Election 2008
McCain Said to Choose Alaska Gov as Running Mate
DENVER – John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, two senior campaign officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
A formal announcement was expected within a few hours at a campaign rally in swing-state Ohio.
Election 2008
Tester: Obama a Regular Guy, Not a Threat to Guns
HELENA – U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said Thursday he has no qualms about backing Barack Obama for president, calling him an "ordinary person" who is no threat to gun owners.
Tester made the comments a day after introducing Obama in Billings, then spending time with him as the traveled on an airplane together to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Election 2008
In Billings, Obama Pledges More Support for Veterans
BILLINGS – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that his Republican rival, John McCain, deserves gratitude but not votes for his years of military service.
Appearing before a largely partisan crowd of several hundred veterans and their families, Obama said that McCain, since leaving the military and joining the U.S. Senate, has not done enough for veterans.
TIFS gradually alter economic landscape
Tax Increment Financing Districts: A Double-edged Development Tool
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Stephen Templeton/Flathead Beacon |
In the throes of a debate over how to best deal with the current $500,000 shortfall in Kalispell’s budget, city council member Tim Kluesner seized on an idea at a recent meeting, proposing that the city borrow some property tax revenue from tax increment finance districts to give the general fund a much-needed cash infusion.
At another point in the same Aug. 18 meeting, council member Bob Hafferman lamented that the Hilton Garden Inn, on Kalispell’s south end, was built within the airport tax increment finance (TIF) district, and the large amount of property taxes the hotel was generating remained unavailable to help the city’s budget crunch.
It’s tough being green, but we can do it
This Wolf Plan Would Work
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Anybody who follows the endlessly volatile wolf issue – and it's hard not to follow it with all the news coverage – knows the greens won a big victory last month. Judge Donald Molloy of the U.S. District Court sided with Earthjustice and 12 conservation organizations and essentially relisted, albeit temporarily, the wolf as an endangered species.
So, what now?
Democratic Convention
Schweitzer Stresses Energy Independence at DNC
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DENVER – Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, speaking Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, called on America to wean itself from foreign oil by investing in alternative energy and criticized Sen. John McCain as beholden to big oil companies.
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