Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

Introducing the Heirloom Winter Market

By KRISTEN LEE-CHARLSON - On Saturday, I launched the Heirloom Winter Market, a sort of extension of the local farmers' markets which had their last day of the season the week prior.... more

How Clean Is Clean?

By BOB WIRE - How clean is clean? It depends on whom you’re cleaning for, and who’s doing the cleaning. I’ve learned (usually the hard way) that “clean” means something different to men than it does t... more

‘Tis the Season for Cold Weather Running

By EVA DUNN-FROEBIG - Kickstart the holiday season with the Turkey Day 8K and 3K Family Fun Run on Thanksgiving Day. The event will be on Thursday, November 24 at 9:30 a.m. Races start near Toole Park on the Ri... more

Holiday Giving Get-Togethers

By JESSICA ALLRED - In this season of dinner parties and gift exchanges, here are a few fun and engaging ideas on how you can make a big difference for the Missoula Food Bank.... more

GRIZ GRIT: Athletes as Role Models – Good, Bad…and Fair?

By MICK HOLIEN. There is little doubt that varying descriptions surface whenever an alleged drunken situation occurs. Witnesses to such transgressions have their own interpretations about what they observed.... more

A Salute to Missoula’s Bike-Friendly Events of 2011

By BEN WEISS - There is no doubt that Missoulians like riding bikes. In fact, we consistently rate among the top 10 cities in the country for percentage of people using bicycles for transportation.... more

Missoula Food Bank: There is No Spoon

By JESSICA ALLRED - Hidden away, tucked in a corner of the parking lot behind Missoula Food Bank, a man sat, opened a container of yogurt, and hesitated. Looking over the white tub decorated by strawberries, he... more

Playing in a Missoula Band Called “The Trees”

By CLAY SPRINGMEYER. So I'm in a band now. We're called The Trees. I know what you're thinking: “The Trees? Really?” Yes. We're The Trees. ... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening this week around Missoula.... more

Reduce Christmas Stress by Planning and Shopping Ahead

By ERIN TURNER Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you enjoy a day of spooks and frights! But once the last Snickers bar is consumed and the last cup of witches’ brew is poured, it is time to pull on the ... more

Missoula Moms Test Senator Tester: Concerns of Parents Heard

By JEN SLAYDEN - When I first received the email from Mamalode to join a group of Missoula moms and staff members to meet with Senator Jon Tester, I hesitated. Most of my life, I have remained on the passive si... more

Differentiation in Business: Promotion Tips to Prevent Generic Marketing

By MARK RIFFEY. One of the things you have to be careful about is making your business too generic. Lesson: Business is Personal.... more

Are Montana’s Rural Post Offices Expendable?

By KELLYN BROWN. The Postal Service wants to close the doors of many of its rural post offices, if it does, few places will be impacted as much as Montana. On the list released in July of 3,753 post office bran... more

You Can’t Say That On the Radio!

By BOB WIRE - I’ve got a great face for radio, or so I’ve been told.... more

Paul Queneau Showcases Missoula’s Stunning Fall Foliage

Paul Queneau sent us so many gorgeous fall color photos for his post, Missoula's Fall Colors: The Best Ever?, that we couldn't resist putting them all in one big gallery for you to enjoy.... more

A Birthday Party Run Wild

By EVA DUNN-FROEBIG When it came time to plan my son’s sixth birthday party, it only made sense that it would have a running theme. I eat, sleep, and breathe running, and Milo has become more enthusiasti... more

GRIZ GRIT: UM Football Coaches Do a Thankless Job

By MICK HOLIEN. Why is there such preoccupation with whether a football coach or a staff deserves to be fired?... more

A Marriage of Music: Successful Jazz and Pop Artists Make Missoula Studio Work

By RACHEL A. SEIDENSTICKER - After recording seven jazz CDs and headlining clubs in Chicago, appearing on ABC’s “The Commish,” and performing, acting, and modeling across the world, Eden Atwood found hers... more

Lady Griz Basketball is in the Air!

By KRISTA REDPATH PYRON - This time of year I always get this familiar feeling in my gut. Crisp mornings, followed by late afternoon warm sun, early sunsets, and... the gym!... more

Missoula’s Fall Color: The Best Ever?

By PAUL QUENEAU - I’m just going to say it: This might be the best fall color the Missoula Valley has ever seen. A bold statement, I know, but so are the colors.... more

Kayaking’s Best: The Rider of the Year and Whitewater Grand Prix

By JASON SHREDER - There are many different platforms to showcase the sport of whitewater kayaking. Whether it's big wave surfing in remote places or whitewater parks nestled in the heart of town, they all cont... more

Bluegrass Music Growing Missoula Roots

By ALANYA CHERKIS - Last month, Missoula hosted its first ZooGrass festival at the Top Hat lounge downtown. Live bluegrass has recently taken hold of the music scene in Missoula, with its upbeat energy, foot-st... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening this week around Missoula.... more

Teaching Money to Children and Teens

By ERIN TURNER. I am banking on the hope that my husband and I have laid a solid foundation and a respect for money in our kids so when they are faced with a financial decision on their own, they’ll know the... more

Best Brown Trout Flies for Spawning Season

By BRYCE MCLEAN & MATT DEVLIN. This weekend was the opening weekend of this year’s big game hunting season--one of the best weekends of the year. Unfortunately it falls during some of the best streamer fishin... more

Nothing in Common?

