Eureka

Thanks to Destany Swan who sent us this picture today and alerted us that the City crew is out attempting to make the drive to Highland Park a little easier on the old automobile by filling the humongous potholes we have endured all winter.

Photo compliments of Destany Swan

Support the State VFW

James Goodwin

James Goodwin of Havre proudly holds the new rifle he won on the State VFW 30 gun raffle. There are 20 guns yet to draw for at the state convention in June. If you are interested in helping support the State VFW and possibly winning a new firearm call 265.4917 to order your tickets.

Half-Time Report from Representative Warburton

Friends and neighbors,


I write with a “half-time” report from the Montana Legislature. My apologies for not writing more often. It’s been very busy!

From the beginning, House Republican leadership built a 5-point plan outlining our top priorities:

(1) Jobs & Revitalizing the Economy

(2) Natural Resource Development

(3) Balancing the Budget & Streamlining Government

(4) Educational Excellence

(5) Preserving Freedom

We invited businesses from across Montana to Helena Jan. 8 to advise us how to make Montana business friendly and grow jobs. Read about many jobs-focused bills at www.rotundareport.com. The number one concern was Montana’s extremely high worker’s comp rates.

In response, we passed a good work comp reform bill that analysis says will bring us to competitive levels with other states. HB334 passed on a party line vote and now heads to the Senate.

We also have legislation coming to reform MEPA (MT Environmental Policy Act) to be more business friendly, and there are bills being developed to address Montana’s uncompetitive Business Equipment Tax.

Believe it or not, clamping down on medical marijuana is a big jobs issue, too! Companies with safety concerns, like oil companies, have been nervous about doing business in Montana since the proliferation of marijuana use. We heard testimony that Montana is now labeled a “source country” like Mexico and South American countries. Motorcycle gangs and organized crime have moved into Montana to ferry drugs grown here to their cohorts on the coast. Bills to repeal marijuana or to severely restrict its distribution are working through the legislature.

Balancing the budget and streamlining government go hand in hand. We won’t see the final results for a few weeks (I’ll keep you posted), but our Appropriations committee is taking steps that have been needed for years, such as putting sunsets on all statutory appropriations (HB 316), meaning spending that is written right into the code. Sunsetting does not automatically eliminate monies for important state responsibilities. It simply means the Legislature will periodically examine that spending and retain, reduce or remove it as appropriate. HB 317 will require government agencies to go through zero-based budgeting. HB 444 will put the state’s checkbook online so YOU can see exactly how your tax money is being spent. There’s good support for TSEP and I’m optimistic about restoring TSEP funding.

Bills with revenue increases or reductions tied to them, like most education bills, have later deadlines in the legislative process, so some haven’t yet come out for a vote. One good bill on the way will allow for charter schools in Montana, successful in other states and an exciting opportunity for Montana.

We’ve passed a multitude of other important bills. Bills to control wolves, illegal immigration bills, bills challenging the authority of the federal government to require Montanans to purchase health insurance, and bills to make private sector health insurance more affordable for Montanans.

A constitutional referendum to require that “economically productive” be added to the “clean and healthful environment” clause. A bill to require that nonprofits who sue to stop industrial projects must disclose who their financial supporters are. Bills to make eminent domain more fair and profitable to landowners. HB 309 to protect property rights and safety by clarifying that irrigation ditches are not open to the public like rivers and streams. A bill to implement a 24/7 program (like South Dakota) to keep drunk drivers off the road without spending millions to incarcerate them. A bill to reduce insurance rates by allowing insurance companies to consider gender. Bills defining that wind energy development rights belong to the surface owner. Bills to crack down on prescription drug abuse. Tort reform bills.

We have passed a lot of good bills! My HB 318 will require county commissioner permission before FWP can dump wild bison into a county, and my HB 377 will allow CNAs to become medication aides to reduce the pressure on nurses and save nursing homes money on travel nurses. I also spoke in support of including funding for MSU-Northern’s auto diesel tech building in a bonding bill for college buildings around the state. MSU-N auto diesel graduates get jobs! If anything is done to renovate college buildings in Montana, Northern needs to be included!

This year we have a clear Republican majority in the House, with 68 Republicans and 32 Democrats. Republicans have a slimmer lead in the Senate and don’t have a veto-proof majority, however, so not everything that passes the House is a slam dunk.

The democrats this session don’t have much power legislatively, so unfortunately some of their partisan operatives’ focus has been on negative, campaign-style rhetoric. I’m hoping that will change in the next half of the session so we can move forward together positively for Montana.

