Havre Daily Corrector!

The Havre Daily “Snooze” Finally “Breaks” the School Story

2012-01-30T22:17:00.002-07:00

In our blog post last Friday I wondered if our local “news” paper was oblivious to the fact that the school district had filed a lawsuit against Anderson Construction and Springer Group Architects. I got my answer to that question tonight. The above the fold (the coveted location for the number one news story of the day) headline in tonight’s Havre Daily “News” read School Files Roof Collapse Complaint. I guess they were indeed snoozing as they reported that the court documents were filed on Dec 29th of last year. If the story was important enough to warrant an above the fold placement in tonight’s paper why wasn’t it important back the end of last year? I guess I don’t understand “professional” journalism.

What I found personally painful was not the fact that they read opinion blogs to find news articles but that they didn’t even give The Havre Daily Corrector a mention as being their source for their latest “breaking story.” I didn’t expect awards like their reporters are always receiving or a trophy nor anything else but a mention of where they first saw the story would only be a professional courtesy wouldn’t you think? I felt so bad about being snubbed it brought a tear to my eyes.

Well enough about my hurt feelings. Take a look at the HDN story at the link above and tell us what you think about this “breaking” information.

Romney or Obama? – Not a Lick of Difference!

2012-01-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would see the day when I actually agreed with liberal Billionaire financier George Soros but his thoughts on the Obama – Romney presidential race is exactly what I have been thinking. Our country is in peril and apparently no one can see it.

Source: NewsMax

Top 10 Reasons George Soros is Dangerous: Human Events

Land Owners Sue FWP to Stop Bison Relocation

2012-01-28T16:48:00.001-07:00

Yellowstone buffalo still seem to be causing anguish to some folks around the state. We wrote a blog post back on Dec 6th about the Governor agreeing to allow the relocation of some of the controversial buffalo to the Fort Belknap Reservation in Blaine County. Aside from the common concern from ranchers about potential brucellosis infections infecting their cattle herds the most common complaint we heard from Blaine County ranchers was that the reservation could not or would not adequately fence their pastures to keep the bison from wandering on neighboring grazing land. Ranchers contended that tribal buffalo ranges were already over-grazed and the addition of more animals was just an invitation for disaster. In the beginning of 2009 15-25 neighboring ranchers testified that reservation bison were continually getting on their land and the problem had gotten so exasperating that one rancher actually shot some of the tribe’s forever wandering bison.

According to a 2009 news report by Elizabeth l. Doney Editor of the Fort Belknap News tribal leaders stressed that they had received money from the Defenders of Wildlife for fencing and Senator Tester was pursuing additional 2010 appropriations for funding adequate fencing. Even though three years have passed since this angry encounter bison are still deemed a problem by adjacent landowners.

A Blaine County News – Journal article on January 18th reported that a lawsuit was filed in the 17th District Court in Blaine County by Cory J. Swanson, a Helena attorney, against the Fish, Wildlife and Parks and their plan to relocate Yellowstone bison. The Blaine County News-Journal doesn’t maintain website links to their stories so we have attached a scan of the original article. Click to enlarge.

As usual the Havre Daily “News” has made no mention of this local community story but further articles can be viewed on these links

Great Falls Tribune
Billings Gazette
KTVU News
Idaho Press - Tribune

Pondering How to Receive a Journalism Award

2012-01-27T21:06:00.002-07:00

Nearly three weeks have gone by since it has come to light that the Havre High School District has filed suit in District court against Dick Anderson Construction and Springer Group Architects yet nary a comment from the Havre Daily “News”. Considering the fact that the bulk of our property tax dollars go to support our local schools wouldn’t you think this information would be something our local “professional award-winning fine investigative” reporters from the Havre Daily “News” would want to jump all over?

Are they having a news blackout or are they still oblivious that this suit was even filed? Maybe they have been busy doing their first of the year polishing and buffing of all those journalism trophies they are always bragging about? I guess I can wait another week or two for them to “break” this story.

Just something to ponder after a long week at work. Any thoughts or "tips" give me a shout at havredailycorrector@gmail.com

PS to investigative reporters - The courthouse where they keep court documents and this sort of information is the big white building on 4th St. You might want to check out Senator Windy Boy's newest tax lien while you are there also since he is a candidate for state office. Just sayin

State Employees May Still Get Raises in Spite of the Legislature

2012-01-26T11:29:00.002-07:00

After we published a post back on January 20th about the Fish, Wildlife and Parks giving rather large pay increases to select FWP employees one of our readers sent us a link to the following news report by Marnee Banks from KXLH News in Helena.

Even though the legislature voted to not increase any State employee wages this last session some agencies are authorizing pay increases using the State’s Broadband pay plan to get around keeping employees at status quo. The Broadband plan allows agencies to make adjustments to be competitive in salary to people in similar jobs with similar responsibilities. This is in fact legal to do under current state law as the broadband plan only requires that each agency stay within their budgets and can “tweak” compensation levels to be competitive with other employees with similar responsibilities.

Watch the Video news report or read more about it in the Channel 9 KXLH website

Keystone Blockage Makes Millions for Warren Buffett

2012-01-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Democrat administrations NO vote on the Keystone Pipeline is starting to make sense from the political cronyism standpoint after I read this report over at Yahoo Finance

Since North Dakota’s crude won’t be able to be moved by the Keystone pipeline industry officials say that it will have to be shipped by rail because the current pipelines are at capacity. I wonder who will benefit from this increase in rail traffic. It will hardly be the environmentalists that clamored for the NO vote on the Keystone because the increase in rail shipments will invariably result in more gallons spilled than any pipeline currently now moving crude. So why is this movement of crude by rail better?

Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club agreed that shipping oil by rail and truck was far more likely to cause spills and then went on to insinuate what is really needed was an effort to stop fossil fuel extractions altogether and start developing “other” energy sources. These job killing environmentalists are not going to be happy until we are all paying 10 times the cost of the current fossil fuels so the so called green energy is finally economically feasible and can compete with fossil fuels.

Presently nearly 510,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in North Dakota of which nearly 128,000 barrels are shipped by rail. BNSF is part of the Warren Buffett Empire that stands to make millions in revenue from the Obama administration blocking the Keystone Pipeline. Not so ironically Warren Buffett is one of Obama’s close cronies and is his personal energy advisor. I guess cronyism is not unique to just our governor and the State of Montana. What we all need to do is pay attention to the Presidents close advisors and invest heavily in their enterprises because it is apparent that the President financially rewards his cronies that support his lunacy.

Calculating the Impact of the Keystone Pipeline

2012-01-24T17:32:00.002-07:00

The following charts and information are gleaned from an investment newsletter called “Calculating the Impact of the Keystone Pipeline” published by U. S. Global Investors. This particular newsletter contains the following information from John Mauldin and the Global investment team.

“As it turns out, a new pipeline is not all that radical. If you drive in the U.S., you cannot go ANYWHERE for any length to time without crossing dozens of pipelines that already exist, especially in the corridor where they want to build the Keystone XL pipeline.
Let’s look at two maps. The first is a map of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. To say it looks worse than your grandmother’s varicose veins is no exaggeration. It is hard to find a state that does not have a natural gas pipeline. Without them the U.S. would simply come to a grinding halt. (The source for this map is a governmental agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration.)”

Click on these maps to enlarge

The first map is of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. The second map is of pipeline systems for all commodities in the U.S. and Canada and The last map is existing major oil pipelines in the U.S. Be sure and take a look at all the entire story posted on the U.S. Global website

Obamanomics

2012-01-24T15:43:00.002-07:00

How’s that Obamanomics working out for you? According to this graph found over at the United States Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics it doesn’t appear all that rosy.

Questionable Political Cronies

2012-01-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

I received a nice invitation from the Denise Juneau for the Office of Public Instruction today. Denise is kicking off her re-election campaign with a rally at the Capitol Rotunda at noon on Tuesday the 24th. The invitation also included an invite to attend a kickoff fundraiser that evening at a private residence in Helena.

What I found somewhat alarming about the whole deal was that MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver was listed as one of the co-hosts for the Juneau campaign kick-off. I will find it hard to support anyone that is being promoted by the guy that is only interested in promoting himself and the “Ultimate” Union power at everyone else’s expense. Surely Juneau is going to find it difficult to be objective in what is truly best for Montana schools when she has her nose ring attached to the chain of the likes of Feaver.

Thanks to this invitation making it crystal clear who Juneau has amongst her bedfellows I will be supporting her opponent Sandy Welch for this office http://www.welchformontana.com/

Judging by the campaign finance reports it is apparent that Welch, with an early campaign war-chest of only $8,767 (of which $1,390 was a personal loan from herself), will have an up-hill battle defeating Incumbent Juneau who already sports a balance close to $60,000 in the bank.

Why do we let Union Thugs and their cronies in Helena buy these positions of power? Lest any forget - the Office of Public Instruction holds one of the critical votes on the Land Board that manages our state land. We need to get someone such as Welch on that board to be able to promote responsible use of our State Lands without the outside influences of political party cronies and Feaver favor gatherers in Helena.

Do your part – get involved!

The Deadbeats Are In Charge!

2012-01-23T21:00:00.002-07:00

We were shocked by the story in our inbox this morning from our liberal friends at the Washington Post discussing the $1.03 Billion in outstanding tax debt owed by employees of the federal government in 2010 alone! What??? Yep you read that right, that is $1 Billion with a B!

So let's get this straight...we have to pay our taxes and if we don't we have to pay fines and interest and eventually get prosecuted. Moreover if we worked for a company and owed that company money, how long would we keep our job if we continued to not pay our debts? Lucky for these folks they work for the U.S. Government and cannot be fired and there is no law to compel them to do so.

Now members of Congress are beginning to take note of these debtors and call for legislation to expel these employees for failure to pay their debts. Funny enough this job is left to Congress to punish these freeloaders and tax cheats. Takes one to know one, comes to mind here, but we digress.

To be fair, less employees are delinquent in 2010 than were short in 2009, but the amount owed has increased by $32 million according to the Washington Post. The article also points out that these deadbeats, whose salaries are paid by the taxes we pay, is not isolated to one particular agency or branch of government more than others, but are across the board, includind those working for our Congress. Imagine that, Congressionl staffers, burning the midnight oil to help draft the very legislation to prohobit these cheats could be delinquent themselves, 4% of that workforce is in debt to the IRS.

As we begin the rough and tumble campaign season, let us take these issues and the many others into account and hold our members of Congress to task for their failures to fix these obvious and purposeful tax evasions. We have to pay, so should they!

FWP: Pay Raise Today - Increase Fees Tomorrow

2012-01-20T20:29:00.001-07:00

Today the Independent Record reported that the Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) employees are all getting raises, some as much as $10,000. The paper reported these raises would cost FWP between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. What kind of business “brainiac” gives a raise and isn’t even aware if it is going to cost $1.5 million or $2.5 million? These types of statements are what make me think no one in government has a clue how to maintain any sort of budget. I guess for government department managers a million or so differential on $1.5 million dollar increase is close enough. FWP Director Joe Maurier stated that the wage increases are necessary to be competitive with neighboring states. You all remember Joe Maurier? He was Governor Schweitzer’s college roommate he appointed to head the FWP in 2008 for a salary of $96,963. (Again more of the culture of cronyism prevalent in Helena) The deputy Director just had his pay jumped from $85,508 to $96,429 but Maurier stressed that his own pay would stay the same.

In a related story in today’s Billings Gazette the FWP announced that Montana hunters and anglers may have to pay higher fees in the future because their department is operating in arrears. Just coincidently the decline in revenue has averaged around $2 million per year which is miraculously close to the amounts just announced in the Independent Record that they will be doling out in pay increases. Interestingly the Gazette article stated that nonresident fees pay for about two-thirds of FWP’s annual operating costs of $35 million. I couldn’t find current information but the total annual budget of the department in 2009 was $87 million.

Back in January of 2011 the Gazette reported that the FWP spent $90 million from various places to add 232,000 acres to their holdings. In April the Gazette reported that the FWP said they were considering selling 6 parcels of land that totaled about 440 acres because “the department is having trouble meeting operational and maintenance needs.”

From feast to famine to pawning our assets to pay for today. Is anyone in charge over there?

Keystone Decision Makes Great Political Fodder

2012-01-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Every morning there seems to be some type of depressing news headlining the newspaper.

This morning the above the fold headline read that “Obama denies Keystone Pipeline.” Obama has been stalling on this decision for months hoping to put off a determination until after the 2012 elections. Obama was put in a bad spot caught between his loony environmental wacko supporters that oppose anything to do with mining, drilling or any sort of job creation and his good ole boy Union network that advocated for this project because of the thousands of Union jobs it would create. Trying to appease everyone in his cronyism feathered supporter base was a no-win situation from the get-go. Of course the evil capitalistic Republicans were to blame somehow because back in December Congress set a 60-day deadline for the State Department to render a decision. The President and his cronies said they just didn’t have sufficient time to digest the information and make a determination if this project was in the best national interest. Hello? You have had months and our jobless rate is in the double digits and yet we don’t know if a massive job creating project such as the Keystone Pipeline is in our best interests? I guess what is most important in the Democrat mind is the completion of thousands of pages of additional EIS studies and the shuffling of bureaucratic feet while we sit idly by unemployed.

An article over at POLITICO called this decision a political win-win on both sides of the aisle. The Republicans can now beat up on the Democrats for the next campaigning year hollering about the Democrats being the job-killing party. The Democrats can get on the environmental bandwagon and brag about the how the Democrats saved us from “catastrophe” by being reasoned and prudent to protect our environment even though we may be sitting idly by while unemployed. The POLITICO asserts that the Union leaders will still have to hold their noses and support Obama and his crony loving Democrats because they are certainly the lesser of two evils when it comes to labor issues.

Well it would appear that both parties have again put their political futures ahead of the futures of their constituents, Get ready for a year of nasty campaigning and finger pointing with both parties trying to convince the “to dumb to know what is good for us” voting public that their side was the right side but the Democrat or Republican party (pick-one) screwed everything up because they can’t be reasonable and compromise.

You know who is left holding the bag? Yep, that person you see in your mirror every morning.

Time to End the "Culture of Cronyism"

2012-01-18T15:14:00.002-07:00

Well that didn’t take long.

The Great Falls Tribune ran a story on Sunday about the effects of Governor Schweitzer’s cronyism run amuck. Schweitzer’s good ole boy buddy Dave Gallik, who he appointed to the supposedly non-partisan job as Commissioner of Political practices was by Tuesday tendering his resignation. Gallik was quoted in today’s Tribune article as saying;

“This is a political, Republican-based fight against me, “Gallik said. …….. “Not necessarily against me, against anybody who wants to get the job done down there.”

Gallik went on to say that the staff “called the cops” on him Tuesday when he returned to work even though he didn’t say one word to them and he just “can’t afford any more false accusations” levied towards him so he was resigning. He also went on to blame his troubles on some sort of Republican witch hunt. Yep that is it, just another of those “vast right-wing conspiracies” that haunted Hillary Clinton. Nothing at all to do with him not doing the work.

According to earlier stories at least one of these ladies worked in this office for over 13 years. Why is it they have never complained about “new bosses” in the past? Could it be that they, democrat and republican alike, did their work so there was nothing to complain about? I wonder if Gallik actually resigned on his own accord or if our governor decided it was time to save face and told him to resign before more allegations came to light?

Prior to the resignation Republican legislative leaders were calling for an investigation and Republican Speaker of the House Mike Milburn said;

“the allegations were serious and, if true, amounted to a direct violation of the Montana code of ethics.”

It would appear that the Republican leaders are going to try and make political hay out of this sad turn of events. I wonder if this would have all taken place if the legislature had passed that “Cowboy Code of Ethics” they yammered on about last session. While it has been obvious to anyone that follows politics that the Schweitzer is the king of cronyism in state government I don’t think you need an “official cowboy code of ethics.” Either you are honest, transparent and ethical or you are not. This whole mess could have been avoided if those in power actually selected the best person for the job instead of worrying about appointing people as a reward because of their blind allegiance to one political party or another.

It is time to demand an end to the “culture of cronyism” that exists in our state, forget the political party maneuvering and just get down to work towards the betterment of us all Cowboy Ethics be damned Those of us funding our government are sick to death of watching this while we are withering on the vine waiting for the economy to turn-around.

