Missoula Independent, Missoula News

Rockies Today, May 17

Mountain West News — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:01:00 -0600

Top news links, courtesy of Mountain West News.

U.S. Interior Department releases new version of hydraulic-fracturing regs
The new proposed federal regulations for hydraulic fracturing were released by the U.S. Interior Department on Thursday, and public comment will be taken for 30 days, but environmental groups already said the new rules, which allow companies to shield some chemicals used in the process from disclosure, are too lax, and the oil and gas industry are already saying the regulations are too onerous.
New York Times; May 17

Wyoming gets a head's up on federal fracking rules
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead to give him a brief description of federal rules on hydraulic fracturing, rules Mead said are not needed given the state's regulations on the drilling process.
Casper Star-Tribune; May 17

Annual survey in Montana's Bitterroot Valley finds more elk
The annual spring aerial survey of Montana's Bitterroot Valley found 7,373 elk, up from the 6,238 elk counted last year, and the fourth highest number since the survey began 48 years ago.
Ravalli Republic; May 17

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Rockies Today, May 16

Mountain West News — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:53:00 -0600

Top news links, courtesy of Mountain West News.

Montana man arrested, charged with arson in wildfire starts near Helena
Lewis and Clark Sheriff Leo Dutton said a Helena man is in custody and will face multiple counts of arson for a series of wildfire starts near Montana's Capital City, including the 55-acre fire that started Tuesday near the historic McMaster ranch.
Helena Independent Record; May 16

Montana county commission wants to talk water with USFS, DNRC
After learning that Ravalli County's objection to the U.S. Forest Service's attempt to gain in-stream water rights on two streams had been denied by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the county commission has invited Tom Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and the top officials of the DNRC to come and talk with them about the Forest Service's plan to pursue in-stream water rights on 11 streams in the Bitterroot National Forest.
Ravalli Republic; May 16

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Unhiply square

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Huey Lewis, Sports and hitting it big by Dan Brooks Last month, Huey Lewis recreated the iconic scene from American Psycho in which Wall Street sociopath Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, speaks rapturously about the musical genius of Huey Lewis. In a parody video for Funny Or Die, Lewis mimics Bale's original facial expressions with uncanny accuracy, praising the consummate professionalism of Sports before he hits Weird Al Yankovic with an ax.…

Appalling testimony

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

This letter responds to Alex Sakariassen’s article about the physician who admitted during a legislative hearing to assisting three suicides (see “Cowardice to courage,” April 11). I was at that hearing and I was appalled with the doctor’s testimony and his goal to legalize assisted suicide.…

Homestead revival

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Revisiting the Moon-Randolph strategic plan by Alex Sakariassen About six months ago, Matthew LaRubbio and Meredith Turner were driving through a snowstorm in Oregon when they got word that they'd be the next caretakers of the Moon-Randolph Homestead in Missoula's North Hills. The couple had been eyeing the property for seven years, their minds filling with ideas on how to improve one of the area's most overlooked historic landmarks.…

Rough-hewn

Kate Whittle — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The Grizzled Mighty doesn't play nice by Kate Whittle Seattle duo The Grizzled Mighty is sometimes billed as "blues rock," but the description doesn't quite hit the mark. My mother likes blues rock, and my mother would not care for The Grizzled Mighty.…

UM golf course

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Raising more questions by Alex Sakariassen Late last month, three students from the University of Montana spent nine hours surveying bird populations on UM's main campus, UM's golf course and the Mount Jumbo Saddle. They'd recently heard of the university's push to establish a South Campus at the golf course—beginning with a new Missoula College facility—and were curious how such a development might affect the existing ecosystem.…

Mesmerized

Molly Laich — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Going under a sexy spell with Trance by Molly Laich The crooks in director Danny Boyle's latest film, Trance, sure have found a trippy way to make a little money. From the very beginning, Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) gets you in a state of bewildered suspense.…

New questions

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

It is really alarming to me that the focus of the recent mass shootings has been on gun control instead of the broader and more relevant subject of “What the hell is wrong with people?” And I don’t mean the people pulling the triggers. I mean the people arguing about what to do and holding everyone and everything, including inanimate objects, responsible while not removing the beams from their own eyes.…

Counsel cuts

Jamie Rogers — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Federal Defenders of Montana goes on the offensive by Jamie Rogers On Friday, May 10, John Rhodes, a public defender who works in the Federal Defenders of Montana's Missoula office, stood outside the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse holding a sign that read, "What about the Sixth Amendment right to counsel?" Another man, who had joined Rhodes for the lunch-hour protest, held a sign with the message, "You have a right to an attorney.…