If you want to get an unbiased and unedited view of what is happening in Helena, you can look up bills, watch bill hearings, and even watch the House and Senate sessions at http://www.leg.mt.gov/  or on the TVMT cable channel.

You are welcome to call or email me directly any time at 262-3185 or wendywarburton@gmail.com . I’m honored to serve you in the 62nd Legislature.

Thank you!

Rep. Wendy Warburton

Reader Letter to Representative Warburton

The Corrector has received the following as a letter to the editor from Kathy Belke




Dear Ms. Warburton,

Regarding your ballot measures published in the Bitterroot Star on Feb. 23. I would suggest that since you feel that a woman along with her husband, doctor, rabbi, priest, pastor or whomever supports her decision should have no access to an abortion, or funds to assist her in what has to be an awful decision, I request that you publish the fact that you will then financially support her with your money and your supporters financial contributions to assist her with pre-natal expenses until she delivers that child. I will wait to see your response along with all of your supporters in the paper, (but I won't hold my breath!!!), nor will I wait to see what programs YOU will sponsor to assist her AFTER the child is born.

Kathy Belke

Rancho Del Cranky

We have a new blog on the Hi-line hosted by none other than our own Cranky Farmer.  You can find a very interesting blog entitled Spending Made Real over at the Rancho del Cranky BlogSpot.  Give him a read and tell us what you think.

He also has a website at www.crankyfarmer.com 

Winter Fever

Luckily my wife is one of those fortunate few that actually gets Presidents day off as a paid holiday so we took the opportunity to have our own little “Winter Fever” get away and headed out to visit friends in Missoula on Saturday.  As we were pulling through Great Falls I confessed to my poor wife why I didn’t put up any resistance to taking Monday off work when I suggested that I wanted to swing through Helena to take a peek at what was happening at the Big Sky Tea Party Convention in the Red Lion Inn.  While I couldn’t talk her into staying long it was readily apparent that this group has a pretty substantial following.  I have really been wondering if these people actually could formulate that “Third Party” many voters are seeking.  What do our readers think?  The following is a clip of the event posted on the Helena NBC station.  Video link here

I hesitated to do a post about the Tea Party because many that comment on this blog already accuse me of being a “tea-bagger” and other derogatory terms but it seems to me that it is time for voters to stand up and demand better from our elected officials – both Democrat and Republican. As I was reading the paper Monday night the first thing I noticed was an article about the republicans calling for solidarity (which ironically the HDN headlined as Solidity) amongst their followers. I am ok with supporting your party and their ideals but it would seem to me that both parties should take notice of the landslide victories handed to candidates advocating less government yet they seem to have forgotten that “less government” pledge as soon as they got into office. Petty bickering and fanatic isssues have again taken center stage just like they did last session when the Democrats controlled the government. Doesn’t anyone from either party get it?

(By the way – Nice job HDN
Your article titled Three Gubernatorial candidates stump Havre which was about four of the gubernatorial candidates was equally as impressive as the Solidity headline)

Would you call this Road Rage?

Thanks to the reader that sent us this photo showing the peoples frustration with the lack of response to complaints about our sinkhole filled roads. Will Public Works take some action if enough people give them a call? Come on readers let’s give it a try ……….. Call 265-4941

We may have to wait until Monday for that action however because tomorrow is “sneak out of work early” Friday

Councilman Vies again Plugs Havre Daily Corrector

Squirrelly Councilman Vies says “I Got Balls”

I admit it - the devil is making me do it. I was going to ignore the opinion piece in last night’s HDN from Jerry Vies again moaning about the Corrector but he is just too obsessed with my personal opinions to let this opportunity pass by. (read Jerry’s HDN wisdom here)

First, I would like to offer a big thank you to Jerry Vies for bringing this blog with my “inaccurate skewed” opinions to a few hundred more people that were formerly unaware of my “ponderings” found on said blog.

Second, I suspect that I may have to back off a tad on being critical of Mr. Vies as it is causing him severe anxiety and I don’t want to be responsible for making him crack.  (Or go squirrelly)

Third, I do now realize that Vies does indeed have “balls”

Lastly, I do know how to spell your name Mr. Vies but I prefer it my way. Like everyone is quick to point out, I am not a “professional” award-winning journalist like Timmie Leeds but rather a poor dumb regular blogging citizen that just happens to have an internet connection so you have to expect a few inaccuracies here and there.

