http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C501/L8/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2009 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:06:22 MST Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:06:22 MST http://www.newwest.net/city/article/missoula_middle_school_gets_a_scare/C501/L8/ Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:56:03 MST A Meadow Hill Middle School student has been suspended after voicing threats to classmates, and school officials have mailed an explanatory letter to parents. The student did not bring a weapon to school, and nothing was written to identify targets. The incident is under investigation, says a press release from Missoula County Public Schools. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/regular_voter_registration_ends_oct_6/C501/L8/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:52:16 MST If you haven't registered to vote -- and you want to avoid lines on election day -- you have until October 6. That's the day -- 30 days before the general election -- that marks the end of the regular voter registration period. Afterwards, eligible voters will need to use the late registration process, which involves a trip to the county election office, says an announcement from Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson. Late registration is different from regular registration. To begin with, eligible Montanans can't simply fill out and mail a voter registration card but instead must go to the county election office. It won't work for late registration applicants to go to a polling place,. Montanans who wait for late registration will likely also face longer lines. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/obama_in_butte_for_the_4th_of_july/C501/L8/ Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:03:52 MST Sen. Barack Obama chose to celebrate the Fourth of July in Butte with his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia and Sasha. The Obama family attended the Independence Day Parade and hosted a "family picnic" at Montana Tech where Obama gave a brief speech, cooked hamburgers and chatted casually to fans. Photos by Alexia Beckerling http://www.newwest.net/city/article/politics_spring_butte_montana_democrats_prom/C501/L8/ Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:07:00 MST On Saturday I attended that time-honored American spring ritual: the prom. Granted, I'm ten years too old for the real thing. But the beauty of this particular prom is that the older you are, the cooler you are--because this was the Montana Democrats' version of prom, the annual Mansfield-Metcalf dinner in Butte. This prom featured coiffed mullets, shiny curls, and stiff Stetsons. Diamonds set off battered-looking bolo ties. Ballgowns swished next to Wranglers, and minks sat next to Carhartt coats--usually on different people, too. My take on the night's theme: "sequins and denim." As Hillary Clinton said in her speech at the dinner on Saturday night, the only party to rival Butte's infamous Saint Paddy's Day is the Democratic Party. And, boy, was she ever right. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/what_the_h_is_a_missoula_tarian/C501/L8/ Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:59:00 MST When I first came to Missoula, I heard the phrase "Missoula-tarian" often, generally used in serious tones of voice without giggling. Apparently Missoula-tarianism was an institution recognized far and wide (from Bonner to Frenchtown). Missoula-tarians are people (they live in Missoula, obviously; this phenomenon probably wouldn't happen anywhere else in the West, except maybe Durango) who refuse to eat any meat unless it's local, they know where it came from, or it's wild game--shot by anyone, no acquaintance necessary. This is definitely a good way of trying to eat within your foodshed, but probably difficult to stick to if you've eaten meat all your life. I'm sure that sometimes you just crave that Old Post burger that came from a cow in an undisclosed location that most likely decimated the entire Brazilian rainforest through its very existence. No wonder you're a Missoula-tarian. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/perils_of_dog_sitting_in_missoula/C501/L8/ Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:57:00 MST As mentioned before, my sweetie is the proud owner of a yellow lab retriever. Let's call her Spot. And after more than a year, I'm finally allowed to dog-sit Spot while he's off milling wood in the middle of nowhere and doing other things not conducive to doggy presence. We had a dog the whole time I was growing up, but there are a few reasons why dog care was a little different in my California neighborhood. You can leave your dog outside for hours on end because the temperature never drops below a tropical 60 degrees. Everyone around us had huge yards, so walking the dog is not nearly as common. I have to admit, I thought the concept of picking up your dog's poop in a plastic bag was a little ridiculous when I moved here, until the thaw hit and running through Pineview Park was an activity reserved to brave athletes with fancy footwork. Plus, my dad taught our dog not to lick, jump, bark, hang around the kitchen, or poop on the lawn. She was pretty low-maintenance. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/comedy_of_backcountry_skiing_errors/C501/L8/ Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:39:00 MST Because I only have a student weekday pass at the 'Bowl, and I'm a little poor right now, the mountain is off-limits to me on weekends. Not that this is a bad thing--a weekday pass is a screamin' deal: getting first chair is a possibility, the bartender acknowledges you in under 15 minutes, and the Meadows rarely get tracked out on a Tuesday. However, when the "epic" powder days hit on a Saturday, yours truly is left pining away for the slopes. But not last Saturday! I underwent my first backcountry ski experience. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/makin_it_with_a_mountain_man/C501/L8/ Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:43:00 MST I'm sure New West readers have forgotten about me by now--although I'd be flattered to think that some of you were wondering, "Gosh, where is Little Sis? I miss her witty, devastatingly funny columns." The truth is that a.) I left the country for several months to work with young women in a developing country, which doesn't necessarily induce devastatingly funny witticisms, and b.) I got myself a sweetie. (GASP!!) Yes, the perpetually single and liberally-loving Little Sis has fallen head-over-heels in love. I Made It (your non-dirty interpretation goes here). http://www.newwest.net/city/article/hooks_in_the_water_of_missoulas_murky_dating_pool/C501/L8/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:20:00 MST It's been a while, Missoula. I haven't been writing columns because...well, because all the best topics are off-limits unless I want to alienate my friends, lose my job, and move far outside the city limits. The thing about Missoula is that even with a pseudonym as clever as mine, I'm about as anonymous as a pink elephant sitting at the Old Post bar. So I have to be careful, thoughtful, strategic about the column's content. Also, I've just been lazy with my daily 12 minutes of free time. But here's the short update: dating is just as exhausting and entertaining as ever. They don't tell you in all those romance novels and Hollywood flicks that integrating new, unknown single males into your life takes a helluva lot of time and energy. Luckily, I've started taking Vitamin B to up my energy supply during these dark, dark days before winter solstice. (I'm considering switching to high-grade cocaine to power through the holiday party season, though.) The longer dating update involves a recent discovery that most of us single Missoulians seem to have several "hooks in the water." Monogamy is apparently out of fashion this season. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/thoughts_on_thirty/C501/L8/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:42:00 MST Over the years I have come to appreciate and revel in the morbid irony that on a day when millions throughout the world celebrate death, I celebrate birth. Today, November 2, is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Yes, here we are 30. It sure isn't what it used to be. They've even got a new trendy name for it. As New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote last month, the four traditional phases of life -- childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age -- have been replaced by at least six: childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement and old age. "Of the new ones, the least understood is odyssey, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood," Brooks wrote, most likely to placate his fellow baby-boomer parents who eye their offspring with nervous optimism.