Flathead Valley Politics: Kalispell, Montana News

HELENA – Wilderness advocates and key officials say Sen. Jon Tester's office has plans to bring Montana its first new wilderness designation since the 1980s.

But Tester's office is keeping details quiet — just saying that anyone interested in how forests are managed should contact the senator.

Plans for the designation of a new wilderness area draw on separate proposals that have been in the works for years, say advocates who hope legislation will fast-track hundreds of thousands of acres into wilderness status.

MARION, Ill. – Once the nation's most secure prison, the federal lockup in southern Illinois has housed everyone from spies to a Colombian druglord to dapper mob boss John Gotti.

Now the mayor of Marion hopes to roll out the welcome mat for a new set of accused criminals: Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects.

While other cities across the U.S. have balked at taking in any of the more than 200 detainees from the infamous lockup in Cuba that President Barack Obama hopes to shutter, Marion is part of a small contingent seeking out the prisoners — and the money and jobs they might bring.

Shawn Beqaj, the vice president for public affairs with Bresnan Communications, toured Montana last week to discuss, among other things, “wideband,” the blazing-fast Internet service that will, in a few years, allow you to download a feature-length film in a few dozen seconds. But I was far more interested in a contract Bresnan recently won from the state to provide it with a new network and whether Beqaj agreed that Montana municipalities remain archaic in this age of information.

On that subject, Beqaj was diplomatic and said his company looks “forward to providing the bandwidth necessary so that the state can become truly leading edge in e-governance.”

MISSOULA – The first time Arthur Schlesinger Jr. asked former presidential candidate George McGovern to take part in a series of books about American presidents, McGovern said no.

He was simply too busy with a little project — feeding every impoverished child in the world a decent meal each day.

Later, though, Schlesinger called back and asked again. By this time, the program McGovern helped establish with former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., was well under way. Today, 22 million children are being fed by the program.

Matt Himsl, long-time state senator from Kalispell, had a great influence on my political thinking. Beginning in my teen years, I spent many enriching hours exploring ideas with him. Matt presided over the Flathead County Republican Central Committee for more than a decade. He was a Goldwater delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention, and chaired the Montana effort to nominate Governor Rockefeller in 1968. In Flathead County he was “Mr. Republican.”

HELENA –The Montana ProLife Coalition is proposing three ballot measures that would effectively ban abortion in the state.

Each proposed constitutional initiative would define a person as a human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human.

Hanging on a rack at the Spirit Skate Shop in Kalispell are a bunch of T-shirts for sale that read: “The KPD can take my skateboard, but they can’t take my spirit.”

“KPD” refers to the Kalispell Police Department, and the T-shirts, according to Spirit Skate Shop’s owner, Mark DeLorme, are a response to the recent crackdown by authorities against skateboarders at the Woodland Skate Park. In June alone, DeLorme estimates the police have confiscated roughly 30 skateboards from skaters failing to wear helmets in the park, or violating city ordinance in some other way.

HELENA – Lawmakers were warned Wednesday that that tax collections could be dropping more than anticipated when the two-year budget was set earlier this year.

But the Legislative Fiscal Division says information is still too preliminary to say if the soft tax collections will eat away at projected budget surpluses.