Thanks for your support

Pot Holes Galore

Apparently the Havre Public Works Department is too busy inspecting roof construction jobs to be bothered doing anything about the terrible city streets. Winter has really raised havoc as you can see in the picture but don’t worry the boys are sticking markers in all the deepest holes so you won’t lose your car in any unseen sinkholes.

I did call once this winter when the ice ruts got so deep that I couldn’t even get my car to turn into my driveway to see if they could blade it off a bit. You already may have guessed that I was told that I was not a “priority” Not only is the public service awful in this town but the obnoxiousness of the responses to inquiring citizens is pathetic

Maybe Mayor Dim should send the whole City crew to one of those customer service training sessions the Chamber puts on.

Ongoing Havre Schools Construction Projects

What’s going on with the Havre Public Schools building projects? Before I start let me make one thing perfectly clear. The following article is an article of opinion based upon what we have been told, most of which is second-hand so take it for what it is worth. I do find it very interesting that nothing is ever said publically by any school board member about either the Highland Park School addition or the Havre High School collapsed roof findings.

A quick trip by the high school and it appears that the crew from Clausen Construction has the roof all buttoned up and weather tight. You can see in the picture a small area in the front that still has plywood showing and that’s where I observed workmen still climbing in and out last week. Why is no one coming forth with the cause of this collapse? Upon talking with one of the workmen that had been on the repair sight I was told that the snow load was nearly to the designed maximum of the roof which was around 25# per square foot. Also it appeared to the repair crew that some bracing and tons of screws holding the structure had been left out when the roof was initially constructed which leads me to believe the School District will have to hire someone to go through all of the roof framing beefing up the weak areas to insure we don’t have another collapse. It is also my understanding that the school has hired an engineer to design the needed repairs. I was told that the School’s insurance is paying for the repairs completed by Clausen Construction but they would not be paying for any additional work to bring the roof up to the current building codes. Does anyone have the “rest of the story” that they care to share with us? It would appear to me that the taxpayers will be ponying up some dollars for yet another school building project. If what I was told is true and the roof does not meet code for roof loads I have to wonder why there wasn’t some oversight in the first place when Anderson Construction was building the roof. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and I would hope the school board would come forward with some honest and complete information in the very near future.

I won’t say anything about the Highland Park School addition other than point out that when this blog first moaned about the “boondoogle” back in October of 2009 we were told the project would be complete for the 2010-11 school year. When I drove by on Saturday I still see plastic up around the cafeteria portion of the building and a large propane tank providing temporary heat.

Can someone please tell us what is going on?

Updated information reported by the Havre Daily “News” in tonight’s paper.

Thomas, Dean and Hoskins, the engineering firm hired by the school board to study what caused the roof collapse at the Havre High School said in part the failure was due in part to failure by the contractor to simply follow the plans. The contractor apparently did not install an adequate amount of screws fastening the framing together and in addition also failed to install many in the proper locations.

The HDN article went on to say that the engineers had talked to Havre Public Works director Dave Peterson who handles the City’s building inspection and “he is comfortable” bringing the roof up to the newer building code standards.

Wasn’t Dave Peterson also the building inspector at the time this roof was constructed? I am sure the contractor bought the required building permits at the time of the roof construction back in 1997 so how did the project pass inspection with tons of screws missing and inadequate bracing? Was this project even inspected by the city building inspector?

Something stinks here

HB 161 would repeal Medical Marijuana

The following is a news story from KRTV about HB 161 which calls for the repeal of the Medical Marijuana Act. The bill passed on a vote of 63 to 37. Local Representatives Warburton and Hansen voted for the repeal and Representative Belcourt voted no

Here is the link for House Bill 161 “An Act Repealing the Medical Marijuana Act”

Here is the link for how your representative voted

View the KRTV News report here
Update
Other bills relating to medical marijuana  SB170 -  HB 43

Councilman Veis Loses Control at City Hall Meeting

Councilman Veis Goes “Squirrelly”

The Havre Daily Corrector would like to give a big friendly “shout out” to our favorite Havre City Councilman Jerry Vies. Sadly we learned in tonight’s Havre Daily “News” that you take exception to our articles that point out any waste of tax payer’s money in our fair city. I would think that a self proclaimed liberal such as you would welcome an open discourse of any and all matters relating to the expenditures of tax money in our community no matter the source. Shouldn’t our readers be allowed to comment on your job performance?