By KELLYN BROWN. Like I was saying...Don’t compare the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street protesters. Don’t do it. They are nothing alike. That’s what I’m told, although the effort of one to distance itse... more

Multimedia Feature: California Street Tag Wall Becomes Home to Missoula Graffiti Artists

By ANNELA ROVA and BILLIE LOEWEN - When Missoula business owner and artist Dan Tabish posted a sign on the gigantic wall surrounding his property, he created the only space in the city free and open to graffiti... more

Montana’s 2011 Elk Season Outlook

Montana's general elk season is Oct. 22 – Nov. 27 and Montana’s elk hunters should experience some good hunting this year, especially in parts of western and central Montana.... more

We Are Family: Griz Family Weekend

By MARGARET DEWILLIAM HORTON - On a Wednesday several weeks ago, I sat poised by the computer, waiting for the stroke of 10 AM Mountain Time (which I had to remember translated to 9 AM Pacific Time). I was hopi... more

GRIZ GRIT: Tragic Endings

By MICK HOLIEN. We all have experienced the premature passing of a great friend, an associate, a relative or maybe just an acquaintance. It’s always a soul-searching experience for me.... more

Beer Brings Jobs to Montana and Great Microbreweries to Its Citizens

By RYAN NEWHOUSE. If our country was termed the United States of Beer, Montana would rightly be its capital. ... more

Missoula Back in the Day

By CC THE TRAINED MONKEY. Missoula has changed over the years. To make my point, I’d like to play a little game. Can you match up the names of these locations with what function they served? The Benchmark... more

Galloway Training Welcomes Runners from the Back of the Pack

Pam Gardiner talks about how the Galloway Training method has helped her and other non-traditional runners train for and finish the Missoula Marathon and Half-Marathon.... more

Missoula Restaurant Owners & Chefs:
Curtis Strohl and Nate Jerrell – Mercantile Deli

By BOB ZIMORINO. Chefs and Owners: Curtis Strohl and Nate Jerrell of Mercantile Deli. I met Nathan and Curtis through my nephew Alex. They worked together at Bravo Catering and the two of them decided to strik... more

Out in Missoula: An Open, Visible, and Generally Accepted LGBT Community

By TOR HAUGAN, UM Student Journalist. In the early ‘80s, people would drive from Helena to Missoula to hang out with the gay bartender at AmVets, Missoula’s now-defunct bar claimed by the LGBT community. Th... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening this week around Missoula.... more

Cyber Couponing

By ERIN TURNER. Having a little retail craving but don’t want to change out of your pajamas to go shopping? Get online and shop to your hearts content using countless cyber coupons and discount codes. ... more

F*#%ing Laundry

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. I hate laundry!!!! For goodness sake. I know how to do it. Really I do. But I just don’t care enough. Or more to the point, I do care, but not as much as I care about things like my childre... more

GRIZ GRIT: The Best Part of the Year

By MICK HOLIEN. It’s just about my favorite time of year. I cherish the overlap in sports seasons, which in my case involves college football and basketball. ... more

Four Leaf Removal Tools that Clear Yards of Fall Debris

You only need a few essential leaf removal items in your landscape tool collection to accomplish your autumn goal — removing the heavy leaves that smother grass and make your lawn a splotchy mess in spring.... more

Urban Bees in Missoula: Neighbors Against Neighbors While Drafting New Rules

By DANIEL VIEHLAND. UM student and citizen journalist Daniel Viehland reports on the conflict between an urban beekeeper and his neighbors in Missoula. Will it prompt changes to local beekeeping laws?... more

Avoid Common Violations by Remembering These Montana Hunting Regulations

BY MFWP. Before heading to the field for Montana’s big game season opener on Saturday, Oct. 22, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials ask that hunters avoid common violations by remembering these tips:... more

Refs: They’re Just Like Us!

By BOB WIRE - You know why we love watching sports on TV? Same reason we love watching local newscasts—because we love watching people screw up.... more

Pet Names, for the Pet

By DANIELLE LATTUGA. My dogs are old, but my youngest canine is an Australian Shepherd. At 10, he typically acts like he is four.... more

Chchchchanges: Autumn Comes to the Other Side of the Mountain

By JENNIFER SLAYDEN. Just as we can predict that there will be changes in the weather in Missoula each fall, we can also know that life on the other side of the mountain will be in cycles of change for years t... more

Black Bear Hit on I-90 Leaves Orphaned Cubs

By PAUL QUENEAU. Driving my sons to school Monday morning along I-90, a driver in front of me suddenly pulled off on the shoulder between East Missoula and the Van Buren exit. Then I saw the reason: A good siz... more

Run Wild Missoula Beer Runs

By PAT CROSS. How did these Beer Runs start? They got their start a few weeks before the 2010 Missoula Marathon, a bunch of us had gathered on a warm Wednesday evening at the North Side Kettle House Brewery for... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening this week around Missoula.... more

Reasons for Couponing

By ERIN TURNER. I am often asked, “Why do you coupon?” My bottom line always boils down to three very special reasons: Ethan, Logan and Quinn.... more

How I Cut 87% Off My Heating Bills Last February

By PAUL WHEATON. Paul tells us how he cut is electric bill by 87% last winter. Try his simple ideas for yourself.... more