- Medical marijuana in Montana;
- Abuse at care facility;
- Parking in Missoula;
- UM Students Rally for Coal Independence;
- Mayor Engen and Common Sense;
- Political Hoo-ha and other rubbish.
In this episode we'll explore:
I got back a few hours ago from the Montana Historical Society in Helena today, which meant I had to drive back and forth from Missoula, or about 230 miles. Then I looked through old documents from the 1910s. So I hope you’ll excuse me for venting a bit, and kind of saying what I think. More than likely it’ll piss you off. If I were a congressional candidate right now this might piss off party handlers or antagonize swing voters. Here we go.
I saw an article in the Missoulian today quote James Conner of the Flathead Memo, a blog in Kalispell. It made me wonder…do political blogs in Montana have any influence, any power, any impact…anything? Or are we all just pissing in the wind here? I’ve written three books on Google and increasing website traffic so I know a little about this. In case you think I don’t, here’s what my analytics from Google look like for the past month: So I’m getting just over 6,000 people directly from Google, which is just about 5% to 10% of all my monthly visitors. I like using Google Analytics, however, because they tell me which cities people are in, and you can see that I’m getting hit from all the urban hotspots in the state. I feel pretty good getting a lot of traffic from Missoula, because I write about issues here. Helena is good too, because that’s where the state bigwigs are, and maybe some of my good ideas can rub off on them. I figure most of those hits in Bozeman are just history students copying my articles for their upcoming Montana papers this term (Missoula teaches Montana history in the spring now). Here’s another good roundup of stats, showing which mobile users come here: Looks like just 737 of those 6,000 visitors, and most using their iPads. How about service, which internet service provider are they using? Take a look: As you could probably guess, Charter is getting the lion’s share, although there’s a lot of competition there with other small users. Remember, lots of people come to this site from all over the world: Where do those folks come from, I mean, how do they find out about me in places like Liberia? It probably has something to do with my social activity as well as how my site’s keyed-in to Google: So how about that social there? It seems like 613 hits is a lot, but is it really that impactful? You can see I get most from Twitter now, which is no mistake, but you can also see that the audience is rather fickle, staying just 19 seconds on average. Google+, on the other hand, those users stay nearly 3 minutes. But then those are quirks of those networks and their users, something you can learn about in my book…well, I’m not going to try and sell you any shit today.
What I will do is convince you that Montana political blogs can have power and impact if you want them to. I got serious about this one after losing my election. Starting in July I really began putting out longer and harder-hitting articles, things that both Google and people like. It paid off, and now I get traffic and have influence on these congressional races in the state. I know this because thousands of people have read the articles I’ve written. They may not seem like a lot, but to give you an idea:
Maybe that’s not a whole lot to some of you reading from some of the big sites, but here it’s pretty good. But it makes me happy because I like writing about this stuff and it’s paying off. (Not financially, unfortunately) Will it pay off for those running in November? I think so. John Lewis is going to win in 7 weeks and Amanda Curtis is going to decrease that poll gap by 10 points by the first week or two of October. Will she win? Boy, it’s going to be tough, but I think if the Montana political blogs keep at it, she could. Yes, that’s right – Montana Republicans can’t blog, sorry. Perhaps you’re grabbing your gun and getting ready to go out and shoot a wolf. Maybe you’re grabbing your camera so you can shoot someone shooting a wolf. Or maybe you’re just like me, another Montana resident that could give a damn about either side on this issue. What am I talking about? Today in the Missoulian there was an article entitled “Montana wolf hunt begins; activists shadow hunters.” Now, before anyone gets all worked up, let me make a few quick points:
In Montana you can hunt gray wolves for six months of the year, and one of the critters was already taken down with an arrow in the early-season. As the article says, Montana has been doing these hunts for 4 years now, since 2011. And that just rubs some people the wrong way, primarily people like Rod Coronado and his group called the Yellowstone Wolf Patrol. Who is Rod Coronado? Rod Coronado was born in San Jose, California, on July 3, 1966. He’s a member of the Yaqui Tribe, which is a group of Indians that have historically dwelled around northern Mexico and California, but are now based in Arizona. I’m not really sure where Coronado gets his extremist views, but there’s no way they can ever go mainstream and there’s never any way his actions will create any kind of meaningful legislation or change. Here’s why: Terrorism in Iceland In November 1986 Coronado and David Howitt were working on their conservation ship Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, when then sank the Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7, two whaling ships from Iceland, while also seriously damaging a processing station. All in all they did $2 million in damages and hot-footed it out of the country to Luxembourg. So was this justified? After all, in January of that year