By Myers Reece, 8-11-10
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Caption: Mike Evans walks the trail following the bank of the Flathead River above a section where the eroding riverbank has exposed the bodies of old cars. Evans said he discovered the cars during a walk along the river and doesn’t remember being so exposed last year. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Kalispell resident Mike Evans was walking along the Flathead River on one of his favorite trails when he saw something he had never noticed before. Jutting from the riverbank was part of a rusted car. Down the trail, he ran into another car, and then several more.
What Evans saw were relics from a 1950s erosion control experiment, when cars were taken from wrecking yards and dumped into the river to, hopefully, stabilize the eroding bank. For a period, the method was widely used along the Flathead River and other streams across the state and nation.
Today, there are rusted cars scattered along the banks and bottoms of rivers throughout Montana and beyond, remnants of a time when rivers were less regulated and self-reliant people were trying to figure out how to battle the escalating problem of erosion.
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The bodies of old cars spill from the eroded banks of the Flathead River into the water near the Old Steel Bridge fishing access east of Kalispell. |
“Wow, I’ll tell you, there’s some chrome down there,” Evans said, gesturing to a line of cars partially embedded in the earth and partially submerged in the water.
Clifford Brenneman, 79, knows where at least a few of the cars came from. He was in his early 20s when he helped his father place gutted cars along the riverbanks where their farmland bordered the Flathead River.
The Brennemans were among the many Flathead landowners in the early 1950s experimenting with the “Detroit Riprap” method of erosion control. Kalispell Wrecker, Brenneman said, was busy during those years, gutting and loading cars in preparation for an eventual destination in the Flathead River.
On occasion, Brenneman said the cars, after having their engines and other innards removed by cutting torches, would send sparks shooting off the back of his flatbed as he hauled the cars down city streets.
“You could see sparks in the mirror,” Brenneman said. “You thought, ‘Well, I better get out there quick.’”
Once in the water, if the cars held, they became a sturdy part of the bank, resisting the river’s strength in ways soil couldn’t. If they didn’t hold, they became an odd sight, drifting down the river like some metal Montana hippo.
“It’s something we did and we thought it was good,” Brenneman said. “But we found out later it wasn’t very wise. Sometimes we have better hindsight than foresight.”
The rusting auto bodies are part of the everyday sightseeing experience for floaters on the Flathead River and other streams. Some are fully exposed, while others only have parts protruding from the earth.
Over time, Brenneman said the river deposited sand and soil on top of the embedded auto bodies, even fully burying some. Similarly, the river’s shifting waters can just as completely unearth the cars after they’ve been buried.
“If it can wash it in,” he said, “it can wash it out.”
Interestingly, nearly 60 years after Clifford Brenneman helped his father unload cars into the Flathead River, Brenneman’s son, Joe, has helped form a commission aimed at pursuing river stabilization methods.
Joe Brenneman, a Flathead County commissioner, helped form the Flathead County River Commission to address issues associated with living near the water, such as pollutants, erosion and farming procedures.
The commission consists of landowners along the Flathead River, a representative from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, a representative from the Flathead Conservation District and a county commissioner. It received a grant from the Department of Environmental Quality to explore different approaches to riverbank stabilization.
An environmental consulting company out of Missoula has helped the river commission as it tries to narrow down the best river stabilization approaches, Joe Brenneman said.
The Flathead River has unique erosion dilemmas because Flathead Lake’s water levels are controlled, affecting the water’s behavior upstream, particularly in the 20 to 30 miles directly above the lake. It’s not unusual for landowners to watch chunks of their land get carried away by the river.
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Flowers grow along the bank of the Flathead River above the body of an old car recently exposed by erosion. |
Rusby Seabaugh, who owns land along the river 22 miles upstream from Flathead Lake, said the stretch of river along his land is essentially an extension of the lake. During the summer, its water level is high, in accordance with the lake’s level. In the winter and spring, it drops by 10-14 feet, exposing bare banks with no vegetation that are vulnerable to erosion.
The river eats away at the bank and carries potentially harmful nutrients and pollutants into Flathead Lake.
“The problem is that if we don’t do anything, it vastly affects the water quality of Flathead Lake,” Seabaugh said.
Seabaugh is a member of Flathead County River Commission and said the commission was initially formed to address the lower river’s issues, but has since grown to incorporate the whole river. Slumping banks are a constant concern for a landowner like Seabaugh, and the region’s history of flooding only adds to the problem.
Since the 1970s, Seabaugh has been trying to stabilize the banks along his property. And, for the time being, his land is one of the best models for erosion control in the valley, though he concedes that it’s expensive and not a viable option for many.
Seabaugh has used large rocks to stabilize the lower bank where the river makes contact. Above that, he has sloped the bank “so it doesn’t cave in so easily,” and planted vegetation on top. The trees and shrubs hold the banks in place with their root structures and “look a little better than straight rock cliffs.”
“Most of the people who are doing projects up and down the river are doing some form of that,” Seabaugh said.
But Seabaugh didn’t use that method on all of his riverfront property. About a quarter-mile of it is stabilized by cars, which had already been there for more than two decades when he bought his property in the 1970s.
“They worked well, but if the erosion gets behind them and the car bodies get exposed, then you have problems,” Seabaugh said. “But you have to leave them alone; if you took them out, that would really cause problems for the bank.”
Seabaugh said he had heard that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed the cars there. Nola Leyde, spokesperson for the Corps, said she couldn’t find specific evidence to verify that her agency used junk cars in projects on the Flathead River, but added: “It was a very common practice in the 1950s.”
Part of the river commission’s goal, Seabaugh said, is to make stabilization possible for more landowners, by finding a cheaper alternative and by tweaking the permitting process required to work on a stream.
“It’s getting harder to do things on the river; the permitting process is getting harder,” he said. “It needs some help and we’d like to streamline it some if possible.”
As for the rusted cars, if they don’t seem to be serving a purpose, Joe Brenneman said people can have them removed by calling the solid waste district. Everybody, Brenneman said, pays a junk vehicle tax when they register their cars, which funds the removal of abandoned cars. But, if the car is in the river, a special permit will likely be required, he said.
“They’re a hazard to boats and swimmers,” Brenneman said. “We come across car bodies in the strangest places, everywhere. The rivers are so dynamic.”
[End of article]
Kalispell delays decision on issuing operating permit
Recovery Center Seeks to Correct Initial Missteps
By Dan Testa, 8-10-10
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Caption: The Freedom House on the west side of Kalispell. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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The Freedom House, at 1128 Third Avenue West in Kalispell, opened in April with the goal of providing a safe, stable place for men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction to get back on their feet. But due to a number of early missteps – some of which include a failure to file with the city for the proper operating permit and taking on a board of directors vice president who was a registered sex offender – Freedom House has angered some of its neighbors and drawn a rocky reception thus far.
Now, the new leaders of Freedom House are working hard to show their facility will have a positive impact on Kalispell.
“We’re not here to make money, we’re not here for prestige,” William Hawk, the manager of Freedom House and a recovering alcoholic, told the Kalispell City Council at its Aug. 2 meeting. “We’re here because we’re genuinely helping an individual that wants to be helped.”
But the statements of Hawk and others on the Freedom House’s board stood in sharp contrast with those neighbors of the facility concerned about how it would be monitored and whether it would affect the safety of the neighborhood.
“This needs to be a regulated facility with oversight from the DPHHS (Department of Public Health and Human Services),” Phillip Guiffrida III, who owns rental property across the street, told the council. “If you authorize this tonight you’re staring at every taxpayer and saying we don’t care about your property value.”
At the meeting, council voted to delay for a month a decision on whether to issue Freedom House a conditional use permit allowing up to eight unrelated men to live in the facility in a residential area where zoning restricts that number to no more than four. At issue is the council’s need to balance concerns of Freedom House’s neighbors with the Federal Fair Housing Act, which requires the city to provide reasonable accommodation for the handicapped – a definition that applies to alcoholics and drug addicts.
In its mission statement, Freedom House describes itself as a place, “To provide a safe, clean and sober living environment to the man in early recovery and promote abstinence from drugs and alcohol in an atmosphere of support and mutual cooperation.”
In order to stay at Freedom House, residents must be over 18, have not consumed drugs or alcohol within 72 hours of entering and submit to random testing. Residents must be working or have a medical release, or can be full-time students or perform volunteer work. At the council meeting, Freedom House President Rod Nash said residents are not allowed to be there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and residents can be asked to leave at any time.
“We try to help these guys but we do not enable these guys; we teach them to live,” Hawk said. “I’ve had guys that I’ve had to ask to leave.”
Though Hawk reassured the council none of the men were violent or sexual offenders, he acknowledged some were on probation, but described the case of one man there as typical: He was four months sober, holding down a job, and reestablishing relationships with his young children who were visiting him at Freedom House.
Since beginning the application process for an operating permit, Freedom House has made changes called for by the city, like taking down the wooden sign over its front door, and accommodated neighbors by holding an open house and no longer allowing men staying there to hang out in front of the house.
But because Freedom House isn’t licensed by any public agency, neighbors like Jeannie McFarland said she was concerned the city was initially unaware of Freedom House’s presence, and when she learned a board vice president – since removed – was a registered sex offender, questioned where she could turn in the future should a problem occur.
“We’re not afraid of alcoholics living next door,” McFarland said. “Who is monitoring it?”
“You’re saying maybe four people, maybe eight people,” she added. “What if there’s 10? 15?”
In a later interview, Tim Soul said he and fellow members of the Freedom House board, which has reorganized itself following the departure of the president and vice president, are responsible and accountable for the facility.
“There is oversight, although it’s not a regulatory agency,” Soul said. “It’s a very involved board and the composition of that is what provides the oversight.”
The question of how many men may stay at the facility is also key to the issue. During the debate by the council, Mayor Tammi Fisher said she believed issuing a conditional use permit for Freedom House but limiting the number of men staying there to four instead of eight could be a fair compromise and limit congestion in a residential area.
“I don’t think we can say there is no net effect on a property value next to high density,” Fisher said. “The reasonable accommodation is to allow the facility limited to four people.”
But earlier in the meeting, Joi Gratny, treasurer of the Freedom House board, said the facility was launched with $5,000 in donations, and needed more than four men staying there in order to pay the rent.
Councilman Duane Larson acknowledged the predicament the city was in, faced with a choice between potentially violating the Fair Housing Act or angering some neighbors of Freedom House.
“If we deny the permit, we’re going to be in for a lawsuit for sure,” Larson said. “When you uphold the rights of one person, you trample on someone else and that’s exactly what would happen here if we uphold the Fair Housing Act.”
Larson then successfully moved to table the decision over the permit for a month. Though some city officials said they thought Freedom House may consider moving locations to a less residential area, as of last week, board members for the facility said they had no plans to do so following their most recent meeting.
“We are working with the city as to what our options are,” Gratny said.
[End of article]
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Inmate escape
Search for Fugitive, Fiancee Focuses on Northwest Montana, Canada
By AP News, 8-10-10
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Caption: John McClusky, left, and Casslyn Welch. |
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Authorities Tuesday focused on western Montana and southwest Canada in the search for an escaped convict from Arizona and his suspected accomplice who fashion themselves a present-day "Bonnie and Clyde."
U.S. marshals say there have been reports that the accomplice, Casslyn Welch, was spotted Monday at a restaurant in St. Mary near Glacier National Park as well as somewhere in southwestern Canada.
Montana's acting marshal, Rod Ostermiller, said there were multiple other tips from the Glacier area, but he didn't say whether any included sightings of the escaped convicted, John McCluskey. The national park abuts the Canadian border in rugged terrain, but the border to the east, along the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, is fairly flat.
"These guys have the ability to get in the car and move relatively easily," said Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Arizona district, explaining the wide search area.
A border patrol helicopter joined the search Tuesday.
Marshals also said they're pursuing leads in Indiana and Pennsylvania, where the fugitives have family and connections. They promised more arrests of people suspected of helping the pair.
The Arizona attorney general's office on Monday charged two women, including McCluskey's mother, with helping the inmates after they escaped.
Another prisoner who escaped with McCluskey waived his right to fight extradition to Arizona.
Tracy Province, 42, appeared in court in Cody on Tuesday, one day after he was captured in the small town of Meeteetse. He waived the right to fight extradition to Arizona and signed a waiver form in handcuffs.
Given the attention the case has received, Judge Bruce Waters said he expected Province to be returned to Arizona shortly.
Province was caught Monday as he walked in sleepy Meeteetse, Wyo., steps from a church where he sat in the pews a day earlier and sang "Your Grace Is Enough." A woman he talked to after church recognized him from a photograph shown on television, but he went undetected at one of the town's two bars the night before, even though his photo was broadcast on The Cowboy Bar's television during the news.
Owner Jim Blake said Province was staring at the TV but no one "put it together" at the bar, where Butch Cassidy was arrested before being sent to prison in 1894.
"If you compare the photograph they took in Cody yesterday with the one that they were showing on TV for the last week or so you would have never thought it was the same guy," Blake said.
Province, McCluskey and Daniel Renwick escaped from the medium-security Arizona State Prison near Kingman on July 30 after authorities say Welch threw wire cutters over the perimeter fence. Welch, 44, is McCluskey's fiancee and cousin.
Province was serving a life sentence for murder and robbery out of Pima County, Ariz. McCluskey was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm out of Maricopa County, Ariz.
Renwick, who was serving a 22-year sentence for second-degree murder, was captured Aug. 1 in Colorado.
Efforts to find McCluskey, Province and Welch intensified after they were linked to a double homicide in New Mexico, with the case airing Saturday on "America's Most Wanted."
Forensic evidence linked them to the killings of an Oklahoma couple. New Mexico State Police spokesman Peter Olson declined to elaborate.
The badly burned skeletal remains of Linda and Gary Haas — both 61 and from Tecumseh, Okla. — were found in a charred camper Wednesday morning on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico. Their pickup truck was found later 100 miles west in Albuquerque.
Authorities believe the two inmates and Welch went to Wyoming, where Province separated from McCluskey and Welch on Wednesday morning at the southern entrance to Yellowstone.
[End of article]
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Rams Killed
Eight Bighorn Sheep Killed in Lightning Strike on Wild Horse Island
By Kellyn Brown, 8-10-10
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Caption: Wildlife Manager Jim Williams and Warden Captain Lee Anderson examine bighorn rams killed by lightning on Wild Horse Island. - Photo courtesy of FWP |
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Eight bighorn sheep, all rams, were struck and killed by a recent lightning strike on Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials arrived at the island Monday after receiving a report of dead sheep and determined that the rams were killed in the last week to 10 days.
“It was evident that the lightning struck a large Ponderosa pine tree and the group of sheep, which were bedded down around it,” Warden Captain Lee Anderson said in a press release. “The hooves and legs on several sheep were burned.”
Six of the sheep were found within 15 feet of the tree while another two were found a short distance away. There were fresh burn marks on the tree and pieces of it were blown up to 75 feet from the base of the tree, Anderson said.
