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City Voters Allowed to Vote Country

Montana's Attorney General issued an opinion this week that gives voters living in incorporated communities a vote on any countywide referendum, initiative or ordinance – specifically zoning ordinances.

Mike McGrath made the call in a case over who should have been able to vote in 2006 on two controversial Ravalli County zoning ordinances.

According to some, this decision could have far-reaching implications for county residents across the state, because it gives voters living in cities a voice in county land-use regulations. Other say county land-use regulations affect city residents too, so every voter in the county should be able to have a say. [more]

where should growth occur?

Countywide zoning is going to impact the communities of Ravalli County, but just what those impacts are and how the county and towns will limit or mitigate them are, as yet, unanswered questions.

But one message from county and community officials is clear: everyone will need to continue to work together.

“It’s generally the right thing to do because clearly any zoning we do around the existing incorporated communities can affect how they end up growing,” said Karen Hughes, director of the Ravalli County planning department. [more]

Health Care

Complexities in Medicare and lack of federal funding put pressure on rural health providers, said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, at a lunch forum in Hamilton Thursday.

Montana's concerns about rural health care are shared by other states, and with Baucus's position as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, those concerns will certainly be addressed, he said. [more]

Take It To The People

Last year, with Ravalli County facing the enormous task of countywide zoning, a group of citizens decided to look around for grant money to help the county with the task.

They found a willing donor in the Brainerd Foundation, based in Seattle, said David Schultz, a member of the Ravalli County planning board's land use subcommittee. Schultz was one of the people who solicited the Brainerd Foundation for money.

"We saw that (countywide zoning) was going to be a big job and it was going to take a lot of resources," Schultz said at a press conference yesterday in Hamilton.

Now the group is looking to the community to contribute money to match part of the Brainerd Foundation's grant. [more]

NewWest.Net Politics

Super Tuesday is only days away and the candidates seem to sense that this time around the Rocky Mountain West is going to play big in how each primary race shakes out.

Both Republicans and Democrats have primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5 in Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Throw into the mix the Montana's Republican winner-take-all caucus, New Mexico's Democratic primary and Idaho's Democratic caucus. All told, these states have 228 Democratic delegates and 160 Republican delegates up for grabs. This, coupled with the closeness of both races, means the region could actually have a big influence in who gets the nomination in both parties.

And the candidates, at least the Democrats, seem to be paying attention. [more]

Analyzing The Results

In the Iowa caucus Mike Huckabee was able to garner the most rural support among Republicans. In New Hampshire primary, it was John McCain who found success outside the city for the Republicans. On the Democratic side, Obama received the most rural support in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

The key question for these campaigns is can they continue to attract rural voters Feb. 5 or Super Tuesday, when primaries and caucuses are held in 22 states for Democrats and 21 for Republicans. Several of the states have significant numbers of rural voters.

Daily Yonder, a “daily multi-media buffet” of everything rural, analyzed the rural vote in both Iowa and New Hampshire in two articles published over the past week. [more]

Hand-Picked Headlines

Montana GOP has invited Lieutenant Gov. John Bohlinger to their winter kick-off event. They want Bohlinger to answer questions about state spending, the lack of permanent property tax relief, and the openness of the Schweitzer administration.

In June, the state GOP told Bohlinger he wasn't welcome at their annual convention. Now they want him to appear to answer questions. Bohlinger was thankful for the invitation, but won't be able to make the January meeting because he'll be on his honeymoon.

In West Virginia, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal was joined by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and nine other governors from energy producing states at a meeting to discuss energy and push Congress to establish a national energy policy.

The day-long meeting was titled "Advancing Domestic Resources in an Era of Carbon Challenges," and was held with energy industry executives and lobbyists. The focus was on new coal technologies, alternative energy and moving away from America's dependence on foreign oil.
[more]

Presidential Elections 2008

Bob Brown was a long-time Republican legislator in Montana and most recently served as the Montana Secretary of State. Brown lost a bid for Governor to Democrat Brian Schweitzer in 2004. Brown is now a senior fellow in public policy at the University of Montana O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Missoula.

A native Montanan, Brown is known as somewhat of a guru about Montana and American political history. He took the time recently to answer a few questions from NewWest.net/Politics about the 2008 presidential race. [more]

Ron Paul Gets Some Surprise Support

Presidential candidate Ron Paul has been gaining support from a variety of people across the country. He now has an unlikely supporter in Nevada is brothel owner Dennis Hof.

The Reno Gazette Journal reports that Hof showed at a Paul news conference Tuesday to show his support and stated that he planned to place collection boxes outside the door of his brothel, the Moonlight Bunny Ranch.

Paul's libertarian platform and philosophy of limited government resonates with Hof.

[more]

Montana Energy

Montana's Gov. Brian Schweitzer has spent the early part of this week focused on energy. On Monday he unvieled recommendations for Montana to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On Tuesday, he unveiled a plan and partnership focused on producing 100 million barrels of biodiesel from camelina.

"We've watched them in Washington, D.C., talk about (global warming) for a number of years," Schweitzer said at a Capitol news conference, according to the Billings Gazette. "It's time to take action." [more]