the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling. Iceland skirted that by saying they needed to kill 120 whales to keep their fishing industry alive. I don’t like the idea of people killing whales but I also don’t like the idea of some international organization telling a country’s fishing industry that it has less than a year to rework itself. Most sane people in 1986 agreed. Greenpeace called the incident “terrorism” while Coronado said whaling was terrorism. In December The Globe and Mail in Canada called him “a new breed of terrorist.” In 2009 it was even postulated in The New Yorker that it was “an act of sabotage that many conservationists believe helped turn Icelandic public opinion against the cause of saving whales.” Burning Michigan State On February 28, 1992, Rod Coronado was in East Lansing, Michigan, to do more good deeds for the Earth. This time it involved burning the offices of two animal science researchers. Yep, these are the people that do tests on defenseless animals in cages. The arson attacks caused $1.2 million and set researchers back a decade, ironically on DNA tests that would have reduced the need for animal test subjects. Figuring that out might have taken some homework, however, and for the folks of the Animal Liberation Front, thinking isn’t as much fun as destroying. In 2008 Rod Coronodo was sentenced to a 21-year prison term for his role in the crime. What’s more, he had to pay a total of $2.5 million in restitution and damages. Rod Coronodo may have been behind bars for a time, but the organization he was a part of continued to work on behalf of the earth and environmentalists everywhere, who they stood for, but who began to run whenever they saw these crazies enter the room. When Coronodo’s 9.5 years was up he was a free man. So what did he do…head to Disneyland…visit some orphans…plant a tree? Nope, he committed terrorism. Alright, I hate saying that. I like the environment, I like animals, I worked for the USFWS! But some of the things this guy does, it makes it more difficult for sensible environmental and conservation folks to get anything done. And I mean anything. Mountain Lion Hunts On December 2, 2004, Coronado got caught disrupting mountain lion hunting in Arizona. How so? He broke a trap and spread mountain lion urine around. There also may have been plans to hurt some Forest Service workers or something, and it all got him and his co-defendant eight more months behind bars, with 3-years of probation, although for this guy that don’t seem to mean a lot. My question is, what the hell happened to that $2.5 million that he owes? I’m the last person that wants to bring debtor’s prisons back, but what the hell is going on here? For the mountain lion nonsense he got $100 in fines on top of that. Kind of reminds me of reparations for Germany after WWI…rather stupid on both sides. Also, hunting mountain lions, and using traps? Sorry – it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And what’s with the mountain lion piss? Let’s just move on. Burning Apartments? A big one came in 2006 when Coronado decided to get into the incendiary device business. That’s kind of like someone smoking pot going to coke or heroine – it’s just not going to fly anymore. Coronado should have known better, but if you’re anything like me, you’re noticing a serious trend of stupidity with this guy. It all came down to a fire that’d started back in August of 2003 in San Diego’s Hillcrest area. An apartment complex went up in smoke, causing $50 million in damages and left a half-burned banner with “ELF” on it, or Earth Liberation First. The evidence was pretty flimsy and there was no real link to Coronado, but he did mention on TV 15 hours later how to make an incideary bomb, again, not the smartest thing to do. He was convicted and spent just about 6 months in jail until released in 2007. At that point he’d probably seen enough of federal institutions and decided he wanted to spend more time with his son. He told groups like ELF that they needed to change their ways and become more peaceful. Friending the Wrong Guy That apartment fire came back to haunt Coronado again and again, or at least the probation did. He had numerous violations and was back in prison in 2007 until Christmas Day, 2008. To tell you how much the government is on this guy’s ass, in 2010 he wound up behind bars for 4 months, this time in Michigan, for probation violations. The reason? He ‘friended’ the Earth First co-founder. I could go on, but the thing is, this guy’s out and he’s coming to Montana so he can walk around the woods and film people hunting wolves. It just does not sound like a good thing is going to happen here. What’s more, it sounds like it’ll end up costing the state money in court costs and jail time for this guy or others. So what can be done? Let’s take a look at it from the wolves’ standpoint. A History of Wolves in Montana The history of wolves in Montana is not a good one. As ranchers began setting up shop in the 1870s and 1880s it was clear that their sheep and cattle were no match for the critters. In 1884 the legislature passed a bounty law that gave people money for the wolf pelts they turned in. That first year saw 5,450 pelts. By the 1930s the animals were seldom seen anymore and in 1967 the animals were listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a designation that hit Montana in 1973. The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Team was formed in and in the 80s made great headway in seeing the animals restored. Still, by 1994 there were just 48 animals in Glacier. But as many people 100 years ago knew quite well, wolves breed fast. By 2004 there were 153 wolves in Montana and more than 800 in the