Rand McNally has long pointed the way to destinations for travelers, but it’s now directing those who enjoy geocaching to Helena.

The company’s Best of the Road awards, which in past years has celebrated towns for most fun, most patriotic, friendliest, most beautiful and best for food, added a category this year for best for geocaching.

Geocaching is kind of a game of hide and seek. Caches, which can be small, hand-sized containers or metal boxes about the size of a shoebox, are hidden and people use GPS devices or smartphones with global positioning system technology to try to find those caches.

A cache can be little more than a logbook, pencil or a few trinkets for people to take with them as a souvenir in exchange for something they leave behind for the next person to find. The contents of a cache can also be more elaborate.

“Geocaches on the Helena GeoTour are so rewarding that even locals swear they learn new things about their town,” the Rand McNally website noted in its praise of Helena from among five finalists.

“I was convinced by the words taken directly from the geocaching community: This is an authentically engaging place to geocache. You can feel the historical connection to the gold treasure hunters from long ago while using today’s satellites and smartphone apps. The gorgeous scenery just adds to the adventure,” a judge wrote on why Helena was honored.

MORE>>>Billings Gazette

9:12 a.m. Reportedly, a hound dog on Flathead Drive has a strong set of lungs.

10:55 a.m. A Somers resident complained that she habitually wakes up each night because another local woman likes to stay up late exploding things.

10:58 a.m. A Kalispell resident complained that someone broke into his quonset hut.


11:11 a.m. A resident of Highway 35 in Kalispell reported that her debit card and mail key had been stolen.

2:16 p.m. A wallet found in the woods was returned to its owner.

4:00 p.m. A Lakeside resident reported that the neighbors were out chopping down trees on their property line.

6:24 p.m. Numerous loose goats ran free and happy near Highway 206 in Columbia Fall. They were rounded up and returned to their pen.

8:18 p.m. Someone watched a Jeep run a stop sign on Airport Road.

9:24 p.m. A Valley Rose Lane resident called 911 to report that his drunken roommate had returned home. He didn’t want to deal with her and planned on leaving, but anticipated that she would trash the house while he was out.

More>>>Flathead Beacon

Montana has the seventh best tax climate for businesses in the 50 states in the 2014 ratings released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation.

Gov. Steve Bullock and a Montana Chamber of Commerce executive praised the state’s ratings as showing Montana is an attractive place to do business.

The director of the Montana Budget and Policy Center said the ratings fail to measure the state’s quality of life or the business climate that helps sustain it.

Montana ranked eighth in the foundation’s 2013 business tax climate index released last year.

However, a foundation spokesman said the group revised its methodology this year and applied it to last year’s rankings. Montana moved up to seventh last year under these revised calculations.

In any event, Montana was in the top 10 both years, in part because it doesn’t have a statewide general sales tax.

MORE>>> The Missoulian

Montana's responsible budgeting has given the state a surplus. It has prepared us for "floods, fires, zombies and the current federal government shutdown.

MORE>>>KTVM

One of the largest real estate deals in history of Gallatin and Madison counties is now official. The sale of Moonlight Basin marks the merger between CrossHarbor Capital and Boyne.

CrossHarbor Capital and Boyne, in partnership, are in a purchase and sale agreement with a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers.

The deal closed on October 1st and things are changing beginning with one mountain, undivided with Liberty and Headwaters for all. The single ski mountain would outdo Vail by about 400 acres.

Starting October 7th, Season Pass upgrades to all 5750 acres go from as low as $199 for Big Sky Resort passholders.

Moonlight Passholders can upgrade for as low as $549. Those who have already purchased both passes, get taken care of too.

MORE>>>KBZK

The federal government shutdown and winter weather have forced the closure of all roads connecting Cooke City to the rest of the world and turned the gateway town into a literal tourist trap. Snowstorms have caused the National Park Service to keep the Beartooth Pass closed since Sept. 24, said Al Nash, Yellowstone National Park spokesman. The most recent storm dropped between 10 and 14 inches of snow, preventing road travel to the Chief Joseph Highway, which can be used as an alternate route out of Cooke City. And Yellowstone closed Tuesday because of a congressional budget impasse that caused the federal government to shut down. Locals can travel through along the still-plowed roads of the park to Gardiner with special stickers they apply for from the park. Tourists, however, are unable to traverse the stretch, barring a medical emergency.

