News, Missoula News

Skating by

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The man behind Maverick Mountain's survival by Alex Sakariassen The slopes of Maverick Mountain northwest of Dillon are bare. The parking lot is a rutted mess, a season of snow having left its mark in the form of deep trenches.…

Flathead

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Subdivision makes waves by Alex Sakariassen The Flathead Valley has long been billed as a destination for water-based recreation. Anglers and whitewater enthusiasts flock to local rivers in the summer, and Flathead Lake itself is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.…

Growth industry

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

City's poplar grove could be a model for managing waste by Jessica Mayrer On a recent sunny afternoon, Missoula Wastewater Treatment Facility Superintendent Starr Sullivan walks through a poplar grove that's dotted with deer scat, mossy patches and the shadows of birds flitting above. "This is a wildlife refuge," Sullivan quips from inside the 1.6-acre grove, located just behind the treatment facility's pungent clarifiers and bubbling bioreactors.…

Cruel and unusual

Dan Brooks — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

How the justice system failed Barry Beach by Dan Brooks Let us say, for the sake of argument, that Barry Beach murdered Kim Nees in Poplar in 1979. We did say as much in 1984, when a Roosevelt County court found Beach guilty and sentenced him to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole.…

Forests

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Mapping public comment by Alex Sakariassen Recreationists long at odds over motorized use in and around the Great Burn Wilderness Study Area have found a new digital forum in recent months. And while the debate over motorized use has fallen far short of civility in the past, level heads are so far prevailing as the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest gathers public comment on revisions to its forest plan.…

Old Montana

Brian Kahn — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

A search for one key supporter ends at Rep. Ankney by Brian Kahn Once in a while, a principled person can make all the difference. This is how it began for me: I host "Home Ground," a weekly public radio program, and a year ago, Montana's U.S. attorney invited me to attend a law enforcement conference of about 130 officials, ranging from city and county police to state attorneys general and Canadian Mounties.…

Sexual assault

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Van Valkenburg stands his ground by Jessica Mayrer Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg came out swinging last week in response to the U.S. Department of Justice's criticisms of how his office has prosecuted sexual assaults. "They're a bunch of bullies is what they are," Van Valkenburg said of the DOJ.…

There and back again

Kate Whittle — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

A nerd comes to grips with her awkward past at the Shire of Montana by Kate Whittle The relics of a tragic adolescence are littered throughout my old bedroom in my parents' house. A life-size cardboard Legolas peeks out from behind old clothes in the closet.…

etc.

Independent Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

by Independent Staff When you were in third grade, whom you sat next to in school mattered. You wanted to gossip, to flirt or to tempt your classmate into disruptive mid-class snickering.…

Business

Jamie Rogers — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Run off the road by Jamie Rogers On May 20, Steve Zetterberg leaned back in a chair and propped his boots on what used to be the receptionist's desk at Highway Technologies' Missoula branch office. Nearby, the office manager paced as he talked on a cellphone, while another group of employees stood idly together, speaking quietly.…

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.…

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.…

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.…

Viewfinder

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

by Cathrine L. Walters

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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.…

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.…

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.…

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."…

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.…

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.…

Crime

Jessica Mayrer — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

"Ghoulish fiend" sentenced by Jessica Mayrer On May 6, a California judge marked the end to a series of gruesome crimes when he sentenced former mortician and Frenchtown resident David Wayne Sconce to 25 years in prison. Sconce's legal troubles began in the mid-1980s in Pasadena, Calif., where law enforcement began investigating him and his parents, all owners of the Lamb Funeral Home.…

Black mark

Dan Brooks — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Looking back at the lowlight of the 2013 legislature by Dan Brooks Let's say I hate my neighbor. This premise is not true.…

Zip lining

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Boosting the bottom line by Alex Sakariassen Montana Snowbowl's summer operation has always been low-key. The mountain's single tracks are popular in the local mountain biking scene, and a disc golf course at the top of the Grizzly chairlift draws a decent crowd.…

Old v. New West

Michael Dax — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Confronting frontier anxiety for the 21st century by Michael Dax Frederick Jackson Turner's classic 1893 essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," argued that the frontier experience—the opportunity for unlimited expansion into "uninhabited" lands—shaped the country's entrepreneurial spirit. Turner's essay took on added significance because three years earlier, the Census Bureau had declared the frontier closed.…

Open water

Alex Sakariassen — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Floating a new Clark Fork for the first time by Alex Sakariassen For more than a century, the Clark Fork has been a waterway divided. Anglers fished its upper reaches from the Deer Lodge Valley to Turah.…