http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C8/L8/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2009 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:39:53 MST Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:39:53 MST This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/thd2INJA4HY/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:45:09 MST Two men sit with their legs stretched across the sidewalk, backs against the green doorway near the Oxford Bar and Grill. A younger woman with a dog stands beside them. "So this is where they are sticking us," says a man who identifies himself only as Joe, as chalk lines closed around him. Joe watches with a look of disgust on his face as a curious visitor uses a tape measure and chalk to identify the spaces that will remain available for sidewalk sprawlers once Missoula's pedestrian interference ordinance takes effect on Thursday.  http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoula_pedestrian_ordinance_may_increase_density_of_sidewalk_sprawlers/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/8gEK2B1B6bA/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:21:35 MST A request by the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors calling for a special session of the state Legislature to address "current inadequacies" in the property tax reappraisal carried out in the 2009 regular session was immediately swatted down by Gov. Brian Schweitzer last week. The letter, written by NMAR President Barb Funk, states that 11 counties, including Flathead and Lake, will be "disproportionally affected by higher than expected residential property values," and asks Schweitzer to convene a special session to immediately adopt a "stop gap" measure to solve current reappraisal problems, and establish an interim committee to deal with long-term property tax issues and draw up a bill for the 2011 session. In an interview with the Beacon, Schweitzer criticized NMAR's letter for using inaccurate figures and questioned why the reappraisal legislation, HB 658, received the broad support of Realtors during the session and afterward, citing a story that appeared Sept. 29 in NewWest.Net where a lobbyist for the Montana Association of Realtors called it, "a pretty darn good bill." The governor also took aim squarely at Republicans, who led the Senate Taxation Committee in crafting the final iteration of the reappraisal bill, saying he would not spend taxpayer dollars at a rate of $80,000 per day, the rough cost of a special session, to bring lawmakers back to Helena when there wasn't a plan in place beforehand to fix any shortcomings in the current bill. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/property_tax_go_round_schweitzer_nixes_request_for_special_session/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/KCH6W8HDCxw/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:06:50 MST Finally, some good news about drinking and driving. Car and Driver magazine reported that texting while driving is more dangerous than drunken driving, thanks mostly to self-absorbed teenagers and undisciplined technodorks behind the wheel. Texting and talking on cell phones while driving resulted in almost 6,000 deaths on U.S. roads last year, according to DOT officials gathered for a "distracted driving summit" last month. Although that's only about half the number of people killed by drunk drivers, it's an alarming--and fast-growing--statistic. And that doesn't even include the hundreds killed while trying to dig out a warm hunk of Dunkin Donuts sausage biscuit from deep in their crotch. (As far as the five-second rule goes, that remains a grey area. So to speak.) http://www.newwest.net/city/article/if_u_txt_drv_u_suk/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/CLa0TAPmRF4/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:56:07 MST Open Fields was a "major victory" for hunters and wildlife conservation, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and many other green groups that lobbied for it. It passed back in December 2008, but almost a year later, this innovative hunter access program is still mired in the administrative rule making process. Now, predictably, conservationists who struggled mightily for the program are asking Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for a little more priority. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/open_fields_still_closed/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/4a9luV88g8M/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:44:04 MST The elections that attracted national attention Tuesday were all on the East Coast, with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (suddenly burdened by his previous job as head of Goldman Sachs) going down to defeat and conservative Republican activists like Sarah Palin failing in their effort to override the local party and elect a fellow-traveler to an open Congressional seat in upstate New York. Unsurprisingly, voters across the country were worried about the economy, not too keen on incumbent office-holders, and wary about measures that might cost them money. In Colorado, open space and marijuana were the issues of the night, in Boise, the streetcar desire played a role in the elections and in Montana, the liberal bastion that is Missoula finally has a liberal city council. Here's a quick and dirty roundup of highlights from election night:  http://www.newwest.net/city/article/election_roundup/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/uDuKVJZbF1o/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:05 MST As I've mentioned on a couple of occasions over the years I've written the Roundup, when I'm not reading other people's books, I'm trying to write my own, and after many, many years of effort, I have some good news: my first novel, The Ringer, will be published by The Permanent Press in 2011.  