LAKESIDE - It’s not exactly Nashville, Tenn., but there is a lot of music coming out of Lakeside these days. Studio 501 isn’t flashy or pretentious, it’s not some acoustically magical cave, and the Beatles never recorded here, but the unassuming studio hidden in the pine trees behind this town of 1,951 is drawing a lot of attention. “The atmosphere here is very relaxed,” said Steve Praetzel, the studio manager. “We’re not drawn to make a specific amount of money to keep our heads above water.”

"Don't trust handrails!" That's odd advice from a guy on a gangplank 150 feet above Front Street. Mike Burke stands as comfortably on the back side of his tower crane jib as do shoppers on the sidewalk in front of Macy's. You get that way when your office has the best view in all of Missoula. As the new $25 million First Interstate Bank building rises six stories above Higgins Avenue, Burke's been the guy who lifted most of the skeleton. He sits in the white box just below the long arm, or jib, of the yellow tower crane that dominates the downtown skyline.

The hum of excavators and beeps of backing dump trucks at a streamside gravel operation just west of Missoula drowned out the sound of an osprey on the opposite bank of the Bitterroot River. In many ways, this scene illustrated the ongoing struggle between nature and development along Montana's river banks. It was a crisp October day when an unlikely group of 15 floaters, including local officials, conservation folks and building industry representatives, climbed aboard five rafts to float eight miles of the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers.

PABLO - A lifetime holds countless firsts - first words, first steps, first day of school - and at the age of 92, Agnes “Oshanee” Kenmille is still breaking new ground. For the first time in her life, she has registered to vote. A Salish Indian revered across the Flathead Reservation for her knowledge of the culture and language of both her people and the Kootenais, Kenmille was born in Arlee the year Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president, in 1916.

RONAN - Jathan Jones revels in the campus life at Kicking Horse Job Corps Center, nestled as it is amid postcard-perfect scenery in the foothills of the Mission Mountains, offering vocational training in 11 job skill areas. “We're spoiled here,” said Jones, a 19-year-old medical assistant student. “We get so many opportunities to do things. The food is great and the view is beautiful.” The teenager from Rosebud, S.D., quickly developed a positive mind-set about the Job Corps training program, a school he once thought was only for “delinquents.”

LOLO - OK, so this town is still not going to win any beauty contests. A yawning parking lot is still one of the central features, and most of the development along U.S. Highway 93 isn’t going to win any architectural awards. So while you wouldn’t exactly call it beautiful, there is a creeping aesthetic that is slowly transforming Lolo from a suburban truck stop to something resembling a town.

Chowing down on a slice of pizza during lunch break at a swimming clinic at the University of Montana on Sunday, Tomas Sodini was about as happy as a 13-year-old with Olympic dreams could be. He's a backstroker, and most weeks he's in UM's Grizzly Pool at 5:30 a.m., before trundling off to Washington Middle School, and he's back in the water after school and on Saturdays. It's a tough schedule, but he knows that's what it takes if you want to be a world champion.

CORVALLIS - She’s been stomped on, tossed to the ground, bitten and kicked so badly emergency-room doctors thought Ciara Zacha might die. It sounds bad, yet to hear the 16-year-old talk about her experiences with the loves of her life - horses - it’s clear Zacha hasn’t once thought about quitting her equine addiction. If you’re around horses long enough, you’re bound to get a few bruises, explained Zacha, who talks tough but looks for all the world the quintessential glamorous rodeo queen, which she is.

GARDINER - Once touted by its rooftop advertising as "headquarters for groceries, tourist & auto supplies," the historic W.A. Hall mercantile in Gardiner will be reincarnated next spring to peddle a new ware - knowledge about Yellowstone National Park. The 1903 building, next door to the park's Roosevelt Arch at its northern gateway, has been purchased by the Yellowstone Association. The nonprofit education foundation that benefits the park is spending $4 million to buy the property and an adjoining lot and refurbish the 12,000-square-foot building to create its new headquarters.

Shigeko Sasamori tells a story about an airplane in the skies over Hiroshima. It is Aug. 6, 1945, and the 13-year-old junior high school student watches as the plane floats above her city and something drops out. “My classmate next to me, I told her to look up at this airplane, it looked so beautiful,” Sasamori said. “I pointed up to it and at the same time, very strong forces knocked me down, pressures knocked me down.” Until that moment, Sasamori said the Hiroshima city skyline was beautiful.