Missoula City Government

Council to Discuss Speed Limits

Who sets speed limits?

The Missoula City Council will hold a public hearing on how fast you can drive and other ways the city limits the way Missoulians get around by car this evening at its weekly meeting starting at 7 p.m. at the council chambers, 140 W. Pine St.

Recent changes to the speed limit on Duncan and Greenough drives in the Rattlesnake neighborhood have prompted the scrutiny. One issue is who should be setting limits, and how those should be done. Are signs enough? City engineers say no. Speed limits that contradict the engineering of the street and the needs of drivers will result in constant infractions. On the other hand, what happens when city engineers make a change that's unpopular in the neighborhood?

Missoula City Analysis

What’s the Real Missoula: Generous Hippie or Quiet Conservative?

Missoula is a liberal town ready to shell out bucks to support its progressive ideals, or the Garden City is a dollars-and-cents conservative place, anxious to rein in government and trim taxes.

Whatever the state's perception of Missoula may be (as the state's bleeding heart, usually), the Missoula City Council has been either been split 7-5 or evenly divided -- often along classic liberal-conservative lines -- for years. And as the economic crunch continues, the debate has gotten even louder.

The most recent flare-up arose over $651,000 allotted for new dump trucks and other city vehicles. According to Mayor John Engen's office, the purchase, which the council approved on a 7-5 vote last week, fit the city's basic mission, to take care of necessities such as fixing streets while reducing long-term fuel costs. Over the last decade, while growing in size by about one-third, the city has cut unleaded gas usage by 10 percent and diesel by 8 percent.

But that's not how everyone sees it.

Part 1: Colorado, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico

Best Western Books of 2008

It's time for my second annual Best Western Book list, and as I did last year, I'm going to focus on books set in this region (with a few exceptions for excellent books written by writers from this region but set elsewhere), naming my favorites from each state. I managed to read 53 books this year, and these are the books from our region that most impressed me. Please add your favorites in the comments section. Today I’ll discuss Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, and New Mexico and tomorrow it’s on to Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and other Western states.

Colorado

The biggest book story this year in Colorado, and heck, just about the whole country, is the phenomenal run of David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Ecco, 562 pages, $25.95). Wroblewski, who lives in Westminster, Colo. discussed how he made the transition from software engineer to novelist in my interview with him this summer. Buoyed by extremely positive word of mouth among independent booksellers, book buyers, and other book industry people, as well as glowing blurbs from Richard Russo and Stephen King, Sawtelle hit the New York Times bestseller list on June 29 and has remained there since, getting an additional boost from Oprah, who selected it for her Book Club in September.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

A Walk In the Woods With Coffee

I awoke at 7:00 A.M. — early for a vacation day — and made a full pot of strong coffee for the house. I did some stretching and scratching while Mr. Coffee hissed and gurgled, then I poured a cup and went outside into the crisp, cold air.

Steaming mug of coffee in hand, I trudged through the leaves up the hillside and stopped to rest on a log after a few minutes. There was a small copse of trees and bushes to my right, running along the crest of a ridge. Between sips of joe, I could hear something rustling through the leaves a couple hundred yards downhill, just the other side of the ridge. Then I heard a second animal, uphill a ways from the first. They were moving loudly through the leaves, obviously unconcerned with the racket they were making.

NEW WEST BOOKs

Excerpt: Famous Firearms of the Old West, by Hal Herring

Simply put, Hal Herring's new book, Famous Firearms of the Old West (Hardcover, TwoDot, $24.95) is a collection of stories about 12 guns that shaped the history of a region.

But while the firearms, owned by the likes of Geronimo, Wild Bill Hickock and Western gunman Tom Horn, are the fulcrum of the book, the masterful storytelling -- of the hands that held them, the battles that revolved around them and the historical context in which they fired -- is what makes the book sing.

As Herring, a NewWest.Net contributor, writes himself in the preface, the guns "exist now as windows into the men and women who fought -- righteously or not -- and died, or were willing to die, with them. What they conjure up can be a powerful magic."

That "powerful magic," captured by one of the region's best storytellers, is what sets this book apart.

In the following excerpt, Chapter 9, Herring tells the story of Tom Horn, one of the West's most famous bounty hunters, and his Winchester Model 1894 rifle. -Courtney Lowery

WILL IT END OR EXTEND THE WILDERNESS DROUGHT?

The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership: Right Idea, Wrong Bill

For four years, I've been writing about what I've coined the "Wilderness Drought," 25 years of frustration and infighting since we've seen a single acre of Wilderness designated in Montana. Now, several mainstream groups have joined forces with representative of the wood products industry in a grand attempt to end it.

The political reality of today requires this collaborative, "bottom-up" approach because politicians are so gun-shy about Wilderness legislation. They only want lay-ups with all stakeholders already on board, which is the motivation behind this upcoming legislation. After decades of nothing, Montana wilderness advocates have decided to play the new, quid pro quo game to have some chance of success.

Regrettably, this flawed bill looks more like a half-court shot for our congressional delegation and could extend instead of end the Wilderness Drought.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

My Quest for a Gold Bond Sponsorship, Part Two

I’ve been sharing the virtues of this magic powder with my audience for several years, sometimes even doing a short commercial between songs while the band plays behind me (“It’s like a thousand icy gnome fingers tickling your goodies”). I sometimes list Gold Bond on my posters as a “sponsor,” even though, to the best of my knowledge, they are unaware of my existence.

Two years ago I tried to change that with a letter to their marketing department. I mentioned my admiration and liberal use of their product, and asked if they would be interested in forging some kind of endorsement deal. Hell, a free case of Triple Medicated would have been fine, but I got no response.

So when I found myself in Chattanooga to visit Barb’s parents the week of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d seize the opportunity to get a little face time with the powers that be at Gold Bond Powder.

The Yellowstone Club Debacle

CrossHarbor Wins Inside Track In Yellowstone Club Bankruptcy

A hard-fought struggle for control of the bankrupt Yellowstone Club ended mid-afternoon on Wednesday when a federal bankruptcy judge gave CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a Boston-based hedge fund, the right to loan the club $20 million while it reorganizes its debt - a process that will likely last until the end of April.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ralph B. Kirscher issued his order after weeks of negotiations and three days of court testimony.

The Yellowstone Club filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 10, citing debts of more than $360 million, with about $311 million owed to investors assembled by international bank Credit Suisse.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

Flying Has Become a Drag

Between the overzealous security measures that must be applied to everyone in order to avoid the appearance of profiling, and the money-saving measures undertaken by poorly-run airlines desperate to show a profit, flying has become an ordeal to be endured, not the stimulating adventure it once was.

I’ll fly out of Missoula maybe once a year, and by the time I strap myself into my business class seat (which was designed for an anorexic midget), I’m surly and disgusted. But not to the point where I’d spring $7.00 for a Coors Light.