Today's Great Falls Tribune Story here

Enough is Enough: Bye Bye Dave Gallik

2012-01-15T23:18:00.002-07:00

Who are all the Bedfellows?

I nearly dropped my dentures this morning I was so shocked at the Great Falls Tribune’s front page article about the Political Practice’s staff blowing the whistle on Political Practices Commissioner Dave Gallik. Considering that the Schweitzer Administration is noted for use a punishing and vindictive hand to keep the troops in line these 4 ladies have put their careers on the line for even daring to speak against one of his good ole boys. Apparently working conditions have become so pitiful that these fine women no longer care. The Tribune story linked online above is only a condensed version but the article in its entirety has been posted on reporter John Adam’s blog called The Lowdown which reports news from and about the Capital.

Well it seems these ladies have had their fill of Commissioner Gallik not doing his job. Ironically Commissioner Gallik who has now been thrust into the limelight for allegations of unethical conduct is the very same person that is responsible for keeping Montana Political campaigns ethical and on the up and up. Kind of hard to pass judgment when your own hand is in the cookie jar wouldn’t you think. Incidentally, Will Deschamps, Chairman of the Montana Republican party was just in the news last week calling on Gallik to make a determination on a complaint filed the end of August 2009 against the Democrat party and Attorney General Steve Bullock who is now running for Governor. Apparently filing ethics complaints against Democrats to an entity controlled by an unethical Democrat Commissioner and a bully Governor aren’t going to get much traction. Read Deschamps letter to Commissioner Gallik at the Montana Republican Party website here.

It does stand to reason that no matter what the complaint 2 ½ years to make a determination is an inappropriate amount of time. How can any of the regular Montana citizens hold any respect for a government that lives in shadows and advocates protecting their political bedfellows? What happened to open transparent government?

Kudos to john Adams for this fabulous indepth report and we applaud the courage of these fine ladies. We will be watching to see if any of them should be mysteriously “down-sized” after coming forth with this information. Of course if that is the case perhaps we will see four more candidates join Jim Lynch in a run for the Governor's office. Read the whole story over at The Lowdown and give us your comments.

Occupy Protesters turn on the President

2012-01-12T13:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the Time Newsfeed reported that the Occupy Wall Street folk held a march and blasted poor President Obama on what is the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison. You might recall that when Obama campaigned for President back in 2008 he promised that his first order of business on his very first day in office would be to close the Guantanamo Bay complex. Of course Senator “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester also promised to never ever support an earmark, associate with the culture of corruption on K Street in Washington and he was going to get the troops home. We now know that like the president his word is also not his bond. This rally must have come as a surprise to the President as he earlier had gone on record supporting the Occupy protesters. Both Tester and the President just may be losing some of their voting base.

The protestors have been plagued with various problems as of late including getting banned from camping in Zuccotti Park, their tent kitchen was closed by the health department and the colder winter temperatures make for some miserable conditions living under tarps and in tents. The Washington Post also reported that rat infestation around the two Occupy Wall Street camps was running rampant. Mohammad Akhter who is the district’s director of the Department of Health said that the camps resemble refugee camps he has witnessed in the Middle East and Africa. Akhter also told the Washington Post that he would advise the Federal Government to close down the camps if conditions worsen or if there were a severe winter storm because “suddenly we’re watching a tragedy unfold in Washington, D.C.”

Rats, poor sanitation, no food, shelters made of plastic tarps and bitter cold. Sounds like a protesters dream come true. It may just be easier to look for work and abandon the protesting.

Treasurer’s Office Disaster

2012-01-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

This could be a disaster for those addicted to Ho Ho’s. The Hostess Brands, Inc filed for bankruptcy protection again. Hostess cites declining sales and rising labor and pension costs. The company listed assets of $981.6 million and liabilities of $1.43 billion on Dec 10, 2011. Forbes.com reported recently that Hostess Brands, Inc had revenues of $2.5 billion in 2011. I wonder if it is just a coincidence that this decline in sales came on the heels of our Hill County Treasurer’s office new management? I haven’t noticed the big displays of junk food at the county work stations since the big election upset last year. Maybe I just happened to be there on a non-junk food day but it certainly seems to be a bit more professional and I am assuming Ho Ho sales to county employees is way off.

I am off to buy a case of Ho Ho’s while they are still available. With all the preservatives I would think I can buy a decade’s supply and probably be OK with freshness.

Gun Control

2012-01-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Everybody in Montana has read at least a few articles touting the wonders of gun control. You know that by controlling who has firearms violent deaths at the hands of murderers has plummeted in the last decade in areas enforcing stringent laws controlling guns, in particular the handguns that the whole world of liberals have grown to hate. Or have they?

New York City has the most stringent gun controls of anyplace in the nation. In order to buy a gun license in New York City you first have to visit the license office (in person) to pick up an application. You then apply for a series of permits that need to be typewritten - hand written applications are rejected. They want to know everything about you – your employer, your SS number, physical description, criminal history, history of alcohol and drug abuse, disabilities and on and on. They also want to know your past employment history for the last 5 years and you will need to explain why it is necessary for you to own a gun. If you are so lucky to get thru all the paperwork you need to have all the documentation notarized. Include with your documentation a licensing fee of $340 and a fingerprinting fee of $94 payable only by money order or credit card made out to the New York City Police Department. You then take your paperwork and fees to the License Division office where you will receive you license upon approval.

Don’t hold your breath while waiting for approval as this may take some time and if you are not approved for some reason all fees are forfeited. Some applicants have reported waits of up to two years. If you are lucky enough to obtain a permit you will need to obtain and fill out a “Handgun Purchase Authorization form” which you can use to make your purchase. You will again be asked to provide personal information and in depth details as to your reasons for wanting to buy a new gun. If you are given approval you will have 72 hours to visit a licensed gun dealer and make your purchase and return to the License Division to update your license with the gun information such as make, model and serial number. Take a look at the New York City Police website to get further details or you can compare the newest requirements to the synopsis of the state laws on the purchase, possession and carrying of firearms compiled by the NRA back in 1998.

So after all this hassle just how is everything working out for the folks in New York City? In a 25 year period New York City has had more than 15,000 murders while a town called Kennesaw Georgia had 1. What’s the difference you might ask?

In 1982 the City of Kennesaw passed an ordinance [Sec 34-21][13]

(a) In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore

Funny thing is that Kennesaw, where gun ownership is mandatory, has been called one of the safest cities in America. Up until 2009 Kennesaw had one murder. In 2010 three murders were committed by one man in a “school safety zone” which is an area extending 1,000 feet from any school where guns were off-limits. I wonder if the outcome would have been different if the murderer had known the school employees were also armed.

It sure makes me wonder about the rational of the gun-control folks

Havre's Mayor Tim Steps up to the Plate

2012-01-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Havre City council met last night to install the new council members and wish those departing farewell. Three Democrats stepped down from their ward seats - Pam Hillery, Cal Long and Bob Kaul. Republican Andrew Brekke Ward 4 retained his seat and was joined by fellow Republicans Rick Dow Ward 3, Brian Barrows Ward 2 and Democrat Bonnie Parenteau serving Ward 1.

For the first time I can ever remember in my life-time there is a 50-50 Democrat-Republican split on the Havre Council. They will be serving with Democrat Mayor Tim Solomon who will cast the deciding vote on any ties. What is interesting is that when we were checking out the information for the story this morning we learned that when it came time to elect the council president Councilwoman Janet Tretheway nominated fellow Democrat Woody Woodwick to again serve as council president. Newly seated councilman Rick Dow then nominated Republican Andrew Brekke. As expected the four republicans voted for Brekke and the four democrats voted for Woodwick. Typically in the past Democrat (sometimes calling himself independent) Gerry Veis will not vote on any of the matters such as this that he views as political but he toed the democrat line this time which laid the decision at the Mayor’s feet.

I am sure the council Republicans were shocked when Democrat Mayor Tim actually cast the tie-breaking vote for Republican Brekke who will replace Woodwick as council president. Our source told us this morning that many partisan democrats are feeling betrayed by Mayor Tim but on the other hand many folks feel now that there is a 50-50 split Havre can actually get some things accomplished.

Either way a hat tip goes to the Mayor for putting partisan politics aside in this case and we look forward to seeing a new council that joins together as a team instead of bickering political opponents. We are encouraged by reports of last nights council meeting.

Professional "Occupy" Training now Available

2012-01-03T22:47:00.002-07:00

Great news for all you people out there that are sick of the “man” and want to stage a 60’s style sit-in or rally people to your cause like the Occupy Wall Street lay-abouts but really don’t know how to get organized to get the most out of your community organizing efforts. The New York Post recently ran a story announcing that the prestigious Columbia University will be offering a new graduate course called simply “Occupy 101” The class will be taught by the doctorate holding Hannah Appel who was one of the crowd camping out in Zuccotti Park protesting against the 1% or the country’s money brokers that are ruining the chances of Utopia for the other 99% of the people. Never mind that most of said protesters were an unemployed lot of whiners that were upset because they think they are entitled to the “good life” with no effort on their own part.

I wonder what the mommies and daddies shelling out over $40,000 a year in tuition to Columbia will think of their little darlings enrolling in this course? Is it just me? Or is there something wrong with an education system that sets course to brainwash the spoiled and gullible while taking the parents hard-earned dollars for tuition?

This about sums it Up

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

Anyone else remember when Ronald Reagon delivered the knockout punch to President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential debates by simply asking the question " Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago?"

Flash forward 32 years and ask yourself that same question

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T01:33:00.001-07:00

As we pause this evening to give thanks and celebrate with our families, fiends and neighbors the birth of Jesus Christ, we here at the HDC are sadly reminded of the recent passing of Blaine County Undersheriff Pat Pyette and the lessons we all can learn from his tragic death.

First we cannot begin to express our sadness and concern for Deputy Pyette's family to lose their loved one at a time when we all should celebrate a happy and joyous time. Pat gave his life in service to the people of Blaine County and will be missed by everyone. We should all be reminded of the selfless sacrifice our law enforcement officers and their families provide to us for our personal and community security. They put their lives on the line each day for all of us.

We must also take some time to thank our men and women in harms way over seas defending our freedoms and fighting to make the lives of others more like ours. Once again they serve this nation selflessly and many families must endure their absence at this special time and we thank them as well for their sacrifice.

We can all be thankful we live in a free nation of independent thinkers and with our individual and civil freedoms of religion, assembly and speech. Freedom is not free. So as we pause to celebrate Christ's birth and the more secular and commercial spirit of the holidays as well with our friends and loved ones, take a moment to say thanks to those who provide the security we all share in.

Merry Christmas!

Havre "Award Winning" Journalists may suffer from Split Personality Disorder

2011-12-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

Something just doesn’t make any sense to me. Back on December 5th we broke the story that our wonderful Mayor Dim had offered the Chief of Police position to an Arizona man. We raised some questions about why the Mayor had kept everyone in the dark and more pointedly we bemoaned the fact that some police department folk just may have hard feelings over these sole actions of our mayor. The local award winning folks over at the “professional” paper finally ran a story announcing that the mayor was near to selecting someone to be chief and then wrote one of their infamous anonymous blogs, err….. editorials on the 15 that said;

The mayor's political opponents quickly pounced on him for hiring from out of town. The mayor's opponents say he should have appointed someone from within the police department, most likely Matosich. An insider, they believe, would be more familiar with the department and how it operates. Solomon was duty-bound, they said, to appoint a hometown person.
Balderdash.
The mayor did just what he is supposed to do

Funny part is as near as we can ascertain these political opponents spoke of in the papers anonymous authored article are none other than us, one lonely Blog bunch, that are now elevated to the role of “Mayor’s political opponents”. Here I thought that professional journalists did some investigation of facts before publishing articles based solely off of information gleaned from some anonymous blog. My mistake. I guess I was confused by all the awards their journalist have been piling up because I assumed what I have been reading in print in the Havre Daily “news” was factual and researched.

Now move forward to today, Dec 22 and the anonymous editorial want to be blog author pens an editorial taking the mayor to task for keeping the Chief of Police hiring behind closed doors. WHAT??? You said just last week the mayor did just what he was supposed to do.

The paper only woke up to the fact that the mayor had hired someone when we broke the story on December 5th, they gave us the old BALDERDASH spanking on December 15th for speaking against the mayor and now on December 22 they are going after the mayor for meeting behind closed doors. First they are loving him up and now they are against him for doing the same thing we were complaining of from the get-go. Do these people have some sort of split personality going on over in their news office? Is the anonymous editorial writer suffering from a Dr Jekyll – Mr. Hyde affliction? Better check your health plan to see if it covers split-personality disorders.

Lordy I am confused. For the record we at the Corrector are against the Mayor flying solo and hiding the fact that he was hiring Kirk Fitch from Arizona as our new chief of police. We also are not against Mr. Fitch and have heard many wonderful things about his experience and abilities and we welcome him to Havre. Furthermore we will continue to be against the things done at city hall in the back rooms and under the cover of darkness any time, all the time and every time, every day, all month long.

A big hat tip to the HD”N” commenter that coined the new Solo-man handle for our mayor. Mayor Dim Solo-man ……………… Now that fits!

Why Obama's Stimulas Failed

2011-12-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Very interesting take on the colossal failure we know as the stimulas.

Somebodys Got to Pay

2011-12-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Is this what is viewed as "Normal" nowadays? I feel bad for these kids. Apparently getting paid to take care of your kids is a right that you are entitled to.

Kitty Litter Police Nab D.C. Woman

2011-12-18T19:12:00.003-07:00

Washington, D.C is a name synonymous with most of what we would call our problems in relation to our politicians’ and Government. This is the place where each state dispatches two senators and collectively send 435 representatives to look after our interests. Add to this number one President and nine Supreme Court justices that are approved by our ruling body and you have 545 individuals ruling rough-shod over the rest of the population numbering nearly 300 million people.

The city of Washington, D.C. has a population of over 585,000 people of which nearly half hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher which compares to around 27% of the United States population elsewhere. Some of the most educated people in the world live and work in our capital so you would think that this city would be the utopia of the free-thinking world. Along with all these people of superior intellect are also an above average number of people committed to saving us from ourselves by saving the environment. The following videos tell the tale of one lady trying to do her bit for the environment by recycling newspaper to be used as cat litter to only find herself getting fined when the garbage can inspector discovered she didn’t place her kitty waste in the appropriate recycling receptacle. You don’t suppose any of this “Washington Thinking” has rubbed off on our 545 ruling people’s thinking do you? Perhaps Tester is wrong and it is not the “Culture of Corruption” that is the problem so much as the influence these Washington citizens have on our congressional thinking when they are in this foreign land?

No matter what the cause I think you will agree after you watch these video news reports that what is needed to cure this problem is as simple as appointing a “Czar of Cat-Poop”

See the story video link here (Sorry couldn't get the vid to post)

Public Works Department response to allegations

Public Works Defends Fine For Not Recycling Cat Litter: MyFoxDC.com

More Twisted Thinking from the Havre Daily “News”

2011-12-16T17:23:00.001-07:00

Cover of Darkness

I was a little dumbfounded when I read last night’s HDN editorial titled Our View: Options for Picking a New Police Chief. It seems this anonymous editorial article author just loves the way our mayor has been searching for a new police chief behind the scenes. You know – searching far and wide all the while keeping the whole process “Top Secret” from the poor dumb people of Havre. They think the mayor’s political opponents shouldn’t be saying anything about mayor Dim offering the chief’s job to an out of state person instead of picking acting Chief Gabe Matosich. It would appear this anonymous editorial was pointed towards our anonymous authored blog post but they just can’t come right out and say the Havre Daily Corrector name out loud for fear of giving us a free plug. Normally the newspapers are all about openness and transparency but apparently in this case their mothering instincts kicked in and here they came a running with a blankie and a ba-ba to sooth their fair-haired boy Dim as they protect him from the big bad people that are upset that he has kept everything wrapped in a cloak of darkness. Interestingly the Havre Daily “News” still didn’t reveal that the job was in fact offered to a former police officer from Arizona even though it is now common knowledge around town. Why are they working with Mayor Dim on this cover-up?