Lethal lightning strikes on groups of bighorn sheep are not uncommon.
“Bighorns often congregate at high rocky places, making them vulnerable to strikes,” FWP Wildlife Manager Jim Williams said.
There are about 200 bighorn sheep on Wild Horse Island and the recent deaths should not have a significant impact on the island’s population, Williams said. He added that the sheep, ranging in age from 3 to 8 years old, was considered a “bachelor group.”
This spring, about 40 sheep were captured on the island and relocated in an effort to control the population and more may be moved in the coming year.
Wild Horse Island is one of the largest inland islands west of the Great Lakes, encompassing about 2,100 acres.
[End of article]
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Schutt, a Democrat, faces Republican Steve Lavin and Independent Bill Jones in November
Schutt Selected to Fill In for Steenson as HD 8 Legislator
By Dan Testa, 8-09-10
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Caption: Bryan Schutt and Cheryl Steenson |
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The Flathead County Commission has appointed Bryan Schutt as the interim legislator for Kalispell’s House District 8. Schutt, a Democrat running for the HD 8 seat in November, was chosen during an August 2 meeting to fill in for Cheryl Steenson, the former legislator holding the seat, after she resigned her post in July to take a teaching job in Colombia.
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch received Steenson’s letter of resignation July 20.
State law mandates that when a legislator steps down or is otherwise unable to perform their duties, the county central committee of the lawmaker’s party, in this case Democrats, provides the county commission with a list of three nominees to fill the vacancy within 45 days. The commission must make its selection within 15 days of receiving that list and notify the secretary of state.
Since Joe Brenneman is the sole Democrat serving on the county commission, the other commissioners deferred to him, allowing him to choose from a list that also named Eve Dixon and John de Neeve. According to a letter from Scott Wheeler, chairman of the Flathead County Democratic Party, the three names were voted on with secret ballots during a recent meeting of the central committee.
Schutt found out two days later he had been appointed the interim HD 8 representative, and as of last week had not yet taken his oath of office. Though some legislative committees are holding hearings in the interim before the next session, in January, Steenson’s seat on the House Appropriations Committee is not scheduled to meet – which means Schutt might not have that much to do.
“It’s quite possible that there may be no legislative duties between now and Nov. 3,” Schutt said.
House District 8, which encompasses downtown Kalispell, regularly swings from Democratic to Republican control. In 2008 Steenson defeated incumbent Republican Craig Witte by just 14 votes, evidence that even a small advantage could be helpful in winning the seat.
But Schutt said he was concerned, should he be listed as an incumbent on the ballot in November, it could prove a disadvantage in the current electoral climate.
“I didn’t want the position if it was listed as ‘incumbent,’ because I think it’s going to be a tough year on incumbents,” he said. (Schutt will not be listed as an incumbent.)
With the House currently split 50-50, virtually any House race could hand either party the majority, making HD 8 a key election. Despite what is likely to be a close election, both Schutt’s opponents – Republican Steve Lavin and Independent Bill Jones said they felt the legislative vacancy had been handled properly.
“I expected it,” Lavin said. “I believe it would have been the same way if a Republican would have stepped away from the seat.”
“I feel it’s good the Flathead’s represented; I would encourage him to start attending committee hearings,” Jones said. “What would be inappropriate would be to let it sit there blank.”
As for whether holding the seat for a few months could give him an edge, Schutt wasn’t sure.
“How many people will it influence?” Schutt said. “Eh. Maybe a few – but a few can be all it takes to win HD 8.”
[End of article]
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Co-op reporting abundant, quality fruit
A Big and Beautiful Cherry Harvest
By Myers Reece, 8-09-10
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Caption: Containers of Lambert cherries are unloaded from a trailer attached to a four-wheeler and stacked on pallets at Bowman Orchards on the east side of Flathead Lake. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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In 1866, Thomas W. Harris is thought to have planted Montana’s first cherry trees in the Bitterroot Valley. Orchards then popped up around Flathead Lake in the 1880s and 1890s.
By the time cherry orchards faded from the Bitterroot’s agricultural landscape in the first decades of the 20th century, the Flathead had become the cherry capital of the state.
Today, growers in the Flathead harvest millions of pounds of cherries each summer. And this year looks to be particularly fruitful for one of Montana’s most unique and historic crops.
Dale Nelson, president of the Flathead Lake Cherry Growers co-op, said he expects his 102 members to harvest at least 3 million pounds of cherries this year, up from a yearly average of 2.5 million. And demand is high.
“All of the rain helped,” Nelson said. “It’s not just more cherries, but also bigger fruit too.”
Rain isn’t always beneficial, however. While the moisture of late spring and early summer provided optimal growing conditions, the recent rains have slowed the harvest.
Nelson said cherry growers wait 24 hours after a rain to begin picking again. That meant there was about a two- to three-day delay in the middle of the harvest. Some growers began picking fruit the last week of July.
By the end of last week, pickers “were definitely at the peak” of activity, Nelson said. Nelson expects the harvest to start slowing down by the end of this week.
Cherry orchards line both the west and east shores of Flathead Lake, though the majority are on the east side between Bigfork and Polson. While 102 of the farms are members of the co-op, there are independent operations as well.
Flathead Lake Cherry Growers was established in the 1930s, making it “one of the oldest agricultural co-ops in Montana,” Nelson said. During harvest, the co-op collects members’ cherries at a Finley Point facility, where they’re kept cool and then loaded into semi-trucks.
The trucks take the cherries to Selah, Wash., to be processed at the Monson Fruit Company. A Yakima-based company called Domex Inc. handles sales and marketing for the co-op.
“We’ve had 10 to 11 semis per day leaving here,” Nelson said. “They’re hungry for the fruit.”
Among the largest buyers of Flathead’s cherries, Nelson said, are Costco, Walmart, Kroger and Sam’s Club – “pretty much the companies that can buy a whole semi load of cherries.” Local sales account for about 10-15 percent of the market, Nelson said.
Roadside stands are a major component of the local market. This year, perhaps buoyed by the Glacier National Park centennial, Nelson said the stands have been exceptionally busy. At the stands, customers buy directly from the growers.
“I haven’t seen traffic like this in four or five years,” Nelson said. “Roadside sales have been fantastic.”
Lambert and Lapin cherries are the predominant crop on Flathead Lake, but Nelson said varieties such as Rainier are also grown. Because of agricultural advances and the savvy of local growers, Nelson said the quality of cherries is constantly improving.
“Every year the cherries are getting better,” Nelson said. “Bigger and sweeter means more pounds. And we’ve definitely got that. We’ve got some really beautiful fruit coming off the trees right now.”
[End of article]
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Taxes would drop on proof of property value depreciation
Kalispell Senator Proposes Reappraisal Legislation
By Molly Priddy, 8-08-10
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Caption: File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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State lawmakers met last week for interim committee hearings, during which a local legislator presented his proposed bill to lower a resident’s taxes if they can prove depreciated property value since last year’s reappraisal.
Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, presented the bill.
“If your market value went down by more than 5 percent, you’d be able to go and request a new valuation and that would become your taxable value for the rest of the six year phase in,” Tutvedt said in an interview after the hearings.
While the exact numbers are still subject to change, Tutvedt said he envisioned the legislation having reduction thresholds in multiples of five. For example, if a resident can prove their market value has dropped by 20 percent, their taxes would go down 20 percent, he said.
If the property value decreased by 11 percent, the taxes would go down by 10 percent, he said. Similarly, if the value went down 7 percent, there would be a 5 percent tax reduction.
Tutvedt said he has received support from several Flathead Valley property owners, and not just those with waterfront property.
“There was a decline in most properties in Flathead County,” Tutvedt said.
Among other solutions suggested during the hearings was the idea of basing property value on what the owner paid for it, or acquisition-based value.
Tutvedt said he was not on board with this idea because it would not provide equity for all property owners in an area and it would mean raising some people’s taxes to pay for a reduction in others’.
However, Tutvedt’s proposed legislation would have a similar effect, he said, with possible financial losses for the state.
“There would be some cost shift, yes,” Tutvedt said. “I believe that the public understands and accepts that if you have a value that is significantly less, you shouldn’t pay more for it.”
The state is constitutionally required to reappraise all property values every six years. The 2009 reappraisal brought significant increases for many property owners in Flathead and Lake counties, prompting frustration from residents.
Several local lawmakers held “town hall” meetings to discuss possible solutions for reappraisal problems, which included Constitutional amendments, legislation and lawsuits. Multiple residents did eventually file suit against the state.
Many people filed for a reassessment or paid taxes under protest. Currently, there is $2.7 million worth of protested taxes in Flathead County and a 6.9 percent delinquency rate, according to a recent report from the county treasurer to the county commission.
[End of article]
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Now more than 135 available
License Plate Options Still Growing
By Molly Priddy, 8-08-10
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Caption: A portion of the specialty license plate designs available at the Flathead County Department of Motor Vehicles. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Summer in the Flathead means visitors from all over the country and plenty of unfamiliar license plates to check out. But a closer look might reveal some of the strange plates are attached to vehicles driven by local residents.
Montana is known for its colorful array of specialty plates. In 2008, there were already 86 options for drivers to choose from. When the state revamped its basic design to the current blue background with white writing last October, the total number had grown to 105. The latest count puts available sponsored plates at 118, not including 17 collegiate plates benefiting higher education or 17 military options.
There is also an amateur radio operator plate and three antique plates, each with special requirements.
Each time a sponsored plate is purchased, the group it represents – which can range from the Havre Wrestling Club to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame – gets a donation.
Sponsoring a license plate requires filling out a detailed application for approval with the state and paying $4,000 to reimburse the Department of Corrections for the initial production costs.
While the plates, made available in 2002 through legislation, help fund many organizations, some on the administrative side are more concerned with the challenges presented by the growing assortment.
“It seems every month we get new plates,” Flathead County Department of Motor Vehicle Chief Deputy Jan Leddy said.
The department recently added eight new plates to its authorized license plate anthology: City of Bozeman, Humane Society of Western Montana, Mariah’s Challenge, Montana Family Foundation, Montana Natural History Center, Montana Snowmobile Association, National Ski Patrol Montana Snowbowl and Tough Enough to Wear Pink of Montana.
This list adds to the litany of colorful options at the DMV and makes for plenty confusion, Leddy said.
“Between those and personalized plates, we just can’t keep track of them,” Leddy said.
Each plate has a different added cost, often ranging from $10 to $35, which is tough to keep track of, she said. But her biggest concern is the complaints the DMV gets from law enforcement about the assortment, Leddy said.
“Just like us, they have no idea what they’re looking at,” Leddy said.
According to state Department of Justice spokesperson Kevin O’Brien, each county can choose which plates to stock. If a driver requests a plate not currently stored at the county DMV, the county orders it. And beginning July 1 of this year, there must be an initial 25 sets of a new plate available in a county if a sponsored plate originates from that county, O’Brien said.
With dozens of options to choose from, law enforcement officers admit it can be a challenge figuring out who is from Montana and who is an out-of-state visitor.
“You get some of those that you don’t see often; it’s very hard to distinguish that they’re a Montana plate,” Kalispell Police Department Patrol Lt. Wade Rademacher said.
This can present a problem when a plate number needs to be called in, he said, because often the responding officer needs to get closer than usual to determine the state of origin.
Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Lavin is a personal fan of the plates, outfitting each of his cars with a different set, including those supporting Flathead High School and the University of Montana Grizzlies. Lavin also enjoys this year’s specially designed MHP license plates, created for the patrol’s 75th anniversary.
In a professional capacity, however, Lavin said troopers do have some complaints.
“Some of them are tough to read,” Lavin said. “The newer ones coming out seem to be better. Some of them it’s just tough to see the numbers.”
O’Brien noted that each proposed plate design must receive approval from the highway patrol before it is available. Law enforcement was also behind the readability of the current standard plate.
Lavin said he tempers plate-reading frustrations with understanding the plates’ purpose.
“Knowing that they go to a good cause is kind of a cool thing,” Lavin said.
The most-recognizable sponsored plates in Flathead County are the Glacier National Park plate and the Montana Council of Trout Unlimited, Leddy said.
At the Glacier National Park Fund, the revenue received from the popular blue Glacier Park plates is essential, Merry Lynn Southers said.
Southers, the annual fund and outreach coordinator for GNPF, said the group typically collects about $200,000 a year from the plates. This money is the biggest source for GNPF’s unrestricted funds, which largely go toward projects in the park.
The specialty plates cost an extra $35, of which $20 goes directly to the group, Southers said.
Each year, the park creates a wish list of projects that were not funded federally, Southers said. That list goes before the GNPF board and projects are selected based on funding availability.
“They rely on those grant requests being honored from us,” Southers said. “In the past we’ve been able to award them up to $200,000 or more. It’s a lot of money.”
Last year was slow for donations, Southers said, and the specialty plates kept many projects afloat. GNPF is actively promoting the plates to bring in more money, and anyone who purchases or has purchased plates can get free centennial license plate holders.
Down at the Flathead County DMV, Leddy said she does appreciate the value specialty plates bring to the organizations behind them even if the numbers keep going up.
“We just keep stacking them up and stacking them up,” Leddy said. “We just go with the flow.”
[End of article]
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Kalispell
PLACES: New Herron Park Trails
By Lido Vizzutti, 8-08-10
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Caption: The open field and parking area is seen from one of the new trails constructed at Herron Park. Foys to Blacktail Trails is hosting an evening hike on the new Family Trail on Tuesday, Aug. 10. - File Photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Join the Foy’s to Blacktail Trails group for an evening hike on the new Family Trail on Tuesday, Aug. 10, at Herron Park west of Kalispell. The trail, which was finished in June, is an ideal place for hikers of all abilities and ages to explore and enjoy the wilderness.
The gently sloping trail – which is wide enough in most places to walk side by side with a fellow hiker – is lined with rock benches along the way for those needing a place to stop and rest or just to take in the wooded surroundings.
Along with the new family trail, investigate the new horse trail or the “direct route” trail. All three trails provide ample opportunities for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders who want to get out into the wilderness without having to travel too far from Kalispell.
Parking and restrooms are available on the southern side of the park. Those looking to join the hike are asked to meet in the parking lot at 6:30 p.m.
For more information on Foy’s to Blacktail Trails, or to learn more about donating and volunteer work visit
http://www.foystoblacktailtrails.org.
How to get there: From downtown Kalispell, travel west on Idaho Street (U.S. Highway 2). Turn south on Meridian Road. At the end of Meridian Road, veer west on Foys Lake Road. The turn off to Herron Park is on the west side of Foys Lake Road just past Foy’s Lake.
[End of article]
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Chef Jim Gray
Death of an Institution
By The Kitchen Guy, 8-08-10
The owner of a very famous restaurant in Philadelphia announced last week that after 40 years he has decided to close.
Business was not off (that much). The chef did not quit (the owner is the chef). The rent didn’t go up (he owns the building).
So why did Le Bec Fin close?
