Wednesday, May 20, 2026
42.0°F

Columns

Explore Daily Inter Lake Columns featuring local sports commentary, outdoor adventure stories, lifestyle tips, and community perspectives from Northwest Montana.

Updated 3 weeks, 3 days ago

Giving Together: Turning Tax Season into Opportunities for Students

On a spring morning in Kalispell, a group of elementary students huddle around a table, testing a small robot they…

Updated 5 years, 10 months ago
Travels with Chet

Back in the summer of 1977 while I was in college and my brother Steve was in his first year of grad school, our dad wanted to “test drive” a 40-foot Winnebago to see if RVing was the kind of thing he’d enjoy in hi…

Updated 5 years, 10 months ago
Condiment war: Ketchup versus mustard

Every Fourth of July, when hot dogs inevitably are on the menu at most family picnics, the battle between ketchup and mustard resurfaces at the Hintze household. Actually it’s an ongoing spat.

Updated 5 years, 10 months ago
A life well-lived, and left well

In mid-March my 93-year-old mother, who had so far lived independently in her own home in Cincinnati, was hospitalized. Though I made the 911 call due to her severe back pain (incurred while folding bedsheets) it w…

Updated 5 years, 11 months ago
Dad’s love of music lives on

Dad’s been gone 11 years, but his music still plays in my mind.

Updated 5 years, 11 months ago
Everything’s ‘just ducky’

In the wake of a global pandemic, protests and political pandemonium, my recent forays to do some springtime birdwatching have provided me with a much welcome respite.

Updated 5 years, 11 months ago
‘Stepping’ into the Fitbit routine

My daughter Heather gave me a Fitbit for Mother’s Day, so I am now among the millions of people who are slaves to the wearable fitness tracker strapped to their wrist.

Updated 5 years, 11 months ago
Change is good!

Well, with two of the biggest weekends for fishing in Northwest Montana behind us (traditional opener and Memorial Weekend back to back) it looks like the weather is finally going to give us that last little push w…

Updated 6 years ago
Time for anglers to hit rivers; don’t forget new regs

For the most avid of anglers, especially for fly anglers who live to drift and/or wade the moving waters of Montana, this weekend is a holy one.

Updated 6 years ago
A tribute to mothers of all ages

It’s been an extraordinary year so far for everyone as the COVID-19 pandemic has dropped the bottom out of our normal lives. Even as we inch our way toward what seems normal, everything is different than our pre-pa…

Updated 6 years ago
Spring best season for wildlife watching

Last week I had a tough choice to make. Should I spend some time at my lake cabin and do some fishing and turkey hunting or head east and spend a few days on my farm?

Updated 6 years ago
Fishing, a sure cure for the blues!

I doubt that is a newsflash for anyone, but in times like these, sometimes it pays to state the obvious.

Updated 6 years ago
Time to find a way to increase access to Montana state lands

It’s spring time in Montana and outdoor recreational opportunities abound in great abundance.

Updated 6 years, 1 month ago
Mom’s fate is out of our hands

I got a text from my brother Rodney early Friday morning, with a screenshot of the notification he’d just received from the nursing home in Minnesota where my 91-year-old mother is a resident. It was what we feared…

Updated 6 years, 1 month ago
C-Falls opts to delay resort tax start date

The Columbia Falls City Council last week voted to delay an implementation of a proposed 3 percent resort tax until October 2021.

Updated 6 years, 1 month ago
Jigsybelle: an Easter bunny for all time

Editor’s note: This column originally was published April 25, 2011, in the Daily Inter Lake.