Sera Cahoone

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Deer Creek Canyon by Brooks Johnson Sera Cahoone is stationed in Seattle, but her basic Americana sounds more like a drive around the Olympic Peninsula in autumn. The extended guitar picking, the ease with which she turns from poetry to guitar slide to near-bluegrass—it all sounds familiar but sprawling.…

Responsible meat

Lori Bell — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

A lesson from a pig called Eddie by Lori Bell I love animals and always have, but I am also a meat eater. In my early 20s, I tried a short stint as a vegetarian, but jumped off the meat-free wagon after a happy encounter with bacon.…

Cure-all

Skylar Browning — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Hangin' with Helm in Ain't in It for My Health by Skylar Browning By the end of Ain't in It for My Health, director Jacob Hatley's endearing and laidback look at music legend Levon Helm, I found myself making a list of reminders. The film's casual structure and pace—not to mention the rich material throughout—allow for such mental wanderings.…

Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Harvesting horses by Ari LeVaux Barring an act of Congress, Valley Meat Company in Roswell, N.M., will soon become the first horse slaughterhouse in the U.S. since 2007, when the nation's last equine abattoir closed its doors. For the time being, the resulting meat will be exported.…

Labor

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Clinic hit with lawsuits by Jessica Mayrer Since February, six Partnership Health Center staffers have filed lawsuits alleging a range of grievances against the Missoula clinic including harassment, wrongful discharge and that management required employees to perform tasks without pay. "We consider this to be a serious and pervasive problem in this workplace and felt that we had a responsibility to file these lawsuits," says Great Falls attorney Elizabeth Best, who represents the plaintiffs in six separate cases.…

Uncluded

Dan Brooks — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Hokey Fright by Dan Brooks Aesop Rock's opening verse on "Delicate Cycle," the third single from Uncluded's Hokey Fright, is a thicket of rhymed spondees that is maybe about having parts of your body amputated. Then Kimya Dawson, the former member of The Moldy Peaches who is the other half of Uncluded, chimes in with a verse about working in her parents' laundromat, and the whole thing snaps into focus.…

Viewfinder

Cathrine L. Walters — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Cathrine L. Walters

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No redemption

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Montana Supreme Court denies Barry Beach's latest chance to prove his innocence by Jessica Mayrer On a recent evening in Billings, Barry Beach sifted through stacks of handwritten notes in his garage. They were bundled and meticulously sorted by era and by which prison he was housed in during his 29 years behind bars.…

Hangriest Hour

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Bayern's Bavarian brats by Alex Sakariassen What you're eating: Bayern has long billed itself as the "only German microbrewery in the Rockies"a bragging right that goes well beyond the brewery's strict adherence to the German purity law. Bayern also imports traditional Bavarian brats all the way from owner Jürgen Knö¨ller's homeland, in three flavors: smoked, jalapeno cheese or chicken andouille.…

Equality

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

ACLU targets first responders by Jessica Mayrer The Montana ACLU has argued for years that the state discriminates against gays. But even the nonprofit's legal director, Jon Ellingson, did a double take when he discovered to what extent same-sex partners of deceased police and fire department officers are treated differently.…

Fall Out Boy

Brooks Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Save Rock and Roll by Brooks Johnson Considering the context of this album—the resurrection of a pop-punk-turned-pop-star band three years into a hiatus—it's not half bad. Fall Out Boy has always done well to capitalize on the sounds of the time.…

Hardly legendary

Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

I must take exception to Gabriel Furshong’s stunt to paint Montana Sen. Max Baucus as an unrelenting conservationist (see “Lasting impression,” May 2). It might be true that Baucus used some back door sway to protect Montana’s wild areas, such as his creation of the Montana Legacy Project.…

etc.

Indy Staff — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Indy Staff Few details could be gleaned from the May 9 press conference announcing the conclusion of the Department of Justice's yearlong investigation into the University of Montana's handling of sexual assaults. The prepared statements made by U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter, UM President Royce Engstrom and DOJ Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin all seemed to reiterate the same point: What the investigation discovered is less important than the fact that the university can now move forward.…

Remnants and residents

Kate Whittle — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Photographer Richard S. Buswell captures unusual beauty by Kate Whittle Not every kid would be enthralled if his family took him walking around deserted historic areas. But for Richard S. Buswell, who grew up on a cattle ranch outside Helena, it was a defining part of his childhood, one that he came back to after moving around the country for medical school.…

Schweitzer

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Drafting a "game changer" by Alex Sakariassen Adam Green has been following Brian Schweitzer from afar for years. Even before he co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Change Campaign Committee with former union organizer Stephanie Taylor in 2009, he saw Schweitzer as "an authentic guy who says what's on his mind and generally stands up for the little guy."…