 MORE>>> Bozeman Daily Chronicle

The federal government shutdown has shuttered the gates at Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, and while that's means disappointment for many, there's still plenty to see and do under the Big Sky.

Tourism officials say that the closures may also mark the beginning of new adventures for tourists and residents looking for a local vacation.

The government shutdown can effect travel significantly in Montana especially in regards to the states two biggest tourism drivers - Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park - but state experts say it's not the worst time for a government shutdown.

"The advantage of having it now is that it's not the height of the summer season, because that's when people are actually coming, so while there will be an impact to Montana, the impact isn't going to be as big as it would be if we were in July, which is the biggest month in which non-residents come here," Director of the Institution of Tourism and Recreation Research Norma Nickerson explained.

She added that there are still plenty of things to do around the Treasure State.

"If you look at it from a different perspective, it's a fun challenge to them to find things that they wouldn't have done, but now they're going to do."

Montana still offers numerous outdoor activities like hiking, camping, fishing - and even skiing in the next few weeks.

MORE>>>KPAX

A Montana man who painstakingly gathered and reassembled parts of five $100 bills eaten by his golden retriever has been reimbursed by the U.S. Treasury for the “mutt-ilated” currency.

“It was great to get the check after all the crap I went through,” Klinkel, a graphic artist at the newspaper, joked.

His 12-year-old dog, Sundance, downed all but half of one of the bills in December. Sundance, a rescue from a Wyoming animal shelter, snacked on the cash left in the family vehicle while Klinkel and his wife ate at a restaurant, but left a $1 bill untouched. They were on a road trip to visit their daughter in Colorado.

Klinkel carefully picked through the dog’s droppings over the next few days to recover parts of the bills and his daughter recovered more when the snow melted in the spring.

MORE>>>Washington Post

Bob Danley doesn’t need an auditorium or a soft, padded seat to enjoy the art of synchronized dance.

Instead, this time of year, the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge’s outdoor recreation planner just keeps his eyes peeled toward the large ponds near the refuge headquarters.

When he spots a flock of large white birds bobbing on those waters, Danley picks up his binoculars to watch a bit of nature’s own ballet.

“Their synchronized feeding has just been awesome to watch,” he said. “They all dip their bills down into the water at the same time. It’s like watching ballet.”

The annual arrival of American white pelicans at the refuge north of Stevensville is a harbinger of fall.

“Right now, we have about 20 pelicans here on the refuge,” he said. “With their eight-foot wingspan and bills that can hold two gallons of water, these birds are just fantastic.”

MORE>>>The Missoulian

Game animals -- officially defined as antelope, deer, elk or moose -- which are killed on the road by vehicles can be legally salvaged and used for meat in Montana under a new law which goes into effect on October 1, 2013. Alaska, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Florida, and West Virginia have already enacted similar laws.

House Bill 247, introduced by Rep. Steve Lavin, was passed by the Montana Legislature in February and signed into law by Governor Steve Bullock in April. It allows law-enforcement officers to issue permits to individuals to salvage game animals. Anyone issued a permit must remove the carcass of the entire animal.

The Montana Department of Transportation reports more than 1,900 wild animal were killed in vehicle crashes in 2011, and nearly 7,000 carcasses were collected from the side of roads, according to the Huffington Post.

Rep. Lavin introduced the law because he thought people were missing out on a potential food source. That “seems like a waste,” he said.

The original draft of the bill allowed generic “game animals, fur-bearing animals, migratory game birds and upland game birds” to be salvaged, but that raised concerns with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials, who warned that although some animals, such as Bighorn sheep, are frequently killed by vehicles in the Thompson Falls area, and allowing them to be legally salvaged could cause their potentially valuable carcasses to become the focus of profiteering.

MORE>>>Opposing View