Sounds like burnout to me. After 40 years doing the same thing day in and day out, one gets tired. It’s to be expected. This chef had received every possible accolade. His restaurant consistently received the highest praise from food critics in Philadelphia and from other cities and countries.
It was one of those institutions that, if you were in Philly, you just had to go there.
It was as if Philadelphians and visitors to the City of Brotherly Love took the translation of the name of the place literally. I do not speak much French and I’ll be darned if I understand their idioms and I have no idea how the words, “le, bec,” and “fin” mean “time to dine.” But that’s what it means. And, as I said, folks there took it literally. They always found time to dine at Le Bec Fin.
Le Bec Fin served some of the most elegant French food one could ever hope to eat in this country. This restaurant pre-dates the food craze by many years. In 1976, I lived close enough to Philadelphia that I was able to visit during the Bicentennial. The restaurant was only six years old and already it had carved a niche as the place to eat. In some ways this restaurant probably set the standard for the other very excellent restaurants that sprouted up all over Center City around the same time.
But none of those restaurants lasted as long as Le Bec Fin.
The first time I ever had foie gras was at Le Bec Fin. The first time I ate a quail egg was at Le Bec Fin. There were a lot of firsts for me at this restaurant long before I even had the thought of cooking professionally.
If you wanted to impress a date or a prospective client, this was the place you took them.
The restaurant business probably has the highest failure rate of any category of business. More than half of new restaurants close within the first year of opening. And of the remaining half, fully half of them close within two years. The five-year survival rate is even more dismal. It’s the primary reason new restaurants have the hardest time getting a bank loan. It doesn’t matter how great your concept is or how great a chef you may be. You are a high risk. Period. No getting around it.
It’s a tough business. Margins on food are notoriously low. Qualified and stable employees for the kitchen and for the front of the house can be hard to find, train and keep. When you decide to make your restaurant a “fine dining” institution, all of the foregoing becomes even more difficult. The training to understand the terminology and technique involved in fine French cuisine is pretty intense.
White linen tablecloths and napkins; tuxedos for waiters; crystal water glasses; crystal wine glasses in six or seven different shapes and sizes; specialized cutlery and other silverware and flatware; stocking the wine cellar so that every dish on the menu can be properly paired; and the list goes on.
I haven’t been to Le Bec Fin in many years, but I have very distinct memories of nearly every meal I had there. I probably won’t be able to get there before it closes for good and that saddens me.
Philadelphians, I’ll wager, are probably more distraught than I’ll ever be.
Adieu, Le Bec Fin. Merci beaucoup pour les nombreuses années de la nourriture et le vin extraordinaire.
[End of article]
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Construction could begin in fall or spring
Bigfork Stormwater Project Slated to Go to Bid This Fall
By Molly Priddy, 8-07-10
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Caption: - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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The Bigfork stormwater project is zeroing in on finally being able to break ground and begin construction on the village’s new system, which should significantly decrease the amount of residuals and chemicals flowing into Flathead Lake.
The project’s final design should be completed by 48 North Engineering on Aug. 11, Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee Chairperson Susan Hanson said. This means, pending approval from various state agencies, the project could be up for bid this fall.
Construction could begin shortly thereafter, Hanson said, if everything lines up appropriately. If something falls through, it would mean spring construction.
Tests in the past two decades determined that the Bigfork’s stormwater drains directly into Bigfork Bay, Flathead Lake and the Swan River, bringing with it toxins, oil and unhealthy amounts of fecal coliform bacteria.
The county created the BSAC to find out how the drainage system – an uncharted maze that has been in place since the mid-1950s – needs to be fixed.
The resulting project is extensive, Hanson said.
“It’s just unheard of to do as much as we want to do,” she said.
To help battle the sheer magnitude of revamping the village’s entire stormwater system, the BSAC enlisted engineers to consider the latest technology that would fit the community’s needs.
The first phase of the project focuses largely on Grand Drive, which Hanson said present the most drainage problems.
The aim is to upgrade the drainage system and install underground filtration in a three-step process. First, four Filterra units along Grand Drive will filter phosphorous, nitrogen and metals, which bind to soil. These units would be covered with trees and shrubbery to absorb these unwanted substances.
The south side of Lake Avenue will have a hydrodynamic separator, which removes sediments in stormwater runoff before passing into the larger system. This system also traps oil, which can be vacuumed out during maintenance.
The stormwater runoff then enters the Jellyfish system – a filtration system with up to 20 arms. The Jellyfish, in conjunction with the hydrodynamic separator, is expected to treat nearly all of the yearly runoff.
This system is easier to maintain because one person can pull a Jellyfish arm from the ground, whereas other systems require a full crew and a crane to maintain, Hanson said.
“We have to think ahead to maintenance,” Hanson said. “The system put in was never maintained.”
While the project on Grand Drive pushes forward, Hanson said the BSAC would also focus its attention on the next phases. One could be on Bridge Street South, where the biggest erosion and flooding problems lie, Hanson said.
Funding, however, is an ever-present challenge. The BSAC secured a Treasure State Endowment Grant originally valued at $625,000, but Hanson now thinks they won’t get that much.
The TSEP grant requires a match, which will come from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, not Bigfork or county residents, Hanson said.
“We are so fortunate, we have not had to go to the taxpayers for this yet,” Hanson said.
The TSEP funds also come with an expiration date, Hanson noted. They must be used by June 2011, putting a deadline on the project.
Another challenge is the project’s uniqueness. There are currently no other projects like it in the state, which means learning from trial and error, Hanson said.
“It’s setting a precedent which will help other communities do the same thing,” she said.
The project has already begun to garner some statewide attention. Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman said the county was recently approached with a tentative request to host the statewide stormwater conference next year.
Hanson said a statewide conference focusing on stormwater would help shine a light on issues that largely fly under the radar.
“So many people think stormwater is treated by sewer plants and it’s not,” Hanson said. “If (a conference) brings attention to the need for this, then to me that would be the thing that we really need to do.”
Brenneman commended the BSAC’s ingenuity and drive to continue with an unprecedented project, despite running in to roadblocks along the way.
“This is the most extraordinary community project that I’ve been involved with,” Brenneman said. “There’s no other reward than doing the right thing.”
[End of article]
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Jack Gladstone releases 15th album
Songs, Poems and Storytelling in ‘Native Anthropology’
By Molly Priddy, 8-06-10
Blackfeet Nation poet-singer Jack Gladstone recently released his 15th album, and at least one of the songs on it took nearly 15 years to complete.
The song, “Remembering Private Charlo,” is about the short life but long history of Louis Charlo, a Marine from Montana who died during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Charlo was part of the first American flag raising on Iwo Jima, Gladstone recounts, but his story begins back when Lewis and Clark first encountered Indians in the early 1800s.
“Remembering Private Charlo” began ruminating in Gladstone’s mind in 1997 after a visit with another WWII veteran who was also engaged in the first flag raising. The idea sat for another nine years, until in 2006 when Gladstone began work on the song in earnest.
The resulting epic is a 10-minute-long history lesson, beginning back in 1805 when Lewis and Clark first made their trek through what is now Montana. The song is deepened with various instruments, including a shakuhachi flute from Japan, and several cameos, one from a barking, retired Marine colonel and one from former-President Franklin Roosevelt.
“There is nothing like this that I’ve done,” Gladstone said, describing the song as the cornerstone of his new album, “Native Anthropology: Challenge, Choice and Promise in the 21st Century.”
Gladstone’s latest effort, released Aug. 1, follows his style of integrating traditional Blackfeet Nation stories with current events, as well as analyzing history through song and poetry.
Called Montana’s Blackfeet Troubadour, Gladstone is a mainstay for many in Montana. His powerful voice is recognizable to those familiar with his summer “Native America Speaks” series in Glacier National Park, which he has been performing for nearly three decades.
The works in “Native Anthropology” cover a broad range of subjects, from global warming to war to the love a man can feel for a strong cup of coffee. Throughout the album, Gladstone handily takes on the role of wordsmith, something he refers to as being the “matador of metaphor.”
“It is designed to inspire introspection,” Gladstone said. “I think this is a really critical time in human history.”
Several songs on the album deal with fossil fuels and the culture of consumption in America. Gladstone admits to often playing the trickster character in these songs, giving listeners a tongue-in-cheek performance.
In “Fossil Fuel Sinner,” Gladstone sings with a local gospel choir cobbled together for this track. The initial plan was to use a choir from Tennessee, but when that didn’t work out, they improvised.
“We ended up just doing a pick-up gospel choir in the studio and they sound great,” Gladstone said.
The resulting “Fossil Gospel Choir” consists of Denise Sterhan, Sandy Matheny, McKinley “Saxman” Cunningham, Craig Barton and Rob Quist.
Though the song is playful, Gladstone insists the subjects of over-consumption and global warming should not be taken lightly. The point is to start taking serious inventory of American lifestyle, he said.
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Jack Gladstone's most recent album "Native Anthropology." |
“We do what we can do because this is our responsibility, not so much for ourselves but for the generations that depend upon our actions for their wellbeing,” Gladstone said.
The ballad, “Chapel of Sea,” written on a trip to Greece, also portrays the immense beauty of the earth, Gladstone said.
“It’s the most gorgeous ballad I’ve written,” Gladstone said.
To help bolster the album’s musical achievements, Gladstone enlisted the help of multiple industry heavyweights. It was produced and arranged by Gladstone, Phillip Aaberg and David Griffith, as well as Michael Atherton.
Gladstone also brought R. Carlos Nakai on board to play the native flutes and Will Clipman to play native drums and percussion. Both are at the top of their profession, Gladstone said.
Also featured on the album are the Glacier High School “Echoes” Choir and the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Honors Choir from Helena.
While discussing “Remembering Private Charlo,” Gladstone emphasizes the unique connection between the United States and the American Indian nations. He tries to take on the role of cultural bridge-builder with this and other songs, he said.
“The moral of the story is that we have separate identities in this country, but we also have a common identity,” Gladstone said.
For more information on Jack Gladstone and a list of concert times in Glacier National Park, visit
www.jackgladstone.com.
[End of article]
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Kids Count
Childs’ Play
By Kellyn Brown, 8-06-10
A recent Kids Count survey found that Montana’s students are dropping out of school at some of the highest rates the country. The numbers are disheartening and just another excuse to analyze the area’s youth and discuss what can be done to keep them in line.
When reports like this are released, it’s easy for parents to blame teachers, teachers to blame parents and everyone to blame students. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau, who says the spike can partially be attributed to better tracking methods, now wants the Legislature to pass a bill that would require teenagers to stay in school until they’re 18 or graduated, instead of 16. Apparently, we need a new law to keep these youngsters in line.
We’ve been talking a lot lately about the burdens passed upon this younger generation: How we our going to saddle them with the largest deficit in the nation’s history. How they won’t be able to afford college and, those who can, won’t be able to find a job anyway. How their cell phones and computer games have made them inattentive and lethargic.
It’s an American tradition to hammer on the apathy of youth. But it also appears to be amplified by a recession that could make it more difficult for them to fulfill even modest dreams. And there is now a larger platform – with the advent of this information age – for us, the wise adults to tell teenagers what’s best for them, or complain about them, or scare them about their futures.
What’s more frightening than the dropout rates among Montana’s youth is the number of children living under the poverty line. The Kids Count survey reported more than one in five come from families making less than $21,834 annually – an increase of 24 percent since 2000. So not only are more kids uneducated but more of them grow up poor.
This is Generation Z, or Generation I, or the Internet Generation: We haven’t yet figured out the apt stereotype to bestow upon them. And it must be depressing for them and they must be resentful for the mess it appears we are going to leave to clean up. But the thing is, many of them aren’t.
Overwhelmingly, I find Flathead teenagers equally polite and engaging. During a recent weekend I was surrounded by about a half-dozen high schoolers. They were voracious readers, volunteer firefighters and still possessed of the enthusiasm many of us lose as we age.
In the past, I’ve spoken at both high school and community college classes. Expecting a crowd of blank faces – discussing journalism can be excruciatingly boring – I found them curious to ask questions and offer advice about how to fix a trade in flux.
When teenagers visit the
Beacon office, whether to be photographed for a sports feature or to job shadow our staff as part of an extracurricular assignment, they are always eager to learn and inherently optimistic.
This, of course, is just anecdotal evidence, and doesn’t address the real issue of more Montana and Flathead Valley students dropping out of school. True, it’s a problem that needs to be addressed.
But as we turn a critical eye to this next generation we should, at least, remember the one turned our way as we battled the trials of our own adolescence. And while we talk about their dire plights (both real and perceived), maybe we should listen to a few of them as well.
The majority of youth aren’t as scared for their futures as we are. That is, until we remind them that Social Security will be depleted by the time they qualify for it.
[End of article]
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Your Weekend Guide
On Tap: Eureka Quilt Show and Taste of Kalispell
By Kellyn Brown, 8-06-10
Live Music:
Friday: Jarod Kerney at Colter Coffee; Chris Lane at Symes Hot Springs Hotel; Friday Night Live at Blue Canyon; Festival Amadeus at The Christian Center; Off in the Woods at The Boiler Room; Kniption Fit at Great Northern; Sick Pony at The Rave; DJ Que at Club KaLi; Kyle Dean at Stonefly Lounge
Saturday: Craig Wickman at Pin and Cue; Brad Lee at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake; John Floridis at Tamarack Brewing Company; Festival Amadeus at O'Shaughnessy Center; The Little Big Band at Symes Hot Springs Hotel; Greg Grant Trio at Crush Wine Bar; Kniption Fit at Great Northern Bar; Milton Menasco the Big Fiasco at The Raven; Heck Yeah at Craggy Range; Dangerous at Swannies
Sports:
Saturday: Swan Range Hikes; Saturday Overlook Walks; Dennis Reis Horse Training Clinic at Majestic Valley Arena
Arts and Events:
Friday: Once Upon a Mattress at FVCC; That's the Poop at John Dowdall Theatre; Sugar Babies at Bigfork Summer Playhouse
Saturday: Kalispell Farmers' Market at Kalispell Center Mall; Bigfork Farmers Market at Bigfork High School parking lot; Howse House Bicentennial and Fur Trading Symposium at Lawrence Park; Eureka Quilt Show; Bigfork Festival of the Arts; Bear Fair at Hungry Horse Steakhouse; Evergreen Sixth Annual Show and Shine at Shopko parking lot; Redneck Yacht Club Tie Up at McGregor Lake; Water Daze at Boettcher Park; Once Upon a Mattress at FVCC; Taste of Kalispell at The Museum at Central School; That's the Poop at John Dowdall Theatre; Fiddler on the Roof at Bigfork Summer Playhouse
For a full listing of times, other events and what’s happening on Sunday go to
www.flatheadevents.net.
[End of article]
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Round of a lifetime sparks impressive run for Village Greens pro golfer
Malby’s Masterpiece
By Myers Reece, 8-05-10
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Caption: Ryan Malby is the PGA head professional at the Village Greens Golf Course in Kalispell. Malby recently broke the course record at Missoula's Canyon River Golf Course with a 61. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Ryan Malby strains slightly, then gives up.
