My Page: Greg Lemon

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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]

real estate & development in the northern rockies

Community development must respond to the environmental pressures and dangers existent in the world today.

It’s a broad statement and encompasses so many aspects of life: food, transportation, and housing. But this is also a statement that is crucial for communities in the West to understand as they continue to grow, said Don MacArther, founding partner in MacArthur, Means and Wells Architects in Missoula.

MacArthur spoke on innovative designs in community development at the NewWest.Net conference, but he started his discussion with an overview of the reasons community development must change. [more]

2nd Presidential Hopeful in Montana

John Edwards came to Missoula with a message:

“I think the system in Washington is rigged,” he told a packed, cheering room of supporters in the University Ballroom at the University of Montana Tuesday evening.

The University Ballroom was hot and it was close quarters. If you moved two feet in any direction, someone filled in behind you, particularly if you were close to the side door. Many people were holding their phone cameras up over the heads of the crowd ready for him to emerge. A concession table near the entrance sold beer and wine, and, in typical Missoula fashion, several people were passing time drinking Moose Drool out of bottles and red wine out of cheap plastic cups. [more]

DNRC Running out of Money

Montana will owe more than $39 million after fall rains and snow have cooled this fire season. And already, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is out of money.

Earlier this week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer called state legislators back for the second special session of the year, this time to put money toward fighting fire and beef up the governor's emergency relief fund.

Some have questioned the timing of the special session, since fires are still burning around the state, but Bob Harrington, DNRC State Forester, says it's past time.

"We're out of money and we're going to have to shut down the DNRC to keep going," Harrington said. "We're out of money to pay the bills." [more]

Presidential Politics

John Edwards is coming to Missoula Tuesday, Sept. 4, as part of his "Small Change for Big Change" tour.

The event will be held at the Univerisity Ballroom at the University of Montana at 4:45, Tuesday afternoon. You can RSVP for the event by clicking here. Tickets are $15 a piece and can be purchased online or at the door.

Edwards is the second Presidential candidate to visit Montana this summer. Mitt Romney was in Helena for the Montana Republican convention back in June. [more]

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