New West Network

My Page: Kate Downen

Fiery Festival

Babb, Montana is about nine miles from St. Mary, Montana, on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park.

Every year the tiny town holds its 'Babbfest,' an outdoor music shindig boasting as much PBR, hemp t-shirts, Indian tacos and gourmet tequila shooters as any 20- or 30-something could possibly desire. Bands play all day long, local wares are sold in booths, and everyone generally has a jolly old time. Babbfesters camp at the festival, which makes sense: this year tickets were $40, and admission meant an all-you-can-drink party that reached its pinnacle of fun around 1 A.M. when the headlining band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band out of New Orleans, began playing.

My parents love Babbfest. I've never been, so I tune in with a keen ear to their stories. They're fond of saying things like 'We were looking to win the award for the oldest people there' when they talk about it. I don't know why; they're fun. Not, you know, mosh pit fun, but they're fun.
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Bye Bye, Big Sky

Airline rumors floating around the Flathead the last couple of days have proven to be true: as of August 5 Big Sky Airlines will discontinue its service to Kalispell, Great Falls and Spokane.

Currently Big Sky's route through Montana is as follows: Billings to Helena, Helena to Great Falls, Great Falls to Kalispell, Kalispell to Spokane. I spoke with Big Sky President Fred Deleeuw this morning, who confirmed that August 4 will be the last service day for that route.

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Rumors

The Daily Inter Lake reported today that Vice President Dick Cheney will likely be visiting the Flathead Valley for a Conrad Burns fundraiser, although Cheney Spokeswoman Jenny Mayfield neither confirmed nor denied the VP's visit.

The Inter Lake reports that the fundraiser would take place August 16, although place and time were not given. There is no mention of a Flathead Burns fundraiser on Burns' website.

Possible locations of a Burns fundraiser? With Cheney in the mix, it may be possible that Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar, a part-time Whitefish resident, is involved in the event. Lesar and his wife, Sherry, donated $500,000 toward the construction of Whitefish's new North Valley Hospital. [more]

Putting a Dollar Amount on an Ecosystem

The war between development and environment tends be too simplistic and trite in the Flathead these days. That's why, just maybe, a report by a UM economist may add a more interesting facet to the debate.

On July 5 the Bigfork Eagle published a story highlighting the work of Jack Stanford, director of the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS). Stanford, who has done extensive work on the biology and ecosystem of the Crown of the Continent and its "Crown Jewel," Flathead Lake, said that a UM economist estimates Flathead Lake's economic worth between $6 and $10 million dollars.

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Weekend Fun and Beyond

Put on your SPF 5 million this weekend and take part in the Flathead fun. Here's a list of things you should be doing, if you're not doing them already:

1. Go to Kalispell's annual Arts in the Park. Presented by the Hockaday Museum, this festival is outdoor at Depot Park Square. It features the works of local, regional and national artists, dance performances, musicians, and tasty bites to eat. This is a family affair, so bring the kids for face painting and hands-on art activities. Admission is $3 a day and that includes admission to the nearby Hockaday Museum. Kids under 12 are admitted free. For information on participating artists, musicians and everything else, click here.

2. Do the Bull Thing at the Tobacco Valley Rodeo in Eureka. Rodeo dates are July 21 and 22, so suck in, paste on your Wranglers and get out there. For more info. on tickets and rodeo events, click here.

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a new study, eh?

The Calgary Herald reports that a University of Calgary biology professor and his associate will soon publish a study explaining the link between climate and fire for the continent's boreal forest.

As fires blaze across the western United States and politicians point fingers at the Interior Department and the Forest Service for lack of wildfirefire prevention work, perhaps this study will add a new variable to the equation. [more]

The Bacon Campaign

Montana Senator Conrad Burns announced yesterday that an appropriation of another $4 million would be added to Kalispell's US 93 bypass project, making the total appropriation $8.2 million. The bypass has been at the center of mega public debate in recent years as growth on 93's west side--along with drastic population increase in the Flathead Valley--has contributed to traffic and safety issues in and around Kalispell. The addition of new Kalispell high school Glacier High, located north of Kalispell, also became a motivating factor in the appropriations request, which was submitted by County Commissioner Gary Hall last fall and again early this year.

We shan't need be reminded that it's an election year in Montana. Burns and farmer Democrat Jon Tester are in the midst of one of the hottest US senate races around. Burns-- as we've been told again and again throughout the campaign-- is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and has quite a history as a bacon-bringer for Montana.

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Plane Talk

It was way too early in the day to be talking, but listening, especially in the close confines of the airport gate and jam-packed airplane, was unavoidable.

My 7:40 flight out of Glacier Park International Airport was sold out. The gate agent began offering the standard $400-flight, usable for up to one year, and by the time we were boarding, she'd upped the ante to "breakfast, lunch, dinner, and $400 flight to anywhere in the U.S....please?"

A woman standing at the gate with her two children announced over her shoulder to her travel friends, "they're paying for hotel too, so we're staying until tomorrow. I'm fine with it-- we get another day in Montana!"

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tiny car, big west

The Smart Car, a tiny little munchkin that's been cruising the streets of Europe since 1998, is coming to America. German-American carmaker DaimlerChrysler will introduce the Smart Car to the American market in 2008 in the hopes that soaring gas prices, waning interest in SUVs and concerns about global warming will jumpstart its popularity here.

The Smart Car is a bug-like two-seater that's only nine feet long from bumper to bumper. It's become trendy in big European cities for its ability to squeeze into parking spaces and navigate the narrow, winding streets. [more]

AP Gives the Numbers

As of midday Sunday, there were 299,061,199 people in the United States of America, according to the Census Bureau's population clock which estimates on annual numbers for births, deaths and immigration. The AP reports that by this fall, the U.S. population will hit 300 million, fueled by immigration. [more]