I find it amusing that you are continually dashing about blaming this or that various community member of being “that SOB” who pens Havre’s annoying but still anonymous blog. You even went so far as accusing your fellow council members as being the anti-city blogger. This is not Salem and we have no need for a frenzied witch hunt over something as trivial as this.

As a councilperson with a couple terms under his belt you should have tumbled to the fact that anything that happens in council chambers is nearly instantaneously spread throughout the entire City of Havre workforce via your very own internal “gossip mill” It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out just what happened at any of your council meetings. Of course wild eyed outbursts move through the “gossip chain” much faster than quite boring meetings and for that I want to personally thank you.

Luckily award winning Havre Daily “News” journalist Timmie Leeds “tamed down” the article for the paper so you wouldn’t look quite as foolish as your performance really portrayed. Now as Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest of the story.

As Monday night’s council meeting was concluding and had reached the citizen comment portion Councilman Vies handed out copies of the January 20th Havre Daily Corrector post entitled “CTEP Funds Burning a Hole In Havre Council’s Pocket” and proceeded to read the post to those assembled, stopping every line or two to rant about the Corrector person having “No Balls” and so forth. I won’t even mention the threats you made against the poor anonymous Corrector editor or the various threats you made in the course of your ranting towards “anybody you discovered helping this SOB from within the City Governments midst.” My personal favorite was the detailed report we received that you quoted the constitution extensively all the while bellowing that this anonymous editor should just move out of the country because he was un-American and again, had no balls. Vies then accused councilman Brekke and Woodwick as being the “blogger” and told them they should be ashamed for writing “tripe” against the council. He came to this brilliant deduction because Woodwick and Brekke voted against the waste of CTEP funds for the Atrium and the blog praised them. Vies then totally lost it and started pounding the table with his hand while bellowing about “anonymous no balls SOB bloggers” to the point that the blood vessels started popping out on his poor empty bald head and some in attendance thought he would need an ambulance.

No elected official including Brekke and Woodwick are immune from criticism, it just so happens that on this issue they got it right. Oh by the way Mr. Vies, as a big Corrector fan, you should know that you can go back and review my other posts where I have taken Woodwick, Long, Brekke, Trethewy, and Kaul to the woodshed (I especially love Kaul as a source of dum-dum articles) I’d mention Kaftan, but why? Also don’t forget Mayor Dim, who by the way should have never allowed the reading of an opinion blog into the official city record in the first place.

Now on to your call for me to come out of the closet and your “No-Balls” tirade. Let me remind you of a few facts about Havre that keep me anonymous. First, we have the ever favorite Democrat “boycott” of anyone’s business that dares speak out against a beloved Democrat. Of course added to that we also have individuals such as you that threaten to harm someone that has a conflicting opinion. Some nit-wits would even try to kick a blogger completely out of not only the city but all of these United States. The very lunacy you displayed Monday night is just exactly the reason why I will remain anonymous. Havre has it alright – more than our share of hatred filled whack-jobs.

However, I do appreciate you and the “News” paper promoting our blog. Our daily readership is nearly double our normal hits since the article hit the “Timmie Twisted News” column. We are sorry we upset you Mr. Vies but you really should see a doctor to see about getting some valium. You could injure yourself pounding on the desk that way.

If you hold an elected office someone somewhere is going to be critical.

Deal with it!



Ethanol: One Dang Poor Choice

I have known for a long time that much of the clamor for increased ethanol production is driven by those that exploit government subsidies for their personal financial gain. Ethanol has been proven to be one of the poorest choices for use as an alternative fuel yet the taxpayers continue to pony up billions of dollars each year to promote a failed science. Fuel efficiency drops and the price per gallon to the consumer rises. Why do we continue down this path when there are better alternatives? Our very own MSU-Northern has a wonderful program in place to develop bio-fuels which appear to be a cost effective alternative to our dependence on fossil fuels. Why aren’t we concentrating on bio-fuels?

News Radio 970 in Billings had this interesting tidbit posted on their website.

"Here is some food for thought: The amount of grain needed to fill the tank of an SUV with ethanol just once can feed one person for an entire year.

Another hard-hitting fact: The 107 million tons of grain that went to U.S. ethanol distilleries in 2009 was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels, as stated in an article on Food Freedom’s website."

While I knew ethanol production raised corn prices it never occurred to me that the drive to mandate increased blends in our fuel actually could cause people to go hungry in third world countries. We need to end these tax wasting subsidies to ethanol producers.