The HDN editorial said;

The mayor's political opponents quickly pounced on him for hiring from out of town. The mayor's opponents say he should have appointed someone from within the police department, most likely Matosich. An insider, they believe, would be more familiar with the department and how it operates. Solomon was duty-bound, they said, to appoint a hometown person.
Balderdash.
The mayor did just what he is supposed to do in accepting applications from within and outside the city, from within and outside Montana.

Balderdash? That’s a mighty big word for youse guys.
Funny thing is that most of the negative comments we hear about our local government entities involve the dirty deeds they do under the cloak of darkness which is exactly what went on here. We have no opinion on “Arizona guy’s” qualifications as we have been told absolutely nothing. Even after the “award winning “ blog journalist at the Corrector broke the story the local Havre Daily “News” and their award winning news journalists still can’t seem to get the real facts into print.

The most hilarious aspect of this sad HDN tale came tonight in the anonymous “Darts and Laurels” column where their award winning journalists give the big-ole dart to the Billings police department for their failure to disclose information about a personnel issue at their department.

So there you have it – the public’s right to know should only come into play if you are not one of the people adored by the local “professional” and “award winning” news people

The Publics Right-to-Know is not so Public After All

2011-12-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

The Montana Policy Institute has made repeated requests over the last couple of years to the state Department of Administration to provide them with annual salaries and compensation information for all state government employees in Montana. Department director Janet Kelly has repeatedly made excuses and thrown up road-blocks to block public disclosure of this information. Kelly has given a host of excuses for not providing the citizens of Montana with what should be public information under our Freedom of information laws.

First she said there were privacy concerns. Then when that excuse failed to pass muster she went onto saying that the request would cost the department a burdensome amount of employee time and resources to comply with the information request and her department just plain didn’t have the budget to do it. Carl Graham, President of the Montana Policy Institute then said his group would pay for all costs of compiling the information. Once solutions to all of Kelly’s objections were made her next problem was that the multi-bazillion dollar computer system the state uses just couldn’t compile such reports. After months and months of excuses the Montana Policy Institute filed suit to compel the department to provide the requested information back in August of this year. Carl Graham had this to say in the Billings Gazette back when the suit was filed;

"We want to know what each state employee made, with bonus and OT (overtime) — the W-2 number," the institute's president, Carl Graham, said Thursday. "We started in 2010 and wanted the previous years. Now we want the most up-to-date numbers."

This week the Montana Watchdog reported that an attorney for the State of Montana told District Judge Dorothy McCarter that there are no statutes requiring the department to provide specific employee salary information. More evidence will be submitted to the judge in the next few weeks and McCarter is expected t render a decision in early 2012.

All this stonewalling makes me wonder what our state administration is trying to hide. Why shouldn’t the state taxpayers be allowed to know how much out state pays our public “servants”? I thought it was just a Havre thing but apparently expenditures involving our tax dollars are Top Secret throughout the entire state.

Senator Jon Tester is # 1

2011-12-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Looks like someone has Tester’s number. Sure doesn’t seem like the same guy that ran on big promises 6 years ago. We agree with President Obama

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE!

HD 33 Representative Kris Hansen begins New Venture

2011-12-13T21:41:00.001-07:00

A couple of months back House District 33 Representative Kris Hansen announced that she would be resigning her post as Deputy Hill County Attorney effective November 30th. Hansen at that time said she would begin work with a group of people interested in modernizing education in Montana and would be working on education reform legislation and policy. She also said she would run for re-election in 2012.

Since that time a few of her local political opposition have seen fit to begin to start telling folks she is leaving the area and are spreading untruths about her as they are wringing their hands in glee at the thought that they might regain the HD 33 seat. The fact of the matter is that this is what the political operatives call a “whisper campaign.” It is not a campaign that is ran above-board and honestly but rather a tactic that is used behind the scenes to sling mud in an attempt not to get any on yourselves or accept responsibility for untruths and outright lies.

Wikipedia defines a whisper campaign this way;

A whispering campaign or whisper campaign is a method of persuasion in which damaging rumors or innuendo are spread about the target, while the source of the rumors seeks to avoid being detected while spreading them (for example, a political campaign might distribute anonymous flyers attacking the other candidate). It is generally considered unethical in open societies, particularly in matters of public policy. The speed and anonymity of communication made possible by modern technologies like the Internet has increased public awareness of whisper campaigns and their ability to succeed. This phenomenon has also led to the failure of whisper campaigns, as those seeking to prevent them are able to publicize their existence much more readily than in the past. Whisper campaigns are defended in some circles as an efficient mechanism for underdogs who lack other resources to attack the powerful.

Contrary to what is being passed around by the behind the scenes “operatives” Representative Hansen will begin her consulting venture after the first of the year and will be concentrating on education issues in Montana. She will be staying in Havre and she will be filing for re-election in HD33. Hansen will be concentrating on school reform and other legislative issues full-time. Plans are being laid to contact people up and down the hi-line to start gathering information and ideas about what problems the schools are dealing with and where some changes need to be made. Hansen says she is hoping to work with teachers, parents, administrators, members of the public and MSUN to deal with issues schools are facing.

All we can think to say is that those of us at the Corrector think it is about time we took a new look at what can better our education system in Montana without being locked in to the same old same old that has proven to be a disappointment year after year. Perhaps, just perhaps there is indeed a solution to education funding issues other than just throwing more money at the problem.

If you have some positive, and I stress positive, ideas with regards to what can better Montana schools I am sure Representative Hansen would be glad to hear from you. She has always been very gracious in responding to the Corrector’s inquiries in the past even when we haven't agreed with her. Contact her via e-mail at krishansen33@gmail.com

Best Wishes on your new venture Representative Hansen

Tax Policy Explained for the Academics

2011-12-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Bozeman Building Contractor Leads Effort to “Buy American”

2011-12-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Montana has finally made the national news for something positive. It seems all the wonderful proposals by both political parties to promote jobs fall short of making any notable difference and job expansions continue to go overseas. A Bozeman building contractor has done his homework and contends that many jobs could be saved if only we would do something as simple as insisting on American made products. Listen to the following ABC news report about this man’s efforts.

video platform video management video solutions video player

Free Range Bison in our Future?

2011-12-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

I read with interest the one-sided article in yesterday’s Havre Daily “News” reporting that the Governor will not block the relocation of 68 bison to two Montana Indian reservations. The Governor had earlier gone on record saying no Yellowstone bison would be allowed to be moved anyplace in Montana for fear of potential brucellosis exposure. Apparently criticism of the Governor’s stance by tribal leaders did the trick and he is now going to allow them to be given to the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian reservations.

Northern Ag Network ran a story on December 2nd that included a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks that said in part;

Accordingly, management-plan agreements for each tribal site must include commitments to: (1) continue disease testing for five years, (2) properly contain bison, (3) immediately respond to any escapes of bison, and (4) provide Montana with disease-free bison for future conservation efforts. There are no infrastructure costs for FWP to pay associated with the recommended tribal lands.

The management plan sounds great but what will ensure it is being followed? You may recall that the Chinook Opinion-Journal ran a couple of articles last winter dealing with Blaine County rancher's frustration with the Fort Belknap tribe for failing to keep their current bison herd confined to their own range land. Ranchers adjoining tribal land said that the tribe failed to maintain their property line fences and the bison repeatedly were getting out and mingling with their cattle herds. To make matters even worse when the ranchers reported these incidents tribal officials many times didn’t even bother to come out to herd their animals back onto their own land. Are we to believe that they will now somehow miraculously change their ways with the addition of more bison?

The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will be holding a two-day meeting on this matter which will begin at 10 AM on Thursday, December 8. Northern Ag Network has published the names and contact information of each of the FWP commissioners if you would like to comment. Also the audio of these meetings will be streamed live over the internet. See the contact information here.

As a side note I found the letter to the editor published in Monday’s Bozeman Chronicle highly enlightening as to what the ranchers are dealing with when it comes to the bison “free-range” advocates. This letter writer believes that Montana does not belong to cattle or ranchers. The buffalo is native to Montana and should be allowed to wander wherever they please. She believes it is shameful that the FWP is attempting to appease the livestock industry by participating in containment and slaughter.

You just can’t make good stories like this up. Read the letter to the Chronicle yourself here.

The following illustration is the recommended fence to hold bison. Does anyone recall a fence like this around any of the Fort Belknap pastures?

Click to Enlarge

Trouble is in the Making at the Havre Police Department

2011-12-05T13:54:00.002-07:00

It appears that our infamous Mayor Dim has taken a few moments out of his busy love-fest with ousted councilman Kaul to stir the pot of ill-feelings over at the police department by finally appointing a new permanent police chief.

Former police Chief Jerry Nystrom tendered his resignation on May 2, 2011 and at that time Mayor Dim appointed Assistant Chief Gabe Matosich to act as interim chief. Gabe has over 23 years experience in law enforcement. He moved to Havre in 1997 and quickly attained the rank of Sergeant and was promoted to Assistant Police Chief in 2008.

Contrary to the popular belief amongst the Havre police force that Gabe would be permanently promoted to Police Chief we have just learned our beloved Mayor has taken it upon himself to offer the job to an out-of-state individual thus kicking Gabe back down to Assistant Police Chief. From what we can learn this came as a shock not only to the local police force but also to the city council members who have apparently been kept in the dark thru this whole sham.

What are you thinking Mr. Mayor? Hasn’t there been enough discontentment in our local force already? Leave it to a former sheriff to think he is the wisest of the wise when it comes to law enforcement issues but he should know above all others that this little behind the scenes maneuver will cause problems within our force.

We will bring you further details as we hear them.

Coming for You Soon - The Light Bulb Police

2011-12-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

Only another month left of this year and we will be facing the so called light bulb ban which is set to take place in 2012. A bill requiring light bulbs to be more efficient was passed with bipartisan support back in 2007 and was signed into law by President George Bush. Because of these higher standards it became obvious that traditional light bulbs would have to be replaced by more efficient incandescent bulbs.

In July Republicans tried to rally the troops to stop this law from going into effect but fell short of the mark. In my opinion it is again too little too late. Least they forget this ban went into effect under George Bush in the first place. If these new bulbs were so great why haven’t the consumers fallen in line under the free market to make them obsolete? The truth of the matter is that they cost 5 times as much and produce poorer light.

Some say that the new efficiency standards will save enough energy to warrant the higher cost of the new bulbs but my experience with these bulbs hasn’t shown them to be that reliable and so far they have cost me much more than just paying to use the old style.

It appears to me to be just another example of our over-reaching government meddling in our freedoms. Just for once I would like to feel like I held enough common sense to decide for myself if something like using crazy curly light bulbs made sense for me without big brother looking over my shoulder.

Shame on both parties for this mess.

You're Killing Us with Your Escalade

2011-11-30T16:26:00.002-07:00

Well the job killing nuts are at it again and this time it is the Harvard educators that have a brilliant plan to save us from ourselves if only the government would cooperate with a mandated warning label or two.

All you uncaring folks that are unnecessarily depleting our ozone and single-handily causing global warming by driving Escalades, Navigators, Town Cars and big diesel trucks should take note of what Harvard biologist Martin Nowak and Harvard postdoctoral fellow David Rand have in store for you. Nowak and Rand want you to know that driving these big gas guzzlers is not just good public behavior considering your choice is affecting all of mankind. In the Slate News article they are quoted as saying;

Environmental problems are difficult to solve because Earth is a "public good.” Even though we would all be better off if everyone reduced their environmental impact, it is not in anyone's individual interest to do so. This leads to the famous "tragedy of the commons," in which public resources are overexploited and everyone suffers.

Nowak and Rand’s idea is to have the government shame you into driving a Toyota Prius or other such environment saving vehicle to do your part for the common good of all mankind. Do you really want all your friends and neighbors to know that you don’t give a tinker’s damn that you are in effect ruining everything for everyone by your bull-headed selfish insistence on driving that luxury vehicle? In reality all you really need to meet your needs is a planet saving electric car or maybe even just a bicycle.

Nowak and Rand suggest that there be laws implemented requiring full disclosure of your carbon foot print on the planet. The government should require a searchable data base that would show how much electricity, gasoline and other energy you have wasted in your selfish indulgences. Cars should display large labels showing miles driven and fuels consumed. Inefficient vehicles would be forced to display signs with warning labels similar to what we see on cigarette packages

"Environmentalist's warning: This car is highly inefficient. Its emissions contribute to climate change and cause lung cancer and other diseases."

You just can’t make a story like this up. Read it for yourself over at Slate News here

Just goes to show you that a doctorate and a Harvard education don’t necessarily make you the brightest bulb in the pack. Also it was interesting to note that nothing was mentioned about the problems associated with some of these “green mobiles” such as the planet saving Chevy Volt electric car that periodically blows up killing its occupants in a fiery death.

It is clear to me now that there is no problem whatsoever that the government can’t solve by just implementing more regulations and oversight.

GUEST SUBMISSION: Another “Award Winning” Editorial from Our Friends at the HDN

2011-11-29T22:15:00.002-07:00

In this evening’s edition of the Havre Daily News, the unsigned editorial column “Our View” sought to opine on the recently passed cell phone ban by poking at the City’s plan on easing the public into this new ordinance. “There’s no need for more lollygagging,” says the HDN, “the ban on cellphone use while driving is the law.” Certainly this is true, but having some time to promote the idea of a ban on cell phone use while driving and educating the folks on the penalties associated with this action is completely warranted. I’m not sure I would call Chief Matosich’s new plan for a “definite” warning period “lollygagging.” To me it should be up to the police to determine when and if to charge someone with breaking the law and if they feel three more months is necessary, so be it.

I should point out that I like many in Havre opposed this ordinance from the very beginning as I felt not only was this an incredible overreach by the City Council into the lives of those who live here and travel through Havre, but also because it was unnecessary. We have ordinances on the books for careless driving which cover distractions as well as State laws which cover these incidents too. The HDN though takes another path in their editorial, by categorically and emphatically stating that “study after study shows that cell phones cause accidents far more than any other distraction,” really? What studies? Many studies purport to do just that, but a measurement of the amount of the distraction is quite a leap. For instance the University of Utah study that many cite as proof actually could not discern the use of the phone itself as any more distracting than talking without a phone because it measured “talking” as having the same level of impairment as a .08 blood alcohol level. If you read any of the other studies as well such as Carnegie Mellon’s, Virginia Tech’s, etc. all came to the same conclusion a distraction while driving is a distraction, period and all contribute to accidents. Cell phones don’t cause accidents, just as guns don’t kill people. Don’t get me wrong, use of a cell phone while driving is unsafe, it is a risk, but what in life isn’t? Is this reason enough to ban the use of one of the most widely used technological advancements in human history? I think not.

The HDN also sought to praise Councilman Woody Woodwick’s “sponsorship” of this ordinance as heroic. Really? Councilman Woodwick worked very hard to pass this ordinance and lobbied his fellow Councilpersons very successfully since it passed, but he didn’t sponsor this ordinance. There is no sponsorship of ordinances before the Council, nor is there is an introduction of ordinance’s by members either, those are legislative tools reserved to Congress and the State Legislature. Actually this ordinance was brought before the Council by the Ordinance Committee themselves if my memory serves me correctly. Val Murri was quite instrumental as well if I recall. Councilman Woodwick was quite passionate about this particular ordinance because of an accident he was involved in where a driver who was texting while driving struck him while he was riding his motorcycle. This accident was very tragic and could have been much, much worse and thankfully Councilman Woodwick recovered, but would a ban have actually stopped this from happening? Probably not since the person who did it was already violating work policy prohibiting such activity and probably also knew how dangerous it was, but did it anyway! And that folks is the problem, you cannot legislate a change in human behavior, it is simply not possible, just as a ban on smoking in public has not lessened the use of cigarettes in any way it just moved the behavior outdoors and away from those who dislike the activity, but the habit continues. This ordinance is just the latest fad in behavioral policy legislation and is exactly as the HDN described it, a “progressive movement.”

Call your Councilpeople and ask them to repeal this overreach, this Council has gone way too far.

Havre’s Population in 1930

2011-11-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

Found this interesting population chart over at GreaterFalls.com Doesn’t seem like Havre has grown much in the last 70 years compared to some of Montana’s bigger towns.

