Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 10.21.15

NEWS
Zinke Considering Bid for House Speaker
Amid leadership crisis in U.S. House, freshman Whitefish representative says he’ll consider a run to replace John Boehner
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, the first-term Republican congressman and former Navy Seal commander from Whitefish, announced last week he’s considering a bid to replace John Boehner as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The surprising announcement comes amid a lead- ership crisis in the House that reached a crossroads last month when outgoing Speaker Boehner, R-Ohio, announced he was retiring at the end of October. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, the pre- sumptive front-runner to replace Boehner in the Repub- lican-led House, then surprised everyone by dropping out of the speaker race.
Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, another potential front-runner and 2012 vice presidential can- didate, immediately dismissed the notion of a speaker bid when his office released a statement saying he would not run for the position.
The turmoil has produced little in the way of clarity, and certainly no sense of resolution. But in political cir- cles, it is raising the persistent question – does anyone want to become the next speaker of the house?
Apparently Ryan Zinke does. The former Navy Seal commander, who was elected to Congress last year, said as much in a statement his office released Tuesday afternoon, calling the situation in the House dire and
pledging to do his duty and resolve the leadership crisis. “I’m looking at it. The Speaker is about leadership and not policy and we’re at a point in our nation’s his- tory where we’ve had a Speaker resign, we’ve had a pre- sumptive Speaker resign and quite frankly we’re facing what I think is a leadership crisis,” according to a state-
ment from Zinke’s office.
Montana State University political scientist Dave
Parker said the idea of Zinke becoming speaker as a first- term legislator is “crazy for lots of reasons,” not least of which is his inexperience.
Parker said a freshman congressman doesn’t pos- sess the requisite institutional knowledge or familiarity with the esoteric parliamentary rules of the House, and noted that a freshman lawmaker hasn’t been speaker of the U.S. House since the mid-19th Century, when the House was a relatively new establishment.
In a blog post, Parker said Zinke’s leadership skills, which the congressman touted during his election cam- paign and in his announcement about possibly running for House Speaker, are not the problem. Rather, he said, it’s that Zinke’s political ideologies don’t align with the far-right House Freedom Caucus that is at the root of the leadership crisis.
“Congressman Zinke will not be Speaker of the House. He’s simply too liberal for House Republicans,” Parker wrote.
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke is considering a bid to replace John Boehner as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. BEACON FILE PHOTO
Still, Zinke was undeterred from considering the pos- sibility of a bid for the speakership, saying there’s been broad outside interest.
“We’re looking at it. Our phones are ringing off the hook because I think America wants something
Teakettle Fishing Access Site Closed for Construction Improvements to popular site, which is closed Oct. 19-Nov.16, include parking lot expansion
BY BEACON STAFF
The Teakettle Fishing Access site on the Flathead River on U.S. Highway 2 in Columbia Falls will be closed for construction from Oct. 19 to Nov. 16.
Construction activities to improve the fishing access include expanding the parking area, improving the existing parking area to accommodate increasing vis- itation, and developing a new drive lane. It will also include installation of barrier rock to control vehicles, and installation of fencing to define the parking areas,
according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The closure is necessary to for public safety during construction and to allow the contractor unfettered
access to the construction site.
The FWP Commission approved the closure at its
Oct. 8 meeting and construction will begin as soon as possible to ensure completion before the onset of winter. Other access sites nearby, including Kokanee Bend Fishing Access Site and House of Mystery River Access, will remain open and provide access to the Flathead
For more information, please contact FWP Region 1 Fishing Access Site Manager Tony Powell at 406-751-5423.
Powell, who is leading the project, said the site’s park- ing facilities, which a recent environmental assessment described as “primitive,” have been overwhelmed for years. The site sees more daily visitors than the parking lot can hold, so cars regularly line up along the access road.
“We’ve seen skyrocketing levels of use in the past few
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OCTOBER 21, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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River during the closure.
years,” Powell said.
[email protected]
different.”
[email protected]