region. At the same time, 190 cattle and 409 sheep were killed by wolves in the state. To combat that loss to livestock, 166 wolves were killed in Montana by the USFWS and Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Wolfs had rebounded, although maybe not as much as some biologists had liked, wanted or just felt comfortable with. But ranchers were happy, although they could always shoot the things. The wolves were delisted from the Endangered Species List in 2011. Now the legislature had a new way to make money. Yippy! Wolf Hunting Begins in Montana In 2011 the Montana legislature decided to allow the hunting of wolves and began issues permits for it. In 2013 the state had 625 wolves, which was down from the year before. We’re selling a lot more permits than there are wolves, however. In 2014 we’ve had 370 out of state licenses sold, which at $50 a pop, brings in $18,500. Last year the revenue from wolf hunting in Montana was $13,750, but that’s because the permits were $250, and just 55 of them were sold. Obviously there’s a demand for wolf hunting, but $50 is far too low, in my opinion. I’d raise that to at least $100 out of state while ramping the in-state licensing fee up to $50 from the present $19. Currently 6,000 people in Montana have bought wolf hunting licenses, which is about the same as last year. At the current rate of $19 – which it also was last year – that’s bringing in $114,000, but at $50 it’d bring in $300,000. Hell, why not compromise on $30 and make $180,000 each year? Why raise the price at all? Because we want to show out of state folks, and even some that are here, that we’re not soft on wolf hunting, however silly that may sound. And don’t think for a second that 6,000 hunters in Montana doesn’t sound crazy to a lot of people…not when there’s 625 wolves in the state. “Judging by the number of permits issued for the number of wolves around,” says a site called Tree Hugger, “it appears as if Montana wants the number of wolves to be zero.” You might not agree with the site’s name, but they make a good point, and it’s a point fringe and extreme environmental groups will make, and they’ll make inroads as well, in thinking and in legislation, that makes it harder for politics to continue in any kind of manageable way. Thankfully the population isn’t being decimated, as it easily could. In 2013 there were 225 wolves killed by hunters, although 97 of them were trapped. Trapping's one issue that will probably have to go, as long-term it’s just too hot politically. Overall, I’d say watch this guy Ron Coronado. He seems like trouble to me and I have a feeling someone taping someone somewhere is going to run into trouble. Let’s hope it’s not a nut with a gun thinking stand your ground applies to them. As far as the wolves, I don’t see how these populations can sustain that level of hunting more than a few years. 225 wolves killed last year, when the population is just about 625 or so this year, and there’s barely any limits on how many can be killed? That’s 36% last year...something I think many wolf biologists I used to work for are probably shaking their head about. Even raising the out of state license fee to $250 again sounds good. I'd also increase in-state...the wolf populations can't sustain it. Do we really need the money that bad? Who came up with this law in the 2011 session? Obviously it was a Republican - I'd like to see a story on that one. Anyways, I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed, and some young freshmen legislators could get together and have this legislation drafted by the time the 2015 session starts. What's more, I bet you could get support for increased licensing fees and perhaps limits on kills. Otherwise you're going to have problems. I can see why people like Coronado and his nutcases are coming here – our current policy is a bit nutty. Notes Missoulian report on 2013 Montana Wolf Hunting Season Mission Wolf Site with good Gray Wolf historic range maps Fish, Wildlife and Parks Report on Montana Wolves Sometimes you can really learn a lot about political campaigns just by looking at the pictures they produce. Let’s do that today. The big matchup of course comes down to Steve Daines and Amanda Curtis, so let’s start with them first. Amanda Curtis for U.S. SenateHere she’s talking somewhere, and there’s a small crowd of people. Nothing too exciting and she looks kind of isolated and along out there. Here’s one of Curtis talking in Bozeman to students. I’d hope for a bit of a larger crowd at a university, which is where she’s supposed to pick up a lot of that vote she’s going to need to win. Here she is preparing some comments and going over some last minute speech stuff. Pretty attractive, huh? This is a great shot of Amanda Curtis at the Forward Montana 10-Year Anniversary in August that I profiled, but just found this cool picture for. Is that Sam Thompson? Here’s a great shot of Curtis talking face to face with a voter or someone that’s important by the look of his embrace. (He's done this shit before, right?) This is probably the best Amanda Curtis photo. I just don’t picture Steve Daines doing a photo with a girl in a wheelchair like that. That kind of thing might make him uncomfortable, I get the feeling. Also, look at all those homemade signs above. These people are pretty excited about this on the ground. Here’s another good shot of her talking with voters. They might not look too impressed, but they go home and talk and vote later, usually absentee. Most will make up their mind after a meeting like this, because many only see a candidate once, and not always both. Too bad these girls look too young to vote, but you know Amanda Curtis is going to appeal to young women, even young