News

Following the Oct. 12 expiration of a major trade agreement between the United States and Canada, American timber companies are pushing for a new deal that will limit the flow of cheap lumber into the states from their neighbors to the north. The softwood trade agreement was finalized by the two countries in 2006 after decades of trade grievances arising from two starkly different styles of timber harvesting. Prior to 2006, Canadian producers would respond to declining lumber prices by ramping up production to compensate, and cheap Canadian timber would flood the U.S. market, to the detriment of American producers.

KALISPELL, Mont. – Kalispell received word Monday morning that it received a $10 million transportation grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant, nicknamed TIGER grant, will partially fund a $21 million project the city has been planning for the last five years. “This is transformational for the city of Kalispell,” said Kalispell City Planner Tom Jentz. The project includes the construction of an industrial rail park at the site of the former McElroy & Wilkin gravel pit in Evergreen. Kalispell city planners say the Flathead County Economic Development Authority will build the rail park. They

HELENA — Attorney General Tim Fox announced Friday that Montana would join 23 other states in a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s “carbon rule,” which reportedly would restructure the way in which electricity is consumed in the United States. He accused the EPA of overstepping its authority. “The new regulations don’t bode well for states like Montana, which relies on abundant and inexpensive coal for stable, affordable electricity …” Fox said. According to Fox, the rule requires states to reduce carbon emissions from electric-generating plants by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. He said it could cost more

HELENA — For Lowell “Elton” Carver, getting his medals wasn’t about public pageantry or boasting rights. It was simply because the Vietnam veteran deserved them. On Friday, the 72-year-old Black Eagle resident received three medals from Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., at the American Legion Conference at Fort Harrison. When asked how he felt about getting them after nearly 50 years, he offered “Not too bad.” Carver, an aviation electronics technician petty officer 3rd class, served in the Navy from Oct. 30, 1963, to Oct. 27, 1967. For nearly two of those years, he served on the USS Hancock as a helicopter