Anyone who has played golf before has wanted to wave the white flag at some point. But Malby’s grimace and surrender have nothing to do with bad putts or ugly shanks. He’s simply trying to remember all of the course records he’s broken and, at the moment, he can’t.
“I don’t know,” he says finally. “It’s a few.”
Malby, 38, is the head professional at Village Greens Golf Course in Kalispell. He has set course records across Western Montana, though he’s not sure how many still stand. But last year’s 61 at his home course still stands, and so does one other, likely the masterpiece of his career.
On July 7, Malby won Missoula’s Canyon River Golf Pro-Am by six strokes, shooting a 61 and breaking the course record. Malby’s score – 11-under par – was punctuated by three eagles. He said he’s never played that consistently well for a whole round.
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Ryan Malby, the PGA head professional at Village Greens Golf Course, is preparing for the Montana Open and Pacific Northwest PGA Professional Championship. |
“It was crazy,” he said the day after his magical round. “It was just one of those days. It was just perfect golf. I didn’t hole anything in or chip anything in, it was just straight-up, good golf.”
He added: “I’ll probably never shoot like that again.”
But, the thing is, Malby has shot almost that well since then. Later in July, he won pro-am tournaments in Seeley Lake and Butte with scores of 66 and 64. He also tied for eighth at the Rosauers Open Invitational in Spokane. Before all of that, Malby won his second straight Lake City Open in Polson back in May.
Malby has been on what sports people like to call a tear. And now that he’s torn through July, he has his sights set on September, when he will play in both the Montana Open and the Pacific Northwest PGA Professional Championship to cap off his 2010 professional season.
“Canyon River just kind of got the month started on the right track,” Malby said. “It kind of propelled me.”
As fate would have it, the Pacific Northwest PGA Professional Championship is held at Canyon River on Sept. 21-23. Malby said the championship bounces between the Pacific Northwest section’s represented states, coming to Montana every fifth year.
The top seven golfers at the sectional championship qualify for the PGA Professional National Championship in Pennsylvania next year. The top 20 finishers of that tourney qualify for the PGA Championship.
Malby won the Pacific Northwest title in 2006 and then finished second in 2007, qualifying for national tournaments in Oregon and Georgia.
“It’s awesome,” he said of participating in the national tournaments. “The Golf Channel’s out there and it’s just exciting.”
Malby is also the only Montanan since the 1990s to win the Montana Open, held this year on Sept. 10-12 at Larchmont Golf Course in Missoula. Malby won the tourney in 2005, and finished second in 2006 and 2007. All other winners in the last 10 years have come from Idaho, Washington and Nevada.
“I had a pretty good little three-year run,” Malby said.
As a senior at Flathead High School in 1990, Malby won the Class AA golf title. After that, he played at the University of Idaho before returning to Kalispell to serve as an assistant professional at Village Greens beginning in 1993. He became the head professional in the spring of 1997.
Over the years, Malby said he has set course records in Polson, Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Missoula, including a 63 at Larchmont Golf Course in the Montana Open. He doesn’t know how many, or if any, are still the top mark. But one course seems to always get the better of him: Old Works in Anaconda.
“I don’t know why, but it’s my nemesis,” Malby said.
Malby is already what many amateur hackers would love to be: a career golfer, whose office is on a golf course and whose colleagues are diehard students of the game. But Malby still dreams of being one of the PGA Tour’s 125 card-carrying players, competing on national television on the country’s grandest golf stages.
“Just to be able play competitively and make money at it, that would be a blast,” Malby said. “I’m fortunate enough that I get to do that to some extent, but the guy who finishes 125th (on the Tour) still makes $750,000.”
[End of article]
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Gray Wolf
Judge Orders Protections Reinstated for Wolf
By AP News, 8-05-10
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Caption: Photo courtesy FWP |
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HELENA – A federal judge on Thursday reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the three states where Rocky Mountain wolves roam.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said in his ruling that the entire Rocky Mountain wolf population either must be listed as an endangered species or removed from the list, but the protections for the same population can't be different for each state.
Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service turned over wolf management to Montana and Idaho wildlife officials but left federal endangered species protections in place for wolves in Wyoming, where state law is considered hostile to the animals' survival.
"Even if the Service's solution is pragmatic, or even practical, it is at its heart a political solution that does not comply with the ESA," Molloy wrote in his ruling.
Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and other wildlife advocates sued the federal government after the Fish and Wildlife Service decision in April 2009. They argued that the government's decision would have set a precedent allowing the government to arbitrarily choose which animals should be protected and where.
The decision puts a halt to wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho planned for this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at 186, more than doubling last year's number, with the aim of reducing the state's wolf population.
Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974, but following a reintroduction program in the mid-1990s, there are now more than 1,700 in the Northern Rockies.
Doug Honnold, an attorney for EarthJustice representing the plaintiffs, said he was gratified by the ruling, though he is sure there will be another chapter to the story.
"For today, we are celebrating that the approach we thought was flatly illegal has been rejected. The troubling consequences for the Endangered Species Act has been averted and the wolf hunts are blocked," Honnold said.
[End of article]
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Oil an unlikely beauty product source
Enduring the Ever-Changing Emu Market
By Web Master, 8-05-10
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Caption: Owner operator Don Collins leans on a fence containing young emus at the Montana Emu Ranch Company west of Kalispell. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Tucked against a hill west of Kalispell is a picturesque farm dotted with red barns. Sheep once kept this property afloat, but the fuzzy animals have long been replaced by feathery emus. These prehistoric-looking creatures stalk across their pens on three-toed feet whenever Don Collins approaches, emitting the occasional eerie drumming call common to their species.
Collins, a fourth-generation Flathead Valley resident, has owned and operated Montana Emu Ranch Company along with his wife, Penni, since 1993.
“To the Aborigines, the emu was like what the bison was to Native Americans,” he said. “It provided them with food, medicine, clothing and tools.”
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A group of curious young emu gather behind a fence at the Montana Emu Ranch Company west of Kalispell. |
What was a necessity for the Australian Aborigines became a novelty for Americans in the early 1990s. At that time, emu farms cropped up across the nation and the animal was poised to become America’s other red meat. Ironically, the flightless birds that once faced extermination in their native Australia were going for up to $40,000 a pair. Yet despite the promise and hype, emu burgers and steaks never found solid footing on the American palate.
When the market fell through, many emu farms went bankrupt, having spent thousands to stock their pens. For a time, the situation looked dire, until emu farmers, including the Collinses, stumbled upon a lucrative bird byproduct: emu oil.
While it sounds far-fetched, devotees say the oil, taken from a large camel-like hump found on the birds’ necks, works as a first-class anti-inflammatory, heals burns, lowers cholesterol and soothes eczema, among other maladies.
Besides its purported therapeutic properties, emu oil has been hailed by the beauty world as a line-smoothing and wrinkle-erasing miracle product. Vogue called it “the world’s next cosmetic rage” while Harper’s Bazaar said it gives people “a more youthful, healthier appearance."
“It’s endless what can be done with this product,” Collins said.
With the addition of ingredients like essential oils, shea butter and beeswax, Montana Emu Ranch produces around 30 products including cleansing lotion, soap, skin cream, wound salve and nutritional supplements. Yet 100-percent pure emu oil remains the company’s most popular product and Collins estimates it accounts for 40 percent of the farm’s product sales.
Collins says the magic behind the product is that emu oil works as a transdermal carrier.
“It has the ability to lock onto nutrients and carry them through the skin,” he said.
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Bottles of emu oil are seen before labeling at the Montana Emu Ranch Company. |
Although a relatively new product, emu oil sales are picking up steam in an age where more and more people are leaning toward organic products. A seal of approval from Oprah didn’t hurt it either.
“The natural food industry is on an incline,” Collins said. “People are worrying about what they are wanting to put into their bodies, so they don’t have to go to the doctor and worry about being able to pay for it.”
While Collins notes that some have written emu oil off as a new-fangled snake oil, he points to recent research funded by the American Emu Society and conducted at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Tests on mice concluded that emu oil has anti-inflammatory properties and is a superior treatment to fish oil. That being said, human clinical trials have yet to be completed and the FDA has yet to evaluate emu oil.
Collins said the business of conducting medical studies is often very expensive, political and time consuming. Meanwhile, the farm, with its hundreds of birds, needs to be looked after.
“It’s very labor-intensive, a lot more than people think and that is why many of them get out,” he said. “It’s not a hobby, it’s a business.”
Besides the Collinses, six employees work in the on-site office, bottling and packaging orders. Collins estimates an additional “1.5” work outside. This doesn’t include Spike, a giant white Akbash who keeps coyotes at bay from the pens.
UPS stops daily at the farm to pick up products ordered online. Besides its web presence, Montana Emu Ranch products are also retailed in 24 states.
“The sales end of it is pretty consistent,” Collins said, noting that the downturn in the economy hasn’t had much of an impact on the business. “It’s grown to where we have distribution across the United States and sales worldwide.”
While the business is a success, Collins never foresaw that his future would lie in agriculture, let alone in the cosmetics industry. After working 15 years for a local beverage company, Collins decided a new career path was in order.
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An emu - one of the Montana Emu Ranch Company's breeding stock - makes low drumming noises as it wanders a pen at the ranch west of Kalispell. |
“I wanted to do something different,” he said. He and Penni were in their mid-30s at the time and had built up a nest egg for financing.
“The opportunity came along, so we gave it a shot,” he said.
Although they had envisioned themselves working primarily as breeders, the Collinses decided to tap into the oil market. In 1998, the Montana Emu Ranch Company began offering its range of cosmetic and health products.
In 2000, they moved to their present location west of Kalispell after their brood outgrew the original farm. Around 250 chicks hatched this spring and the total number of emus reached 600 in early summer.
In addition to its health and beauty products, the farm sells emu meat to several health food stores in the valley. This year, it is also featured on restaurant menus in Glacier Park.
Collins says future plans include expanding the operation. The farm has 40 acres but only five are currently used to pen the birds.
“I keep hearing about five-year plans but it seems to start over every two,” he said.
As for its product line, the company plans to roll out a line of shampoo and other hair products this fall.
“We hope that emu oil will one day be where aloe vera is,” Collins said. “Once you couldn’t find it and now it’s everywhere.”
For more information on the Montana Emu Ranch Company,
http://www.laidinmt.com">visit http://www.laidinmt.com.
[End of article]
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EPA regulation shaping up as next debate over CO2 emissions
Climate Bill Dies with a Whimper
By Dan Testa, 8-04-10
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Caption: - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s announcement that Democrats were abandoning comprehensive energy reform legislation tackling climate change left just about everyone close to the issue dismayed. With Republicans, who opposed the bill, expected to make gains in November, the prospect of the Senate gaining enough votes to pass legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses now seems a distant prospect.
“We’re gravely disappointed in what happened last week,” Beth Berlin, the Montana director of Climate Solutions, a coalition that has been campaigning in support of federal legislation to reduce greenhouse gases, said. “It’s really too soon to tell what’s going to happen.”
Yet concern is also growing on the part of organizations, businesses and trade groups that, in the absence of Congress taking action to deal with climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency could move to regulate greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act.
“We think it’s the wrong tool for regulating greenhouse gases,” said Don Allen, executive director of the Western Environmental Trade Association, which represents a number of industries opposed to the climate bill that passed the House and the various bills that were circulating in the Senate. “Why have unelected bureaucrats set climate policy?”
As for the reasons why the legislation failed, like anything else in politics, the answer depends on whom you ask. For Kyla Wiens, the Montana Environmental Information Center’s energy policy advocate, the climate bill that passed the House and the bill in the Senate were too unwieldy for the general public to understand and, potentially, support – particularly following the passage of legislation overhauling healthcare and the financial regulatory system.
“Putting climate and energy last, you had to have something that was more simple,” Wiens said.
“They weren’t starting with the right framework,” she added. “It’s just something that has proven unworkable.”
The MEIC has long supported a “cap-and-dividend” system that caps CO2 emissions and where revenues generated by the carbon market are returned to consumers to offset any increase they may see on their power bills, as opposed to a cap-and-trade system, which was contained in what passed the House.
Ken Toole, a Democrat and District 5 public service commissioner running for reelection, also supports a cap-and-dividend approach, but places blame for the failure of the climate bill on President Barack Obama’s unwillingness to campaign hard and clearly spell out what he wanted to see in such a bill.
“I think the administration didn’t provide any leadership and the opponents had all the time in the world to mobilize and organize and that’s why this legislation failed,” Toole said. “I’m beginning to wonder if our national government can deal with anything.”
Berlin, acknowledging that opposition to the bill from oil and coal interests was formidable, also chalked its failure up to bad timing due to the economy, with much of the public wary of any further big changes that could derail an increasingly fragile recovery.
“People start to shut down when they think something’s going to affect their bottom line,” Berlin said. “We’re asking them to take a risk.”
But Gary Wiens, assistant general manager of the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association (and Kyla Wiens’ father), said, at least in the Senate, climate legislation did not get far enough to warrant involvement or input from electric cooperatives. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the sponsor of the main Senate climate bill, had recently contacted the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, according to Wiens, “to see if we could work something out,” but Reid precluded his overture shortly afterward by announcing he lacked 60 votes for the bill.
“It wasn’t us that stopped it,” Gary Wiens said, adding that rural cooperatives pushed provisions into the House bill that protect co-ops reliant on coal. “We weren’t satisfied with that bill but we did not oppose it.”
The question now becomes what the impacts of the Senate’s decision not to make a decision will be.
For the PSC, responsible for permitting and regulating new energy projects, Toole believes the ongoing uncertainty over CO2 pricing will cause developers to back off of large-scale power plants that require decades of planning in favor of smaller, decentralized projects.
“Because of the uncertainty on carbon and because of the economic collapse, the capital markets are really hard to determine,” Toole said. “Big central state projects that are the tradition of our power system scare the hell out of everybody.”
Gov. Brian Schweitzer made similar comments to the Associated Press, saying he believed the uncertainty could slow investment in coal-fired power plants, but won’t impede coal mining in Montana.
Utilities, industries and associations that opposed the climate bills in Congress now face the prospect of the EPA regulating CO2 as air pollution, a power upheld by a 2007 Supreme Court decision.
“Right now, nobody is very hopeful that we’re going to be able to stop them from moving forward with the regulation of greenhouse gases using the Clean Air Act,” Gary Wiens said, adding that complying with new regulations would inevitably result in higher power bills for consumers.
“It would definitely impact our rates eventually,” he added. “Assuming there are no successful efforts to defy them in court, at some point it would cause significant rate increases for co-ops whose generation is based in coal.”
Gary Wiens noted, however, that those rate increases would likely hit co-ops in eastern Montana that derive much of their power from coal harder than Flathead Electric Co-op, which is less reliant on fossil fuels.
Should the EPA move to regulate CO2, Allen anticipates the agency impacting businesses of every scale.
“It’s going to really end up being bad for the entire economy,” Allen said. “It’s not just going to hit the big businesses, it’s going to hit everybody before it’s over.”