The Sexual Predator Free for All

2011-11-26T18:36:00.002-07:00

Anyone remember anything from the long list of “promises” made back in 2008 by candidate Steve Bullock who was running for Attorney General? Bullock promised to make protection of children from sexual predators his priority. Bullock bemoaned the fact that Montana’s sexual predator registry was woefully out of date and he claimed he would get that whole mess straightened up post-haste if he was elected to the AG office. The Billings Gazette quoted Bullock as saying;

Bullock, father of three young children, said he would put two more investigators at the Justice Department focusing on Internet crimes involving children. And he would try to find more people and money to keep the registry up to date. But Bullock said most Montana children who are crime victims are abused by someone they either already know or meet in person, not over the Internet. The state still fails to do an adequate job protecting children from traditional predators and prosecuting the perpetrators of such crimes.

To that end, Bullock said he would expand the Children's Justice Center within the Justice Department. The center, already active in Missoula, Helena, Butte and Ravalli County, deals with children victimized in any way, including by Internet predators.

Well Steve Bullock won that race and has been our AG for the past 4 years so what has he accomplished? Nada – Zip – Nothing. In fact the Sexual Predators Registry has sunk even lower in worth than it was 4 years ago. The Montana Watchdog reports that a review of Montana’s Sexual and Violent Offender Registry found that three sexual offenders of the 5,000 listed in Montana claim a Wal-Mart parking lot as their listed home address. The Watchdog further reported that over 1,400 of the 5,000 sexual predators didn’t even bother to verify their location as is required by Montana law. Furthermore the Legislative Audit Division noted back in June that these violators were not even flagged so local law enforcement would be aware they had failed to register.

This should give everyone that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing one of these predators could be living next door to you. If Bullock can’t make good on this promise why would I now want to vote for him for Governor? The Democrats had best find a decent candidate for Governor or we will be seeing one of the vast herd of GOP contenders taking Governor BS’s spot when the vote is cast in 2012

Is a Budget Cut Really a Cut?

2011-11-22T08:56:00.001-07:00

I was scanning the news over at the liberal’s favorite news source CNN (so you all know it is accurate) and ran across this report about the failure of the Super Committee to reach a deficit reduction agreement. As you can imagine the Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Democrats. So what else is new except for the fact that we the taxpayers take it in the backside again? Watch the video below and tell us what you think.

That report brought a tear to my eye. The poor guys raking in millions building military drones may take a 2-9% cut. Poor people will have the food literally taken off their plates just as they are poised to have lunch. The Border Patrol will be overrun by bad people and on and on. Even the stock market took a tumble as all the corporations’ dependant on government waste paced nervously awaiting the outcome of the Super Committee’s report.

Let’s take military spending for instance. Looking at this chart obtained over at Business Insider we see that we have doubled military spending in the last 6-7 years. Are they really trying to get us to believe that a 2 to 9 % cut will be the end of the world to the military? Similar numbers pertain to the budgets of nearly every agency in the Federal Government. Since when is a cut to a requested increase a cut in the budget? Spending won’t be decreased but rather the amount of the requested increase has only been decreased a trifle. Of course the news media perpetuates this sleight of hand by running headlines that claim budgets are being cut. That is pure hogwash!
Cut Spending! -- I for one am willing to take that chance.

No Class

2011-11-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

NASCAR fans out did themselves this weekend when they booed First lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden who is Vice president Joe Biden’s wife. Obama and Biden were invited to serve as grand marshals for Sunday’s race along with Army Sergeant Andrew Barry.

I usually can’t find one good thing to say about the Obama-Biden administration but this is just a plain hillbilly low class lack of respect. You don’t have to respect the person to show a little class and respect the office of President of the greatest country on earth.
However it does appear that I am not the only one fed up with this administration.

Cut Congressional Pay

2011-11-20T17:13:00.001-07:00

It’s nearly 11 months since Democrat Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head during a rally held with her constituents outside a Tucson grocery store. Giffords had just won re-election to her seat over a tea party candidate that campaigned against Gifford’s support of the Obama’s health care law. As usual our “professional” media reported as “fact" that there may be some connection with Tea Party fanatics and the shooter. Gun control folks immediately jumped on the bandwagon and claimed if we had nationwide gun control this heinous act would have been prevented and the gun rights folks countered with claims that if people were allowed to exercise their 2nd amendment rights someone in the audience would have been packing a firearm for defense and could have returned fire saving at least some of the lives lost and people wounded in the shooting would have been saved. As the months went by police investigations determined that a mentally unstable shooter named Jared Lee Laughner claimed to be a liberal upset with Giffords too conservative stance on the issues. Not surprisingly the media had again reported as fact something that wasn’t even close to being the truth.

It seems Representative Giffords, who is making heroic efforts towards recovery, has submitted a plan to the Super Committee with an idea to cut our $1.4 trillion dollar deficit. POLITICO reported late last week that Giffords and 25 House members have asked the Super Committee to consider cutting lawmakers’ pay as part of the deficit reduction before the November 23 deadline. In a letter to the Super Committee the bipartisan group asks that the cut be made;

“both as a commonsense way to cut government spending and to send a powerful message to the American people that Congress should not be exempt from the sacrifices it will take to balance the budget.” The savings from a 5 percent cut — the amount sought in Giffords’ bill — would amount to just $50 million over a 10-year period, according to the letter.

To tell the truth – this makes sense. Congressional people are paid $174,000 in salary as well as a benefit package that is pegged worth about half again as much as their salaries. It would seem that the very people making our laws and currently earning about 5 times as much as the average American citizen would want to get on board with this proposal to “share the pain” like the rest of us are doing during this recession. The last time congress took a pay cut was in 1933 in the midst of the great depression.

Noticeably absent from those calling for a congressional pay cut are Montana Senators Max Baucus, leader of the Super Committee, Senator Jon Tester, K-Street corruption fighter and Representative Denny Rehberg, former Bush yes-man turned Tea Party poster child. Congressional staff budgets should be cut as well along with the congressional pay cuts.

It is time to get with the program boys -- your constituents are watching and election time is rapidly approaching.

Related story at POLITICO
Copy of Gifford's letter to the Super Committee

The Popularity Rating of Congress

2011-11-17T18:53:00.005-07:00

The Washington Post recently reported that the general public’s Congressional approval rating has sunk to a whopping 13%. It looks like the year 2011 will turn out to be the year where the most people ever are disgusted with our political leaders. Democrat Senator Michael Bennet brought this chart to the Senate floor to show his colleges the extent of the contempt in which the American people hold our politicians. Only 9% of people surveyed actually think Congress is doing a good job. To put that number in comparison 11% of the public surveyed actually thought America going Communist was a favorable objective.

Click on charts to enlarge

Before you get to quick to blame one party or another for the public’s disgust it should be noted that people claiming to be both Republican and Democrat are nearly equal in their level of loathing towards our so called “leaders.” Interestingly the people claiming to be Democrat held a nearly 63% favorable rating back in 2009 as newly elected President Obama entered the White House with both the Senate and the House of Representatives controlled by Democrats. Apparently that “Hope and Change” that they actually have seen hasn’t been to their liking as they are turning their backs on our wonderful leader in droves.

A Gallup Survey article further went on to point out that if the Super Committee fails to make significant headway in cutting our deficit by the November 23 deadline poll numbers are predicted to drop even further. Roughly two-thirds of the seats in the Senate that are up for election are currently held by Democrats so it is likely that we could see an upswing in the number of seats held by Republicans. The House is currently held by Republicans so it is also possible that the voter’s disgust for any currently seated representative will result in losses for all incumbents.

I for one am ready for some of that “Change Thingy” that everyone was so excited for only a few long years ago.

Click on chart to enlarge

Havre School Funding Issues Being Presented in Helena Today

2011-11-17T11:11:00.001-07:00

We just received the following information from one of our readers that we thought you may be interested in watching firsthand how these committees work

The Montana State Education Interim Committee is meeting today in Helena. Representative Kris Hansen is a member of this committee and she called to let Havre people know that Havre Superintendent Andy Carlson will be addressing the committee at approximately 2:30 pm this afternoon in regards to some of the problems and issues we have in Havre.

This meeting is in progress and can be viewed via a live video stream. You can watch the proceedings at this link http://leg.mt.gov/css/Committees/interim/2011-2012/Education-and-Local-Government/default.asp

You will need Real Player to view the video which can be downloaded free from the State website or an audio only version is also available. Forward this on to anyone you think may be interested.

Deficit Reduction Super Committee --- Who will take a cut?

2011-11-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

The bi-partisan “Super-committee” has supposedly been working hard to devise a plan to reduce our deficit in recent weeks. Numerous public opinion polls are not showing that the American public holds much faith that the committee can reach any kind of meaningful compromise before the November 23 deadline that the President put on the committee to find ways to trim $1.2 trillion dollars from our deficit.

The committee has spent a lot of time talking about eliminating wasteful spending and tax preferences but just last week the Senate voted to create yet another tax break. Our own Junior Senator Jon “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester sponsored a bill giving a tax credit of up to $5,600 to employers that hire a veteran who has been out of work for over 6 months. Jon’s bill passed the Senate by a vote of 94 to 1.

It is hard to speak against a credit designed to be a boost to our military men and women who have served our country and we commend Senator Tester for going to bat for our veterans but it is obvious that cutting our deficit by over a trillion dollars is going to be nigh onto impossible when so many seemingly worthy programs and tax credits abound.

Someone someplace is going to have to take some cuts to reach the $1.2 trillion dollar goal by November 23rd. Who is willing to take a cut?

The Infamous "Dirt" Farmer

2011-11-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

The following is an advance political ad paid for by Cross Roads GPS talking about Senator Jon “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester

THANK YOU VETERANS

2011-11-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Corrector would like to take a moment to offer a big THANK YOU to all our local veterans and active military. We appreciate all you have done to protect our freedoms and way of life. I hope to see everyone at the Veterans Memorial in the Havre Town Square at 11 am this morning to honor our Veterans

New Tax on Christmas

2011-11-11T08:27:00.000-07:00

What will they think of next?

Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet but the sugar plums have been dancing in the Obama administration for some time. Just this last week they unveiled their plan to give everyone a very Merry Christmas simply by levying a tax on Christmas trees.

No! ---------------- I am NOT making this up

The Federal Register published notice that a 15 cent a tree tax would be placed on all producers and importers of more than 500 trees. Oddly some Christmas Tree Growers petitioned the U.S Department of Agriculture for what they called a "Christmas Tree Promotion, Research and Information Order" which is intended to present a more favorable view of decorating with live Christmas which would increase sales. The Journal Times reported that tree sales have slumped to only 31 million trees in 2007 while fake tree sales had increased to 17.4 million in the same time period

As you can imagine there was a huge public backlash against this “Tax on Christmas” and ABC News has reported that the whole idea is being mothballed for now.
video platform video management video solutions video player

Occupy Atlanta - Haftin' To Be Uproared

2011-11-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

The Occupy Wall Street “Movement” appears to be moving across American. This video is from last month when the college students from Atlanta Georgia hosted their own Occupy Atlanta event. Hear what their spokesperson has to say about the reasons behind the movement.

Let’s Change the Form of Havre City Government

2011-11-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am not going to try and pretend the folks at the Corrector are not happy about the results of Havre’s city election. Getting Bob Kaul replaced with a man of some apparent intelligence that is not the type to antagonize and obstruct progress will be a welcome change. Also the fact that Bonnie Parenteau and Brian Barrows will be replacing two retiring council people will give the council an entirely new makeup and thought process.

What is most interesting is that for the first time in decades the city governing body is made up of an even split of republicans and democrats which should go a long way to ending the political party game playing. They may just have to get along to get anything done. Looking ahead to the next council election in 2013 the local republicans will be in a position to take control of the council. The only republican up for election at that time will be Bob Kaftan but the democrats will have to defend 3 seats so if the republicans continue with the gains we have seen the last few years we would predict they will pick up enough seats to control the council.

The apparent problem that comes to mind is the fear that a republican majority would allow them to ram controversial council actions down the minority democrats throats just as they have done to the republicans all these years. Due to our past sad history with democrat politics in Have I am of course willing to take that chance but wouldn’t it make more sense to try and change our city government to a city manager type of operation with non-partisan council positions instead of continuing on with our present political back-biting with political parties and untrained mayors that really aren’t capable of managing a city?

If we hired a city manager that was actually educated in the job of managing a city wouldn’t we save money in the long run? If with this change in our form of government the council and honorary mayor positions were elected without thought to what party they belonged to wouldn’t we see more people with actual business experience and common sense actually file to run for these offices?

If you agree that we should at least take a look at changing our system of city government why don’t you give some of our council people a call and tell them that you would support a new direction. It is high time we took a look at a more efficient non-political form of government.

The new council will be made up of Andrew Brekke, Woody Woodwick, Rick Dow, Bob Kaftan, Brian Barrows, Janet Tretheway, Bonnie Parenteau, and Jerry Vies

Republican Dow stomps Democrat Obstructionist Kaul in Havre Council Race

2011-11-08T23:00:00.001-07:00

I just got the fantastic news that newcomer Rick Dow handily beat incumbent bumbler Bob Kaul to take the council seat for ward 3. The vote was 320 votes for Havre newcomer and unknown Rick Dow to 264 votes for Havre old timer and media hog Bob Kaul.

The city council is now made up of 4 republicans, 3 democrats and our beloved councilman Vies as the Independent. This could put some added pressure on poor Mayor Solomon as a 4-4 split in a contentious council vote will put him in the position of actually having to make decision for any tie breaking votes.

As usual the Havre Daily “News” posted an award winning slew of stories about tonight’s election. The one I like the most was the last paragraph in the Dow wins in Ward 3 story which I have copied and pasted below;

With Dow’s election, City Council will have four Republicans and our Democrats working with Mayor Tim Solomon, a Democrat. It is believed to be the first time in decades that the GOP has had so many members on council.

Do you suppose the HDN boldly proclaiming that “Our” democrats working with Mayor Tim Solomon in that last paragraph was a Freudian slip or are they actually finally admitting publically their biased allegiances to the liberal agenda?

It is a great night for Havre voters. I will be back tomorrow to bring you the full details of this election and recent council happenings that seem to miss the paper.

WE ARE NOT GOING TO MISS YOU

Do Animals Have Constitutional Rights?

2011-11-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sea World Courtesy Photo

Every night when I turn on the news I see people wringing their hands and going on and on about the economy being in the tank. The despair you see is unbelievable as they talk and talk and talk about what could be causing all these economic problems. The plans they advance to “correct” all these problems such as the stimulus, bailouts and more government oversight are just off the wall they are so ridiculous. Funny thing is I rarely hear anyone mention what I think is the real problem with our economy which is too much government interference in the business sector and a legal system that will let any idiot with an agenda shut down any new project for any reason.

Take for example this recent story over at the Northern Ag Network PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has filed suit against Sea World because they keep Whales on display to perform for the tourists. I am sure you have all read stories about PETA and maybe have even seen the guy in Great Falls that used to dress up in his fish costume with the big hook sticking out of his mouth while he paraded around holding a sign that said something to the effect of “I have feelings too and feel the deep pain of this barbaric hook.” Lawsuits by PETA have become fairly commonplace but this recent suit against Sea World takes the prize for idiotic stunts that clog up our court system.

PETA claims in their lawsuit that Sea World is violating the whales 13th amendment rights and should be freed. HUH? The 13th amendment? Whales have constitutional rights? What does the 13th amendment say?

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

PETA claims that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims. They are quoted in an Associated Press article as saying;

"By any definition, these orcas are slaves — kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit," said Kerr. "The males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away."

So the whole court case is comparing these captive whales to the days of slavery in America? I wonder how the descendants of the “real” slaves feel about whales being compared to their plight. The sad part is the PETA attorneys have spent over 18 months preparing for their day in court using this logic. Apparently a few more attorneys need to also be unemployed if this is the best they can do.

