My Page: Greg Lemon

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

[more]

Political Grok

In the Northern Rockies, wildfires are dominating the news -- even political news. In Idaho, Gov. Butch Otter, as issued evacuation notices to two areas. In Montana, Gov. Brian Schweitzer is continuing to tour wildfire areas and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester talk about the link between global warming and the Western wildfire season. Meanwhile, despite a cool change in the weather, the fires are still rolling.

The small Idaho mountain community of Yellow Pine is without power, but charged with stubborness as many residents resist Otter's evacuation order. The governor apparently doesn't commonly issue evacuation orders, which unlike county orders, must be adhered to. Yellow Pine residents don't appear to be ready to entrust their homes and businesses to firefighters.

Also, presidential candidates are showing up in Rocky Mountain communities. John McCain was in Aspen over the weekend talking about his position on key campaign issues like global warming and immigration. Mitt Romney and Bill Richardson are set to attend fundraisers in Jackson Hole this week. [more]

Public Power and Coal-Fired Energy

Missoula mayor John Engen has signed a letter of intent to purchase the city’s power from Electric City Power, Inc., which is the City of Great Falls’ non-profit energy corporation.

Contracting power from ECP could save Missoula about $70,000 a year, Engen said.

However, a key component for ECP’s future energy portfolio is the Highwood Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant set to come on line in central Montana in 2011. The coal aspect of ECP’s portfolio has created controversy over the decision to sign the letter of intent.

“We’re one of the cities that has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Bruce Farling, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited.

It is inconsistent for the city to agree to that kind of pledge and then support a new coal plant, Farling said.
[more]

red flag warning saturday

Crews on the Jocko Lakes Fire made good headway on strengthening the southeast corner of the fire Friday, said fire information office, Peter Buist.

Crews had dug indirect line on that portion of the line because of the thick fuels and steep terrain. On Friday, crews burned out the fuel between the fire line and the actual fire, eliminating fuel that could burn uncontrolled and spot over the line, Buist said.

The burning conditions remain the same, but without the winds and the added benefits of a dense smoky inversion, operations went well Friday.

"It’s always hot, dry and extreme. Unfortunately we’re getting used to that,” Buist said.

The fire is 20 percent contained and estimated at just more than 27,000 acres. More than 1,000 personnel were assigned to the fire Friday. A red flag warning will be in effect for Saturday afternoon and evening, with wind gusts up to 25 mph hour expected. [more]

Fire Northwest of Missoula 280 acres

Updated 10:00 p.m.The Black Cat fire near Evaro, north of Missoula and west of Highway 93, has calmed down some tonight, but is still actively burning on the ground, said Paula Rosenthal, Montana Department of Natural Resources fire information officer.

The fire, which has been sized at 280 acres, led to evacuations of more than 20 residences west of Highway 93 from mile marker 3 to about half way between mile markers 6 and 7. The fire is still more than a mile from the nearest homes, but with the dry conditions and stubborn nature of the blaze, safety of the residents is a priority, said Paula Rosenthal, the DNRC fire information officer on the scene Tuesday evening.

The fire is 0 percent contained. However, residents on Bear Grass Road were allowed to return to their home Tuesday evening, Rosenthal said. Highway 93 is open to north and south traffic. [more]

Political Grok

Whites are no longer the majority in Denver, due to a recent demographic shift that has seen a high influx of Latinos.

The shift is seen in classrooms across the Denver area as administrators try to find ways to handle the increase in students and bilingual education. About 10 years ago, Latinos represented a third of the student population in some schools. Now they make up 65 percent of the student population in the Adams' County School District, the Denver Post reports. Meanwhile, at the Colorado state house, Gov. Bill Ritter is catching heat for the lack of enforcement of the administration backed laws to crack down on immigration. Ritter is ordering an administration review of the situation.

In Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano now has to deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a lawsuit over a law she recently signed designed to crack down on businesses hiring illegal immigrants.

More of this news from this week in Western politics after the jump... [more]

Rocky Mountain Political Grok

Wildfires, presidential debates, and bloggers headlined Western political news over the weekend.

The West is slogging through another severe fire season. On Saturday the Jocko Lakes fire near the small town of Seeley Lake in western Montana took off and set its sights on the small communities surrounding the rural town, prompting Gov. Brian Schweitzer to make a plea with residents in the fire's path to get out.

A few days earlier, Montana Senator, Jon Tester, drew attention to the fires in Montana from the Senate floor. Tester said there's a lack of people working the woods. He also pointed to the high cost of fighting fires.

In Chicago, the YearlyKos Convention put the wraps on a weekend filled with spicy Democratic candidate debates, blogging how-to sessions and netrooter parties.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in D.C. passed Bush's wire tapping legislation, which will expand the government's ability to eavesdrop on domestic phone calls with a foreign nexus. Proponents say the expanded privledges are not intended to spy on U.S. citizens. Opponents claim it further weakens Constitutional protection against unlawful government intrusion. [more]

dailykos.com

Political bloggers and web-based journalists are gathering in Chicago this weekend for the second annual YearlyKos Convention. The event has drawn attention from all the leading Presidential candidates, including Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

The convention is wrapping up tonight, but it provided a spirited Democratic candidate forum and a chance for netrooters to gab with Clinton, Obama, and Edwards.

Live feeds are available through the YearlyKos Web site, and bloggers are frantically keeping those not in attendence up to speed on what people are say and what's going down at the event. More blogs and wrap ups are starting to come in. [more]

NewWest.Net/Politics

Rocky Mountain Democrats and political junkies have another Web site on which to feast. Mark Nickolas, the founder of the Kentucky-based Bluegrass Report, has moved to Montana and launched another site, the Rocky Mountain Report.

Nickolas launched the site Monday, with what is called a soft-launch, just to get the kinks out, he states on his site. The official launch is planned for the end of the week or early next week. The Rocky Mountain Report has links to political groups, media outlets, bloggers in all Rocky Mountain West states. They have also recruited prolific Democratic commentator David Sirota to be a regular contributor.

Now with the new site up, the Bluegrass Report will be shut down, Nickolas said. However, the site's archive will still be accessible.

NewWest.Net/Politics

HELENA -- Mitt Romney has a conservative three-point solution to keep America on track.

“Conservatism is a philosophy of strength,” he told Montana Republicans Friday morning in Helena over a breakfast of steak and eggs. “We believe in strong military, strong economy and strong family.”

Romney took time out of a Western-states swing to speak at the kick-off breakfast for the Montana GOP convention at the Red Lion Colonial. The 20-minute speech might be all the direct attention Montana will get from a presidential candidate during this election cycle.

After the breakfast, Romney was head to Portland, and then back to Idaho before spending Saturday in Utah.

Though Romney referenced quotes and sayings from President Ronald Reagan a handful of times, and mentioned President Dwight Eisenhower once, he didn’t mention President Bush at all. [more]

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