Republican women. Check out the great article by Mike Dennison and Charles S. Johnson about Montanans splitting the ticket to vote for a personality. This is a great shot of Curtis at a brewery, one of the fastest growing segments of our economy that actually produces something. I wouldn’t call brewing manufacturing per se, but it’s pretty close. Honestly, why ship all that grain to Anheuser-Busch out of state if we can instead sell it to breweries here? There’s a lot of potential for both vertical and horizontal integration all within the state. Steve Daines for U.S. SenateSteve Daines is gonna be a dang tough guy to beat. When I saw this photo of him hiking in the Beartooth…oh, probably in the mid-80s when he was still in college, I knew Curtis was in trouble. You can say what you want about all the generational Montana stuff, and it means a lot, but a photo like this does a lot to dispel that in many voters’ minds, especially those that aren’t native themselves (and there’s a lot). Here’s a great shot of Daines talking with some pilot that looks like Tom Cruise. You’ll see this a lot, how he can really key in with eye contact and nod and make you feel important, and like your question mattered, or what you’re talking about is actually being heard. I’ve gotten this treatment first hand, and let me tell you, it’s hard to overcome. (From Steve Daines - I've never met Tom Cruise) Here’s a photo that shows what I’m talking about. It’s the ‘Steve Daines Touch,’ where he can grab hold of you, suck you in with that smile and those eyes, and make you forget you were just going to give him an earful. Instead you get a load of BS cloaked in homespun humor and down-home talk…and you’re defenseless. That young kid in the parade reminds me of a bit play from the '70s Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He's been converted and can only smile as another falls victim. (Hear the scream?) This man didn’t stand a chance. I can tell what he’s thinking, something like, fuck, I was just about to tell you off, but now I’m afraid I’ll vote for you, and damn it to hell, I don’t know why...but I’m powerless to stop myself. Ryan Zinke can learn a lot from Steve Daines, and that’s why I’m glad that they were campaigning together on Labor Day in Dillon. It’s a smart move, a smart move by the Republican Party and these two campaigns. I wish the Lewis and Curtis campaigns would work together, but Democrats have a terrible tendency to get at one another’s throat. (Why are you looking at me funny). I honestly do not know why Daines put this up on his Facebook page, which besides Twitter, are where I’m getting all the photos for all these people. I mean, really, you can go two ways on this one. First, You know, Ms, it’s just that we were making such damn advanced stuff at Right Now Technologies that I’m used to seeing something like this in a museum. Frankly, I baffled it’s here at all and I’m afraid I’ll…alright <sigh> I didn’t break the buttons. Or, Alright, why isn’t ‘pressing 9’ working? This has got to be my favorite from the bunch. Zinke is looking concerned, which is good, but I think it might just be that he’s baffled by a question of some sort, perhaps one of a difficult nature. Daines on the other hand, well, Daines is quite tickled by something. I can’t help but think it’s the idea that this kid thinks he might actually give a damn about anything coming out of his mouth, a mistake Zinke has clearly made. It’s just a great shot to put over the fireplace, or in it. Ryan Zinke for U.S. HouseRyan Zinke often looks like he doesn’t know what’s going on, but that kind of bumbling-ness is what voters like. They also like to brag about their special someone being in the military, which I can’t help but think this woman was doing. Here we’ve got Daines and Zinke campaigning again. Zinke always looks like ‘damn, someone actually wanted to shake my hand.’ I’m surprised he got elected to the legislature. How much money did that take? But he’s got that warrior story and he’s strong and fit and can do stuff, like run in the rain with all these people, many of whom will vote for him…perhaps again. Here he was just today at the Coal Dinner in…Billings I believe. He’s damn good at serving food, I will say that. Here’s a picture of him being told what to do. And here’s some poor bastard he cornered at the end of an event. I can’t figure out what’s going on here, but it looks like he’s trying to convince people to vote for him or telling yarns again. John Lewis for U.S. HouseI sure hope John Lewis can convince more people to vote for him, which he seems to be doing a pretty good job at. He’s always smiling and listening and generally making people feel good. The guy’s a fucking food kitchen junkie too. If he’s not elected he needs to be appointed to some national office that coordinates this stuff. John Lewis is also really good at going around to businesses in the state and looking at their stuff while listening to people talk about it. That shit goes a long way, let me tell you. A lot of the time you have no idea what these businesses are about, but if you go there and look around and listen and nod a lot, damn, you can pick it up pretty quick. What’s more, you get a pretty good idea of what they need. I think the best thing is to get them in a quiet corner of the factory or right at the end of the tour and come up and say “tell me what you need.” You might not be able to deliver it, but at least you know what it is, and that makes voters happy. Lewis also gets stuck in small rooms with few people, many of whom have chairs pointing the wrong way. But he soldiers on and talks to them and that might just be another handful of votes, as well as a lot of word-of-mouth potential.