I am delighted about it.  Now I just need to edit the book and figure out how to convince people to read it.  (Beg?  Bribe?  Cajole?) Check out my new website for more information. • The winners of the Utah and Oregon Book Awards were announced recently.  In Utah, the winners included David McGlynn in fiction for The End of the Straight and Narrow, Stephen Trimble in nonfiction for Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America, and in the poetry category, Craig Arnold won the award posthumously for his collection Made Flesh.  Ben Fulton of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote in greater detail about all the winners. Also in the Roundup: Oregon Book Award winners, events at the Center of the American West, and Annie Proulx donates her papers to the New York Public Library. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/utah_and_oregon_book_awards_announced_and_hooray_i_sold_my_novel/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/7CjvGUWzVqs/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:54:05 MST Out state owners of our airwaves shut down progressive talk once again..... http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoulas_progressive_talk_radio_hijacked_again/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/M6I3bFnPUqw/ Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:14:25 MST As the sun began to set, there were as many photographers as ghosts ready to march. Slowly skeletons, ghouls, drummers, dancers, and dressed up dogs emerged on Missoula's Higgins Ave. to celebrate Missoula's Festival of the Dead. As the sunset turned to twilight and twilight turned to dusk, the revelers paraded down Higgins Avenue in a sea of light, color, motion and sound. Every year a pack of photojournalists from the university marches in and out of the parade in search of photographs that capture the spirit of the festival. They seek moments of celebration and remembrance. They put to work what they have learned about lighting and journalism in the real world classroom.  We graciously thank the participants who accepted our camera lens and our bright flashes as our students learned how to capture the spirit, light and emotion of the rich parade celebrating the spirits of the dead. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/gallery_missoula_parades_ghoulishness_at_festival_of_the_dead/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/LU0KMKhObEA/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:33:00 MST I am thoroughly digging this World Series, mostly as an educational event. That's because I don't have much of a stake in either team, beyond a mild dislike for the Yankees, and having a gonzo cartoonist/tattoo artist friend from Philadelphia. So I'm pulling for the Phillies, but when they lose a game I'm able to let it go by the time I climb out of the recliner to fetch a post-game barley pop. As a casual baseball fan, I don't even start to pay attention until the playoffs. Even then, I embarrass myself in conversations, with pronouncements like, "It would be kinda cool to see the Twins get back in the Series. Maybe Prince would sing the national anthem," only to be told, "Yeaaaaaah. Um, they were swept in the divisionals two weeks ago, Mr. Baseball." I'm the first to admit that I don't know a lot about our national pastime, or the crazy-ass lingo that goes with it. But I still like watching it. Up until last week, for example, I thought the "Mendoza line" was where you stood while waiting to purchase a "backdoor slider," which I assumed was a greasy burrito. A "Baltimore chop" is not a slice of pork, I learned, and a "Texas Leaguer" is not a baseball team owner from the Bush family. I'm still being taken by surprise by these arcane, colorful terms. When I heard some announcer refer to a home run as a "dong," I nearly spit out a mouthful of tater. So much to learn. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/enjoying_the_world_series_in_semi_ignorance/C8/L8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newwest/city/missoula/~3/DwUrPd51UTQ/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:03:57 MST The prosecution of Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus for an alleged drunken-boating accident on Flathead Lake that left five people seriously injured is not exactly off to a smooth start. First, it took an inordinately long time for police to release key evidence - namely Barkus's blood alcohol level - and bring charges in the case, which involved a high-speed crash into the shoreline and counted U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg among the injured. Then all three District Judges in Flathead County recused themselves from the case on the grounds that they had worked with Barkus on legislation. A Judge from Livingston was moved aside at the request of prosecutors, and a Judge from Lake County is now being replaced at the request of the defense. Barkus has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney says he'll challenge the blood-alcohol test, which prosectors say showed Barkus to be at twice the legal limit. It's easy to see why judges would view the case as the worst kind of lose-lose proposition. Come down hard on Barkus, and his influential friends (who might be your friends too) will hate you for it. Go easy, and your neighbors (and the voters) will hate you for it.  http://www.newwest.net/city/article/barkus_case_a_test_for_montana_legal_establishment/C8/L8/