On Saturday the 11^th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival kicked off, after months of preparations. The festival is the culmination of work from more than 150 volunteers and 30 staff members, as well as judges and panels.

The festival draws thousands of attendees each year, and this year features more than 140 films over 9 days at four venues around Missoula.

NBC Montana spoke with several attendees on Day One of the festival.

“I made a point of coming up to this film festival,” said attendee Pamela Holindrake, visiting from Salt Lake City, Utah. Holindrake has gone to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for many years, but this year it’s all about Big Sky.

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7:27 a.m. A man was seen crawling across Highway 2 East in Evergreen.

8:17 a.m. A Marion woman reported barking dogs that live next door. This is an ongoing problem for her.

9:17 a.m. A woman on Highway 35 in Kalispell reported that a cat has been stuck in her crawl space for three days.

10:29 a.m. Someone drove over a stop sign on Hutton Ranch Road.

10:56 a.m. Someone saw a man wearing a military jacket and backpack wandering through Hungry Horse. The caller thought he might be a fugitive.

2:39 p.m. A West Glacier man was told to quit cutting firewood on private property.

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Tinkle was named the ‘Sexiest Man in College Basketball;’ an award handed out by collegeinsider.com.

The website compiled a list of 100 college basketball coaches and members of the media and Tinkle took the top honor.

The committee called him a "snow - capped mountain of a coach" who is actually a gentle giant.

“You know a coach would probably rather be known for championships, trips to the NCAA Tournament,” Tinkle said in his interview with the website. “But it’s quite a thrill and we'll enjoy it.”

Some others who made the top 100 included Steve Alford from UCLA, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Bob Huggins from West Virginia University and Bill Self from the University of Kansas.

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Here at the National Bison Range, you can get it on the action.

The Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide citizen science program conducted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, is this weekend. Pat Jamieson, outdoor recreation planner at the Bison Range, is giving birders and wannabe-birders an opportunity to participate.

Jamieson will lead a bird count along the refuge’s Nature Trail between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. Participants can take part in the whole count or any part – just stop in for as long as you want or can.

Entrance fees have been waived Saturday, Sunday and Monday for Presidents Day weekend.

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The Winter Olympics may be thousands of miles away this year, but a local group is hoping to bring the games a little closer to home in 2026.

"I like this sport because it's fast, thrilling and it takes a lot of dedication," 13-year-old skier, Dustin Hansen, said.

Hansen is just one competitor in the Lone Peak Super Speed Series Qualifier.

He says hosting the Winter Olympics in Bozeman would be great, but complicated.

"They'd have to build a bunch of buildings and a lot of people would come, but It'd be pretty cool because I'd want to go watch it," Hansen said.

Many of the 126 racers would love to see the Olympics hosted right here on their home turf, which a local group is pushing for.

The Big Sky Committee for the Winter Games hopes to make a bid to bring the Winter Olympics to Bozeman in 2026.

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Hundreds gathered in Whitefish this afternoon to watch a town tradition, the Whitefish Winter Carnival parade.

The parade is part of a long celebration in Whitefish that has been going on in town for 55 years.

This year the parade had a very special guest, as Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton.

He was the Grand Marshall of the parade.

The parade included the Whitefish police and fire department, Whitefish high school athletics and pep band, and a number of area businesses and community leaders.

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