Well, that’s about it. I hope you liked this post about the campaigns. I like checking the mail. When I lived in China for 5 years I didn’t get much mail. What’s more, most of the time it was in Chinese and I couldn’t read it. (Think your power bill is hard to decipher?) Anyways, I checked my mailbox today and there were 3 political campaign mailers there. Now, instead of doing what any sensible person would do – chucking them into the nearest rubbish bin without an afterthought – I rushed to my computer and scanned them in. So what do we got? Well, here we go! Dick Haines for Senate District 49 I live in Senate District 49 and House District 98 in Missoula. We were thinking of moving when our 1-year lease was up in August, but we just couldn’t find a decent place closer to where my wife Evgenyia works downtown, or one that wasn’t a complete shithole that wouldn’t be suitable for a 3-year-old (although for college students it’d be great!). That means I get political mailings from Dick Haines, and here’s what his looks like: Well, what do you think? First of all, let me say I’ve med Dick Haines once and I liked him. This was when I went to the Target Range Homeowners Association, where all the candidates could present their ‘vision’ or issues or whatever. It was back in May I think, and I talked to him for a bit and listened to his speech. Haines has a lot of experience, having served in the Montana State House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005. He was probably one of the big winners that 1998 off-year election, when Republicans really tried to paint Bill Clinton as a skirt-chasing demon. America wasn’t buying it, and nationally the GOP looked like idiots. It was the tail-end of Clinton’s second term, yet they didn’t gain anything in the Senate and actually lost five seats in the House. Wikipedia puts it pretty damn straight: “This marked the first time since 1934 that the out-of-Presidency party failed to gain congressional seats in a mid-term election, and the first time since 1822 that the party not in control of the White House failed to gain seats in the mid-term election of a President's second term.” (1998 U.S. Senate Elections) But you know a lot of Montana voters fall for that shit, and that’s how Haines got into the legislature. Remember, a lot of that deregulation debacle from the 1997 legislature hadn’t set in yet, so people still thought Republicans were their friends. I guess that’s what Haines is thinking of now, as you can see from the back of his flyer: I like this flyer. I liked it when I read the whole damn thing on the curb. It’s simple and easy to read and old folks will like it. It’s those older folks that Haines is counting on voting for him, and I’m sure a lot will. Personally I would’ve liked it if Mike Hopkins beat him in June, but it wasn’t meant to be (930 votes to 669, or 58% to 41%). I was happy to see that Hopkins was appointed to run in SD 48 after Kevin Blackler dropped out…interesting, huh? That means Hopkins and Cynthia Wolken will be going at it until November, although I’m not sure what Hopkins finances are like at this point. (The vote was 1,452 Wolken and 810 Blackler in June, both running unopposed). So what about Dick Haines? Personally I don’t think he stands a chance against Democratic warhorse and juggernaut Diane Sands. She’s mobilized, has the financial resources, and just seems unstoppable. Ask Doug Coffin, someone I was sad to see go up against her in June, but I’m sure he’ll be back, unless he transfers to another university, which seems unlikely since he had a Missoulian letter about Labor the other day. So I’m sure Diane Sands will win this race…but we’ll see. Matthew Lowy for Justice of the Peace I don’t really know what Justice of the Peace means – I guess it’s some kind of judge, but then why not call it that? Government is difficult, and Matthew Lowy is trying to make it less so…I guess. I don’t know a lot of things when it comes to this race, other than the fact that both candidates always seem to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. Either Marie Anderson is sending out $8,000 worth of this shit I got today, or Lowy is being endorsed by a District Court office manager. Well, I could think of some worse things a candidate might be doing. Both cases seem like a whole lot of nothing to me, really little more than election year hoo-ha and shenanigans, of which Montana has a long history of. This is pretty tame in comparison. But they’re judges and they’re not supposed to be political…but they have to get elected. Jeez, kinda makes things tough, huh? I mean, if I get a traffic fine and the penalty is $50 to $100, will I get the low-end if I’d donated to one of their campaigns? Gosh, when I get up there in front of them in court, are you telling me that’s not going to go through their head. Yeah, Greg gave me $10 that one time when I was a nobody and needed to get elected, so I’m going to give him a break on this one. I dunno, it’s questionable. But anyone that’s been following our local races here in Missoula this year knows that things are pretty wild, from the Sheriff’s race earlier that saw all kinds of nonsense to the County Commissioner race that was equally interesting. Seems we got most of that stuff done with the primaries, but there are a few that remain, and that’s why I get flyers like this in the mail today: Now I like this one, for several reasons. First, it’s small, just a postcard size compared to that larger one from Haines. Next, this one actually has my name on it: I don’t know who the hell David C Jones or Current Resident is, but obviously they made the mistake of giving to some campaign in the past. Maybe it was just one of those pesky door-knockers. I’ve done these mailings before, and they’re not always easy, and they’re sure not always effective. I was happy to see that Lowy or at least his Treasurer, Senator Cliff Larson, put an actual stamp on the damn thing, and not some forever stamp, but an actual 34 center! It’s even got my complete zip code, something I don’t even know. Yes, it seems if I want quality and care and a touch for detail, Matt Lowy might be the way to go. (I’ve yet to receive a Marie Anderson mailing, even though she sent out a batch of $8,000 worth…perhaps illegally). But shit, I’m pretty much preachin’ to the converted on this one. I already voted for Sands and Lowy once before and will do so again in November. I guess this is for all of you that still might be getting some of these in the mail: Yeah, a company trying to get me to buy campaign materials and flyers. Shit, I lost my primary – this is sand in the wound!
