Flathead Valley Commentary: Kalispell, Montana News

In January, I posed a question on flatheadbeacon.com asking when the U.S. Highway 93 Bypass would be finished. Of the 127 readers who responded to the unscientific poll, 53 percent of them said “never.” And who could blame them? The idea of building a highway to circumvent downtown Kalispell had been discussed for decades.

Then, in March, we published a story on how, even with federal stimulus funds being thrown around (seemingly everywhere), the bypass was still a long way off because the Montana Department of Transportation had secured right-of-way designations for just 155 (or 57 percent) of the 273 parcels needed for the road.

There is a move across the country to encourage renewable electrical power and several bills are moving through Congress mandating its usage. While many loudly shout about the positive use of alternative and renewable energy along with the need for America to be independent of foreign oil, they also do all they can to roadblock using wood to create biomass power. The opposition puzzles me and at some point those folks need a serious rethinking of what biomass power means to the future of Montana and the nation’s energy supply.

Today you just wander down to the ski shop with a sliver of plastic and in a short time are able to take advantage of several million dollars worth of research and development that you can use to continue to make turns on a mountain no matter your age.

Turn back the calendar to when rope tow tickets had already gone up to $2 a day and chairlift tickets were $4 a day (but there were only two chairlifts in Colorado, and they were at Aspen). There were two in California, one was at the Sugar Bowl on Donner Summit and the other one on Mount Waterman in Southern California. All told, there were only 15 chairlifts in America.

There’s an old adage that states never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel or paper by the ton.

In the recent three-week-long debacle between Bobby Hauck and the Kaimin, the University of Montana’s student newspaper, nothing could be closer to the truth.

A few weeks back, I wrote about the rage a few motorists have for road cyclists. This week I'm using a Q&A format to address some of the reasons for the anger – things many motorists might not understand about cycling and cyclists and why they do the things they do.

Q. Why do cyclists ride in the traffic lane instead of on or right of the fog line?

A. Most highways don't have shoulders large enough for road cycling, and many that do aren't maintained or have rumble strips, which makes cycling nearly impossible if not dangerous. Consequently, most experienced cyclists ride about a foot into the traffic lane because it discourages motorists from making the worst decision they can make when approaching cyclists from behind – trying to squeeze through in the same lane at high speed. One minor adjustment by the cyclist could cause a lethal accident; all it takes is a glancing blow by a side mirror. Instead, motorists should wait for a safe passing lane and cross the centerline and not get within five feet of the cyclist, which brings me to the most important words in this commentary: Share the Road, Not the Lane.

Sometimes I really wonder about where people get their competitive spirit. Or for that matter, why they're in business at all.

They don't seem to have any sort of competitive edge about them when it comes to business, but these same folks would put a hotel on Boardwalk if given the chance.

"It's just a game", they say. "It's just your business", I reply.

I once served as guest chef at a bed and breakfast owned by a friend, whose cook needed to be fired a couple of days before the busiest week of the year for this particular establishment.

The previous incumbent’s infractions are not germane to this story and maybe one week I’ll write about them because they are comically revolting. In any case, unaccustomed as I am to 4 a.m. wake-up calls (and also being finished with work by 9 a.m.), I rather enjoyed the challenge to provide over-the-top breakfasts for 10 guests for five days.

John Stokes is on the air. Despite the shutdown of radio station KGEZ by authorities last month after a federal bankruptcy judge ordered the liquidation of Stokes’ assets, anyone pining for the reassuring sound of his broadcasting baritone can simply go to Youtube.com.

There, entering Stokes’ name reveals he’s been a guest on numerous radio shows throughout the country, where hosts describe him as the victim of an illegal seizure of private property by the government.