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Let the Games Begin

Montana U.S. Senate candidates Jon Tester, Democrat, and Republican incumbent Conrad Burns will square off in their first debate Sunday morning at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish. The debate begins and 9:00 A.M. and will last an hour. It's the first of two possible debates in the senate race that has captured national attention both because of Burns's ties to scandal-ridden lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Tester's honest (organic) farmer appeal.

The Whitefish Pilot reports that C-Span and Time magazine will both be there to cover the action. At the end of the debate, the floor will open to questions from the audience. The debate is not open to the public but will be shown on television across the state.

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NPR Reports

Tonight on NPR's Montana Evening Edition, Whitefish, Montana's painfully high (or beautifully high, if you're selling) real estate market will be featured. MTPR's website gives a pre-cap of tonight's report:

"What was once an ordinary working class town now offers some of the most expensive real estate in Montana. In our continuing series on poverty in the state, reporter Kevin Maki visits Whitefish, a community where affordable housing is frequently out of reach - even for many of her long time residents."

The real eastate market has been on fire here for a number of years. A February Daily Inter Lake article reported that more than a billion dollars in commercial and residential property changed hands here last year, fueled by factors like population growth, investment buying and limited land supply. That was a 25% increase from just 2004.

I also read the other day that Northwest Montana houses 25% of the state's realtors. My hairspray, power-skirt-suit and Bluetooth earpiece phobias aside, that's an overwhelming statistic. [more]

Let the Debate Begin

All together now: "I hate deregulation."

Both candidates in Montana's Public Service Commission race are claiming credentials as the anti-electric deregulation candidate. "We [legislators] were steamrollered," says Mike Taylor. [more]

Not Quite the Silver Bullet

The Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office has been working on a new Flathead County Growth Policy since late last year, holding public meetings, accumulating public input and mashing it all together into something that hopes to guide growth in the Flathead. State law requires that counties have growth policies, although the text within does not mandate or make policy. The new document will replace a 20 year-old growth policy, undoubtedly obsolete in the face of Valley population explosion in the past 20 years.

As long as we're talking population, in Flathead County it grew 26% between 1990 and 2000, led by an influx of new residents. Between 2000 and 2005, it is estimated that Flathead County’s population increased by 11.7%, for an estimated count of 83,172 residents in 2005. It's not expected to stop. In fact, it's expected to increase by at least 2% each year.
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Alternatives to Dying Out

There's about to be a new magazine in town-- or should I say, in 'the country.' Alternatives, an online publication based out of Plentywood, Montana, will explore topics like alternative energy development, eco-tourism, health and fitness, obesity and other issues facing communities in the vast, open spaces on the east side of the Great Divide.

Montana is a big state. 56 counties make up 147,046 square miles. An estimated 935,670 people live here. Montana is to the road tripper of the West what Ohio is to the road-tripper of the East, which is to say, if you’re just driving through, it will dominate your day, your life and your entire conscience until you cross out of its borders.
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Overheard

At the courthouse, waiting for election results:

High School Teacher: My goal at the end of the school year is to have those kids walk out the door, not knowing I'm a Republican.
My Friend: Wow! Isn't that amazing? And that many years of teaching high school?
Me (interjecting): So the goal is for them not to know you're a Republican, but to get them to walk out the door and vote Republican. Right?
High School Teacher: ....well, yes. Yes, that's it! [more]

Unofficial Flathead Results

Unofficial results show Jon Tester as the winner in Flathead County for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate with 2,204 votes. Tuesday night, 93 precincts were in and Tester had 51 percent of the vote. John Morrison was close, perhaps closer than he was in any other major metro county, with 2,007 votes or 46.5 percent. On the state level, Tester won with 53,562 votes compared to Morrison's 32,238.
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New Sounds in Town

There's a new production company in town, and they hope to change music as we know it in Whitefish. SnowGhost Productions, the brainchild of Whitefish music enthusiasts Dave Gawe and Brett Allen, is geared toward producing and promoting new music and fresh sounds. SnowGhost is working on a ten concert series that'll unroll this summer. Its first band, Matador-signed Brightblack Morning Light, will play tonight at Grouse Mountain Lodge. [more]

Big, Vague Questions

At the request of Flathead County Commissioners Bob Watne and Gary Hall, Flathead County's Tuesday ballots will feature the following non-binding language and 'poll' questions related to the hotbed issues revolving around roadless areas:

"At the present time there are 64 million acres of national forest lands managed as roadless areas in Montana. Should that forest land:

A) Be managed by the Forest Service for multiple purposes including motorized recreation and roaded timber production;
OR
B) Be managed by the Forest Service for multiple purposes including non-motorized recreation and roadless timber production"

The questions, reports the Daily Inter Lake, are result of a task force appointed to develop a Flathead County position on roadless areas. They will be used to gauge public opinion on the roadless issue.

The language has faced debate and County Commissioner Joe Brenneman, Democrat, disagrees with the poll's inclusion on the ballot.
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We Are Culture

You're sitting in traffic, staring at neon, remembering when your city used to be so much quainter and quieter. Or maybe your town is dying. Your aging population is shrinking by the second and you're losing your young and educated to more exciting places. Friedman's Flat World? Florida's Creative Class? Karlgaard's "Where of Happiness?" All of the buzzed-up pop culture references apply, no matter your growth-related dilemma.

In the Flathead Valley, we're hoping this new, Flat World will enable us to be the Where of Happiness for the much-coveted Creative Class. We're one of those aging populations. We're one of those changing economies, trying to find its niche. My friends in cities take this kind of stuff for granted. They live among the Creative Class; they are the Creative Class. And so are we. [more]

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