I certainly know the company that I won’t contact next go-round, after all, they don’t even have someone checking their mailing list post-primary to save them money. They did get my name right, though. Last Saturday I was riding my bike back from the Griz game and I just happened to have my camera on me so I took some photos of what I saw. Now, there’s a trail that runs right through Missoula and follows the angle of the slant streets. I’ve been using this trail for more than 10 years, and used to ride it everyday, summer and winter (I had no car here from 2005 to 2008). The thing is, however, there’s a lot of empty and rubbish-filled places along that trail. Could those areas be used for something, are they being used for something now? It sure doesn’t seem like it, take a look. Old Areas of MissoulaFirst of all, this area is around that large mural that some of you might have seen: Next, this area is located near the Loyola Sacred Heart High School football field: That thing is hardly ever used, but I do see it watered a lot. Now, I’m not worried about how much money that Christian school is wasting on water, I’m more concerned about this huge amount of land that could actually be used for something and perhaps even produce taxes. I want that land to work for us. As you can see from these pictures, right now that land is doing absolutely nothing: First of all, there are these train tracks running right through the middle of town that are never used. Well, scratch that – I did see a single locomotive on those tracks once back in 2007 or so. I guess they do have to test them from time to time to see if they still work. A better idea might be to take them out and get rid of the unused tracks that are causing tire problems for people that drive over them numerous times each day. (or would that hurt car repair shops that rely on that income?) Now, to give you a better idea of this eyesore, here are some long shots pointing down those tracks and at the many derelict industrial buildings just sitting there: Right now some of that land and some of those derelict buildings are being used. I heard someone playing the radio loudly in one last weekend, but that was about it. So who’s using this shithole? Pro Build, a company that I guess needs lots of empty space to store construction stuff I didn’t see. Hey, maybe they’re flush with money and could care less about costs, but I doubt it. Do they need that much space? Could Missoula offer them a deal to get that space so we could put it to better use? Because I’m sorry, but right now the use for that land is pitiful. They also seem to be a great place to store junk, as you can see from this photo: Looks like a lot of shit to me, but I guess some of it could have some use. Oh, and don’t think a lot of that is used too often – just take a look at this bus that probably hasn’t moved in a decade or more: Maybe that’s some private companies dumping ground. Can’t the city offer to buy the land – sorry, sue them for it – so we could use it for something better?
This seems like an opportunity to me, one that Missoula should look into. But then I’m not an elected official, so what do I know? Let’s say the Minimum Wage is raised to $10 a hour. Lots of workers are happy, lots of Democrats are happy. Lots of Republicans are unhappy, lots of small business owners are unhappy. It’s that last that’s the most important. See, with a higher minimum wage they’ll be shouldering all the burden. There’s sure not going to be any federal subsidies for them (although payroll tax breaks might help). But probably not in the short-term, so they lay off workers. That mean’s Joey’s Fish Shack over on Lawrence has to lay-off 2 of its 5 workers – Sam and Jasmine. But that’s a real pain in the ass for owner Joey, who’d rather be…doing boss things, not working the line making $2.99 fish sandwiches. So Joey ups the hours on the other three employees, who are now working 40 hours – full time! What’s more, they’re getting federal health benefits under Obamacare (assuming of course Joey’s is a franchise that falls under some kind of umbrella employee size and they’re in an educated state). That’s great for those workers – Johnny, Sally, and Jim-Bob – because it means they have a few more bucks on each paycheck. And since each is a college dropout with a former or current drug habit, alimony, child support, student loans, or perhaps all of the above, it works out great! We know those workers at the low-end of the pay scale are going to be spending all of their paychecks, and that means local businesses benefit. Flush with extra earnings, they have to hire. Sam’s able to find a job over at the Hardware Emporium while Jasmine starts working full-time at the new boutique downtown. What’s more, because that minimum wage stays high, both the hardware store and the boutique are keeping highering down while boosting the hours of current workers. Finally all five of these people from our story – Sam, Jasmine, Johnny, Sally, and Jim-Bob – can make a living wage without having to work two part-time jobs. And Joey? Sadly, Joey’s been in the back all day with the runs from that fish taco special. The Montana Public Service Commission approved the sale of Montana’s 11 major dams to Northwestern Energy just a week ago. The deal cost $870 million and that means I’ve got to pay $4.50 more on my bill each month on average. Is there any way to get my power bill lower now? I’d like to think so, because this month my power bill was $62.67…and I’ve just got a 2-bedroom apartment (and a crappy dryer). In the winter, however, that bill shoots up a lot – we had $182.84 last February, but you’ll have to ask my wife why. So how does that break down, why does it cost so much? As far as I can tell I get delivery charges and supply charges on my bill. What I’m really interested in are the supply numbers, which cost me $0.005 for residential deferred supply and $0.062 for residential supply. I have no idea what that means, but it brings the supply end of my monthly Northwestern Energy power bill up to $37.66 based on the 556 kWh I used this past month. Adding up the 5 residential delivery fees plus the standard $5.25 service charge gives me the $25.01 delivery side of my bill…brining me to that $62.67. If I want to get mathematical I can take that $62.67 and divide it by that 556 I have to get an average power cost of $0.11 per kWh. Golly, 11 cents doesn’t sound like a whole helluva lot, now does it? I bet if I walked downtown I could find that on the ground in a few minutes, or just ask for it from strangers and get it in seconds. The point is, though, that money adds up big time. Montana has an estimated 2013 population of 1,015,165…according to Wikipedia. Let’s say that just half of those people are paying a power bill, and let’s say it’s just 50 kWh a month, alright? That brings total revenue for Northwestern Energy in Montana to $2,791,703.75 for that month, based on a $5.5 power bill for each of those 507,582.5 people. Not bad for a month’s work, huh, and especially when much of that power that Northwestern Energy is getting is coming to them for free, or pretty close to it. See, they’re using hydropower – dams. This is free money here – it comes from water that’s already in the mountains and because of another free energy source – gravity – it flows down. It’s that moving that’s the really important part. So you’re getting a clean and sustainable energy source year after year. So what if the reservoir is a little low or the winter