Industries are pinning their hopes on proposed bills, several of which are offered by Democrats with coal and oil industries in their states, to delay EPA action on CO2, which is scheduled to take effect next year.
The debate over EPA regulation is shaping up as the next front in the fight over limiting CO2 emissions, with groups that pushed for a comprehensive climate bill favoring EPA regulation if Congress takes no action.
“It would really be irresponsible of the administration not to do that,” Berlin said. “If there isn’t going to be federal climate legislation then this needs to happen.”
In the meantime, Climate Solutions and other coalitions campaigning for a climate bill will continue to do so, both before and after an election that could change the makeup of Congress incrementally or drastically.
“The one message that doesn’t change is the risk of inaction right now,” Berlin said. “Really coalescing around that, the risks, is an important thing to do and we need to keep pressing that message.”
[End of article]
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National championships draw hundreds of riders
O-Mok-See Celebrates Horsemanship and Family
By Dan Testa, 8-04-10
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Caption: Kalispell's Wendy Phillips, left, sitting on Blond, chats with Cody Martin, on Bandanna, while taking care of Matthew Martin's horse, Crystal, on a hill overlooking the O-Mok-See National Championship events at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. "He'll sleep until it's his turn," said Phillips of the older horse Crystal. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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On a recent sweltering, dusty morning in Kalispell, Duane Torn and his wife, Ellen, had positioned chairs in the shade of their camper, so they could watch their many family members compete in the 45th annual National Championship O-Mok-See horse races, which ran from July 24 through July 30 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.
Ellen, who is 73, had just finished the Pole Bending event, where four riders on horseback in separate lanes race to the far pole, turn around it and then weave through the five remaining poles, spaced at 21 feet, in one direction before weaving in the opposite direction and then galloping back past the start line.
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Molly Rawls races toward the finish line while competing in the pole bending event during the National Championship O-Mok-See show at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. |
Like many O-Mok-See events, Pole Bending tests the trust between horse and rider, with horses accelerating to a sprint before slowing down to make tight turns around the poles, while the rider shifts the reins from side to side, and uses their legs to guide the horse through the turns.
Ellen was pleased with her time, calling it, “really good, I got a 28 (seconds); I’m up there.”
“That time is very respectable,” Duane told her.
The first official, national O-Mok-See event was held in Helena in 1965, but Duane said he began competing in similarly styled races in 1947. Ellen began racing in 1956, and remembers the accommodations at the first state O-Mok-See, in 1962, as slightly more rustic than the camper they currently drive to events.
“When we had our first state O-Mok-See up here, we slept in the stalls,” she said.
The Torns, from Sun River, west of Great Falls, had three generations of their family competing at the O-Mok-See, and had four generations ride at a recent state event. Two of their granddaughters were lane judges, watching to ensure the horses didn’t step out of their lanes or knock over poles. One of their sons managed the heats, calling out the names of the racers on deck, so they could prepare to enter the arena. Out of the Torns’ 23 grandchildren, nine were racing in the National Championship.
“Every one of them rides,” Duane said. “We taught them all.”
The ubiquity of the Torns’ sons and grandchildren at the event underscored how the O-Mok-See races are more than mere competition; they are a way of celebrating family itself, and of passing on the Western tradition of horsemanship within those families. While the crowd cheered hard for the young men and women racing at top speed around the poles, they cheered even harder for the children in the 7-and-under division nosing their ponies around the poles at a trot.
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Kyle Hoodenpyle weaves his horse through a series of poles during the O-Mok-See show at the Flathead Valley Fairgrounds. |
Debbie McGilvary, whose husband Mike is the president of the Smith Valley Saddle Club, which hosted the National Championship, pointed out how the Event at Rebecca Farm overlaps with the beginning of O-Mok-See, demonstrating the diverse but deep affection for horses and riding that permeates the Flathead.
Roughly 380 contestants rode in last week’s O-Mok-See, with competitors ranging in age from 4 to seniors in their early 80s, according to Bill McGowan of Helena, second vice president of the National Saddle Clubs Association.
The name traces its meaning to a Blackfeet war ceremony known as the “oh-mak-see pass-kan,” or “riding big dance,” where warriors would circle their camp dancing, riding at full speed and singing to build up courage for battle.
“It’s basically speed horse pattern racing,” McGowan said. “We broke it down and did away with the dance part.”
Events range from straightforward racing to the Tomahawk Race, where riders must lean over and pick up the “tomahawk,” which can be a piece of painted garden hose, and deposit it in a barrel 30 feet away before racing to the finish line. Another popular event is the Devil’s Cowhide, where a rider drags their helmeted team member behind the horse on a piece of canvas or cowhide around a barrel and back to the start. The trick is, apparently, to take the turn wide, or risk a collision between the barrel and person being dragged.
During the Pole Bending event, Duane and Ellen chatted up just about every person who walked by, but when one of their grandchildren raced, they were riveted.
“He doing good, grandma?” Duane asked.
“Yeah, he’s doing good,” Ellen replied, before urging her grandson to communicate with his horse as they rounded the poles. “Talk to him, Wade!”
“He lost his hat!” Duane said.
“No he didn’t wear one,” Ellen replied, before congratulating her grandson as he exited the arena. “Good job, Wade, good job!”
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Natasha Storro takes a break between events outside the horse stalls at the Flathead County Fairgrounds during the O-Mok-See National Championship show. |
Nearly everyone at the O-Mok-See has known each other for years, Duane said, making it especially safe and family-oriented, considering the horses, children and four-wheelers constantly milling in all directions.
“If the little kid’s at your camp, you know where to send them when they’re done playing,” Duane said. “That’s the beauty of it.”
As lunchtime approached, Ellen and Duane’s grandchildren began pulling up coolers for seats, discussing who had performed well and who had yet to race. The expression on Duane’s face was beatific, and he leaned over and told this reporter why he enjoyed the O-Mok-See: “It’s nice to be loved, young man.”
[End of article]
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Monument Designation
New Monument is a Rotten Idea
By Dave Skinner, 8-04-10
So my friend Wild Bill Schneider is calling on President Barack Obama to throw a “few local ranchers” under the bus “to pay back the millions of environmentalists who voted for him” by declaring a “Grasslands National Monument” in northeast Montana? Wow.
If Bill ever tries to introduce himself to one of those ranchers, I’d like to watch.
Yet Bill’s suggestion (July 18
Beacon: “New Monument Might be a Great Idea”) makes sense in a twisted way – the best part of politics is sticking it to people who didn’t vote for you.
Beginning with the 1.7-million-acre Grand Staircase monument in heavily Republican Utah, former President Bill Clinton designated 21 national monuments when he was president … most of them in the districts of enemy congresscritters. Think that wasn’t fun?
Phillips, Garfield and Petroleum counties are therefore perfect for whatever “legacy” Obama desires. Combined, voters there went 2,248 (73 percent) for McCain over 816 (26 percent) for Obama in 2008.
Whether President Obama ramrods a monument depends entirely on how much respect he has for that shibboleth of American governance: Consent of the governed.
Consent isn’t forthcoming. These “few local ranchers” know monument designation would be just the first nail in their coffins. Ever noticed how Congress never repeals a law, no matter how stupid? No national monument designation has been reversed, either. The most Congress ever does is “reform” existing laws, usually making matters worse. That’s why history shows that National Monuments, especially the big ones, tend to become full-boogie national parks – which don’t allow grazing or hunting. And, if you have property within a monument or a park, the Park Service will be ready the instant you or your heirs become “willing sellers.”
Just like the Missouri Breaks, a grasslands monument would be a death-of-a-thousand-cuts sentence for those Northeast Montana communities within its sphere of influence.
Don’t think so? Tell me again what a huge success the Lewis and Clark “boom” was for the Breaks.
Could a grassland be a Glacier-class draw? Glacier was created so Jim Hill could fill his trains with high-dollar tourists – and we got used to it. Businesses are named “Glacier Somethingorother,” folks brag about living near the “Crown of The Continent,” but let’s be honest: Glacier Park is no more than butter on Northwest Montana’s economic bread.
Glacier doesn’t support itself, but instead is utterly dependent on Congress for operating and capital funds robbed from taxpayers elsewhere. Despite all that support, the economies of Glacier’s real gateway towns, i.e., the prosperous burgs of Hungry Horse, Belton, East Glacier, Browning, Babb, Polebridge, are pretty much boarded up for seven months a year.
Keep in mind that Glacier looks great on the calendar in the cubicle. People want to be there. But Northeast Montana isn’t the kind of country that sells calendars. Sure, there’s five or so weeks of emerald green-up after the gumbo has dried (two weeks in drought years), which I love.
But then, God turns on the blast furnace. Whenever the wind isn’t trying to carry you away, the dang mosquitoes are.
After God freezes out the skeeters in the fall, there might be three weeks before the first blast of real winter. Our best case is five weeks of pretty (in the eye of the beholder, mind you), five weeks of hunting season, for 10 weeks total out of 52 … and when the monument becomes a capital-P Park, no more hunting.
So here’s the scenario: Leaked memos show the World Wildlife Fund, through its front group American Prairie Foundation, fell all over itself to be first in line for funding from Obama’s “Great Outdoors Initiative.” WWF/APF estimated their “Northern Glaciated Plains” scheme, all 3.5 million acres of it, would cost $30 to $300 million. After all those pesky ranchers sell out and go away, would this lovely new multimillion-dollar bison ecotopia be successful?
Well, based on my experiences, once the first crop of citified “ecotourists” discovers their organic citrus bug juice doesn’t work, they’ll pile in their Priuses and promptly high-center in the gumbo. When they whip out the satphone, who will answer the call to drag them out?
Nobody.
I suppose that’s the biggest shame of all. The Malta country is special, all right, but so are the folks who live there. Anyone tough enough to take it year round, in all its seasons, is worth getting to know, and dang sure worth keeping around.
[End of article]
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Following rains, big year expected for hay and other crops
Bountiful Harvest
By Myers Reece, 8-04-10
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Caption: Ken Smith bunches rolls of hay in a field off Egan Road east of Kalispell. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Montana’s heavy moisture in late spring and early summer may not have been ideal for those who tire of mowing their lawns, but for hay producers, who love seeing tall grass, it was a beautiful greeting to the growing season.
After the summer’s first cutting, hay growers across the state are reporting high yields of both alfalfa and grass hay. Vigorous production rates, coupled with a high forecast in total harvested acreage, are leading some to predict a drop in hay prices.
Ken Smith, a farmer in the Flathead Valley, said he was getting about a half-ton of hay per acre last year. This year, production has jumped three-fold to one-and-a-half tons per acre. Smith, who grows predominantly alfalfa, said he didn’t need to use irrigation for his first cutting, the only time that’s happened in at least 20 years.
“We’re going see bumper crops in hay and in grain,” Smith said, adding that he expects hay prices to “soften some.”
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the July crop forecast calls for 2.7 million harvested acres of total hay in Montana, the second most ever recorded, and 1.8 million acres of alfalfa hay, the most ever. Yield and production forecasts will be released in the NASS August report, which comes out on Aug. 12.
In 2008, the average price of hay in Montana was a record-high $116 per ton, according to the NASS, with some farmers reporting that they paid as high as $200 per ton. September’s average price was $128 per ton.
The average for 2009 dipped to $95, based on the marketing year dated between June and May. During June, the first month of the 2010 marketing year, the average price of hay was $90. Hay reports through July showed prices remaining fairly steady.
Elevated hay prices send ripples throughout the agricultural community and can have dramatic effects on the bottom lines of livestock owners. When prices skyrocketed in 2008, horse owners around the nation said they were struggling to feed their animals.
Jane Heath, executive director of the Montana Horse Sanctuary in Simms, said hay prices are “always on our radar.” The sanctuary takes in horses in need and conducts outreach programs for horse owners with financial difficulties. Heath said her organization administers a “hay grant,” in which people can apply up to twice for $300 for hay and other feeds.
Heath said she’s “already seen slightly lower prices,” but the true litmus test will come later, after the rest of the harvest and when people are bracing for winter.
“It will be interesting to see what the second cutting will bring, or if there will be a third cutting in some communities,” Heath said. “By the end of September, people know if they’ll have enough hay for the winter.”
Hay isn’t the only crop expected to have a strong harvest in 2010. Lola Raska, executive vice president of the Montana Grain Growers Association, said farmers are anticipating a good season for winter wheat and pulse crops such as lentils and peas, which are growing in popularity in Montana.
Hot, dry weather, on the heels of a prolonged period of moisture, has ushered in ideal harvest conditions, Raska said.
“Overall, growers around the state are pretty optimistic this is going to be a good year production wise,” Raska said.
In 2009, according to the NASS, Montana was the second-largest producer of lentils in the nation. And this year, the number of planted acres has more than doubled, from 122,000 to 260,000.
Raska said the increase is due largely to farmers responding to buyer demand and the availability of federal benefits. Historically, pulse crops have been concentrated in northeastern Montana, she said, but now the trend is migrating to the state’s north central portion.
“There’s a lot more guys trying that than there have been in the past,” she said.
Wet weather has also had its down side. The moisture of late spring and early summer postponed planting for spring wheat and other crops, and has raised other potential issues, Raska said. For one, Raska said rain can leech out nitrogen in wheat and affect its protein levels.
“Montana is known for high-protein, high-quality wheat,” Raska said.
Also, several areas of the state have endured “spotty crops losses,” Raska said, due to hail, tornadoes and generally unruly weather. And farmers are grappling with the ever-growing concern of wheat stem sawflies, which feed on wheat and other crops.
“Our growers have reported seeing them in greater quantity and greater size than they’ve ever seen before,” Raska said.
But the outlook for hay seems to be universally positive, even for farmers like Smith who, accustomed to freak weather occurrences, never get ahead of themselves.
“We’ll see, but I think the second cutting will be good,” Smith said. “Things are just looking good.”
Average Hay Prices in Montana (per ton):
$90 – 2010 (June)*
$95.50 – 2009
$116 – 2008
$78.50 – 2007
$78– 2006
* Marketing year measured from June-May.
Hay Harvested Acres in Montana:
2.7 million –2010 forecast – second-highest since 1950
3 million – 2005 – highest since 1950
1.8 million – 1988 – lowest since 1950
2.34 million – 30-year average
Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service
[End of article]
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Jim’s Taxi and Drive4U approved by the Public Service Commission
Two New Taxi Services to Begin Operation
By Dan Testa, 8-03-10
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Caption: - thinkstock photo |
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Two more entrepreneurs are venturing into the notoriously tough business of running a taxi service in the Flathead. The Public Service Commission, which regulates taxis in Montana, recently approved operating permits for Drive4U, run by Jeanne Herron, and Jim’s Taxi, run by Jim Elgin.
Herron takes over the permit previously used by Lee Sturdevant, who folded his operation in July.
“I think he just decided he couldn’t make a go of it,” Ken Toole, public service commissioner for District 5, said. Sturdevant launched his business in February with the goal of reducing the number of drunk drivers on the road. The lease itself is owned by the estate of James Michaels and allows taxis to operate within a 50-mile range from the Kalispell post office.
