photo. --Becky Lomax, for the Beacon.

Twice a year, Whitefish Lake churns up its waters. As the lake loses its summer heat and autumn winds whip across the surface, warm waters from the top of the lake chill down toward equalizing with bottom temperatures. Whitefish Lake Institute monitors this change as it occurs in both fall and spring.

But Whitefish Lake is only one body of water that the institute monitors. This year, in a partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the institute took on monitoring the water quality of 20 lakes between Whitefish and Eureka. "A lot haven't had any data previously collected on them," said Mike Koopal, Executive Director of the Whitefish Lake Institute. The data collected will provide a baseline to develop a trend analysis over time.