snowfall a little low – if it’s free each year and you can store that electricity to use later, what’s the big deal? I think the big deal is the same thing my son has – 3-year-old-itis. I can’t help but think that environmental groups just want to act like Dr. Seuess’s The Zax! And nothing illustrates the problem of clean energy producers running into draconian-environmental thinking and a sticking-to-your-guns-no-matter-what mentality than the Gibson Dam. Located between Marias Pass and Rogers Pass, the Rocky Mountain Front is as clear of a delineation you can get between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Trappers coming 200 years ago would have stopped and stared at what lay before them, settlers fifty years after that would have turned south to go around. There was originally a section of 365,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain Front that’s not protected because it has oil there. That was remedied in 1997 with a 10-year ban on oil drilling and then in 2006 that was extended. One of the main pushers for that to happen was the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front, and you can read all about this in Dave Skinner’s piece in Range Magazine this Fall Issue. Environmentalists talk a lot about the dangers of coal and oil and gas and all the rest of it…but when given the opportunity to use something else they too often balk. Take wind. I’d love to see more windmills up and around the state, much like I saw over the fields of Germany when I was taking the train through there in 2009. Unfortunately, a stray windmill might disrupt some bird’s flight path or create an eyesore for…groundhogs. (Who the hell lives in the middle of nowhere)? That gets you nowhere, and as you can see from the Zax video, the world just moves on. That’s why I scratch my head and wonder what the hell environmentalists are doing. Here we have the Gibson Dam – a huge thing built nearly 100 years ago, that already has the capability to produce power if we’d just put some money into it or get some companies to or whatever. Montana has always been a hydro state, even before coal started. The first coal mining didn’t really get going until 1924 when the Northern Pacific started it up large-scale in Colstrip. Long before that people were building dams, as I wrote about on my Montana blog and in my fourth volume of Montana history. One of those main dams was the 199-foot high and 960-foot long Gibson Dam, with a spillway that could accommodate 30,000 cubic feet of water flowing through it per second. The Gibson Dam was built 60 miles west of Great Falls between 1926 and 1929 and engineers had originally anticipated the dam creating electricity, and transmission lines were even run out to nearby Augusta. Penstocks were installed to regulate the flow of water to the turbines, but then it was discovered the reservoir just wasn’t going to hold enough water to create electricity when the time for spring release came. Subsequent studies have suggested the dam could produce 15 MW if a powerhouse making use of the original penstocks were built near the dam. The Battle over Gibson Dam’s Power Potential Proposals were put forth in the 1980s to get the Gibson Dam producing power, but in the end they were abandoned, too cost-prohibitive. By 2005 things were moving again. “We are looking at supplying energy to the market,” Thom Fischer, an engineer for Whitewater Engineering said to the Helena Independent Record that year, “and we think we can help Greenfields by lowering their costs.” Try telling that to David Letterman, a recent Montanan transplant from back East. First, I like David Letterman, I think he’s a great guy. Next, he’s wildly out of touch with how most of us live. Case in point, he has a ranch management company, one that has an attorney. Letterman and his attorney think that the transmission lines would “mar the view of the Rocky Mountains in places.” That attorney – Bill Massey of Washington D.C. – is leading the charge to halt any kind of eyesore that David Letterman might or might not see from his ranch management company home near Augusta. In addition to Letterman and his lawyer, the Deep Creek Grazing Association, Teton Prairie, LLC and Sun River Ranch have all said things are a bit iffy on this one…at least way back in 2007 when they raised a ruckus and when public comments were going on. When that finally subsided in 2008, the Great Falls Development Authority submitted plans to the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC) to start making power at Gibson Dam. The plan would cost $25 million and get that 15 MW potential up and running. Toll House Energy Co. of Bellingham, Washington, was an early supporter and FERC issued a permit to them. What’s more, the Greenfields Irrigation District signed-on, which is really just a rural cooperative of farmers getting a great deal on that irrigation resource. In the end nothing ever became of the 2008 plans to produce that power, primarily because environmental concerns stood in the way, and probably Letterman again as well. I’m not really sure why that is, mainly because the power-transmission lines only need to run for about 35 miles. Sure, they’re 60 feet high, but again, no one lives there, and the concern isn’t birds – it’s the eyesore potential. This really gets me. We’ve got environmentalists that don’t live in Montana complaining about land that no one lives on and that few ever see. If we’d build those lines we could get cheap, clean and renewable energy and virtually a zero-level of environmental impact. Still, these transmission lines have been in the news in Montana before, when the Missoula Independent reported on Montana transmission lines in 2011, as did High Country News. Tollhouse Energy had wanted to begin constructing those lines as early as 2009, but it just couldn’t be done. What really gets me is these rich guys from out of state that come to Montana and then get their high-priced lawyers to push us around. Most of the time it’s so they can rape the land of its resources. In this case, however, it’s so they can stop a dam from fulfilling a function it was designed for when they weren’t even a twinkle in their father’s eye. The nerve of these folks, let me tell you! I mean, I guess I can understand it – Letterman has to look at those tall skyscrapers most days in New York. Montana is his special place, and when he comes here he wants things his way. Hey, that might mean slightly higher power bills for you, but isn’t Dave’s view worth that to you? Shouldn’t his time on the Network be rewarded? I mean, gosh – Jay Leno stole his job once! If you don’t care about that you must be un-American. I could go on with this train of thought all day, but I’d probably get a cease and desist order from Massey, Dave Letterman’s lawyer. I don’t need that shit. ConclusionJust 10 MW is enough power to run up to 10,000 homes. If you want to go by our earlier figures of a power bill of $5.5 that’d mean an extra $55,000 a month for Northwestern Energy in power they could sell and reduce that massive $870 million blot of red ink on their balance sheets. Of course we both know it’ll be a whole lot more than that. The final environmental assessment was issued for the project in 2012. It put the final transmission line at 26-miles long to head to the existing line at Jackson’s Corner. What’s more, a substation would be built 10 miles east of the powerhouse along the line. So what would this look like if it actually started moving again?
