Archive for March, 2009
by Pete Talbot After a pitcher of Badlander IPA, the mayor and the planners relaxed, and then gave a concise and passionate argument for the Missoula Zoning Rewrite. The title of the event sucked me in: “Everybody Must Get Zoned.” But it turned out to be a straight-forward look at the zoning process and policy, [...]
by problembear it doesn’t take much to feel a little overwhelmed by the problems of the world. this is when i think about family…like those grand-kids who visit in the summer and we go to seeley lake to camp and swim and fish…or the mid may trip along the rocky mountain front to chester to stay [...]
by problembear joe nickell of the missoulian’s entertainer uncovers a problem which threatens our very soul in this live music loving state. i cannot imagine showing up at the bar in Chico on a friday night from a flyfish float on the yellowstone and seeing no live band performing….this needs fixing folks and fast….with all [...]
by jhwygirl Subject: AIG Some of the best: AIG is not equipped to be able to balance the ethical considerations involved in paying huge executive bonuses. Although a “person” under the law, there’s no person called AIG who can undertake this type of a priori moralizing. Paying the bonuses was the only way this corporate [...]
by jhwygirl Over at Session 61, Executive Director Bob Decker of The Policy Institute has a great analysis on the 4 bills, in various status, working through the legislative session. Rep. Jill Cohenour has HB649 which has good and bad. Session 61 doesn’t like the “one step forward and one step backward” of the bill, [...]
by jhwygirl Montana’s conservative side is already rounding up the troops….championing some of this bad environmental legislation. In the Senate there are 2 crappy environmental bills – HB483, one of this sessions infamous Crappy Environmental Legislation bills. The Editor at the Button Valley Bugle had a fantabulous write-up on this one (and others), titled Your [...]
by jhwygirl From the press release: Nominating petitions are now available for four seats that are up for election on the Missoula County Public Schools’ Board of Trustees. The election will be held on Tuesday, May 5. Petitions can be obtained from Pat McHugh, director of business services, at the District’s Business Building, 915 South [...]
by Pete Talbot Over at Missoula Red Tape, Keila Szpaller hints that Missoula Councilman John Hendickson might make a run for mayor. Please, please let it be true. We’ve posted on Ward Two’s Councilor a few times here, here and here, for starters. I can’t think of a more divisive, thoughtless, regressive and downright mean-spirited [...]
by jhwygirl Articles – news, blog, and even radio reports and emails – that don’t mention the bill numbers on legislation that is the topic of discussion. I’m betting there are probably 40+ bills regarding renewable energy in some capacity or another. I see this all the time.
by jhwygirl The Editor at the Button Valley Bugle has two bills that have both had their hearings and are awaiting committee action. Both bills deal with carbon sequestration – which sounds nice and green, but as The Very Worthy Editor puts forth, really isn’t. Quite an informative post over there on HB338 and SB498. [...]
by jhwygirl Sen. David Wanzenried’s bill – SB236, which would abolish the death penalty in Montana, has its second round of hearings today (Wednesday) at 8 a.m. in House Judiciary. This one has passed the Senate floor on a 27-23 bipartisan vote. One person that has spoken in support of this bill is Marietta Jaeger [...]
by jhwygirl This post covers the scheduled committee hearings (my picks) for just Thursday and Friday. Click this to see them all. On Thursday we have one that sounds like a good idea, but in reality, it’s pretty crappy. HB675, proposed by Rep. Brady Wiseman, would eliminate the statewide school mill tax and utilize an [...]
by jhwygirl SB337 has already had its hearing in the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee last week, on the 19th. What it has not had is an executive action. This bill has also already passed the Senate on a 31-19 vote. This is an absolutely horribly unreasonable piece of legislation that would prevent the [...]
by jhwygirl Sen. Greg Barkus, of Kalispell has proposed SB329 which would eliminate virtually all specialty license plates and the money that goes with them to non-profits around the state. That one has its hearing scheduled for tomorrow – tomorrow being Tuesday. Barkus, the man behind SB481, which would exempt all stimulus projects from MEPA [...]
by jhwygirl This is a high-alert action needed now post, people. Now, I got nothing against funding education – K-12, higher education – I’m all for it. But when it comes to limited funds and a shitty economy, I’m going to say that maintaining the services for those that need it the most – those [...]
by jhwygirl AP has the story, 6 minutes ago. CNN is reporting 7 17 14 confirmed dead. (Some more updates on this tragedy here and here. PT)
by jhwygirl 65 committee meetings scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Argh. Looks like something is FUBAR (for a Sunday) – can’t read the bills. The network path was not found. Of note, I guess, based on previous posts, I see SB236, which is from Sen. David Wanzenried has its House committee hearing on Wednesday. [...]
by Pete Talbot From AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe and Pope Benedict XVI: keep cranking out those babies, and spreading AIDS. It started out with this headline: US births break record ” … Behind the number is both good and bad news. While it shows the U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy [...]
by problembear well, that makes a bear feel better. now let’s protect the badger two medicine and many more deserving areas in montana by finally passing a wilderness bill deserving of big sky country. i know there will be appeals by four wheelers clubs and rv’ers and lots of arguing about the motorized ban in [...]
by jhwygirl Is Twitter even narcissistic? I vote Facebook. You?
by jhwygirl Rep. Ed Butcher’s HB418 had its second reading on the Senate floor yesterday, but not without impassioned debate. In the end, the vote was 27-23 with a small handful of legislators crossing the aisle – including Sen. Gary L. Perry (R), who has sponsored a number of good environmental bills this session; and [...]
by jhwygirl While the State of Montana ranks just 41 in political clout, its congressional representation fairs fares much better. On a clout-per-member basis, Montana ranks 6. Capitol Hill publication Roll Call just dished out its biennial rankings, which are based on a number of things including size of delegation, positions on committees and the [...]
by jhwygirl I’m asking. Seriously. It’s been on my mind. Is the environment a ‘platform’ issue for progressives? Or is just one of the 10,000 things that they/we care about? I mean – is not caring about the environment a deal breaker? Does not caring make you not a progressive? Obviously I care about it…but [...]
by jhwygirl Just Thursday and Friday here, folks. For a complete list of committee hearings, check this out. On Thursday, in Senate Fish & Game, is HB190, which is Rep. Kendall Van Dyke’s bridge access bill. The surviving bill which has a pretty large showdown not only in committee, but on the House floor. HB190 [...]
by Pete Talbot Missoula’s Sustainable Business Council, a seven-year-old, non-profit organization with over 150 members from the business community, sponsors a lecture series on sustainability. A fine example will be the Thursday, March 19, Perspectives on Sustainable Community. It starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Missoula Children’s Theatre mezzanine, 200 N. Adams St., and is [...]
by jhwygirl I’ve gone and added 4 new links (including one blog) from three very fine organizations – and I’m sure you all are going to be just as interested in ‘em. The blog is a collaborative effort that includes posters from all of these orgs, plus some others, including former State Senator Jim Elliot. [...]
by jhwygirl Update: I want to update this to say that placement of this bill in a subcommittee is certainly indicative that cooler heads are at work here. Continued opposition to this bill – via calls or emails to the Senate Judiciary – will continue to be helpful. HB228 faced growing opposition, with significant opposition [...]
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