Herron, a former certified nurse’s aid, said her business will be focused on helping senior citizens and those who can’t drive to run errands and travel to medical appointments. A delivery service will also be available.
“It’s going to be kind of an, ‘at-home care’ type of taxi service,” she said. “I’m going to try to hook up with social service agencies.”
Herron was previously charging people for such rides without a state permit, then stopped until she could attain a legal permit.
“Being shut down, I figured out there was a bigger need than I did when I started,” Herron said. “I’ll do what I can to start with until people know I’m out there enough.”
With a bright red Chevrolet HHR, Herron believes she’ll be easy to notice. Her fleet will also include a Subaru Forester, and she is looking into purchasing a minivan with a lift. She can be reached at 406-212-7361 or 406-882-4371.
Elgin’s taxi service will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with two cars in Kalispell and one, driven by his daughter, run out of Bigfork. Reached last week, Elgin had just learned of the approval of his operating permit, and had not yet worked out rates or the phone numbers where Jim’s Taxi could be reached. But he said he was motivated to launch the business after observing the need in the community for transportation, particularly in Kalispell where many large stores are located on the north side of town.
“I think this area needs a taxi service,” Elgin said. “There’s nobody here and there’s just a lot of people that need to get around, especially up at the Hutton Ranch.”
Establishing a taxi business that serves the entire Flathead has long been a stubborn problem in the valley as the area’s population has grown big enough for people to need public transportation, but apparently not grown enough to sustain a taxi business that serves downtown Kalispell and Whitefish. Subsidized public transit systems also make it tougher for standalone taxi businesses to compete. The PSC regulates the permits to ensure taxi operators have sufficient insurance, but Toole said he hasn’t figured out why taxi businesses are failing.
“We’ve now had a couple of them tank up there,” Toole said. “It’s unclear to me that the problem they had was not enough of a market.”
“The Flathead’s tough because the population centers are kind of sprinkled around,” he added. “Even in the best of circumstances it’s not easy to run, and Kalispell and the Flathead Valley are not the best of circumstances for the taxi business.”
Herron and Elgin acknowledge how difficult they expect the taxi business to be, but both said they plan to work as hard as possible toward success.
“I’ll give it my best shot,” Elgin said. “I’ve been here all my life.”
[End of article]
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After school budget cuts, program no longer funded
Fundraiser to Save Bigfork Cross Country
By Myers Reece, 8-03-10
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Caption: Former Bigfork High School runner Kayla Carlson practices in Bigfork. - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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When it comes to cross country at Bigfork High School, nothing has ever been certain for very long.
From 1974, when the boys cross country team won the first state title in school history, to the school board’s decision in the spring to quit funding the program, cross country has walked a precarious tightrope, hovering between excellence and nonexistence.
A fundraiser on Aug. 14 at the high school is the latest community effort to save a program that often finds itself on the chopping block when budget dilemmas arise. The 5-kilometer run had already garnered 32 sponsors and 61 runners as of July 30, head cross country Sue Loeffler said. She’s hoping for more than 100.
“The town of Bigfork has really supported us,” Loeffler said. “It’s neat to see the way the people have rallied.”
After winning two boys’ championships and one girls’ championship in the 1970s, the cross country program was dropped from Bigfork High School’s activities for more than a decade in the 1980s and through the 1990s.
When it reemerged, it did so under its own power. Receiving no money from the district, it funded itself until 2004 when it was reinstated as a school-funded activity. In that period of self-sufficiency, the girls won three straight Class B titles from 2001-2003.
So this isn’t Loeffler’s first August of uncertainty. With the school board’s decision to eliminate funding because of budget struggles, Loeffler is again faced with the prospect of a fall without cross country.
In her 36 years at Bigfork High School, Loeffler has been involved with cross country in some form each year it’s existed. For most of that time she’s been the head coach. This year, she has volunteered to forgo her salary of $2,376, leaving the program $2,640 short of the requirement to operate as a school sport.
If the fundraiser makes enough money to pay her salary and her assistant’s, in addition to covering bare bones operating costs, Loeffler would be pleased, but it’s not her top priority. Nor is the top priority of assistant coach Jessica Johnson.
“I just want to see the program go,” Loeffler said. “Both the assistant coach and I – if we get paid, fine, but if not, fine.”
Staring down a substantial shortfall in the district’s budget, the school board chose to eliminate golf and cross country because of low participation numbers, which have plagued cross country – particularly girls – for years.
Since winning its last Class B title in 2003, Bigfork hasn’t had enough girls to fulfill the minimum team requirement of at least five participants, Loeffler said. The boys, however, have put together teams during that period.
Nevertheless, Loeffler points out that the girls have produced upper-echelon runners, including Kayla Carlson, who graduated last year. Carlson was a perennial state contender in cross country and a two-time state champion in track. Carlson received a scholarship to run at the University of Mary in North Dakota.
Before Carlson, Brooke Andrus was one of the most dominant long-distance runners in Montana. Andrus, now a star senior runner at the University of Montana, was recently named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII women’s track and field/cross country second team.
And Bigfork’s championship teams of 2001-2003 were full of talent.
“Bigfork has had some great runners,” Loeffler said. “But they need exposure for college and if they don’t run cross country, they’re not going to get exposure.”
Loeffler, also the head track coach, said not having cross country would negatively impact her track squads as well. Cross country is held in the fall and track’s in the spring.
Registration for the 5-kilometer run on Aug. 14 is at 7:30 a.m. at Bigfork High School. The run begins at 8:30 a.m. Participants get a tee-shirt and can walk or run at their own pace. Prizes and ribbons are awarded to the top finishers.
For more information, e-mail
or go to www.runmt.com.
[End of article]
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District court judge rules American Dream Montana has no standing to bring suit
Court Dismisses Lawsuit Aimed at Revoking Subdivision Regs
By Molly Priddy, 8-02-10
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Caption: American Dream Montana chairman Russ Crowder. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler recently dismissed a lawsuit from a local property-rights group that called on the court to void the county’s subdivision regulations.
The suit, filed by American Dream Montana last December, contended that the county’s subdivision regulations were adopted illegally because the county did not demonstrate how each regulation met a compelling state interest to interfere with a landowner’s constitutional right to private property.
The subdivision regulations outline the steps developers need to take to get a new project approved. They only apply to those subdividing land. The Flathead County Commission enacted the regulations in August 2007. They were amended with an effective starting date in January 2009.
The lawsuit contends the county regulations should be revoked for multiple reasons and alleges that aspects of them are more stringent than comparable state law; are contradictory to other regulations or impossible under state law; constitute a per se taking of land; deny a citizen’s right to due process; and that several procedural aspects within the regulations are “intentionally used to discourage development,” among others.
None of these concerns, however, were addressed in Stadler’s ruling. Instead, the judge ruled that American Dream Montana had no standing to bring the case.
Part of American Dream’s suit asserted that, because some of its members are surveyors and engineers, they are considered subdividers “when acting in their professional capacity of the landowners.”
The lawsuit reasoned that the engineers and surveyors would be subject to criminal prosecution for allegedly violating the subdivision regulations, and therefore would suffer injury under the regulations.
Stadler disagreed, noting that group’s claims were not supported by the Montana Development Code’s definition for subdividers.
“It is an unsupported leap to claim that engineers and surveyors are subdividers,” Stadler wrote in his ruling. “There are no allegations in the complaint that any of the members of American Dream Montana are acting in their professional capacity as agents to someone who is causing or proposes to cause the subdivision of land.”
Furthermore, Stadler found that American Dream Montana did not provide sufficient evidence to prove the alleged imminent injury its members would suffer under the regulations, nor does the lawsuit prove that American Dream Montana has personal standing because it participated in public hearings when the county crafted the regulations.
“Having followed the legislative process of adoption of the subdivision regulations by the county does not create an interest distinguishable from the public at large,” Stadler wrote.
American Dream Montana chairman Russ Crowder said the group was not surprised with the outcome because it understood that suing the county would probably be a futile effort.
“We’re not naive enough to go in and think in Flathead County you’re going to go in and defend your property rights in court,” Crowder said.
Crowder said he thinks there is a pervasive bias against those whole file complaints to defend property rights by highlighting the county’s alleged illegal activity.
Crowder also said the dismissal does have a silver lining.
“I think in some ways the judge may have done the property owners a favor in Flathead County,” Crowder said.
He reasoned that by filing the lawsuit, American Dream Montana put enough pressure on the county that the Flathead County commissioners formed the Subdivision Regulations Review Committee.
“It took a long time to turn us down on standing. We’re kind of grateful that [Stadler] did take that time,” Crowder said.
The review committee was tasked with analyzing the regulations and assessing consistency and ease of use, according to Flathead County Planning Director Jeff Harris. The regulations also needed to be checked for compliance with state law.
Whether the lawsuit was the impetus behind the committee is uncertain, Harris added, because it was a county commission decision.
Regardless of the incentive behind the committee, Harris said the lawsuit’s dismissal would take pressure off the committee as it prepares to bring its findings to the commissioners.
“This has always been a cloud over that process,” Harris said. “And now that it’s resolved it should provide some daylight for them to finish up their work.”
The review committee was initially supposed to take about three months to go through the regulations, Harris said, but they have taken an in-depth look at the document for about a year and half. This has resulted in reformatting the regulations by combining sections, particularly those dealing with administrative procedures, Harris said.
Policy has largely been left alone, Harris said, but there have been some recommended changes, which will be presented to the county commission for approval.
Though American Dream Montana has no immediate plans to file a new lawsuit, Crowder said the group will wait to see the subdivision regulation review committee’s work and take it from there.
“We really have no rush to continue this on,” Crowder said.
[End of article]
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Track’s conditional use permit in front of Board of Adjustment Aug. 3
Noise Concerns Plague Proposed Motocross Track
By Molly Priddy, 8-02-10
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Caption: Tim Roberts, top, catches big air while riding the motocross track off West Valley Drive. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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A West Valley landowner’s effort to bring a commercial motocross track to the Flathead Valley has caused a stir with some neighbors who say the track would be too noisy for the area.
The track has been in the works for about a year and half, according to landowner Cindy Marvin. It currently provides a place for her sons Tanner, 26, and Cade, 25, to practice racing their dirt bikes for competitions elsewhere in the state.
The 40 acres of land in question – located off West Valley Drive – used to be a working dairy, but it hasn’t had cattle for several years, Marvin said.
There’s no law against building a motocross track on private property for personal use. However, the Marvin boys built the track with the idea that they would bring motocross races to the valley.
“From the beginning that was their plan,” Cindy Marvin said. “They wanted to bring races here.”
It wasn’t until the track became a proposed commercial venture that the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Department received complaints about the track from homeowners in the West Valley Pines subdivision, located roughly half a mile away.
An April 9 letter alleged the track violated zoning in West Valley, “based on the premise that the operation was a commercial endeavor for which the operators engaged in broad promotion and race event planning via an internet social networking site, onsite posting of track rules, and collection of fees,” according to a report from the planning office.
Planning staff met with the Marvins and determined the track was not located in the West Valley Zoning District as implied in the complaint, but rather in the West Valley Overlay District, which is zoned AG-80.
The West Valley Zoning District would not support commercial track, but the more-flexible West Valley Overlay might, the staff report notes. The Marvins would need to obtain a low-impact recreational conditional use permit (CUP) from the Flathead County Board of Adjustment.
Theirs will be one of several applications in front of the adjustment board on Aug. 3.
The application included plans for five races annually and two for this summer, including an already canceled June 19 race and a planned Aug. 21 and 22 event.
As of July 20, county planning staff received 11 letters opposing the CUP and none supporting it. In the letters, West Valley residents expressed concern over noise levels that would accompany a commercial race, as well as the perception that a neighboring motocross track would devalue their property.
There were also concerns about sound frequencies having a negative health impact, increased signage and traffic and the track’s inconsistency with the West Valley neighborhood plan.
The West Valley Pines Homeowners Association hired legal representation from Henning, Keedy & Lee P.L.L.C. Their lawyer contended that a commercial motocross track would adversely affect the quality of life in the area.
In their report, county planning staff recommended that the Board of Adjustment deny the CUP application because the proposed roadways did not meet county zoning standards and could be a hazard.
Staff also found the application’s proposed noise mitigation efforts – starting races behind a building and limiting practice hours to the daytime – lacking, stating, “no professional consultation has been used to deliberately design the track to minimize noise impacts.”
The members of the West Valley Land Use Advisory Committee could not agree whether to recommend approval or denial for the application during their July 27 meeting, instead opting to forward the content of the public meeting to the Board of Adjustment.
While Marvin said she understands the subdivision is concerned about noise, she feels her family has the right to make money off their land. She said she has a problem with the idea that people buy a lot in the middle of an AG-80 zone and expect nothing to ever change.
“If you want to live that way, buy 3,000 acres and put your house in the middle of it,” Marvin said.
“The boys have worked really hard,” Marvin added. “They are willing to bend over backwards to keep sound down.”
She also noted that putting a subdivision in the middle of an AG-80 zone increases traffic and the homeowners bought their houses when the dairy farm was still in full swing with 800 cattle.
For his part, Tanner Marvin said having a track in the Flathead would help local racers cut down on driving time. The closest tracks are in Plains and Niarada, near Hot Springs, Tanner Marvin said.
If the CUP application is denied, the younger Marvin said they would continue to practice on the track for free and apply again next year. He also said his lack of knowledge in the intricacies of county planning probably hindered their chances for a CUP.
Cindy Marvin, who said she “hates controversy,” said this issue has caused more stress than she initially imagined. She also said her family is willing to install berms and other noise mitigation techniques on the track.
“I understand the noise deal; we’ll try everything in the world to get that down,” Cindy Marvin said. “I hope those people would be open-minded.”
[End of article]
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Project managers hoping for mid-August
Whitefish High School Design Plans to be Unveiled
By Myers Reece, 8-01-10
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Caption: Whitefish High School. - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Whitefish residents will soon get their first look at three proposed design plans for a new or renovated high school.
A committee of more than 30 members, with wide-ranging backgrounds and community standing, held four workshops in May, June and July. From those workshops came three design proposals offering different renovation strategies at Whitefish High School.
The proposals range in price from $16.9 million to $19.5 million. Voters shot down a $21.5 million bond in 2008 to pay for an extensive school renovation. A $10.4 million school bond had already failed in 2003.
The priciest plan calls for tearing down and replacing the whole school, except for the gymnasium, which would be renovated. The school district has applied for an $800,000 grant to help pay for gym renovations.
The other two plans propose tearing down and replacing one or two wings of the school, respectively, while renovating the rest of the existing structure.
Chris Kelsey of Whitefish’s Steeplechase Development Advisors, the consultant hired to oversee the project, said last week that architects from Seattle’s DLR Group and Kalispell’s Jackola Engineering and Architecture are reviewing and tweaking the plans based on the committee’s suggestions.
