New West Network

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There was a modest turn out and little fanfare Wednesday evening for the unveiling of the University of Montana’s South Campus Master Plan. About 30 people attended the PowerPoint presentation in the University Center Theater to hear about the UM’s plan to develop a satellite campus in a space currently occupied by the university golf course.

This was one of the last opportunities for public comment on the plan, which is expected to be finalized and sent to the UM president, George Dennison, and Board of Regents by September.

The resulting plan leaves much of the area, from the base of Mt. Sentinel to S. Higgings Avenue, and from South Avenue to Pattee Canyon Drive, in tact and in the service of its current uses. That is, except for the golf course. Wednesday night attendees voiced their constructive criticisms. [more]

the price of paradise

Montana faces many challenges in providing enough affordable housing for its residents and key to solving them is collaboration among public and private entities. That was one of the prevailing messages of Friday morning’s sessions of the affordable housing conference at the Holiday Inn Parkside in Missoula. "The Price of Paradise," was a two-day conference hosted by the Burton K. Wheeler Center.

“If you take away nothing else away from this, recognize the need to form partnerships,” said Geoff Badenoch, project manager for the Missoula Housing Authority’s Market Square on Russell project in Missoula. “Everyone has to put a shoulder to this wheel.” [more]

A new home

Friday marked a momentous transition for the School of Journalism at the University of Montana as the doors opened on the new $14 million, 57,000-square-foot Don Anderson Hall with a dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony.

The list of attending dignitaries was long. And though many of them, including Mayor John Engen, were trained as journalists, brevity was in short supply. Governor Brian Schweitzer was one of the first to speak and most succinct. He commented on the importance of the media’s role as watchdog.

“When I make mistakes they call me on it, when other people make mistakes they call them on it. That’s what keeps democracy pure.” [more]

community conservation

The Blackfoot river watershed is a piece of rugged and pristine country in which many parties have a vested interest. That was the message Jack Rich wanted to convey as he narrated an aerial tour Wednesday morning for members of the press and a member of Max Baucus’ staff.

Rich is a member of the work group for the Blackfoot Cooperative Landscape Stewardship Pilot Project, which unveiled a proposal in January of this year to gather many seemingly disparate land management goals under one comprehensive plan.

“One word: stewardship,” says Rich of the group’s motivation to tackle such an ambitious project. “We wanted to be good stewards. There’s still a lot of opportunity to keep intact ecosystems.” [more]

Brew News

The Northside neighborhood of Missoula is abuzz with rumors of a second coming.

The Kettlehouse Brewery just keeps growing and has its sights set on opening a new brewing and tasting facility on the north side of Missoula.

“We need more production space. We’re hemmed in on both sides. We’re at this transition,” says Kettlehouse founder and owner Tim O’Leary. “We’ve got to make a big jump.”

O’Leary is planning to make that jump into an old 10,000-square-foot railroad building on the north side of the tracks. The Pacific West building is a single-story brick structure on 1st Street straddling the Orange street underpass.

If you’ve ever tried to buy a pint at the Myrtle Street taproom at 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon you know what a popular Missoula hangout it has become. O’Leary doesn’t plan to change that.

“We don’t want to rob from what Myrtle Street does. We always want to have that,” he says. “We just can’t fit any more tanks in there.” [more]

New Westerners

It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon and Sam Hall is in his shop working on a bike. He wears wrap-around eye protection and a cycling cap with the bill flipped up. To call his workspace a shop is somewhat misleading. If you took out the workbench, welding equipment and drill press, the tiny garage would barely accommodate Hall’s silver Honda hatchback. For Hall working on bikes doesn’t mean fixing flats or oiling chains. He builds them from scratch. Welcome to the factory floor of Ramblumtick Bikes.

“How’s it?� says Hall. His standard greeting hints at his Hawaiian roots and his layed-back manner oozes island cool. “I think people are looking for an alternative to the big manufacturers,� he says punctuating each sentence with his distinctive laugh and leaving no doubt that he is indeed an alternative manufacturer. [more]

Downtown's New Sound

Missoula author Dick Manning has worn many hats over the years, and this past Friday he officially added another to the rack. He is now the proprietor of downtown Missoula’s only high-end audio and home theater shop, dB Sound. Manning is the author of seven books and is one of Montana’s more successful literary figures. He is a hunter, woodworker, advocate for wild places and proponent of simple living. So what is he doing opening a shop full of shiny, expensive gadgets? This Saturday I took a copy of the Rolling Stones’ “Let it Bleed� down to dB Sound to hear for myself. [more]

New Westerners

When I walked into the Bike Dr. on North Higgins this morning I wasn’t looking for a check up, I was there to talk skiing. Don’s eyes sparkled behind his wire rim glasses as he looked up from a disassembled bike. “Skied Gash Point Saturday,� he said. “Six, 700 feet of sweet spring skiing.�

With the end of June just around the corner skiing is the last thing on most Missoulians’ minds, but for some of us a skiing addiction is not something that fades with the passing of winter. The mercury is rising to uncomfortable temperatures in the lowlands and the allure of a few hard-earned turns is stronger than ever. At this time of year skiers can expect long approaches to short, stalwart snowfields and shaded chutes. When it comes to these bastions of winter’s bounty there is no one more knowledgeable than Don Gisselbeck. He is a spring skiing guru of western Montana. [more]

Film Review

Ducking out of the Teton Theatre and onto the rainy streets of Jackson, Wyoming this past Sunday I did feel fortunate to have stumbled upon the film “Earthling.� A friend and I had spent a wet night on Mt. Moran and made it back to town in time to see a long line in front of the Teton. We knew the Jackson Hole Film Festival was going on and figured the line must mean the movie was good. We got the last two tickets sold and many people were turned away. The film had just won both the audience choice award and best cinematography at the awards banquet the night before. Like the first screening, the Sunday show sold out and provoked a standing ovation from the crowd. I stood for the ovation too, but mostly because it was the polite thing to do.

The film’s website refers to it as a “feature length docu-movie.� As a journalist the word documentary holds a somewhat sacred status to me, implying, in the simplest terms: unvarnished truth. I think it was the overpowering scent of varnish that made it hard for me to stand for the ovation. [more]