Blatant attacks on business such as this one by PETA is part of what is wrong with our economy. At the very least laws need to be changed allowing court costs to defend idiotic lawsuits such as this to be recovered from the tormenting parties by the defendants

A Great $20 Christmas Present

2011-11-07T18:02:00.001-07:00

The VFW Posts of Montana are again running their daily December gun raffle. Starting December 1st, 2011 a gun will be awarded to a lucky raffle winner each and every day throughout December. Some days more than one drawing will be held for a total of 35 firearms to be given away to benefit the VFW Posts during December. The first gun to be given away will be a Remington 700 SPS Varmint 22-250. The full list of guns can be found on the Missoula VFW Post 209 website here

Tickets cost $20 each or 6 for $100 and are available in Havre from Ruben McKinney at rebenj2@gmail.com or phone 265-4917. Ticket sales are limited to 2,500 tickets so don't waste any time giving Ruben a call to purchase your tickets.

You can win a great Christmas present for only $20 and help out the VFW posts of Montana at the same time

Last Call for Havre City Council Voting

2011-11-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday is the absolute deadline to get your ballot for city council returned to the courthouse. The only real race is in Ward three where challenger Rick Dow is going up against incumbent Bob Kaul.

If you want to see a change from the status quo of idiotic happenings at the council meetings you can do yourself a favor and make sure anyone you know that votes in Ward three gets their ballots back into the election judge.

We took a drive around town today and I had a heck of a time even finding a campaign sign up anyplace for Kaul but the Dow signs pretty much blanket the ward so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come this Tuesday.

Don’t forget to return your ballot and if you have yet to register to vote and you live in Ward three there is still time to participate

Are We Winning the War on Poverty?

2011-11-05T21:32:00.000-06:00

We Agree ............... the government needs to get out of the business of welfare. Very interesting discussion with Star Parker on Reason TV

The Lynching of Jim Lynch

2011-11-04T16:04:00.000-06:00

Yesterday’s Billings Gazette said the new transportation director is vowing to fix all the illegal hirings in the Department of Transportation. You may recall that Governor Schweitzer canned the former director Jim Lynch because Lynch allowed the hiring of his daughter at the Department of Transportation violating the state’s nepotism policy. Even though Lynch’s daughter had held her position for over four years and Lynch recused himself from the hiring process the governor only seemed to get interested in the “problem” after Lynch started yakking it up about running for governor. Was that just a coincidence?

Newly appointed director Tim Reardon told the Legislative Audit committee that he was disturbed that a recent audit showed the agency has hired some unqualified employees and he is going to get everything fixed post haste. Funny thing is that Jim Lynch specifically asked about the legalities of hiring his daughter within the department and was told it was acceptable as long as he wasn’t the person doing the hiring. Tim Reardon was the department’s chief legal counsel at the time so it is very strange that he is now incensed by the whole deal. I mean this guy says he knew nothing about any of this, but he was the Chief Legal Counsel? Give me a break.

I would have to wonder if this whole deal is one big scam to bring attention to the fact that Lynch has filed to run for Governor as a republican. Something just doesn't smell right in the way Schweitzer and his cronies are attacking ole Lynch. Interestingly Lynch has been a life-long democrat and every political cash donation attributed to his name has been made to only democrats. So why did he file for governor as a Republican? Some would have you believe that it was because he was “mad” at the governor but I have to wonder if Lynch filed on the republican ticket at the bequest of the democrats to muck up the whole republican primary and this whole lynching of Jim Lynch is nothing more than another one of the governor’s big tent sideshows.

In our area I would guess that any votes for Lynch in the republican primary would come at the expense of republican candidate Rick Hill who is the apparent front-runner in the republican herd of candidates for governor. Is this Lynch bashing attempting to simply make the republicans comfortable with voting for a former democrat in an attempt to swing the election to one of the less popular candidates they think Democrat Steve Bullock can beat?

I wouldn’t put anything past the devious Schweitzer organization

Suprise Suprise - Obama not all that popular in Montana

2011-11-02T19:54:00.003-06:00

Anyone notice in the Great Falls Tribune the article with the headline “Obama’s popularity low in Montana”? A poll by the Montana State University-Billings found that just 32% of those polled approved of the president’s job performance while 58% disapproved. I wonder if that is why our ever campaigning Senator Jon “No Ear Marks Ever” Tester has been releasing news release after news release bragging about his recent change of heart from ultra-liberal to conservative view points. You got to love a guy that voted for every wasteful stupid Obama program that came down the pike until he kicked off his reelection campaign. Apparently our Obama loving Senator thinks his adoration of the president may just cost him some votes.

Will Tester’s connection with the president affect how you vote in the senate race?

Expanding Government

2011-11-02T19:38:00.001-06:00

Every day I read about the ever rising unemployment rate in our country yet the Montana Watchdog reports that in Montana Local, State and the Federal governments have added over 5,100 people to our workforce since 2007. Montana now ranks 11th in the nation for the most government employees with 91,000. Does this sound like a reasonable number considering we have around 900,000 residents?

Our population has stayed basically the same yet we continue to employ more and more people to "govern" us. No wonder we are going bust

Federal Regulators Run Amok On Farm Labor

2011-10-31T17:29:00.000-06:00

I listened on the radio to both Congressman Rehberg and Senator Tester talk about this and I read about in the Billings Gazette and the HDN about this issue. So let me see if I got this right. In the last year, the Feds have embarked on three separate attacks on Farmers and Ranchers. The first was a trial balloon meant to put all farmers and ranchers on notice that the Department of Transportation feels that anyone pulling a horse trailer should hold a commercial drivers license. Then there are these insane attempts to regulate farm dust and now we see the Department of Labor wants to ban farmers from hiring children. Could we please stop with all this mothering from the Feds? Please? You already tell us that we must drive with our seatbelts, we must watch what we eat, we must buy health insurance, we must only drive cars that the government deems is safe enough or efficient enough. The list goes on and on and on and for many of us, we are sick and tired of being regulated to death.

I grew up working on a farm and ranch here in Montana and I still believe it was one of the most important experiences a kid could have to learn not only how to grow food, but also a traditional work ethic. Those folks in New York bellowing about Wall Street could use a little hard work in my honest opinion. Farming and ranching is a noble profession and one which is crucial to our economy, not only in Montana but for our nation as well. Food continues to be in the top 5 exports for the U.S. whether it is wheat, beef, corn or soybeans, agriculture is by far one of the largest industries the U.S. and certainly for Montana. Not only that, it is one of the few areas of the economy actually performing quite well, so leave it alone!

The President and all of the dwarfs running for President continue to say finding jobs is the most important issue for the upcoming election. Duh! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, yet we might need one to figure our why our government continues to attack our own industries as opposed to trying to help these industries grow and employ more people. It baffles the mind why at this stage in our economy while we continue to hemorrhage jobs, the Feds continue to find ways of destroying more jobs.

So for those keeping score, Montana has three main industries, 1) Agriculture, 2) Energy and 3) Tourism. Obama’s administration has all but attempted to destroy our energy industry by seeking to regulate coal by EPA regulations and Wyoming and North Dakota are kicking our butts on State regulations, now with these attacks on agriculture, how can any Montanan sit idly by and allow this to continue? The bottom line is we all need to write our Congressman and our Senators and send comments to the Department of Labor telling them just how dumb this is. Stop the nanny state right now! We are sick and tired of it. Montana cannot afford to lose anymore jobs or we will go the way of California, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

To comment click the links below:

Sen. Max Baucus, D-MT

Sen. Jon Tester, D-MT

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-MT

Department of Labor Regulation Comments

The White House

How much is a “Created Job” worth?

2011-10-31T11:43:00.000-06:00

I couldn’t help but notice a couple of newspaper articles and even a letter to the editor of the HDN this weekend bemoaning the fact that there is not enough support to pass Obama’s wonderful $447 billion dollar jobs plan. Obama claims that 2 million jobs could be created or saved with his plan but is that really true? Thanks to one of our readers pointing out a website called FactCheck.Org we read a report saying that economists can only show that 288,000 jobs could either be saved or created over the next 2 years with the president’s plan.

Do the math - $447 billion divided by 288,000 jobs = $1,552,083 spent for each job saved/created. Even Jacksons far-out plan of just paying everyone that is unemployed $40,000 per year to just “do something” would employ 11,175,000 people or 38 times what the Obama plan would do. What is wrong with these alleged highly-educated economists? Even if Obama’s claim that 2 million jobs would be created was in fact true the cost would be over $223,500 for each job “created.” Don’t any of these people own a calculator to run some simple math numbers before they go on prime-time TV bragging about these wonderful plans? I only took Havre High math and I am smart enough to do the math on this one.

So what of the Republicans “better” jobs plan they have been touting. You got it! - The economists said there would be a net gain of ZERO jobs but looking on the bright side at least they were proposing spending considerably less of our tax dollars.

How about just totally forgetting “job creation plans” and taking a look at cutting some of the job killing excessive government regulations that keep the economy from moving ahead instead? That would not only cost you nothing but would actually save some money by eliminating thousands of government bureaucrat positions that do nothing more than muck up the whole job creation process

How much do you think we should spend to create each job?

House Representatives are Working Themselves to Death in Washington

2011-10-30T19:11:00.000-06:00

Anyone catch the article in USA Today with the headline "House Democrats say GOP wants too many days off"?

It seems the house Republicans have turned in a calendar that only has the house in session about one out of every three days for next year or 109 days total. Let me think about that a minute. 5 days per week x 52 weeks is 260 days per year which is what the rest of us work minus holidays and vacations. Now of course our house representatives are certainly supposed to spend a few days at work in their own home states so this 109 day number is certainly skewed as to how many days our representatives actually do work. Leave it to the lazy old Republicans to try to get out of work but when you look back to when the Democrats controlled the house in 2008 they worked a whooping 119 days or a full 10 days more that the Republicans now propose.

Republicans calander - $175,000 annual salary divided by 109 days = $1,605.50 per day
Democrat calendar - $175,000 annual salary divided by 119 days = $1,470.58 per day
My Calendar - $30,000 annual salary divided by 260 days = $115.38 per day plus all the donated overtime I can endure. And for this I say a prayer of thanks everyday as I am bringing home an above average salary for Montana.

I hate to even point out this fact to these disenchanted House Democrats but those of us back home in the real world think both the Republicans and Democrats in Washington have done too little for too much for too long.

Award Winning "News" Paper Reporters in Havre

2011-10-26T21:24:00.001-06:00

The Havre Daily “News” never fails to make me shake my head in wonder. Take the above the fold article in tonight’s paper for instance. The headline reads “Dow vs. Kaul in closely watched Ward 3 race”. At first blush it looks like another award winning article like we have become accustomed to from the professional and investigative journalists at the HDN. It has some questions and what we would assume to be the factual reporting of answers from the candidates. There is even a nice picture of incumbent councilman Kaul in his shiny black cowboy hat and a picture of Dow with no hat (and no hair either for that matter)

Who? Me?

First I really don’t know how closely this race is being watched. There are only a few more than 900 people in all of Havre that are even eligible to vote for either candidate. Assuming a higher than normal turnout because of the mail-in ballot I would guess that the return would run around half of the ballots being actually voted so in reality 226 people could very well determine the outcome of this election. That is why it is so important for people in Ward 3 to actually take the time to return a voted ballot.

After the cutesy first paragraph trying to compare this local council race to the presidential election investigative reporter Zach White writes that;

“Kaul has served two terms already, first getting elected in the 2003 council election. He has served as the chair of the city’s Safety Committee and advocated for the expansion of the hours at the port of entry at Wild Horse.”

It wasn’t long after the newspaper hit the stands that the Corrector started receiving e-mails from folks “correcting” some of the facts. Early this afternoon one of our readers wrote in an e-mail to us that;

“The Chamber of Commerce has had a committee that has pushed for the expansion of the Wild Horse Port to 24-hour status for several years and I can empathically state that Bob Kaul is not a part of our committee. What Bob Kaul has done is start a separate group along with Bob Sivertson, Jim Treperenus and others of like ilk that have muddled the whole process by only asking for expansion of port hours to 18 hours which would do nothing for what we are trying to accomplish which is make Wild Horse a commercial 24 hour crossing. Bob Kaul’s group has hindered our work to make this a commercial crossing where people can import and export the same as they do at Sweet Grass.”

Later tonight we also received two more e-mails stating that Kaul’s tenure reported in the HDN was also false. One reader even went so far as to say he posted a comment on the online Havre Daily “News” pointing out that fact and his comment was never posted but miraculously the copy of the online version of the paper was changed to correct the unreliable reporting. This reader also went on to say that he then posted the following on the HDN face book page and his comment was also quickly removed by the newspaper

“The errors in this article are unbelievable. Kaul hasn’t served on the council since 2003 as he said in this interview. He ran for office in 2005 against Kaftan and was beat handily. He filed for the seat again in 2007 and only got the council position because absolutely no one can against him. No one has ever ever elected him to anything. Why would we elect him again when he doesn’t even know how many years he has been on the council? Either dementia is setting in or the newspaper again screwed up the facts”

While it is true that the Corrector has taken the paper to task in the past these “tips” we were receiving just seemed too far-fetched to be true so we did a little investigating of our own and these assertions all appear to be true. The online HDN article is indeed different than the print article in the newspaper lying here on my desk. I wonder what else is inaccurate in this article? I guess I could give reporter Zack White some leniency here as he has only been in Havre a short time and wouldn’t have the historical election knowledge to know something was amiss but from where did he glean these misrepresentations of the facts? As near as we can determine candidate Kaul told him these things in the interview. Is Kaul trying to pull something over on his constituents or is he really suffering from dementia as our reader asserts and doesn't even know when he was first seated on the council?

We at the Corrector have made no secret that we think councilman Kaul has got to go and we are allowed that liberty as we are an opinion driven blog but is the actual “News” paper now resorting to twisting the facts to assure that Kaul is reelected? It would sure appear so.

A big THANK YOU to those that took the time to send us these corrections. Don’t forget that we love to receive your tips and information at - havredailycorrector@gmail.com and if you live in Ward 3 PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t forget to vote

Another View on the Megaloads

2011-10-26T15:35:00.000-06:00

The following guest editorial written by Cary Hegreberg and Spook Stang was submitted to the Corrector. Cary Hegreberg is the executive director of the Montana Contractors’ Association and Barry “Spook” Stang is the executive vice-president of the Motor Carriers of Montana

Megaload suit harms Montana

The Missoula County Commissioners and the National Wildlife Federation made a big political statement with their lawsuit to halt construction modules from being transported on Montana highways en route to the Kearl oil sands in Alberta. Now that the litigation has about run its course, let’s evaluate exactly what they accomplished.

When it’s all said and done, the modules will all still make it to their destination where they will be used to process Canadian oil sands. However, the lawsuit has caused at least some of the loads to be taken over an alternate route at a much greater expense. The alternate-route modules are dismantled in Lewiston, Idaho, at about half a million dollars each, and reconfigured into smaller, more numerous loads and transported over a longer distance.

With more loads to transport farther, the project as a whole will now consume additional diesel fuel. Not to mention the additional energy used to tear down and reconstruct the modules.

Without question, the Missoula County and Wildlife Federation lawsuit forced Imperial Oil to unnecessarily consume a vast quantity of additional fossil fuel and electricity.

But the suit brought by Missoula commissioners and the Wildlife Federation didn’t just waste fuel and energy, it also squandered economic opportunity and cost jobs. The loads being hauled over alternate routes means that highway construction, traffic control, and public safety work that would have been done by Montana workers has now disappeared.

By some estimates, Montana lost $33 million in economic activity as a result of the ill-advised suit, including scores of potential jobs.

The original, preferred route blocked by Missoula County and the Wildlife Federation would have taken these loads through dozens of small Montana towns. Local businesses along the route had been expecting an economic boost from the project. That’s diminished now too.

In fact, the Montana Department of Transportation estimated the total amount of economic activity resulting from the megaloads project would be $67 million in Montana—that figure includes the construction activity and commerce created in small towns. The more of these loads that travel over the alternate route, the less economic activity happens in Montana.

But perhaps the worst outcome of the Missoula County and Wildlife Federation lawsuit is that a new precedent has been set. We now live in a state where any municipality can apparently stop commerce on taxpayer-owned, state highways by simply going to court if any type of permit is involved.

So what exactly was the lawsuit meant to accomplish?

The loads will still get to their destination—only at higher cost, with more energy used, with fewer Montanans employed, and with a tremendous amount of economic activity lost.