The proposals will then be passed on to the school board for approval on Aug. 10, after which they will be made available to the public. Kelsey said the plans should be published online and distributed at various locations and events, including the farmers’ market.
“We want to provide every opportunity for feedback from the public,” Kelsey said.
Plenty of feedback has already been gathered, dating back to a 2008 public meeting series called Speak Up Whitefish. Also, Steeplechase Development Advisors conducted more than 150 face-to-face interviews with community members.
The school board hired Steeplechase last fall to oversee the planning process for a possible new or remodeled high school. Bayard Dominick is Steeplechase’s other representative in the project.
Throughout the community feedback sessions and committee workshops, numerous suggestions were brought up, discussed and either dismissed or incorporated into the three current proposals.
But Kelsey said there was a general agreement that improvements need to be made at the school, which has wings that date back to the 1950s. Precisely what those improvements should be and how they should be funded are the questions Kelsey hopes will be answered through the planning process.
“The feedback we have gathered from the community has strongly indicated that the majority of our community believes that the high school facilities need to be upgraded,” he said.
Kelsey said the committee settled on 116,000 square feet as a target goal for the school. The failed 2008 bond proposed 78,105 square feet of renovated space and 85,743 square feet of new construction for a total of nearly 164,000.
The project’s blueprint follows a six-step process. The first step, research and input, is already complete. Once the school board approves the three plans, the second step – concept design – will also be done, bringing the project to the public input phase.
“We want to make sure the community is involved with working out the design and price range,” Kelsey said. “One of the most important things is running a process that’s fully transparent.”
After public input, architects will refine the designs into one plan. That plan will then be used in seeking alternative funding sources. And the final step is proposing a bond to fund whatever isn’t covered by the alternative sources. Project coordinators believe the bond would occur next year or in 2012, depending on economic conditions.
Enrollment has been at the heart of school renovation discussions. Steeplechase Development Advisors has developed a graph that shows Whitefish High School’s enrollment peaking at 744 in 2005. According to the graph, it has since dropped below 500.
But the graph, utilizing what is called “cohort survival methodology,” examines lower-grade enrollments to determine future high school numbers. Based on strong enrollments in younger grades all the way down to kindergarten, the graph details a student increase at the high school beginning in 2012, when it should jump above 500 again.
From 2012 to 2020, according to the projections, enrollment should stabilize between 500 and 600, reaching a peak of 580 in 2015.
“The perception that enrollment is declining on a long-term basis is not accurate,” Kelsey said.
For more information, log on to www.whitefishhighschoolfuture.com.
[End of article]
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Tammi Fisher seeks more block grant funding to spur jobs
Mayor Lobbies for Kalispell in D.C.
By Dan Testa, 8-01-10
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Caption: Kalispell's new mayor Tammi Fisher, left, listens to remarks from high school students during Kalispell City Council meeting earlier this year. - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher was in Washington D.C. last week lobbying Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester for more direct funding to municipalities that could be used to put private contractors to work.
Fisher joined mayors from cities like Raleigh, N.C., Dubuque, Iowa and Chattanooga, Tennessee as part of a group called Climate Communities aimed at encouraging further federal block grants to cities for energy efficiency upgrades and infrastructure improvements. That work could then boost the local economy, Fisher said, when cities hire local private contractors to carry out the work.
Kalispell received roughly half a million dollars in such grants to carry out renovations on the justice center building, and Fisher believes more grants are necessary to boost the local construction industry – since tax incentives for new hiring are simply not enough to spur job creation when the work isn’t there.
Fisher met with Baucus and Tester July 28 and said she presented them with a list of Kalispell needs. The block grant funding request was at the top. Other requests included: changes to give biomass energy development equivalent incentives to alternative power sources like wind and solar; recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency of biomass as a carbon-neutral energy source; a transit system connecting the Flathead’s communities that could boost tourism; opportunities for cities and counties to refinance debt. She also discussed the concept of making the Flathead a “showcase community” for Montana with a biomass-powered convention center.
Though she doesn’t necessarily agree with current U.S. energy policy or spending decisions, Fisher hopes to use any incentives or funding for alternative energy to maximum benefit in the Flathead.
“If that’s where the money has been appropriated or directed, my goal is to get as much of that money to the Flathead Valley as possible,” Fisher said. “I’m obviously playing the cards I’ve been dealt.”
Fisher’s plane ticket and three nights of her hotel stay were paid for by Kalispell, and she said she paid for all other expenses personally. Her itinerary also included meetings with the staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, White House staff and the Department of Energy. But despite the tour, Fisher said the nation’s capitol left her unimpressed.
“Maybe it’s because I’m pretty conservative but it’s really hard to stomach the amount of money that is spent on our public buildings in D.C.,” Fisher said. “Where has all the money gone? Washington D.C.”
[End of article]
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Whitefish
PLACES: Summit Trail, Whitefish Mountain Resort
By Dan Testa, 8-01-10
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Caption: A bicyclist descends Big Mountain's Summit Trail. - Dan Testa/Flathead Beacon |
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Bicycling up Big Mountain’s Summit Trail can, at times, feel awkward. Without snow, the mountain seems naked, its contours changed. The ski patrol huts and chairlifts are weirdly higher, offering a different perspective from what you may have grown accustomed to during the winter.
But the Summit Trail itself, the bottom section of which was reworked last year by the Whitefish Mountain Resort crew, is pure pleasure: 7.8 miles of gradual-to-moderate climbing that takes you through forest, across alpine meadows and steep slopes that offer sweeping views of the valley below. In late summer, there are ample huckleberry patches tempting you to pull over and take a break.
Nearly 8 miles is still a fair bit of climbing, so you shouldn’t try it unless you’re reasonably fit. Be sure to bring along water, snacks and basic tools for flat tires or other minor breakdowns. Downhillers should yield to climbers, but not everybody knows the rules, so just yield if you’ve got a good spot and try not to startle anyone.
On a recent Saturday, many riders had taken the lift up to descend the Summit Trail, and some were clearly beginners. The trail holds few surprises so you can ride the brakes all the way down if necessary, but when you open it up, the trail flows beautifully.
The black diamond trails, however, are no joke and should not be attempted unless you’re an experienced cyclist with ample technical skills and lots of travel on your bike. Grab a trail map at the base and heed it.
How to get there: Park at the Whitefish Mountain Resort village and head for the obvious confluence of trailheads. You’ll see signs for the Summit Trail. Start pedaling!
[End of article]
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Chef Jim Gray
Easy as Pie
By The Kitchen Guy, 8-01-10
We had a house full of company last week and one of the gifts given to the resident chef – yours truly, of course – was a bag of Key limes.
Truth be told, there aren’t many things that one can do with key limes other than make the eponymous pie and it got me to thinking that the old phrase, “easy as pie” could easily have been “Easy as Key Lime pie.” It’s really the simplest thing in the world to make and a fantastic dessert, especially in summer time.
Total combined baking time for the crust and the pie is only 25 minutes. Total time to make the components is less than that, so other than the fact that this pie should chill overnight, it truly is as “easy as Key Lime pie.”
To make the crust, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You’ll need nine graham crackers and that should yield about a cup and a quarter of fine crumbs. Just crack them into your food processor along with two tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Pulse to grind and then add five tablespoons of melted unsalted butter. Let the machine run for about 10 seconds to incorporate the butter.
Pour the mixture into a nine-inch glass pie plate and with the bottom of a measuring cup push the mixture until it goes up the sides of the plate as well as fully coating the bottom.
Par-bake the crust in the oven for about 10 minutes, then remove and set it on a rack to cool. Leave the oven on.
To make the filling, cut about 15 or 16 key limes in half and use your garlic press to squeeze the juice – you’ll need about 2 tablespoons more than a quarter cup. Key limes have small seeds and the garlic press will get just about every bit of juice while filtering out the seeds. As a precaution, though, I usually strain the juice before adding it to the other ingredients.
Those other ingredients are four egg yolks and one full can (14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk.
Use a wire whisk to combine the juice, the yolks and the condensed milk. The thickness of the mixture should be the consistency of pudding before it sets.
Pour the mixture into the cooled pie crust and return it to the 350 oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove to a rack to cool completely and I do mean completely. Then cover the pie with plastic wrap and set it in your refrigerator for at least eight hours. Overnight is best.
It’s hard for me to imagine a simpler pie. The most difficult part is waiting until it has chilled completely before you can slice it and eat it.
I usually serve it topped with freshly whipped cream, made with a half cup of heavy cream, a teaspoon of vanilla, a tablespoon and a half of sugar, and a squeeze of one half of a key lime.
Use a bowl and a whisk that has been chilled (I usually stick my bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 10 minutes). Whisk the mixture to stiff peaks and add a dollop to each slice of your Key Lime pie.
And there you have the perfect summer dessert – and it’s as easy as Key Lime pie.
Follow me on Twitter @KitchenGuyMT
[End of article]
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Yoga class gives back to valley nonprofit
Going With the Flow
By Web Master, 7-31-10
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Caption: Karina Ek, far right, leads a yoga class on the roof of The Boiler Room in Kalispell. The weekly group meets each Wednesday evening and all donated money goes to support the Violence Free Crisis Line. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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In the practice of yoga, the downward facing dog is usually a pose of blissful balance. Yet for students attending one of the Community Yoga sunset classes, it might also cause some giggles as one’s sunglasses are prone to slip off during this section of the vinyasa.
Yet, sunglasses are a crucial tool during these classes, which meet every Wednesday at 8p.m. on the upstairs deck of the Boiler Room.
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Sherry Taylor, center, reaches upward and stretches toward the sky while participating in an evening yoga class on the roof of The Boiler Room in Kalispell. |
“It’s a time to wind down,” instructor Karina Ek said. “The sunsets here in the valley are so beautiful and there are some pretty amazing colors going on in the skies and it’s just great to feel that cool air after a long day and really stretch your body.”
Ek decided to host the classes as a way to give back to the Violence Free Crisis Line, an organization that offers support and counseling to victims of domestic and sexual violence in the Flathead Valley.
Ek said her intentions behind the classes were two-fold.
“I understand that they have lost a lot of income from the state, along with many other organizations,” she said about the crisis line. “There’s been a lot of cutback so I think financially it will help them.”
Ek also wanted to offer a healing practice to people who may have been affected with turmoil.
“I also met up with a lot of volunteers with the crisis line and encouraged them to bring people they are working with who are battling through something personal,” she said.
Both men and women are welcome to attend and Ek has several spare mats that practitioners can use.
Ek asks that those who attend bring a monetary donation for the program in exchange for the 45-minute classes. One-hundred percent of the donations will benefit the crisis line.
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Instructor Karina Ek begins her yoga lesson with some stretches while seated on the roof of The Boiler Room in Kalispell. |
“My suggestion was to donate five dollars but you may have a woman with a penny in her pocket and that’s fine for them to come,” she said. “I’ve also had some people who have been really generous who give more than what I suggest. It’s up to that person, how they feel and where they are in their life.”
Ek, a Kalispell native, trained at the OM Yoga Center in New York City and has been teaching in the valley since January. Her classes focus on correct alignment, breath awareness and meditation.
“I’ve found through yoga practice that you can really dig a little bit deeper into your soul and with meditation and breath, it’s really powerful,” she said.
The Violence Free Crisis Line was established in 1976 and provides the county with a 24-hour crisis line, an emergency shelter and prevention education.
According to Janet Cahill, the organization’s director for 23 years, the recession has indeed cut back on the donations and grants that keep the non-profit operating,
“Starting two years ago, our grants began to dip off and with the recession, contributions have been cut in half,” Cahill said. “Last year we had to cut our staff in half.”
Cahill hasn’t partaken in any of the classes as she tends to wind down at home in the evening, but she has spoken with several board members who have attended.
“The people I’ve talked to who have gone say it’s wonderful,” she said. “Karina is very nice for doing this for us.”
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Karina Ek and participants of her yoga class end the evening's instruction on the roof of The Boiler Room. All of the donations from the class go toward supporting the Violence Free Crisis Line. |
The classes started July 7 and are expected to run through Aug. 25, although Ek says the end date is open-ended depending on student interest.
“It’s been wonderful to bring a little bit more empowerment and peace to these people and allow them to come into the moment,” she said. “It’s their moment to take care of themselves.”
For more information on the Sunset Community Yoga Class contact Ek at
or online at www.flourish-yoga.com. For more information about the Violence Free Crisis Line, contact Cahill at (406) 261-9082
[End of article]
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predict that the worst
Economists: Slow Turnaround for Flathead County
By Web Master, 7-30-10
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Caption: Dr. Patrick Barkey, director of the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, speaking in Kalispell. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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Montana’s economic outlook is grim, but it could be, and has been much worse. This was the message delivered Thursday in Kalispell during a mid-year economic update presented by the Montana Chamber Foundation along with the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
“No one liked our growth forecast [in February] because it was so anemic, but now it’s even more anemic,” Patrick Barkey, bureau director and a professor at the UM School of Business, said. He spoke to a room crowded with local business owners at the Hilton Garden Inn.
“We’d like to see more growth but we are headed in the right direction,” he said. “While there has been growth, we’re not anywhere near where we [once] were.”
He noted that throughout the recession, Montana has moved in sync with the United States, following its highs and lows, though by a slightly better margin. Although it hasn’t fared as well as neighboring North Dakota, the state with the best economic performance in the nation, Montana is leaps and bounds ahead of Nevada, the state that has fared the worst.
Barkey noted that much like across the rest of the country, consumer spending in Montana is unbalanced. Those with deeper pockets are propelling the economy with impulse purchases while poorer families have cut back on basic expenditures.
“Consumer confidence is stuck in a rut and that’s a concern for Montana,” Barkey said.
Along with restrained spending from residents, Montana’s tourism industry has struggled with lower profits.
“We’ve seen a double-digit decline on spending from non-resident travelers and it’s pretty sobering,” Barkey said. While the actual tourist numbers haven’t dropped off, the spending level of these tourists has dramatically fallen.
Barkey noted that as Flathead County is largely dependent on tourism and also took especially hard hits in the housing and manufacturing industries, he doesn’t expect the county to fully recover its economic strength until 2018.
“I haven’t lived through a financial crisis like we just did and I hope I never have to again,” he said.
Paul Polzin, also a UM School of Business professor and the second speaker of the afternoon, agreed with his colleague’s remarks. He displayed several charts that showed both the halcyon days of the economy before December 2007 and the dark aftermath of the recession.
Prior to the economy’s downturn, Flathead County had one of the highest economic growth rates in the state. In 2008, the county suffered a 2.7 percent decline in non-farm labor income. In 2009, this figure worsened to 9.3 percent
Retail labor income fell 5 percent in 2008 and 9.5 percent in 2009, which according to Polzin, was the second worst drop in the state after Gallatin County.
Dismal figures were also revealed for the construction industry, the sector in the region that took the hardest hit. Construction labor income fell 16.5 percent in 2008 and dipped to 31.7 in 2009, the worst in the state.
“2009 was by far the worst year for Flathead County,” Polzin said.
