R.I.P Ronnie James Dio

May 16, 2010 in Tribute

by jhwygirl

Indulge me.

My musical awakening (I won’t fully admit the years here) was filled with an varied spectrum of music, including Neil Young, The Byrds, The Who, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. I think that it was superb guitar that drove my fandom – and living in a big city, I saw literally hundreds of concerts….and that doesn’t even begin to count my later years of 60+ Grateful Dead shows.

LOVE old Black Sabbath. Boy, did this stuff piss off my mom. Hearing it takes me back XX years.

One of the world’s original premier heavy metal vocalists passed away today, at 67, from stomach cancer. Rest in Peace, Ronnie James Dio. You left an impression that will not be forgotten.

State Looking to Buy Plum Creek Land with PPL Settlement Millions

May 16, 2010 in Environment, Montana

by jhwygirl

The Missoulian article got nary a comment, but the lively Billings Gazette (this is a shorter article) garnered a few.

The Great Falls Tribune still has the meatiest piece up, and since it will be lost to its archives, has been pasted up here, in the interest of public information.

Virtually all of that Nature Conservancy Legacy Project land is located here in Missoula – funny that Gouras would go to a Cascade County Commissioner to get comments on the tax implications.

“We haven’t made any inquiries about it, but we were not expecting a portion of that money,” Briggs said. “I am surprised about the proposal, however. I assumed the money would go to the state general fund to keep the balance up going into the next Legislature.

I still find it offensive (and ignorant) that politicals in this state don’t understand that these trust land monies are supposed to go to schools. Is there no one that will speak up for this affront? Because of all the extra influx this year – the Otter Creek money, and now the PPL money – the schools in this state should be expecting some shored up budgets with this extra cash…but instead it’s being redirected into the general fund (and apparently to buy Plum Creek land).

Funny math, I guess.

Demanding hydro-power oaths, I guess, isn’t as sexy.

Gouras had a good eye, though – it’s not exactly clear from the Land Board’s agenda what it is they’re planning to do. This link will take you to the current agenda.

MT FWP is also planning on purchasing – if it hasn’t already – 34,000 acres of Nature Conservancy/Plum Creek land in Fish Creek, located in Mineral County.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m seeing plenty of irony here.

Discuss.