Whitefish Officer Calls Border Patrol During Traffic Stop, Flood Recovery Begins, CSKT Election Results

Join Daily Inter Lake reporter Taylor Inman as she goes over the week’s biggest headlines for Northwest Montana.  

Newly obtained footage shows a Whitefish police officer contacted Border Patrol less than two minutes into an April 24 traffic stop for a broken taillight. The driver, Beker Rengifo del Castillo, is a Venezuelan man who entered the United States legally under a humanitarian parole program. The call, and the weeklong detention that followed, are now the focus of a lawsuit alleging unconstitutional seizure, false arrest, and racial profiling. A preliminary pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 30 in Missoula. Watch the full video of the body cam footage here.

Next, we share the latest update on flood recovery efforts in Lincoln County, where at least nine bridges were washed out during mid-December storms. Officials say damage to county-owned roads, bridges, and culverts exceeds $5 million, and reconstruction timelines will depend on vendor availability and federal funding approvals.

We then turn to the Flathead Reservation, where voters filled five open seats on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Tribal Council. Three incumbents held their positions, while two seats changed hands. The newly elected council will be sworn in Jan. 2 and will soon select leadership roles.

A big thank you to our headline sponsor for the News Now podcast, Loren's Auto Repair! They combine skill with integrity resulting in auto service & repair of the highest caliber. Discover them in Ashley Square Mall at 1309 Hwy 2 West in Kalispell Montana, or learn more at lorensauto.com.

This summer, we followed the Brist family from their fifth-generation Montana farm to the bright lights of the Northwest Montana Fair. From early morning chores to the intensity of the show ring, their journey shows the hard work, tradition, and bittersweet goodbyes that come with raising livestock. Discover Season 4 of our Deep Dive podcast, From Farm to Fair — coming Sunday, September 21st! 

Visit DailyInterLake.com to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking news from the Flathead Valley and beyond. Support local journalism and please consider subscribing to us. Watch this podcast and more on our YouTube Channel. And follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a news tip, want to place an ad, or sponsor this podcast? Contact us!

Subscribe to all our other DIL pods! Keep up with northwest Montana sports on Keeping Score, dig into stories with Deep Dive, and jam out to local musicians with Press Play.