Flathead Valley Politics: Kalispell, Montana News

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

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

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

HELENA – The Montana Democratic Party has a new executive director.

David Benson, a veteran of political campaigns in South Dakota and Minnesota, took over the job in mid-October. He replaces Art Noonan, who resigned last summer.

WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent for the first time since 1983 — and is likely to go higher.

Nearly 16 million people can't find jobs even though the worst recession since the Great Depression has apparently ended. Many economists worry that persistently high unemployment could undermine the recovery by restraining consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are scrambling to secure enough support to pass President Barack Obama's historic health overhaul initiative, working to soothe last-minute concerns from rank-and-file Democrats ahead of a make-or-break vote.

Voting is set for Saturday on the 10-year, $1.2 trillion legislation that embraces Obama's goals of extending health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and putting tough new restrictions on insurance companies.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats sidestepped a Republican boycott Thursday, pushing a climate bill out of committee in an early step on a long and contentious road to passage.

Other committees still must weigh-in on the measure, but the partisan antics early on threatened to cast a pall over the bill — one of President Barack Obama's top priorities — as it makes its way to the Senate floor and as nations prepare to meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month to hammer out a new international treaty to slow climate change.

HELENA – Montana tax collections through the first four months of the budget year are $92.8 million, or 22 percent, less than a year ago, according to a new legislative report.

Terry Johnson of the Legislative Fiscal Division said taking into account potential revenue shortfalls from individual and corporate income taxes and potential higher oil and gas production taxes, the state's general fund revenues for the fiscal year could be anywhere from $51 million to $129 million less than lawmakers forecast.

A couple weeks ago, Aaron Jordan lifted his long-time girlfriend, Cheryl Swan, in his arms and carried her to their second-floor bathroom in their Kalispell home.

Jordan stepped into the bathtub to help her into the water, getting his socks and pant legs wet. It didn’t bother him.