The county commissioners joined the lawsuit under the guise of protecting Missoula County residents. But it’s curious that similar energy-related megaload projects transported by Conoco Phillips and Weyerhaeuser did not draw litigation from Missoula County and the Wildlife Federation.

It appears the lawsuit was intended to make a bold political statement about “global warming,” and nothing else. After adding to air pollution and costing as much as $67 million in jobs and economic activity for Montana, Missoula County residents might question their Commissioners, and Wildlife Federation members might wonder what their so-called sportsmen’s advocacy group is really up to.

Brutal Winter Predicted

2011-10-25T23:06:00.001-06:00

I heard some reports that there were some flurries of snow north of us today and was reminded that winter could be upon us any day. The Northern Ag Network had the following weather map posted on their website that is not showing much hope for a milder winter than we experienced last year. They also said that AccuWeather.com predicts another brutal winter thanks to La Niña. Take a minute to visit the Northern Ag Network website for a very informative story about why the weather forecasters think we are in for a long cold winter.

I better get down a buy a new snow shovel so I am ready. I wonder if the city and county have budgeted a little extra for plowing this year?

One and an Out of State Bunch against the Majority

2011-10-24T07:48:00.000-06:00

Clear back in 1953 the Whitefish chapter of the Knights of Columbus leased a patch of Forest Service ground measuring 25 feet by 25 feet for the purpose of erecting a statue of Jesus as a memorial to World War II veterans. According to the Missoulian one lone person started complaining about the statue being offensive to Atheists and others with no religious beliefs. A Wisconsin based group called Freedom from Religion got involved in the fray and has succeeded in getting the Forest Service to cancel the permit that has allowed this display for over 5 decades.

Without even considering the merits of the historical value of this statue to local residents what I find offensive is that one bellyaching person and a non-local out of state organization can dictate what we can and can’t do here in Montana. No matter what your religious beliefs or lack thereof just what does this historical landmark hurt?

It would seem that with the state of our nation today we would have more important things to worry about. Read the article over in the Missoulian and give us your opinion.

Chalk One up for the Believers of Reincarnation

2011-10-23T22:58:00.000-06:00

I found this kind of disturbing. Apparently we haven’t learned much in the last 4 decades.

Out with the Old -------- In with the New

2011-10-22T14:55:00.000-06:00

I have received my official ballot to vote for this year’s city candidates. Sadly there is not much to vote on in my ward. One unopposed council candidate and the city judge

If you recall the only ward with a contested council race is in Ward 3 where incumbent Bob Kaul is being challenged by Rick Dow, a man with some actual intelligence. What a refreshing change that will be for the council to actually have a person that will think before he speaks. Ward 3 voters do need to do their part and actually mail in their ballots with a check mark by Rick Dow's name to dramatically increase the collective IQ of the Havre City Council

Don’t forget to mail in your ballot if you live in Ward 3 ----------- The future of Havre depends on you!

Time to say Night-Night Jon-Boy

2011-10-20T22:16:00.000-06:00

Here’s one sure to delight all you liberals that like to throw up the name Koch Brothers when trying to put down any conservative thinker. You beloved Senator Jon “No Earmarks Ever” Tester was busy condemning any businesses that have any dealings what so ever with Iran only a week or so ago and of course he was doing like all good disciples of diversionary tactics do and was uttering the name “Koch Brothers” every other syllable. Come to find out according to the Weekly Standard poor misguided Jon-Boy had gleaned his facts from a mostly fabricated story that ran in the Bloomberg Reports that quoted a former disenchanted Koch employee who had made up many of the “facts”

The 2006 champion of cleaning up the K-Street “culture of corruption” even went so far as posting the following on his website.

"Iran’s attempt to kill a foreign diplomat here on U.S. soil elevates the Iranian threat to a new level,” Tester said. “It ought to be clear that no responsible and patriotic American business should be dealing with Iran in any way. And the U.S. government needs to be doing everything it can to pressure these companies and put the squeeze on Iran.”

In a sad turn of events for Jon-boy this week it was learned the Koch industries haven’t been doing any business with Iran but Lo and Behold our own Senator Jon “No-Ear marks Ever Tester has in fact received numerous campaign contributions from people that do in fact have connections with Iran. I guess those silly old Koch Brothers forgot to send Jon some protection money for his campaign racketeering but the rest wheelbarrowed the campaign cash straight to the guy that vowed to clean up this "culture of corruption"

So much for being “responsible and patriotic” eh Jon. You are either one gigantic hypocrite or you are just way too far in over your head with this senate gig. Either way you have had your time in history and it is time to go back to your weed patch of a farm

Night Night Jon-Boy

Havre Daily "News" forgets a few facts to protect Havre's Obstructionist Council Member

2011-10-18T23:16:00.002-06:00

click to enlarge

I see in tonight’s so-called “News” paper another fine piece of work by one of our award winning investigative journalists. The story titled Buffalo Jump has Visibility Problems would lead one to believe that Elaine Morse, chair of the museum’s foundation, came to last night’s council meeting to simply get the potentates blessing on re-erecting an old directional sign that used to be in the mall parking lot guiding folks to the Buffalo Jump. My first thought was why would they even need the council’s blessing as the sign was to be erected out of city limits and on private property.

As I sat slightly confused over what the jest of this story was supposed to portray to us I decided to do a little investigating myself. Coincidently as I was mulling this all over the Corrector received an e-mail pointing out a few facts that were missed in the HDN investigation of the facts.

I would assume that everyone from Havre has seen the historical markers the State used to place along the hi-way at periodic turn-outs where a person could pull over to read a bit about local historical points of interest such as the sign south of town near Fort Assiniboine a picture of which we have posted here. It seems that the Highway department has over the years removed several of these signs that used to be located in our area for one reason or another and have been storing them in the local DOT shop where they have been gathering dust for the last decade or so. When the museum board found out they still existed a couple years ago they asked if they could acquire them so they could erected again to help out with disseminating local historical information about Havre and the points of interest in our area. The problem is that they want to erect them on private property so the State finally told them they could have them if they got a letter of support from the Hill County Commissioners, the Havre City Council and the local tourism committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The commissioners immediately sent a letter of support but a few people like Mayor Dim and Councilman Bob Kaul thought the community would be best served by erecting the old signs at the county fairgrounds even though they have not lifted one finger to assist the museum anytime in the past and this sign project has been on the museum's radar for over two years

The Museum foundation wants to install the old Buffalo Jump sign describing the mall jump site and the old historical sign that used to be near the Vet Clinic east of town that describes local railroad, mining and other Havre history on private property along with the brick mural that is east of Murphy’s Pub. Interestingly the owner of the property has given the Museum Foundation a 49 year lease to develop a historical park to promote Havre’s points of historical interest.

Vote No to send this Cowboy Rat back out to pasture

The HDN article also went on to say that the council unanimously approved the foundation’s request which is not the truth. Councilman Bob Kaul voted NO to their request and the other 7 voted yes. You don’t suppose that NO vote had anything to do with this private property owner erecting the Vote for Anybody but Bob Kaul sign downtown this spring do you? It certainly could be the case as I see numerous Vote for challenger Rick Dow signs on that property. How petty is that?

I have noticed over the last couple of years that these volunteers with a heart for the museum are very active in promoting Havre’s fine points of interest. They rose over $15,000 for the mural, they are working on improving the Buffalo Jump, and they have held various fun activities for the kids such as the mall historical fun day, the Attala competition and a host of other events such as the historical play and dinner they are currently advertising to be held this upcoming Sunday. I stopped by the new Mural last week and was shocked to see the amount of $500 bricks that had been sold to local citizens to raise money for the foundation. If you haven’t stopped by the mural to view it close up you will be amazed at the dedication of these folks. The informational e-mail we received also went on to say that the mural and the erection of these signs is just the first phase in the plans to develop this park. People have already purchased concrete park benches and trees to make this park a reality and a member of our own city council, who is up for re-election by the way, casts the lone NO vote to this becoming a reality.

I don’t know about you but I will be casting my No vote for Cowboy Kaul to continue on as our city council representative which is a position he was only elected to in the first place because the Republicans failed to field a candidate against him in an uncontested race. Good luck to the foundation at this Wednesday’s Chamber Tourism Committee meeting where we would hope they would receive the Chambers blessing to get the ball rolling.

Timmie Wins Again!!

2011-10-17T16:29:00.000-06:00

On Monday the Havre Daily News announced that for the second year in a row HDN Reporter Tim Leeds had one the award for Investigative Reporting by the Inland Press Association for newspapers with a circulation of less than 10,000. Our congratulations to Tim, not just for his award-winning investigative journalism skills, but for all the great fodder over the last two years! It has been great.

So what did Ole Timmie write about that was so fascinating you might ask? Those pesky Republicans in the Monana Legislature of course. You remember the last session, right? Branding Irons, Marijuana and Spears, oh my! Ok, let's face it the 2011 Montana Legislative Session was altogether a little kooky, with the GOP taking their brand new shiny veto proof majorirty in the House out for a spin and who could forget the Governor's Wild West inspired bill branding ceremony on the front steps of the Capitol building! Neither party deserves the credit for the most showy standoff, but the Havre Daily News "investigated" the heck out of that story. Go check it out if you don't recall this wonderful headline: National Media Focuses on Montana Legislature

You see the beauty of pieces like Timmie's was that it took the focus off the fact that the majority in the Legislature was actually trying to accomplish something, whether one agreed with the agenda or not, at least something was being done. So to trip them up the press collectively decided that they'd focus on about a half-dozen bills that are really out there and shade the entire session as nothing more than a three ring circus, and you know what? They succeeded in large part because people eat that stuff up like chocolate pudding. In the end even some Republicans and some on this blog were teed off about the actions or lackthereof of the majority in Helena. Real or preceived, it worked and with yet another heated campaign season on the horizon, fasten those seatbelts, the race to Helena is about to begin again in earnest and Timmie's pen is primed and ready.

Was all that really necessary? Heck yeah, it is award winning journalism afterall. The truth is though the kooks remained and the sky didn't fall, Montana is still here and we've lived to see Timmie bring home another one for the team. Congratulations Tim, keep up the good work, all of us here at the HDC wish you the very best!

Jesse Jackson lays out his new "Jobs Plan"

2011-10-16T16:29:00.000-06:00

The various aspects of the “Jobs Program” offered up to congress for their consideration by the Obama administration has obviously just been more of the same old failed tactics that gave us the “Stimulus” that did absolutely nothing for the economy. This week the Daily Caller said that Democrat Representative Jesse Jackson offered his own plan which would be simply for the government to hire every single unemployed person in the United States for about $40,000 per year. Jackson estimates this would cost the taxpayers $804 billion dollars which is about double of the $447 billion dollar president’s plan which failed to get congressional approval.

It appears it is never too late to get with the program of throwing out tax money into the prevailing winds. Coincidently Jackson is up for reelection so he does need some good old campaign rhetoric to bolster his campaign. If such a plan were implemented what would happen to all the people currently working for minimum wage? People now working for $8 per hour earn around $16,000 per year so would everyone quit their job to get on the new program? What about the people that are just plain unemployable or really don’t want to find a job?

At first blush it seems pretty idiotic but is this idea really any worse than any of the other grand schemes that have come out of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid-Tester-Baucus administration? Tons of the so called stimulus jobs were pegged at costing the taxpayers over 1 million for each job created so maybe this would be less wasteful in the long run. Read the article over at the Daily Caller and tell us what you think.

ACORN ------- Wasn't that the Group that Obama worked for?

2011-10-10T22:06:00.001-06:00

Why doesn’t this surprise me? Here is an interview with one of the organizers of Occupy Wall Street who claims to work with the Working Family party which not coincidently was established in the 90s by key members if socialist organizations including ACORN, SEIU and a coalition of labor unions and community organizing groups. I guess not everything is what it seems at first blush.

Fueling Jobs: Keystone Pipeline

2011-10-09T17:55:00.000-06:00

Anybody Going to Organize an OCCUPY HAVRE Rally?

2011-10-07T08:31:00.000-06:00

Has anybody been watching the news about Occupy Wall Street? The group’s organizers are rallying against what they call the 1% of the people in corporate America that controls all the wealth while the other 99% are left holding the bag so to speak.

Not surprisingly our liberal friends from Missoula have planned a little rally of their own called Occupy Missoula that will be held down by the farmer’s market at 10 am on Saturday. You can see the news report on KPAX television HERE and read the story in the University newspaper the Montana Kaimin.

What is everyone’s opinion of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations? Do you think corporate America is responsible for our recession? Just for your personal information here is a news clip of the protest as is being reported overseas.

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TAX THE RICH

2011-10-06T08:33:00.000-06:00

Those poor mis-guided Democrats have been yakking about taxing the rich” to fund their humongous spending and entitlement fantasies since I was a young lad. The “rich has always been defined as someone that is making more than the average American so it would be palatable to those of us in the ignorant masses when they cry out to “tax the rich”. I even remember when the call to tax the rich was directed at anyone making over a $100,000 per year; that was until they discovered that a dual income family with even two school teachers could earn that amount. Not wanting to erode the base of good followers of the Democrat policy of “tax everybody but me” they then starting yammering about every “rich” family making over $250,000 should buck-up and pay the extra load to fund such worthy projects as the failed stimulus and the hundreds of grants made to prop up failing industry like the solar panel operations that recently filed for bankruptcy even with big brothers help.

An article in today’s Washington Post now has that magic number redefining the rich as anyone making over a million bucks a year and of course Mr. Warren Buffett as the prime example. It appears that the ole light bulb has finally snapped on and a few of our congressmen have woken up to the fact that they all make over $250,000 per year and you sure wouldn’t want to be raising any taxes on yourselves nor would you want to alienate any large mass of voters that do in fact earn in excess or $250,000 per family. I wonder if any of those people earning in excess of $250,000 actually run a business that employs most all of working America? Naw ------- doesn’t everyone work for big greedy corporations anyway?

Here’s a little “news flash” for all you brain surgeons in Washington. If you taxed everyone in all of the United States that makes over one million dollars 100% of their income there still would not be enough money generated to pay the mortgage on the failed stimulus and the yet to be funded wonderful new “Jobs Plan” which incidentally comes miraculously in time for the Tester-Obama 2012 election.

I am voting for whom I believe will actually work to cut spending. Not superficial cuts like the ones that “saved” us from the government shut-down – but actual deep spending cuts to all stupid programs across the board. It is the only way out of this mess and our country’s future depends upon it.

Finally! I can Agree with President Obama about Something

2011-10-05T18:28:00.000-06:00

Are any of our readers better off today than they were 4 years ago?

It Could be Worse -- You Could Live in California

2011-10-04T23:02:00.000-06:00

More nanny state

Revolutionary Politics::Revolutionary Politics : Judge Judy - Here's Who You Support With Taxes

2011-10-03T21:53:00.000-06:00

Revolutionary Politics::Revolutionary Politics : Judge Judy - Here's Who You Support With Taxes

This pretty much sums up what is the matter with "entitlement" thinking

Havre Cell Phone Ban Now in Effect

2011-09-30T16:38:00.000-06:00

Well the big cell phone ban goes into effect tomorrow, October 1st. The Havre City council voted on a 5-3 vote back on June 6 to make the use of a cell phone while driving a primary offence. Council people Trethewey, Veis and Brekke voted against implementation of the ordinance. City Police, Firemen and certain city employees were given an exemption and can continue to dial, yak, text or fiddle with their phones without worry and the people driving around with dogs in their laps or applying makeup on their way to work are also still ok.

City officials said back on June 6th that they would be erecting signs alerting motorists and especially out of town visitors that we have a cell phone ban in place. Now that October 1st has rolled around and the ban is in effect it seems nobody bothered to order the signs in a timely manner so no signs have been erected. Four months lead time and they can’t even get that right. Good thing we have all that “administration” down at city hall but doing what we may never know.

Beware of a “Sting” operation in the near future to get us acclimated to this change. I am going to Radio shack in the morning to see about a hands free device.

Nearly naked PETA member protests in Billings | KTVQ.com | Q2 | Billings, Montana

2011-09-27T11:38:00.001-06:00

I was just reading the news over at Northern Ag network and came across this interesting little article. Apparently it has been hot enough in Billings to parade around in your skimpys.

