Missoula Independent, Missoula News

The Rockies Today, Feb. 3

Headwaters News — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:05:11 -0700

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Interior Department to release new plan for oilshale work in 3 western states
The Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will release a new, scaled-back plan for commercial oilshale development in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah that cites concerns about water use and effects of the development as a reason for reining in the work.
Denver Post; Feb. 3

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Tester, Baucus urge Komen for the Cure to reverse "troubling" Planned Parenthood decision (UPDATE)

Skylar Browning — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:30:25 -0700

Max Baucus and Jon Tester are among 26 senators to sign a letter urging the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to reverse its "troubling decision" to cut funding from Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings for the poor.

"We earnestly hope that you will put women’s health before partisan politics and reconsider this decision for the sake of the women who depend on both your organizations for access to the health care they need," the letter reads.…

The Rockies Today, Feb. 2

Headwaters News — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:10:22 -0700

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EPA 'stymied' about sandy flow in Montana creek
Montanans who live along Prickly Pear Creek in Montana think the thick layer of sand that now coats the bottom of the creek near East Helena believe that work done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Asarco's smelter, including lowering the water levels in the man-made Upper Lake, is responsible for the sand, but EPA officials said the absence of sand immediately downstream from the dam makes it unlikely that the work is the source of the sand.
Helena Independent Record; Feb. 2

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Solve the stalemate

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Montana’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act again came close to passage last month. The bill aimed at creating jobs and improving forest management enjoys strong support in Montana and has earned crucial support in the U.S. Senate.…

Youth sports

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Bantam Team preps for nationals by Jessica Mayrer As soon as Missoula native Wyatt Mathews hit the ice at 4 years old, hockey had him hooked. "I just like the tempo," says Wyatt, now 14 and the captain of the Missoula Bantam Bruins hockey team.…

Philip J. Burgess

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Badlands Requiem: White Man's Blues by Erika Fredrickson This isn't the latest Pitchfork darling or an episode of "This American Life," but pay attention. Philip J. Burgess's collection of poems and stories brims with keen wordsmithing.…

Bill past due

Matthew Frank — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Baucus, Dems see opportunity to tax the rich by Matthew Frank The average Missoulian makes about $35,000 a year, which means most of us pay less than 15 percent of our income in federal taxes. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent on his $21.6 million in income in 2010, as he disclosed last week.…

Sports

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Don't squat with yer skis on by Alex Sakariassen There haven't been any gnarly accidents this afternoon, Jan. 29. One guy lost a ski after the second jump, a few others lost the rope near the finish line, but that's about it.…

etc.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Mitt Romney had just been declared the winner of the Republican primary in Florida. Runner-up Newt Gingrich, refusing to concede, was on the radio promising he'd approve the Keystone XL pipeline on the first day of his presidency when we made our way to a women's arm wrestling match at Missoula's Zoo City Apparel.…

Mountain High

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Like many of you, I have been jonesing for another epic winter of deep puff-puff gnar-gnar with days spent in the white room, quads afire and calves a-cryin'. Of course we had that mega-dump a while back, but the National Weather Service in Missoula isn't being very optimistic, writing on their Facebook page "Light snow coming late Wednesday, last chance for a while...maybe a long while."…

David Casey

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

The Reckoning Begins by Erika Fredrickson David Casey's new album is an intriguing combination of treacle and well-crafted songwriting. The Helena artist took a different path than his former bandmate, the Decemberists' Colin Meloy.…

Viewfinder

Chad Harder — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

by Chad Harder A gaggle of Canada geese cruise through downtown Missoula before landing on the Clark Fork Tuesday morning, Jan. 31.

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Flash in the Pan

Ari LeVaux — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Feed your head by Ari LeVaux Hunters will go to great lengths to gain an edge on their prey. You never know where the margin between success and failure may lie, so you wake up extra early, say a prayer, spray bottled deer piss on your boots and do whatever else you think might increase your odds.…

Bark buster

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Old dog footage makes for a crazy ride by Erika Fredrickson Before watching Doggie Woggiez! Poochie Woochiez!, you might want to see Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain.…

Supply side blues

George Ochenski — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Obama energy policy emulates Reagan's by George Ochenski Those who lived through the Reign of Error—the presidency of Ronald Reagan—won't have to strain to recall the foundational ideology of the time. It was called "supply-side economics" and, for once, a political label meant exactly what it said.…

Chairlift

Dan Brooks — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Something by Dan Brooks The official line on Chairlift is that they formed in 2006 with the intention of recording background music for haunted houses. I assume that, like all good-hearted people, you hate Chairlift now.…

Marbut’s off target

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

I was not surprised by Gary Marbut’s long discourse regarding predators (wolves) and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (see Letters, Jan. 26). Marbut’s ideology has always been extremely far to the right, and he is vehemently opposed to wolves in the northern Rockies.…

War on drugs

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Task force gets new digs by Jessica Mayrer The Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, composed of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, is asking the Missoula City Council and mayor to sign off on an agreement that will let the task force rent and renovate a new, larger office at an undisclosed location. Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir chairs the task force, which polices a range of drug crimes.…

Silence is golden

Dave Loos — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

The Artist makes a loud splash by Dave Loos I'm wary of gimmicks in movies, whether it's the egregious use of 3D, the overuse of CGI or Adam Sandler in a serious role. Making a black-and-white silent film in 2012 certainly qualifies as a gimmick, but even more than that it's a nostalgic gimmick, and just writing that phrase makes me wince with the imminent dread that I'm about to be told how much better things used to be.…

Shine on, you crazy wolf

Tim Lydon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

OR-7 boldly lopes where others fear to tread by Tim Lydon As 2011 came to a close, a wolf that biologists call "OR-7" made history by loping across the Oregon border into Northern California, becoming the first wild wolf in that state since 1924. But that's only one of OR-7's milestones.…

True lies

Erika Fredrickson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Benjamin Lee Sperry embraces the quirks of photography in I pass by by Erika Fredrickson When artist Benjamin Lee Sperry quotes William Faulkner to me with "The best fiction is far more true than any journalism," I cringe a little—you know, as a journalist. I've always wanted to brawl with Faulkner for that, but I also get the point.…

Ingomar's fortune

Jamie Rogers — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Ingomar, an aging Montana cattle-ranching community that sits on a bench between the Yellowstone and Musselshell rivers, has no gas station, no doctor’s office and no mechanic. by Jamie Rogers Ingomar, an aging Montana cattle-ranching community that sits on a bench between the Yellowstone and Musselshell rivers, has no gas station, no doctor's office and no mechanic. The closest grocery store is 45 miles down U.S. 12, though most of Ingomar's 27 residents opt to shop at the second-closest grocery store, which has better deals and is 86 miles away.…

Happiest Hour

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

The Bierstube by Alex Sakariassen Why you're here: Whitefish got dumped on last weekend. Again.…

Last Watch

Jason McMackin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

by Jason McMackin Musical time machine Last Watch travels from the 1930s and '40s, headed toward the garage-rock future and a 4 a.m. set by a coked-up ZZ Top playing a post-show set at a hotel room in the Nevada desert circa 1973. The reason I say they are headed toward a future that occurred 39 years ago is that the fellas who make up The Last Watch have been performing in a pre-electrical world for nigh on a coon's age.…

People change

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0700

Helena attorney talks transformation in new memoir by Jessica Mayrer In September 2005, Madison County attorney Robert Zenker was unraveling. He drank himself to sleep most nights, couldn't bring himself to eat and was contemplating suicide.…