Bozeman News | New West Network

guest opinion

Everywhere I’ve been over the last few weeks, hundreds of folks have gone out of their way on Main Streets in Montana to talk with me about the economy.

I believe it is a problem that needs a fundamental fix from the ground up instead of the top down.

That’s why I believe we need a new agenda that focuses on rebuilding our infrastructure, improving education and health care, and making our country energy secure.  [more]

Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies

When we launched Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies two years ago, markets around the region were booming and the big questions on many peoples' minds were about how to control runaway growth. Today the environment is very different – but we think the insights you'll gain into the economy, the real estate market, and land use issues at this year's Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, taking place Oct. 23-24 in Missoula, will be more valuable than ever.

With an historic election just weeks away and financial markets continuing to gyrate in unpredictable ways, the timing of this event is in some ways fortuitous. On Thursday, Oct 23, we'll have four of the top journalists in the region assessing the political climate, the election, and how that might impact growth and change in the Northern Rockies. We're also inviting elected officials to be our special guests at the Thursday reception, and they'll undoubtedly have a lot of insight into the political dynamics as well.  [more]

watching the polls

John McCain's lead over Barack Obama in Montana is shrinking, according to a poll released Thursday by American Research Group.

McCain is now up by five points -- 50 percent to 45 percent -- compared to last week's eight point advantage (in a Rasmussen Reports poll) and double-digit advantages two weeks ago (in polls conducted by Research 2000 and CNN/Time Opinion Research).  [more]

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula came down hard on the Montana Republican Party for its blanket challenge of more than 6,000 registered voters in Democratic-leaning areas.

The challenge had already been abandoned two days ago by the Montana GOP. A spokesman said its effort was to avoid voter fraud, not strip the right to vote from citizens. And Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson had already asked counties to ignore the challenges. So there was no reason for Molloy to grant a request from the Montana Democratic Party and two voters for a temporary restraining order.

And while Molloy didn't hold back in his order (PDF). He called GOP concerns about voter fraud "meritless if not frivolous" because those concerns were limited to "select counties that likely contain concentrations of Democratic voter."  [more]

Real Estate

A mass layoff at Moonlight Basin near Big Sky, Montana, has sent a chill through Gallatin Canyon's resort community.

Sources said about 90 employees lost jobs. CEO Lee Poole declined in a written statement to address specifics of the layoffs or how many workers remain.

"Moonlight Basin Ranch and a number of its subsidiary companies have decided to immediately implement temporary layoffs of a portion of its workforce," Poole said in a press release issued late Wednesday afternoon. "We are deeply saddened by this painful but necessary action."  [more]

MICROBREW MONTANA

If you've been reading the Microbrew Montana series, you may have noticed a lot of similarities among breweries. That's true, sort of, with Red Lodge Ales, but owner Sam Hoffmann also likes to blaze his own trail. That's why he has a Hop Diver, Forklift Cowboy, Office Slug, and Director of Good Times on staff, why he has a refrigerator door on his cooler that opens right behind his taproom bar, and why he drives around with recycled restaurant grease in his gas tank.

"We have the passion," Hoffmann explains, "but other brewers do, too, but we're also pioneering some great things." [more]

Western Book Roundup

It's literary award and festival season across the region. Colorado Humanities and Colorado Center for the Book will announce the winners of the 17th annual Colorado Book Awards tonight at the Tivoli Turnhalle on the Auraria Campus in Denver (6-10 p.m.), and tickets are available for $75. As I mentioned before, several of the books we've reviewed over the past year are finalists for awards.

Meanwhile in Utah, Confluence: A Celebration of Reading and Writing in Moab will be held from October 14 through 19.

Further north, the Helena Festival of the Book kicks off today. Authors scheduled to participate include Hipólito Rafael Chacón, whose book Brian D'Ambrosio recently reviewed for New West, Russell Rowland, a writing teacher at MSU-Billings and the editor of The Smoking Poet and Stone's Throw magazine (which is accepting submissions now), and Missoula essayist Susanna Sonnenberg.

Also in the Roundup: Boulder Book Store celebrates its 35th Anniversary, and even more festivals are to come in Missoula and Denver this month. [more]

From The New West Blog

The Montana Republican Party on Tuesday night announced it was abandoning its challenge of the legitimacy of thousands of Montana voter registrations, reports Jennifer McKee of Lee Newspapers.

In a letter to Vicki Zeier of the Missoula County elections office, Jacob Eaton, executive director of the Montana Republican Party, wrote that the group no longer wished to challenge thousands of Missoula county voters or any other voters statewide. [more]

Multimedia

In 1989 Christopher Borton and Linda Welsh moved to Montana with the dream of establishing an educational retreat center. Today, they own and operate the Sage Mountain Center, located about 30 minutes east of Butte, Mont. Their love of the natural world drives them to share the knowledge and experience gained through twenty years of sustainable living with all who pass through.

Recently, NewWest.net photographer Graham Coppes spent the day with Chris and Linda gaining insight into their unique lifestyle. [more]