After reading the story and hearing about the poor creatures blight perhaps the cowboys should consider apologizing to the cows for the trama they have caused and get them some professional counseling

Nearly naked PETA member protests in Billings KTVQ.com Q2 Billings, Montana

Commissioners Continue to Depend on the Gullibility of their Constituents

2011-09-27T08:27:00.000-06:00

Apparently the “Top-Secret” vote taken by the commissioners last week to replace Senator Hutton with Havre businessman Craig Tilleman continues to bite a couple of our commissioners in the butt. The Corrector has received a couple of e-mails telling us the writers asked the commissioners why they voted for the guy that wasn’t even at the public hearing and who had told them he didn’t want to be considered. Both people said that they were told the vote was by secret ballot and no one knows for sure just who voted for Tilleman and who voted for Richman. Just for the record let’s do the math to see if this “Secret” vote is such a secret after all.

• The Havre Daily “News” reported that the Hill County Commissioners each had a weighted vote of 26.04 votes and the Blaine County Commissioners each had a weighted vote of 7.29 votes.
• There are 3 Hill County Commissioners and 3 Blaine County Commissioners
• The HDN reported that the vote cast for Tilleman was 52.08 votes which coincidently is the same amount as would be cast by two Hill County Commissioners
• The vote for Richman was 47.91 votes which would equal the votes of three Blaine County Commissioners and one Hill County Commissioner
• All three Blaine County Commissioners voting together only had the capacity to cast 21.87 votes
• Just judging by the math it is a fact that the winning votes were cast by just two of the Hill County Commissioners
• So who were they you say? Since Commissioner LaVoi reportedly has stated publically on several occasions he cast his vote for Richman I would venture to guess that the other two that have been telling everyone their vote was secret were in fact the two that voted for Tilleman

Why does it matter? It really doesn’t other than to confirm that these two voted strictly because of party politics because they thought they would never be found out because of the secret ballot. On the bright side at least we all now know that they aren’t above a dirty trick or a little lie being told to deceive those they are supposed to represent.

So much for another “Top-Secret” dealing in little Havre Montana

ATF Cracks Down on Gun Dealers that Sell Ammo to Medical Marijuana Users

2011-09-26T22:20:00.001-06:00

The ATF sent out this clarification letter last week to all Federal Firearms Licensees to assist them in complying with Federal firearms laws and regulations. The subject of the letter is to remind federally licensed firearms dealers that an unlawful user of any controlled substance is prohibited from shipping, transporting, receiving or possessing firearms or ammunition. The letter further points out that Marijuana is listed in the Controlled Substances Act and there are no exceptions for medical marijuana even if a State has passed laws allowing the use of medical marijuana. So to make a long story short it is unlawful for a firearms dealer to sell firearms or even ammunition to any person knowing or even having reasonable cause to believe a person is a medical marijuana user.

It sure seems like local Montana gun dealers will have to be on the lookout for any of those medical marijuana users with a hankering to shoot some gophers or go deer hunting. They better not get caught selling any of these guys some 22 shells or heaven forbid some sort of gun or they will be losing their license. Leave it to the government to further muddy the waters when it comes to interpreting current laws. I wonder if this administration has looked into a Czar to head up this problem of medical marijuana users wanting some ammo for can plinking or some other undetermined dastardly deed? Will the clerk at Big R be arrested if he or she knowingly sells some off the shelf ammo to one of these people?

Seems to me we are going a little overboard.

The letter is posted in a PDF file over at the National Shooting Sports Foundation website

POINTS OF INTEREST - EAST

2011-09-26T08:07:00.000-06:00

ROAD FROM THE NEW LANDFILL HEADING NORTH

I don’t know if you have been east lately but the newly completed section of road east of Havre is quite an improvement from the old “danger trail” we have all come to know as the highway to Chinook. The big hill east of town has been taken down quite a few feet to allow for a more gradual incline and the distance you can see oncoming traffic has also been enhanced. If I was to get into my arm-chair engineering mode I would point out that in my opinion they are still lacking in some passing lanes but I will leave that to the guys with the actual knowledge and expertise in High-way construction. All in all it is one heck of an improvement over the old deathtrap we have had to endure all these years.

One thing I did notice as I crested the big hill east of town is that the road to the dump looked like it had been paved. I didn’t realize this was in the plans but the easement issues with the road were resolved only a week or so ago so I was surprised to see this done already. Curiosity got the best of me so I took off down the new road only to discover that the paving ended just over the rise so it was probably about a ¼ mile or so and the rest of the road had been graveled with millings. When I got to the new landfill it looked like the new building was ready but no one was home. Apparently there are still some problems with getting the new landfill up to snuff in order for us to have that spring of 2011 opening like was in the original plan. Anyone know what is going on with the permit and the recent dump violations?

NEW LANDFILL HEADQUARTERS

Havre Gal Marie Gibson to be Inducted into the Cowgirls Hall of Fame

2011-09-25T19:32:00.001-06:00

Marie Gibson

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame recently announced that Marie Gibson, a cowgirl with Havre roots, will be inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame during the 36^th Annual Induction Luncheon Ceremony to be held at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth Texas on October 26, 2011.

Marie was born in Holland Manitoba on August 18, 1894 to Belgium immigrants. When Marie’s parents moved to the Havre area Marie stayed behind to marry Joe Dumont and her first of three children was born to her at the age of 16. Three years later Marie’s family moved to Burnham Montana which is about 10 miles west of Havre. Marie’s husband left the marriage and returned to Canada leaving her with three small children. Marie’s neighbor was Long George Francis who encouraged Marie to ride the bucking broncs he was breaking for saddle horses.

Marie Gibson- Chicago

Marie first rodeo as a bronc and trick rider began in Havre in 1917 at the Great Northern Stampede where she placed third in the horseracing event. She meet Englishman Tom Gibson at this rodeo who she would later become her husband. After that first rodeo Marie continued on in the North American Rodeo Circuit and she won the Best Woman Bronc Rider award at the Saskatoon rodeo in 1919 where she met the Prince of Wales who later was crowned King Edward the VIII. By 1992 Marie was considered one of the” best of the best” and was invited to participate in the very first Tex Austin rodeo in New York City. The next year Austin’s performers were on London performing at Wembly Stadium.

Marie Gibson- Chicago

Marie continued earning top-dollar on the rodeo circuit until September 23, 1933 when her horse collided with the pickup man’s horse and she died of head injuries at the age of 39.

“She died as she lived, hearing the applause of the people.”

If you find Marie’s story interesting the following sources were used for this article
Photo collection from the University of Wyoming
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame
History of Marie Gibson created by Havre’s own Danielle Barton
Cowgirl Hall of Fame Inductees
Montana Cowgirl Marie Gibson by Heidi Thomas

Marie Gibson - Trick Rider

Marie Gibson on "Silvertip"

Friedrick Jozef Schweitzer

2011-09-23T18:40:00.001-06:00

Friedrick Jozef Schweitzer

The 26 year old nephew of the Governor made the headlines in the Celebrity Stoners News this week when he was arrested on drug charges. They published a nice little poem about him on their site so be sure to check it out.

According to the Billings Gazette Friedrick Jozef Schweitzer was charged with criminal possession with the intent to distribute drugs Schweitzer, who owns a medical marijuana business, was arrested after he picked up a package delivered to him by Federal Express containing over 2 pounds of marijuana.

Schweitzer recently ran as a Democrat for Senate District 29 out of Laurel which was being vacated by Republican Senator Dan McGee who was termed out. Schweitzer, who had no primary opposition, received 1,240 votes in the June 8 primary and was set to face off against Republican Edward Walker in the general election when he withdrew from the race stating that he was just a “place holder” in the race because the democrats couldn’t find anyone to run. Democrat Shirley Hanson was appointed as his replacement and subsequently lost the election to Republican Edward Walker 2906 – 5865.

I can feel for the Governor on this one because as we all know we can’t choose our relatives. While the Governor may or may not have had any insight into the dealings of his nephew it is kind of suspect when it comes to his decisions relating to medical marijuana this past session. Then again it may all prove to be an innocent connection. It was bad enough he was related to anti-government activist Leroy Schweitzer who died in federal prison just a few days ago. Perhaps nephew Friedrick is just trying to take over Cousin Leroy’s place in the federal system? Only time will tell how this one plays out.

One thing you have to say about Friedrick is that he doesn’t look all that unhappy on his police mug shots posted here. I think I would have had a sadder more embarrassed look standing in his place

Don’t Let Montana Be a Broadband Backwater

2011-09-23T17:15:00.000-06:00

Guest Editorial By Casey Almas

Fifteen years ago when I was just learning the concept of numbers, the adult world was fascinated with a concept called the “Information Superhighway.” But by the time I was in third grade hardly anybody was talking about the Information Superhighway. It didn’t happen overnight, so most of the public dismissed it as a fad and a fantasy.

Now fast forward to the present day. I’m a college student in Helena majoring in computer science. High-speed broadband has turned the Information Superhighway fantasy into a practical reality. People refer to it as broadband Internet, but the Information Superhighway has been built and it’s expanding all the time.

Trouble is this marvelous highway is by-passing Montana.

The Treasure State is bringing up the rear when it comes to broadband Internet access and broadband speeds. According to an op-ed in the Great Falls Tribune last month by State Rep. Wayne Stahl, a recent study shows that 29 percent of Montanans lack access to any broadband at all. This lack of broadband connectivity is three times higher than the national average.

Why is Montana a broadband Backwater? Blame it on geography and topography. We’ve got a population of a little under a million people spread out over 147,000 square miles of mountains and high plains. That comes out to roughly 6.5 acres of land per resident. That lack of population density makes most areas of the state a daunting financial proposition for any company thinking about investing in fixed or wired broadband. But Big Sky Country is a natural candidate for advanced mobile broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet access through the air without miles of fiber-optic cables.

One example of how Montana could achieve universal broadband access is through the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. AT&T has said it will be able to provide 97 percent of the U.S. population, including all of Montana with 4G LTE, the most advanced generation of mobile broadband.

Statewide 4G LTE in Montana would mean that every isolated ranch house, reservation health clinic and rural school could tap into the limitless applications made possible by super-fast Internet connections (10 Benefits of Broadband for Rural Communities). That is why in Montana, and the country as a whole, we need to make universal broadband access the highest priority.

Secretive Dirty Deeds by Democrat Commissioners Come to Light

2011-09-21T19:37:00.001-06:00

It would appear that partisan politics is alive and well in the Hill County Commissioners office.

Upon the resignation of Senator Rowlie Hutton from Senate District 17 the Hill and Blaine county Republicans meet to compile a list of three candidates to be submitted to a joint committee comprised of the Hill and Blaine County commissioners. The local Republicans submitted the names of Harlem Insurance agent Don Richman, Havre Chevrolet dealer Craig Tilleman and retired state highway department foreman Les Bender. The Republicans ranked the choices Richman first choice, Tilleman second choice and Bender last. After the names were submitted Tilleman expressed to both the Hill and Blaine county commissioners that he would like them to vote for Richman because he didn’t think he had the time to campaign for the office. On Tuesday night the potential replacement candidates met with the commissioners at a public hearing where they were questioned extensively by the commissioners and audience members for over 1 ½ hours. Tilleman was absent from this meeting as he had business in Detroit relating to his dealership.

After hearing from the candidates the commissioners took a “secret” vote as to their preferences. State law dictates that the vote be weighted according to the votes cast for Hutton this last election which meant that if two Hill County commissioners voted together they could decide the outcome of the Senate replacement process. Not surprisingly Democrats Kathy Bessette and Mike Wendland decided to muck up the process and ignore the wishes of both the Hill and Blaine County Republicans as well as the wishes of Tilleman and went ahead and voted for Tilleman. What is appalling about this whole scenario is that they not only wasted the audience’s time but that they also violated the trust of those that depended upon them to do the right thing. Interestingly the “SECRET VOTE” didn’t stay secret for long as we were told that the 3 Blaine County Commissioners as well as Hill County Commissioner LaVoi all came forth and have publically stated that they voted for Richman and were disgusted by the actions of Bessette and Wendland. Funny thing is that 2 of the Blaine County commissioners are Democrats and they did the right thing and voted for Richman in spite of their party affiliation. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that Democrats Wendland and Bessette thought that because Tilleman had told them he didn’t think he had the time to adequately campaign for the seat they would just go ahead and appoint him and insure that their political bedfellow Democrat Greg Jergeson would handily win the seat. After all it was another of those infamous “top secret” votes common to Havre and who would know they had done a dirty deed.

Sadly these kinds of partisan political shenanigans are exactly why those of us in Hill County can never make any progress with anything. Call the 2 commissioners that unsuccessfully tried to hide behind the “secret” vote at 265-5481 and thank them for their underhanded dirty deed and poke in the eye they just gave the Hill and Blaine County Republicans.

It is no wonder the elected Democrats have been getting turned out to pasture in record numbers here in Havre. Keep up the “good” work you partisan hacks because you are next.

Do the Unemployed Even Want to Work?

2011-09-20T11:23:00.000-06:00

I just read a report over at the Montana Watchdog that says Montana’s unemployment rate increased to 7.8% in August although the U.S. employment rate is at 9.1%. Montana Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly was quoted as saying “Montana’s economic recovery continues, but job growth is slow and unsteady.”

If we are still close to 8% unemployed in Montana why then can't we find any help? Everyone I have talked to in the last few weeks is having labor “issues.” Either they can’t find help or the ones they are hiring don’t want to put any effort into being a decent employee. We have difficulty finding people that can even make change let alone help a customer. Could it be that all these extensions of the unemployment benefits have caused the unemployed to not even bother to look for work? Personally I think this is the case. In the past two weeks I have talked to several people that are just enjoying their time off from work and are in no hurry to get back to the grind because they are eligible to receive unemployment check for many weeks to come.

What is wrong with this picture?

Democrat Fund Raiser A Huge Flop

2011-09-19T19:56:00.000-06:00

What’s happened to the local Democrat Party organization? They held their big fund raiser of the year as they do every year during Festival Days and no one showed up. The Havre Daily “News” reported that about 45 people attended. Considering that the dinner was fairly well attended by state wide candidates this dinner couldn’t have drawn over a couple dozen local party members. Also it was odd that during the last election cycle we saw the local Republicans very active in assisting their candidates while the local Democrats sat on their haunches and let every single seat up for election be taken over by the Republicans. What is up with that? Have the local Dems fallen into such a state of disarray that they are no longer a functioning party? It would appear so judging by these recent failures. Maybe they are disenchanted with their savior Obama but you would think after all the “Cowboy Ethics” crap and other nonsense that came out of the Republicans last session they would be energized to the max instead of rolling over and playing dead like they have been. With this kind of support the local Republicans shouldn’t have much fear that they will lose any seats next term.

Former Public Service Commissioner Greg Jergeson did take the opportunity at the dinner to formally announce that he would be filing to run for the Senate seat 17 which was left vacant by the resignation of Republican Senator Rowlie Hutton. The Hill and Blaine County Republican parties recently submitted three names to the Hill and Blaine County commissioners from which they are to choose a replacement for Hutton. The joint commissioners will be publically interviewing the three candidates at a public meeting to be held in the Triangle Telephone meeting room tomorrow night at 7 pm. The list includes retired insurance agent Don Richman from Chinook, local car dealer Craig Tilleman and retired DOT foreman Les Bender. This appointment will only be for the remaining 1st half of the four year term and the appointed person will have to file to run against announced candidate Democrat Greg Jergeson and the winner will fill out the remainder of Senator Hutton’s term. It will be interesting to see if the Democrat controlled Hill and Blaine County Commissioners will appoint the favored candidate selected by the Republicans or if they will attempt to play party politics and appoint the person they think can be defeated by Jergeson the easiest.

I even have to feel bad for the local Democrats that went to the effort to throw a party and no one showed up. Better luck next time.