In the near future, Barkey and Polzin expect to see growth in professional business services and are encouraged by a stabilization in the mining industry. They also expect the agricultural sector to rebound to its long-term average.
The Montana Chamber Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on the development of the state’s economy, will host the mid-year annual economic outlook in six other cities across the state. For a schedule of the events and more information about the chamber, visit http://www.montnanachamberfoundation.org.
[End of article]
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Beyond Partisanship
Sex Ed Sabotage
By Kellyn Brown, 7-30-10
Like presidents before him, President Barack Obama claimed to have the fanciful goal of moving “beyond partisan politics.” So did former President George W. Bush, who repeated, “I’m a uniter, not a divider” during his campaign for the nation’s highest office. Those hopes, of course, didn’t work out as planned for either of them.
I take pains here to leave national issues to national scribes who are far more qualified to opine on such matters as the Shirley Sherrod firing than I will ever be. But the petulant tone of the debate inside the D.C. Beltway is now infecting the rest of us.
Last week, the Montana Republican Party accused “Democratic leaders” of plotting to “sabotage” Congressman Denny Rehberg’s upcoming listening sessions by providing “their supporters with pre-fabricated ‘gotcha’ questions to heckle our congressman.”
Bowen Greenwood, the party’s executive director exposed the e-mail that a Carbon County Democrat sent to supporters that read, in part: “It would be cool for folks who can ask questions (i.e. heckle) to attend.”
Neil Garrett, the communications coordinator for the Carbon County Democrats, told the
Great Falls Tribune his e-mail was taken out of context.
"From my viewpoint, heckle is asking challenging questions," Garrett said. "By no means was it intended to encourage people to taunt or interrupt or badger or to do anything like that.”
I guess my semantic understanding of the word heckle is different than that of Garrett’s. Rehberg, who is the only one of Montana’s U.S. delegation to consistently held open town halls across the state over the last two years, should be able to answer questions – from his constituents without being jeered – a synonym of the innocent word “heckle.”
To be sure, Republicans are as culpable as Democrats in their flexible interpretations of reality. Recently, the state GOP used the debate over sex education curriculum in Helena public schools to warn that perhaps all of Montana is “in danger” of a similar fate if Democrats win control of the statehouse this fall.
“Keeping the Helena sex ed policy from spreading to the rest of the state depends on electing a Republican majority to the Legislature,” Will Deschamps, chair of the Montana GOP, said. “Democratic legislators and legislative candidates support enacting this kind of sex ed for the whole state.”
He was referring to House Bill 596, which would have directed the state to provide resources to school districts for sex education if they requested it. The bill would not have dictated how, or if, sex education was taught. And the implication that Democrats would mandate some sort of perverse sex education program for Montana’s children is ridiculous on its face.
For one, the state constitution bars the Legislature from influencing school curriculum at the local level. That’s why we have school boards. That’s why school boards members are elected.
Nonetheless, Greenwood repeated the talking point to Lee Newspapers, saying, “The fact of the matter is we do consider it a very realistic possibility.”
One recent glimmer of bipartisanship came from Rehberg, who gave credit to Montana Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his handling of the state budget.
“You’ve got a Democrat in Montana doing the right thing,” Rehberg said. “Why can’t we do the right thing now (in Washington D.C.).”
That was met with a statement from the Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams: “We really appreciate Rehberg acknowledging the hard work Gov. Schweitzer and Montana Democrats have done to keep our budget in the black. At the same time, he certainly didn’t practice the same fiscal discipline while (serving) under President Bush.”
In this environment, Rehberg praising the opposite party can elicit the same reaction as criticizing it.
[End of article]
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Your Weekend Guide
On Tap: Elite Professional Bull Riding, Home and Garden Tour, “Hair”
By Erin Cole, 7-30-10
Live Music:
Friday: John Floridus at Crush Wine Bar; Wartime Blues and Butter at Kickin' Chicken; Drum Brothers Bigfork Outdoor Concert; Friday Night Live at Blue Canyon; Savannah Jack at Great Northern Bar; Wilbur Rehman at Symes Hot Springs Hotel; Off in the Woods at The Raven; Yabba Griffith at Ricciardi's; DJ at Club KaLi; Everyday Prophets at Craggy Range Bar and Grill; Dangerous at Fatt Boys Bar and Grill
Saturday: Yaak Wilderness Music Festival at Turner Mountain Ski Area; Craig Barton at Lawrence Park; Flashback at Pin and Cue; Night at the Landing at Stillwater Landing; Smart Alex at Great Northern Bar; Karoke with Jody at Grizzly Jacks; Open Mike Jam Night at Ricciardi's; Odyssey at Symes Hot Springs Hotel; Everyday Prphets at Kickin' Chicken; DJ Forest Fire at Club KaLi; Truck Stop Inferno at Silver Bullet Bar; Dangerous at Fatt Boys; Moonshine Mountain at Craggy Range Bar and Grill
Sports:
Friday: Elite Professional Bul lriding followed by Teri Clark in concert at Majestic Valley Arena
Saturday: Elite Professional Bull Riding followed by Joe Nichols in concert at Majestic Valley Arena; Swan Range Hikes; Saturday Overlook Walks
Arts and Events:
Friday: Bibler Home and Gardens Summer Tours; Shout! at FVCC; Hair at Whitefish Performing Arts Center; That's the Poop at John Dowdall Theatre; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Bigfork Summer Playhouse; Hypnotist Ron Stubbs at Outlaw Hotel;
Saturday: Kalispell Farmers' Market at Kalispell Center Mall; Bigfork Farmer's Market at Bigfork High School parking lot; Volunteer Orientation at Humane Society; Storytime at Borders; Frenzy with Kathy at All about Memories; Bear Fair at Izaak Walton inn; AfroFusion Dance at O'Shaughnessy Center; Pie Social and BBQ at Mountain Brook Community Library; Nature Baby Clothing Swap at Flathead County Library; Railway District Annual Block Party at Railroad District; Shout! at FVCC; Hair at Whitefish Performing Arts Center; That's the Poop at John Dowdall Theatre; Sugar Babies at Bigfork Summer Playhouse;
For a full listing of times, other events and what’s happening on Sunday go to
www.flatheadevents.net.
[End of article]
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Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour rolls through valley Aug. 1 to Aug. 7
Revving Up for the National Model T Tour
By Molly Priddy, 7-29-10
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Caption: Through the windshield of Mike Cuffe's 1923 Model T are Bill Mullens of Spokane, Wash., and Segio Hernandez from Bella Garden, Calif., during the 2010 Montana 500, a 500 mile endurance run across the state. - Photo contributed by Mike Cuffe |
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Get your century-old motors running, and get ready to head out on the highway – the national Ford Model T tour is coming to the Flathead.
Dubbed the Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour, the international event brings 175 Model T enthusiasts and their classic cars to the valley from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7.
The drivers will be stationed at Whitefish Mountain Resort and venture out to new locations everyday, from the Tobacco Valley to Glacier National Park to around Flathead Lake, totaling about 900 miles, according to tour director Mike Cuffe of Eureka.
Model Ts first rolled out of Ford Motor Company in 1908 and were some of the first vehicles accessible to average Americans. The car was pulled from the assembly lines in 1927 after other companies started building more modern vehicles. In all, about 16 million were made, Cuffe said.
The Model T Ford Club of America usually sanctions two tours each year, one on each side of the country, Cuffe said. However, the Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour is the only one this year, Cuffe said.
“Once we came in and offered the Montana tour, there was great excitement throughout the (national) club,” Cuffe said. “It’s a real romantic kind of a draw.”
As members of the Rocky Mountain Model T Club, Cuffe and tour co-chairmen David Cooley of Kalispell and Rick Bonebright of Florence worked to bring the event to Montana after restoring the Montana club in 2008.
Connections with the national board of directors gave the local club a chance to pitch their idea of a mountain tour, Cuffe said, which apparently made an impression on the right people.
“Our fledgling little club all of a sudden became host of this tour,” Cuffe said.
Cuffe said he hardly expected to fall in love with a piece of machinery from the early 1900s. He assumed he would prefer a more modern model, a Ford Model A from the 1930s. However, the older model caught his attention with its distinctive characteristics.
“I happened to get a Model T Ford and came to understand them and like them,” Cuffe said.
The Model T has a 20-horsepower engine, which Cuffe notes is not exactly muscle-car material.
“Your lawn tractor probably has a lot more horsepower,” Cuffe said. “It’s a wonderfully designed engine. You can lug it down going up a hill; it will slow and slow and slow but it keeps pushing you along.”
The transmission is also unique, he noted. Instead of a hydraulic pump shift, the driver pushes a pedal to the floor to engage low gear. The pedal is spring loaded, and the driver just needs to let it out to put the car into high gear.
His interest in the cars piqued after several Eureka residents decided to spruce up the town’s annual Rendezvous Days parade with classic cars 12 years ago. After meeting other Model T enthusiasts from Canada and Missoula, Cuffe now owns three of the automobiles. His friend and mechanic Abe VanBemmel makes repairs as necessary.
Along with sharing his passion for Model Ts with the Flathead and Tobacco valleys, Cuffe said he wanted to bring the tour for another key reason: Money.
“This is my version of a stimulus bill. Because of this, we have 175 Fords traveling into Montana, spending a week here,” Cuffe said.
And, of course, along with the Fords come people. Cuffe estimates about 370 people coming from all ends of the country and Canada, and even some from New Zealand and England.
These tourists will spend money on gas, food, lodging and souvenirs, and Cuffe estimates a financial windfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars for Montana’s economy.
Eureka is also anticipating the excitement of Model T enthusiasts, with Mayor Ethel White proclaiming the day the tour rolls through town, Aug. 2, as “Model T Day” in the town.
White, also a classic car enthusiast, said she didn’t want to waste the opportunity to put a spotlight on her town.
“It’s just fun and Mike has worked so hard to bring the Model T tour here in Eureka,” White said. “I want to help him as much as possible and I want to help the town of Eureka as much as possible.”
For more information on the Model T tour and a look at the daily trip schedules, visit www.MontanaMajesticMountainTTour.com or call (406) 293-1247.
[End of article]
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Skydiver’s parachute tangled with another jumper’s
Officials Identify Skydiver Killed in Lost Prairie Jump
By Molly Priddy, 7-29-10
Skydivers will continue to fly over Lost Prairie following a parachuting accident Wednesday that killed a Colorado man.
According to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Garl “Mike” Newby, 57, of Colorado Springs was part of a group of jumpers that had just finished a formation dive when his main parachute got tangled with another jumper’s main chute.
The surviving jumper was able to remove his main chute and deploy his reserve parachute, the sheriff’s report states. Newby was able to remove his main chute but was unable to deploy his reserve parachute in time.
Newby jumped at 13,000 feet, the report states. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently looking into the accident.
Newby fell while participating in the 43rd annual Lost Prairie Boogie, a nationally recognized jump meet that brings in skydivers from all over the country. The event takes place near Marion, about 30 miles west of Kalispell, and runs from July 24 to Aug. 2.
Event director and Skydive Lost Prairie owner Fred Sand said Newby had been coming to the event for at least a dozen years and was an experienced skydiver who had performed thousands of jumps.
The fatal jump came early in Newby’s visit to Lost Prairie, Sand said.
“It was his first jump of his visit here,” Sand said.
As an extreme sport, skydiving carries certain risks, Sand noted, as do other activities, such as driving on the highway or skiing.
“It pretty much goes without saying that no matter what we’re doing there is risk involved,” Sand said. “It’s part of it.”
The jump meet was temporarily stalled on Thursday due to rainy and cloudy weather, Sand said, but it would proceed as usual once the sun broke through.
There have been two other aviation accidents in Lost Prairie in the past few years. In May of 2007, an airplane crashed shortly after taking off from the Skydive Lost Prairie airstrip, killing all five people on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board ruled “pilot error” as the cause of the crash.
In April 2009, a small plane lost the landing gear off its right side while dropping off skydivers. It was forced to make a crash landing after flying for 90 minutes to burn fuel. The plane landed short of the Skydive Lost Prairie airstrip; the pilot was not injured.
[End of article]
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Road debate continues
North Fork Road Draft Study Released
By Web Master, 7-29-10
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Caption: A car kicks up dirt as it travels north on North Fork Road toward Polebridge. - File Photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon |
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To pave or not to pave? The question of what to do with the North Fork Road was further debated Tuesday night in Columbia Falls. Residents, local business owners and Flathead County officials gathered at the Glacier Discovery Square to discuss the recently released draft of a $125,000 study on the corridor.
Taking into account the environmental, historical, residential and economical factors surrounding the North Fork Road, also known as State Highway 486, the study highlighted numerous actions that could be taken to address residents’ road concerns.
Besides paving or not paving the rural route, other fixes include adding additional gravel, implementing dust abatement technology or rebuilding the crown to improve drainage.
Armed with large diagrams, 10 draft staff members were on hand to explain various sections of the 57-page document.
"Some people want to drive on a paved road while some want to keep it in a primitive state," a staff member said as he pointed to a chart of options and their costs. "We're not here to make a decision. This forum is to identify options."
The open-forum meeting differed from the initial public meeting held in April, where several officials spoke to an assembled audience. According to draft team member Lani Eggertsen-Goff, Tuesday night’s focus was to hear and record the public’s input.
“Western Federal Lands gave us some feedback to try something different,” Eggertsen-Goff said. “Instead of one or two people talking, we wanted the public to get their questions answered.”
The two-lane North Fork Road runs against the western boundary of Glacier National Park. The study focuses on a 13-mile section between the junction with Blankenship Road and the junction with Camas Creek Road. During the summer months, the road averages 400 vehicles a day while wintertime traffic is much less and largely residential.
Paving proponents say that an improved road would boost the area’s economy, improve emergency response times, serve as an alternative route to Glacier National Park and improve air and water quality. Their biggest issue is the large amount of vision-impairing dust that gets kicked up by vehicles, especially during the drier summer months.
Opponents, meanwhile, want to maintain the rustic nature of the North Fork area and believe that a paved road would attract more tourists and development. They also voice concern that increased traffic and higher speeds would be detrimental to wildlife.
"I would like to see it paved," North Fork property owner Karen McDonough said as she sat at the table and flipped through the report.
"It's widely perceived that most North Fork residents don't want it paved," a woman sitting next to her, who didn't want to be named, said. "It's actually the opposite, but their voices are louder."
Across the room and on the opposite side of the argument stood Cecily McNeil, a long-time Flathead Valley resident. She wore a scoutmaster's hat with a band of construction paper around the brim that read, "No paving, Gravel, yes!"
"I was afraid that no one would say anything," McNeil said. "This really matters to me."
Although there might have been much contention in the room, most could agree on one thing: the sweltering temperature in the lobby.
"I have to sit down," McNeil said, removing her hat and sitting at a table. "It's too hot in here."
The timeline for public comment ends Aug 10 and the final draft of the study will be completed Aug 27. A link to the study and more information about the research can be found at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/pubinvolve/northfork/.
[End of article]
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