That’s the Montana PSC’s main job – to save Montana taxpayers money, and this seems like a good idea. But wait a minute, who’s this Toll House Energy that’s pushing this deal? I mean, they’re in Washington, right? Yeah, I wonder about that, but it seems most of our power stuff is out of state these days. What is clear is that the State of Washington gets most of its power from clean hydro like the Gibson Dam can produce, and they have a lot of demand over there. Already our energy prices are quite low, and if we can sell some of that it’s good for you as a consumer and it’s good for Northwestern Energy. I think we need to accept that Northwestern Energy is a big player in Montana and will be for some time. I’d like to think of them as a friend, something that’s pretty easy to do considering that Northwestern Energy employs 1,113 workers in Montana. If they can get rid of their debts sooner, it’ll make my power bill in winter a little more manageable. Well, that’s the idea anyways, and I think it’s a pretty good one – if those Northwestern Energy company heads can do the right thing and not get swept away by Wall Street greed like their predecessors.
It was a pretty good one back in 1906 when they originally drew up the plans for Gibson Dam, it was pretty good in the ‘80s when firms were thinking about it, and it was pretty good in the 2000s when these most recent firms picked it up again. Can someone please tell that to David Letterman when he’s in town again from New York? At the end of August I gave $10 to John Lewis for Montana. There were a few reasons I did this, but it pretty much boils down to the following:
So I gave $10. Not a whole lot, but something. A hot dog and a tank of gas – maybe. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to thwart Phil Mitchell from pulling a Zinke in the Flathead, but I do hope it will be a small help in getting John Lewis elected so that candidates years from now are not pulling that shit. So how much small help like my $10 is John Lewis getting? Well, I got a letter in the mail from John Lewis saying thanks, and that I’m just one of now more than 3,500 contributors that are actually in all 56 counties of Montana. That’s a lot of people, huh! It’s not really surprising, though. John Lewis started his campaign in October of last year – nearly a year ago now. We know John Lewis’s got some money piled up and is starting to use it, as I wrote about a week or so ago. Mainly, though, it’s a huge contrast to Ryan Zinke, who Don Pogreba over on Intelligent Discontent did a good job writing up in August. He makes it clear, as do reporters across the state, the Lewis is getting the overwhelming majority of his money in Montana (71%) as opposed to Ryan Zinke, who gets most from outside of Montana (28% collected in Montana). In comparison to Montana, California has 58 counties (perhaps a graduate student could win a master’s for figuring out how many have yet to give to Ryan Zinke). You know, a few months ago before the primary I was a little worried about writing an article called Voting for Ryan Zinke is Like Stepping in Dog Shit, but you know what – I decided to go ahead and put it up anyway. I guess that’s why newspapers have editors, but damn, that thing got 488 views in May so… The point I’m trying to make is that Montana newspapers are really starting to wake up and realize that Zinke is no good for Montana, and it’s nice to see. However, many, oh…’constraints’ exist that prevent them from really saying how bad two long years of Zinke would really be.
Imagine looking at his face or reading his name at least once a week over your morning breakfast until January 2017. And you know these guys are like termites, once they get in there they’re hell to get out. Personally I think paying $10 to John Lewis now is worth a lot. Imagine all I’ll save in extra medications for my blood-pressure shooting up or the Rogaine treatments I’ll need from pulling my hair out. Preventative healthcare is important, but so too is preventative political care. If you stay active and healthy each day you can fend off the risks that indifference brings, such as folks like Ryan Zinke and those pulling his same tactics. That’s why giving $10 to John Lewis is a good idea. |
2014 Montana Election BlogIn the 2014 elections I ran for the Montana Legislature as a Democrat in Missoula's House District 98. Categories
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