More Great News from the Havre High School

2011-09-15T16:59:00.000-06:00

The Havre Daily “News” headline last night says there was another $130,000 “Whoopsie” at the Havre High School Roof project. Talcott Construction just happened to notice that there is another large area of structural steel that was not built to specifications back when the roof was built back in 1997. Interesting thing is that the school district hired the engineering firm of Thomas, Dean & Hopkins to inspect the structural framing after the roof collapse and the school let the bid to Talcott Construction based on the engineer’s findings. Nothing was found to be amiss over the gym at that time. Earlier an inspection found that over 4, 0000 square feet of the new roofing was installed improperly and the contractor was made to totally remove and replace those shingles. Just who is supposed to be keeping an eye on this project?

The professional engineer missed this problem which was found by the contractor when one of his construction workers was pulling himself up on a framing member and it bent in his hands. It is nothing that can’t be rectified by the expenditure of another $130,000.

Oh well……….there is plenty more money in the Hill County tax payers pockets if they should ever happen to run low on funds

“Veto Branding” Theatrics Coming Home to Roost

2011-09-14T08:29:00.000-06:00

KFBB TV reports that 6 government entities have filed suit against Governor BS and the state of Montana over his line-item vetoes of their projects which would have been funded with Treasure State Endowment funds. You may recall that when the Governor held his big theatrical “Veto” branding on the front steps of the capital he was using the veto iron to punish select lawmakers who voted against his budget.

Way to show them Governor. You da’ Man! Hey wait a minute – doesn’t a lawsuit filed by a taxpayer against a tax funded guy only waste more of our tax money?

Pesky Campaign Finance Laws Apparently Don’t Apply to Democrats Running for City Council

2011-09-13T17:38:00.000-06:00

Vote No to this Dimwit

It would seem that Havre City council person Bob Kaul is trying to pull another fast one on the Havre electorate. You may recall that Kaul is the dimwit that actually turned the City into the Board of Labor and Industry as well as to the cities insurance company because he saw city employees putting up Christmas lights in the city bucket truck while not properly secured in said bucket. Kaul recently filed for reelection to his position on the council and apparently he thinks he is so loved by the Havre residents in his ward that he filed a campaign finance report that swears he is not going to spend one thin dime on his reelection campaign. That is zero dollars from either campaign donations or from his personal “early retirement” stash from his few years at the railroad.

Local Republicans have taken notice and have pointed out to the Corrector that any expenditure, including even the use of previously purchased campaign signage and materials from the last campaign or help from the local Democrat Party qualifies as an expenditure in this current campaign. Considering Kaul’s love of the limelight and his constant efforts to be quoted in the “news” paper as an intelligent council person we at the Corrector are skeptical that he is being forthcoming with his intentions to just lie in the weeds in his election battle with his Republican challenger Rick Dow. Funny how the local Democrats are never bothered by those pesky campaign finance laws except when they are leading the charge against someone else.

Seeing this guy reelected would be a crying shame after all his antics this last term which by the way, he won by default because the local Republicans never even bothered to recruit a candidate to run against him. Apparently the local GOP has learned their lesson because not only have they found a guy to run against him this time but they have actually recruited a person with some actual intelligence. Just in case you are interested in helping to make sure that Kaul, the very worst of the eight council people is defeated his challenger Rick Dow is actively soliciting campaign contributions to be elected to the Havre City Council Ward 3 and donations can be sent to Dow 4 City Council at 80 15th St. Havre Montana

Do your part – Help send this Rat out of the council and back to his hole

Government "Stimulates" 500 Jobs in Texas

2011-09-12T19:05:00.000-06:00

The government has again “stimulated” 500 energy jobs in Texas. The Daily Caller reports that Luminant, a Texas Energy Company, has been forced to close two energy generating plants and three different Texas mines. Luminant blamed new burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations on the closures which will result in the loss of 500 jobs.

Silly me. Here I thought we were supposed to be “stimulating” the creation of new jobs instead of forcing new regulations on established businesses resulting in massive layoffs. At least with the Baucus-Tester-Obama team we did get that “change” everyone wanted.

I wonder what the closure of two energy generating plants will do to the cost of energy for the Texas consumers.

Businesses Ban “Select” Customers

2011-09-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

I have loved all the people here in Havre that over the years have been quick to boycott this or that business because something was said or done by the business that offended them. Michigan bar and restaurant owners have banded together to BAN the legislators that passed the no smoking ban in Michigan. This is a novel idea that should also be used in Havre.

City council shoved some inane ordinance down your throat or gave you the “up yours” response when you have beseeched their help? School board cost you a big increase in your tax only to give it away to a departing superintendent? County commissioners lie to you about the problems at the new landfill? Ban them from even entering your business! You have the right as a private property owner to refuse service to anyone
I am going to have to ponder this idea for awhile

Weeds On Our Reader's Mind

2011-09-08T15:57:00.000-06:00

FROM AN INTERESTED READER:

Where Is Bob Rice When Havre Needs Him?

Has anyone noticed the weeds on the sidewalk in front of the old Post Office in the heart of the downtown and on the historic district avenue of our town? How sad especially when they were filming a movie directly across the street.

The care of the core business area is abominable since Mayer Bob left!! Public Works doesn't really give a dam about its appearance either. Jeff Jensen has his nose up "Peties" ass, - and "Petie" has the mayor "Marshal Dillon" so buffaloed that Havre's so called "Public works" office is an abomination! Apparently the city council also has no shame either! Let’s look at some of reps on the council; We have a railroad retiree who graduated from its "rubber room;" then we have a pot smoker who is "Johnny on the spot" for his $200 every payday; Not to forget "rusty towel" baldy who is more interested in golf and ba-kket ball than the way the city looks; ah yes then we have good old "Doc Holiday" who asks 2 hours after a council meeting what was discussed; You would think "Miss Kitty" of EPA fame would take pride in her "fly over city” that she temporarily resides in but no I’m sure all that is on her mind is the rights of the gay community in Missoula; Of course we have the so called Mayor; Apparently they didn't teach "Weed Control" at "Rodeo University." If they did and he took the course, he is busy teaching what he learned at the Commissioner’s Office!

Why do the so-called downtown business people and our "professional" office people in that area tolerate this joke at city hall without speaking out? Oh well like our wonderful chamber says...Havre has it! And the weeds too...apparently.

Group Working to "Set Aside" 3 Million Acres in Montana

2011-09-06T08:36:00.002-06:00

The economy may seem “busted” to many of us here in Montana but the Northern Ag Network reports that a group called the American Prairie Foundation (APF) is still going gangbusters towards their goal of “setting aside” 3 million acres of prairie to preserve what the group calls “a section of America’s Great Plains restored to the grandeur Lewis & Clark witnessed.” According to the APF website:

APF seeks to build the Reserve by purchasing private land from willing sellers that can be eventually linked with an existing two million acres of public land in the region. When these fragmented public and private lands are connected, APF will provide a continuous land area with an overall wildlife management focus, the largest of any kind in the continental United States

A recent article in the New York Times is offering a tour of the American Prairie Foundations land holdings as well as a picnic at the elk viewing area of the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge, a stay at the Grand Union Hotel in Fort Benton and tours to view “flora and fauna, including bison, grassland birds, pronghorn antelope and prairie dog colonies” Tour participants will also visit “a teepee ring, a buffalo jump, a one-room schoolhouse and old prairie homesteads” The Times story goes on to say that this five-day safari hosted by the American Prairie Foundation in partnership with Yellowstone Safari. Com can be taken for a cost of $2,350 per person

From the APF website

Senator Jonathan Windy Boy's Tax "Issues"

2011-09-01T16:35:00.000-06:00

Back on August 22 the Havre Daily Corrector did a post about the Business “Savvy” of a couple of our legislators. We mentioned that State Senator Jonathan Windy Boy recently had a $33,000 federal tax lien placed against him for failure to pay his 940 tax. The folks over at Montana Watchdog noticed this little tidbit in our story and did a little deeper investigating and lo and behold we had just scratched the tip of the iceberg as to the poor Senators problems. On August 25 the Montana Watchdog story revealed Windy Boy’s tax problems ran into a lien of over $134,000 that has piled up over the years.

After the Montana Watchdog posted their story statewide on the 25th and other sources were citing the Watchdog the local Havre Daily “News” finally decided they better cover the story on September 1st. Now considering these liens have been filed numerous times over the last couple of years and the Havre Daily “News” has access to all our local public records why didn’t they break this story earlier? Were they trying to be “fair and balanced” or were they protecting someone just because he is one of their favored Democrats? Thanks to the Montana Watchdog running this story statewide so you now know the rest of the story.

Like the Montana Watchdog story the Havre paper quoted Windy Boy as saying he “has his tax team on it and the matter would be resolved”. Tax Team? Who do you suspect that might be? Is it former embezzling tribal chairman Jake Parker and Roni Deutch the tax lady that advertises on TV? Now don't you worry about the Senator's financial wisdom as he is much better managing the tax-funded millions spent in his job at the legislature than he is with managing his own affairs.

Give the Havre Daily “News” paper a call at 265-6795 and ask them why they insist upon keeping us in the dark

Havre Drug Case Bungled

2011-09-01T14:44:00.001-06:00

Well it appears that two of Havre’s finest got off scot free from last year’s drug charges. You may recall that the Corrector reported back in August of last year that two State employees were arrested for drug dealing and for not following the medical marijuana laws pertaining to the sale and distribution of medical marijuana. Lanie Fitzpatrick was employed by Child and Family Services and her sister Melissa was employed as a juvenile probation officer. Several illegal buys and turns of events led task force officer to be certain crimes were being committed and they made the arrests.

State District Judge Julie Macek dismissed all charges against both women. Gee ……. We must have been wrong about the poor girls and they were innocent right? The Havre Daily “News” reported in Wednesday night’s paper that:

“A state district judge Tuesday dismissed charges against two governmental employees from Havre, accused of violating the law while working as medical marijuana caregivers, ruling that the state committed governmental misconduct and overstepped its legal bounds in conducting the investigation leading to the charges.”

Well it seems that in order to catch lawbreakers our law officers think they themselves are above the law. The reason cited by the Judge for letting the sisters off was that illegal procedures were used in the sting operation. The undercover cop had an illegal fictitious drivers license he used to also illegally obtain a medical marijuana card. But let a kid buy a cigarette while underage and they have that sting operation down to perfection so maybe they should stick to raiding convience stores and leave the drug enforcement to the Feds.

This whole story makes me wonder about our law enforcement drug team. If they had all these tips about the women dealing and the illegal sales why would they need to resort to Gestapo tactics like falsifying driver’s licenses and illegal searches? It is no wonder we have a high rate of crime in Montana when everyone knows the law enforcement will screw something up and you will get off for most crimes anyway.

Does this mean that the girls get their tax funded state jobs back? Do we get to pay them back pay? What about the $27,000 in cash that was seized from the women during the raid? What about the kids these people work with? When I screw up at work and the customer brings something back they get a refund out of my budget. Will these officers refund the taxpayers for the costs of this investigation/raid/wasted court costs? NO……………… you guys will just pony up some more tax dollars so we can go to round two.

Havre Daily Corrector Aug 25-2010
Havre Daily "News" Aug 31-2011

Raise Taxes? - OR - Reduce Spending?

2011-08-31T21:42:00.000-06:00

A pollster from Reason TV talks about the results of a recent poll asking what should be done about the deficit

A Little Snafu with New Landfill

2011-08-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

What’s going on with the infamous new landfill project for the Unified Disposal District? Back on February 29th of 2010 the Corrector reported that the bids were in for the dirt work at the new landfill with the low bid of $677,995 received from Advance Earthworks of Stevensville. The Blaine County Journal at that time quoted district landfill coordinator Clay Vincent as saying the disposal District was ready to begin the next phase of the project which was erecting a new building and upgrading the road from Hi-Way 2 east of Havre.

When Unified Disposal aquired this property which consists of around 80 acres they paid close to $1,500 per acre. On July 18th of 2010 the Corrector reported that the earth moving was well underway at the new landfill site. On August 5th the Havre Daily “News” ran an article quoting Vincent as saying the new dump would be operational by spring. The article also said the bids were in for the new building at the site and work was progressing on the road that will connect Hi-Way 2 to the landfill.

One week later on August 11th the HDN broke the news that American Wind and Wheat Farms LLC had filed suit in District Court to stop the road from being built across their land. Hill County contends that they are using a “road” that was created in 1914 to connect the landfill to Hi-Way 2 while American Wind and Wheat’s complaint contends the road is not legal and no road was created in 1914.

Further information obtained by the Corrector states that a petition was filed in 1914 asking that land for a road be gratuitously donated across sections 6 and 7 Township 17 east 32 north. (Correction 8/31/11– the petition was only filed for section 7 – no petition found on section 6) In 1914 two women (Lillian Heenan and Mary Auld) owned the land in sections 5 and 6 and there is no documentation that they ever signed over any property for this road however I can remember there being a field trail across some of this land that the farmer used for his machinery and harvest clear back when I was in high school. My pals and I used to go out there on occasion to hoist a few beers as minors out of sight of law enforcement and we always assumed we were trespassing on private property as the alleged “road” was a field trail that went from Hi-Way 2 to the Clear Creek road and actually at times had wheat seeded into it. This lawsuit has been dragging on for over a year and is scheduled to hit the court within days according to our source. In spite of this pending lawsuit the county has gone ahead and spent vast amounts of money to construct this road anyway although the graveling of said road has not been completed. So if they lose in court do they have to haul all the materials they have used to build this road back out?

Even with these road “issues” why wasn’t the dump operational this spring? The Unified Disposal trucks can still take the secondary route out through 13th Avenue to the Clear Creek road. Well it seems that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has some “issues” with the new landfill pits and related drainage. According to a report dated June 30, 2011 and attached as a PDF file here the Hill County Commissioners were served a letter by certified mail stating that the landfill was in violation of its permit. violations include:
• failure to maintain records and reports
• failure to submit required permit information
• failure to conduct inspections in violation of the Monitoring and report requirements
• failure to install Best Management Practices (BMP) in violation of Part II Effluent Limitations
• Failure to maintain BMP in violation of the storm water pollution protection plan
• Failure to even have a storm water pollution prevention plan
• Read the whole report here (this is a PDF and takes a couple minutes to load)

The Unified Disposal District had until July 29th to respond to these violations and we are told they have failed to comply. The letter states that noncompliance constitutes a violation of the Montana Water Quality Act and is grounds for enforcement action and permit revocation. It goes on to say the landfill management needs to take necessary steps to correct these problems which have a “reasonable likelihood of adversely affecting human health or the environment.” Furthermore this violation notice “will result in the loss of your eligibility for a 25% reduction in your annual fee.” Just how much is this fee?

The details of the report went on to point out numerous problems involving containment and drainage issues. Our source reports that not only is the landfill in violation of these standards but they pumped thousands of gallons of water from the landfill site this spring damaging adjacent farm ground. If the new landfill can’t even contain its sediment and runoff when it is empty what is going to happen when it is full of polluted garbage? You don’t suppose any of that pollution will affect the water table or people down coulee from this site do you?

Why do all of our local governmental bureaucrats always have to keep vital information from the taxpaying population? Is it just Havre or are all of them like this?

14 New Jobs in Seattle

2011-08-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

I love watching the news and seeing all the wonderful things that are being accomplished with my tax money to help “stimulate” the economy. The City of Seattle, one of the Greenie Mecca’s of green job thinking was given a $20 million dollar stimulus grant over 16 months ago to weatherize homes in Seattle and save energy while creating jobs. How are they doing you may ask?

Well they created a program that provided a job for 14 people and have upgraded the energy level of a whooping three homes thus far. The Mayor of Seattle says it is way too early to tell if the program is actually a bust. Oddly most of the 14 jobs created are administrative positions and any business wanting to participate in this program must pay their employees $21 per hour plus a full benefit package including a retirement plan. That sounds great but the average pay in the Seattle area for insulators is $12 per hour so there is no market for these newly trained “professional insulators” in this price range but I am sure there is a long-range plan there somewhere to make this program viable and they just haven't discovered it yet.

But not to worry as they are only 16 months into the three year program so the 14 new jobs are secure for at least two more years. It would appear that what we need is just another stimulus package to keep this ball rolling so let’s hope the “hope and change” guy can get re-elected and continue with this lunacy.

For all you “No Child Left Behind” graduates try dividing $20 million by 14 jobs and see what that magic number turns out to be per job created.

Seattle Green Jobs Program