New West Network

My Page: Greg Lemon

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>

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]

Rocky Mountain Political Grok

Representative Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, has officially jumped into the race for the Senate seat of retiring Pete Domenici. Udall is giving up running for re-election to his House seat and his influential spot on the House Appropriations Committee to pursue the Senate spot.

This move is leading to a mad rush for his vacated Congressional seat, with several Democrats planning to run. Joining Udall for Domenici's seat are New Mexico's two other House representatives, Republicans Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

In Wyoming, Barbara Cubin has announced that she won't seek an eighth term in the House.

Wyoming GOP will be penalized half their delegates to the national convention by the Republican National Committee for scheduling an early primary. However, state officials say the penalty is worth the attention from Republican presidential candidates, who are scheduling trips to the Cowboy State.
[more]

Legislating Better Families

The Idaho House of Representatives Family Task Force has issued a series of recommendation's for making Idaho families stronger, according to an article in the Idaho Statesman today. The task force was convened by House Speaker Lawerence Denney and is using the typical 1950s family, where mothers frequently stayed home, as a benchmark.

The chairman of the task force is Rep. Steven Thayn. He sees divorce, single parent households and cohabitation as contributing to increase in drug use and crime. [more]

YELLOWSTONE BISON

The Montana Department of Livestock voted Tuesday to not separate Montana into two zones to manage brucellosis, the disease carried by bison and elk in Yellowstone National Park.

In the Billings Gazette yesterday, reporter Jennifer McKee called the DOL meeting "rancorous" and pointed out that many in attendance and who testified were against the plan.

The crux of the idea, which is supported by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, is that Montana would be split into two zones, one surrounding Yellowstone National Park and another for the rest of the state. [more]

To the U.S. Supreme Court?

Aaron Flint, former president of the Associated Students of the University of Montana, is in a legal battle with the University over his First Amendment rights, and the case may come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Flint is suing the University over their $100 cap on campaign spending for ASUM offices. In 2004, while Flint was running for ASUM senate, he spent $214.69 on his campaign. The money spent above his limit was for campaign posters and pizza. After Flint won a senate seat, his votes were thrown out by the ASUM senate because he violated the University rule. [more]

Rocky Mountain Political Grok

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter made headlines last week with his executive order establishing a bargaining partnership with state employees. The move drew sharp criticism from the Colorado GOP, who vow to introduce a bill to repeal the order, and the Denver Post, which said in an editorial that this may be the “beginning of the end” for the Democrat.

On Monday, Ritter also announced an aggressive plan to fight global warming that included clean car standards, updated farming techniques and encouraging citizens to reduce their carbon footprint.

In other news, presidential candidate, Ron Paul, set a Republican single-day fundraising record on Nov. 5. He raised $4.2 million from 37,000 online donors.

Also, Mitt Romney wins Teton County, Wyo. Republican straw poll, gaining 61 percent of the vote, well ahead of second place Rudy Giuliani’s 12 percent, and Mike Huckabee’s 10 percent.

In Utah, former President Bill Clinton stumps for his wife’s campaign.
[more]

bad math?

State Sen. John Cobb, R-Augusta, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday with the District Court in Helena claiming Governor Schweitzer and his office have their accounting principles wrong in authorizing a tax rebate for homeowners.

The center of the complaint is House Bill 9, the bill passed during the May special legislative session that gave homeowners the $400 refund. Attached to the bill was language stipulating that should the state's general fund exceed $1.802 billion, another rebate would be triggered. The rebate would be for 2007 state income taxes and amount to about $140 per home.

Cobb's complaint states that Schweitzer's staff didn't use "generally accepted accounting principles" in determining the final amount for the state's general fund for the fiscal year 2007, and if they had, they would have determined the state general fund revenue for 2007 to be $1.769 billion -- not enough to trigger the tax rebate. [more]

Rocky Mountain Political Grok

Presidential campaigns are beginning to ramp up in the West. Last week, Hillary Clinton made her first appearance in Colorado and with Nevada’s early caucuses – Jan. 19 – political coverage is intensifying there as well.

Only one Republican candidate has officially opened up an office in the state – Ron Paul. The long-shot candidate raised an impressive $5 million in the last quarter and is now devoting staff and campaign infrastructure to Nevada, reports the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Also, in the political grok: the leading Democratic candidates answer some region specific questions about Nevada and the Rocky Mountain West. And Wyoming's Sen. John Barrasso introduces a bill to save the Wyoming Range from future oil and gas development. [more]

real estate & development in the northern rockies

Imagine asking local businesses to give one percent of their profits to help their community.

Imagine working for nearly 90 years to help reconnect urban youth with the natural world by convincing cities to set aside urban nature preserves.

Imagine turning to the overcrowded forest behind your home for the wood to make the flooring in your wife’s dance studio and discovering a niche market for a once-worthless timber product.

Imagine using local taxes to put local youths to work on community restoration projects.

These ideas and more -- some already happening, some still faint -- were all laid out in the final panel discussion at NewWest.Net’s second annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference Friday evening. [more]

<< Newer articles <<    Author Home     >> Older articles >>