Sarah Palin Explained

This is an interesting video found posted over at The Right Scoop talking about the reasons liberals shudder when they hear Sarah Palin’s name mentioned.

Just a little reminder of where we were and where we are now

Thanks to a HDC reader for sharing this thought provoking video with us

News Writing 101 “Sample” for the Havre Daily News

Great Falls Tribune Capital bureau Chief John Adams had one of those “fair and balanced” news articles we only hear about in Havre about Senator Hutton on his blog The Low Down.  The story has links to Rowlie's new church and other source links.

Havre Daily “News” reporters should take note of what a professional journalist can do by spending that extra 15 minutes to research the facts BEFORE the article goes to print.

Great Job John

Security Cameras for Bar Entrances

I find it hard to believe the amount of time our legislatures spend hearing nonsensical bills brought forward by elected officials out of touch with reality. Senator Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena has introduced a bill that would require monitoring cameras to be place outside of drinking establishments.

Senate bill 250 of course is another “nanny state” protection that is attempting to help law enforcement after East Helena resident Darrel Dullum went missing after a night out at the East Helena Eagles Club a few years ago and his body was found in a creek a couple of weeks later. While I feel for any family that has lost a loved one tragically I fail to see how forcing a business to comply with something like this will actually help.

The scary part for me in these types of bills are phrases such as;

The department shall adopt rules to implement this section, including rules specifying the location and resolution capability of the camera and the length of time that photographs taken by a camera required by this section must be maintained by the licensee.

Like a lot of good intention laws on the books the administrative rules run amuck after the bill is passed and the bureaucrats in the departments start “writing the rules” to protect ourselves from ourselves. I can envision requirements for thousands of dollars in cameras and equipment to comply with this law not to mention yearly inspections and inspection fees by those same fine bureaucrats.

What a bunch of BS. This even puts Don Ryan’s stupid hand towel bill of last session to shame

Further detail on The Montana WatchDog

Update on Senator Hutton

Here is a scanned copy of the letter Rowlie sent to his church that I picked up in person from one of the Fifth Ave Christian Church members this morning. I would assume that the Havre Daily “News” also obtained a copy which is what lead to their half-baked “breaking news” story.

By the way HDN here is another breaking news story for you. When I picked up this letter my friend said he knows a few more people that are stopping their Havre Daily “News” subscriptions  :-)

From what I could learn this morning Rowlie had full intention of staying in Havre the next 4 years but circumstances change and he has been presented an opportunity to build up a church out of state.

Apparently God comes first with him and the Senate seat second.

Something is up with District 17 Senator Rowlie Hutton

The HDC received some startling news this evening regarding Senator Rowlie Hutton who represents Hill and Blaine county voters in Senate district 17. Hutton, who has been the senior pastor at the Fifth Avenue Christian Church for the past 14 years, sent a letter out to his congregation yesterday informing everyone that he will be resigning his pastoral position as of May 1st of this year. The people I have talked to tonight say he is planning on taking a job growing a church in Omaha Nebraska.

From what I know of Rowlie he is not only a decent honest guy that has done a phenomenal job growing his church but is also one of the few people that call themselves Christian that actually “practice what they preach.” While I am sad to hear this news the first thing that comes to mind is what will happen with his Senate position?

From what I could find out tonight Rowlie has just resigned from his employment at the church and has not the Senate position. The people I talked to stressed that Senator Hutton has not resigned his Senate seat. It does stand to reason however that if he is taking a job in Nebraska his career as a Montana State Senator will be fast drawing to a close. Since Rowlie represents both Hill and Blaine County both the Hill County and the Blaine County Republican Central committees would be tasked with providing a list of qualified replacement candidates to the County Commissioners from which they will name a replacement Senator if and when Rowlie actually resigns his post. Until that time Rowlie is and will still be our Senate District 17 representative. I have also been informed that I can pick up an actual copy of the letter sent to his church members informing them of his decision and I will post that here sometime tomorrow.  Stay tuned as we uncover the details.

What a sad turn of events for the people of Havre

Planned Parenthood Debacle

Sad little video that leaves no doubt as to why many folks oppose government funding of some of these organizations. 



Update ----The Washington Times has a follow up story about this on their website and this is what Phyllis Kinsler, the CEO of the Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey had to say;

“We have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of behavior, and the employee in the video was immediately suspended from her duties this morning and was terminated this evening”

I guess the story wasn’t “made up” as some here would have you believe.