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GOP Convention Notes

Sen. John McCain just gave his acceptance speech in St. Paul, focusing his address on change -- taking back Washington and telling his fellow Republicans that the party had "lost the trust of the American people."

One of his more powerful quotes:
“Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming.”

The theme of McCain's speech, as was the theme of the entire convention, was that of dedication and selfless work for the country and he punctuated that sentiment by telling the story of his capture and time spent imprisoned in Vietnam.

As to Western issues, the Arizona Senator touched on energy, calling for immediate off-shore drilling, but also saying, "... we'll build more nuclear power plants. We'll develop clean-coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet."
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Rugged Stuff

Country music-maker Jerry Reed passed away recently. Rugged Stuff remembers the late Guitar Man, from his roles as an entertainer to his interesting, if convoluted, connections to the Rocky Mountain region. [more]

Stumbling the Walk

There isn’t anything particularly glamorous about a van-based rock tour. Maybe the bigshots who have money behind them for a fancy bus have it pretty good, but for those of us in the trenches it is a gritty – and smelly – endeavor. Three words sum up the experience in order of time spent: driving, waiting, and rocking. Everything else, like eating and sleeping, you squeeze in as best you can. [more]

Missoula City News

With a Web site, posters, radio spots and billboards the Missoula Police Department and community partners are campaigning to stop bias, and report it when it occurs.

The effort has its roots in the work of a Missoula Police officer who reached out to the lesbian, gay and bisexual community in Missoula after some gays -- and young men and women perceived to be gay -- were savagely beaten in unprovoked attacks. The officer drew up a form for reporting hate crimes and bias, said Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir. [more]

Guest Column

U.S. agriculture provides the safest and most abundant food supplies at the lowest prices in the world. As consumers, we are all affected by the farm bills passed by the U.S. Congress every three to five years and signed by the president. They set the policies for production, health, safety, and distribution -- including exports -- of the nation's food supplies.

Farm bills do not just happen. Each takes months of study, discussion, debate and compromise. For the complicated, tiring passage of a farm bill, there are grandstanders like Sen. John McCain and farm policy advocates like Sen. Barack Obama. [more]

Aircraft was just inspected

Investigators have not found the cause of a Missoula-based firefighting plane crashing Monday near Reno, Nevada, killing all three crew members, two of them from Montana.

The Associated Press' Scott Sonner reports that investigators say the plane -- owned by Neptune Aviation in Missoula -- was just inspected and wasn't even close to its next 100-hour required inspection. The investigators also said there has never been a similar incident with the Lockheed P2V aircraft.

Authorities identified the victims of the crash as 41-year-old Gregory Gonsioroski from Baker Montana, 25-year-old Missoulian Zach VanderGriend and 61-year-old Calvin Gene Wahlstrom from Huntsville, Utah.

Click here for the full AP story.

letter from the Editor

We've been thick in the discussion of how to offer readers and commenters a better experience when interacting on our site and have batted about the idea of requiring users to register to comment.

It's not a move we take lightly, and it's one we've actually tried to avoid for a long time. But because we continue to have issues with keeping a handle on the trolls, on spam, sock puppets and the other unsavory things that comment sections can attract, we'd like to give required registration a shot -- but only if it won't deter the meaningful comment threads we've been able to foster here.

So, tell us dear readers and commenters, how would you feel about having to register, or log in, to comment? (Keep in mind that once logged in, you won't have to log back in unless you've logged out or are on another computer.)

Thoughts? Questions? Fire away. [more]

Cutbacks at Lee Enterprises newspapers in Montana continue today with six newsroom layoffs at the Ravalli Republic in Hamilton.

The layoffs amounted to three full-time and three part-time positions, although the paper also added a position, hiring John Cramer, a seasoned reporter laid off by the Missoulian last week. In a story on the newspaper's Web site, publisher Kristen Bounds said she intends to make another hire for the newsroom in the coming weeks. [more]

From KUNC

If the Democratic and Republican National conventions are any indication, Colorado has cemented its status as a swing state in the November election. Last week Democrats said the road to the White House runs through the West - and Colorado delegates in St. Paul this week are hearing more of the same. In this radio piece, KUNC's state capital reporter Bente Birkeland talks to delegates who say energy, water and national security are the issues on Westerners minds in Minnesota.

The delegates also heard this week from First Lady Laura Bush, who says Colorado is going to be a battleground.

"I do think we're going to work really hard. We can't take Colorado for granted," she said.

Click here for the radio story from Colorado's KUNC. [more]

Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies

Our third annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference, Oct. 23-24 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Missoula, is shaping up to be our biggest and best yet. Economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics will again be giving his highly entertaining (and exceptionally accurate) take on trends in the regional real estate market, and this year for the first time he'll be joined by three other eminent economists: Tony Madden of the Federal Reserve Bank, Larry Swanson of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, and David Eacret, the North Idaho Real Estate economist. Rick Holley, CEO of Plum Creek Timber, will also be joining us for a keynote talk. And that's just for starters: you can see the full lineup at www.newwest.net/realestate08.

We also have a much-expanded pre-conference seminar program this year, with continuing education credit for real estate agents, planners, attorneys, and architects.

You can save more than 20% off the regular ticket price if you register by Friday, Sept. 5. Click here for all the details on the event, and as always give us a call at 406-829-1725 if you have any questions.

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