Let’s put behind us the recent unseemly and inaccurate charges that Sen. Jon Tester’s bill on timber jobs and wilderness was crafted in secrecy. It’s time to focus on the future and on what the bill will actually accomplish rather than to try to paint some vague conspiracy that best belongs in a pulp fiction novel.
Tester is to be commended for his willingness to take on simultaneously the subjects of timber jobs and wilderness designation in one bill after these issues have been stalemated in Montana’s internal political wars for the past 25 years.
Chef Jim Gray
The Other Side of the Table
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I’ve been giving wait staff a pretty hard time in this column, but isn’t it usually the case that a few miscreants give a whole group a bad rap?
There is another side to the story and, having been a waiter at more than one time in my younger days, I know from whence they speak.
Diners can be a pretty ugly lot, too. There are now a number of blogs written by waiters and waitresses, and a couple of books have just come out, written by waiters baring their souls about their travails in restaurant dining rooms. Some of you diners are doing some pretty weird and, from what I’ve read, some pretty rotten things.
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There is another side to the story and, having been a waiter at more than one time in my younger days, I know from whence they speak.
Diners can be a pretty ugly lot, too. There are now a number of blogs written by waiters and waitresses, and a couple of books have just come out, written by waiters baring their souls about their travails in restaurant dining rooms. Some of you diners are doing some pretty weird and, from what I’ve read, some pretty rotten things.
Letter
LETTER: Constitutional Rights Don’t End at Park Boundaries
Every time a law restoring Second Amendment rights is passed, it is inevitable that a few people will come forward crying that the world as we know it is about to end. Jerry Reckin's letter (March 3 Beacon: “Guns in Parks Will Change the Ranger Image”) bemoaning the restoration of the right to carry a firearm for protection in our national parks and refuges – a right removed under Pres. Reagan – predicts the same thing.
Blood was not running down the trails of our parks because of legally armed visitors before this right was removed by Reagan, nor will there be a bloodbath now despite Reckin's fear mongering. To quote him: "if it ain't broke don't fix it" – this change in law simply removes an unnecessary "fix it" that Reagan never should have signed into law.
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Blood was not running down the trails of our parks because of legally armed visitors before this right was removed by Reagan, nor will there be a bloodbath now despite Reckin's fear mongering. To quote him: "if it ain't broke don't fix it" – this change in law simply removes an unnecessary "fix it" that Reagan never should have signed into law.
Medical Marijuana
Reefer Madness
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It appears that the city of Kalispell may ban medical marijuana dispensaries because a state law legalizing the businesses conflicts with a federal law and over concerns that catering to potheads may ruin the city’s broad appeal to tourists. These arguments are equally insane.
I agree with, and have previously stated, that the medical marijuana law now on Montana’s books is too vague and municipalities should take ample time to strictly zone the businesses similar to the way in which taverns are governed so that they don’t end up next to schools, parks and daycares.
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I agree with, and have previously stated, that the medical marijuana law now on Montana’s books is too vague and municipalities should take ample time to strictly zone the businesses similar to the way in which taverns are governed so that they don’t end up next to schools, parks and daycares.
Guest Commentary: Ellen Simpson
Serial Litigators Still at Work
There is within the United States government an entity called the Government Accountability Office (GAO) with the charge of examining, upon request of Congress, various functions within federal agencies. A request was made by U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V., asking the GAO to review appeals and litigation filed against U.S. Forest Service projects for fiscal years 2006 to 2008.
Stated in the report, which can be found on the GAO Web site, nationwide in the nine regions of the Forest Service covering 108 national forests 18 percent of proposed projects were appealed while 2 percent continued on to litigation. If those numbers applied to Region 1, where Montana’s national forests are located, the subject would probably be moot. The reality is that nationwide numbers do not apply to Region 1, and, in fact, the numbers here greatly skew the totals.
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Stated in the report, which can be found on the GAO Web site, nationwide in the nine regions of the Forest Service covering 108 national forests 18 percent of proposed projects were appealed while 2 percent continued on to litigation. If those numbers applied to Region 1, where Montana’s national forests are located, the subject would probably be moot. The reality is that nationwide numbers do not apply to Region 1, and, in fact, the numbers here greatly skew the totals.
Warren Miller
WARREN’S WORLD: Equipment 1947
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I have come to the conclusion that complaining doesn’t get a person anywhere, unless the person you are complaining to can do something about your complaints. And no one can make my broken back heal any faster.
When your get-up-and-go moves into the lay-down-and-sleep mode, it is time to try and do something about it. Normally this time of the year I would slip into a pair of bindings that are screwed onto a pair of skis. Skis have seen incredible evolution during my lifetime.
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When your get-up-and-go moves into the lay-down-and-sleep mode, it is time to try and do something about it. Normally this time of the year I would slip into a pair of bindings that are screwed onto a pair of skis. Skis have seen incredible evolution during my lifetime.
Griz Grit
Grizzly Basketball Heads to the Big Stage
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After that record-setting individual Big Sky Conference Tournament performance by Montana Grizzly MVP Anthony Johnson, the 2009-10 edition of Montana basketball ventures into the hierarchy of Division-I collegiate basketball this week joining the elite 64 teams in one of this nation’s premier athletic events, the NCAA Tournament.
And while this year’s advancement to the postseason is by no means unprecedented, this group of deserving athletes will have an experience they will always treasure and never forget.
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And while this year’s advancement to the postseason is by no means unprecedented, this group of deserving athletes will have an experience they will always treasure and never forget.
The wrong people are left paying
Property Wrongs
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The North Shore Ranch (east of Somers) was first proposed in 2006, at the height of the boom: 375 homes on 367 acres east of Somers. As expected, the “sprawl” crowd stiffly opposed North Shore. It was denied, rightly so, for some technical shortcomings.
In the spring of 2008, after redoing their homework, North Shore’s proponents tried again. I’d suggest you follow along with the associated meeting minutes, available on Flathead County’s Web site. Frankly, they did a righteous job on the second try. Reduced to 290 homes, with the addition of numerous findings of fact, North Shore passed the Planning Board 5-1.
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In the spring of 2008, after redoing their homework, North Shore’s proponents tried again. I’d suggest you follow along with the associated meeting minutes, available on Flathead County’s Web site. Frankly, they did a righteous job on the second try. Reduced to 290 homes, with the addition of numerous findings of fact, North Shore passed the Planning Board 5-1.
