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Like I Was Saying

Like I Was Saying

Why it’s Hard to Believe BNSF

Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway was hoping to clear the air last week when it told a group of prominent Whitefish politicians and business owners – oh, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer – that a large swath of the fastest-growing city in the state is habitable. But instead of appeasing those who have watched their property […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Getting What You Pay For

At long last, Kalispell has a city manager. And the decision to hire Jane Howington would be altogether out of place here if it went undisputed. Opposition to the Ohio native is almost entirely based on her compensation package, which includes a salary of $112,500 annually, with another $5,000 deferred to her retirement each year. […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Truly Public Records

Shawn Beqaj, the vice president for public affairs with Bresnan Communications, toured Montana last week to discuss, among other things, “wideband,” the blazing-fast Internet service that will, in a few years, allow you to download a feature-length film in a few dozen seconds. But I was far more interested in a contract Bresnan recently won […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Libby Shrugs

Last week, federal prosecutors moved to drop charges against the final defendant in the W.R. Grace trial. Most of Libby likely shrugged. After a decade, nearly 2,000 sickened townspeople and hundreds dead from asbestos exposure, Libby is accustomed to bad breaks. This, an anticlimactic end to a federal case that made national headlines, was just […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Schweitzer on the Stump

Gov. Brian Schweitzer made an East Coast swing last week to stump for a pair of gubernatorial candidates, including failed Democratic primary hopeful Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. Inside the Beltway of Washington, D.C., the endorsement was considered a gamble and, when it didn’t pay off, Schweitzer was mildly panned. Why would Schweitzer endorse McAuliffe for […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Introducing Max Baucus

I first met Sen. Max Baucus five years ago in a Bozeman cafeteria. He was eating a hamburger while talking trade (one of his favorite topics) and boasting about the potential of RightNow Technologies, a burgeoning company in which he had volunteered his time during one of his trademark “workdays.” Employees there were well aware […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

An Academic Disconnect

On a 4-3 vote, the Montana Board of Regents voted last week to raise tuition at Montana’s flagship campuses. Regent Todd Buchanan, who opposed the increase, said it best when he told his colleagues prior to their decision that “we better prepare ourselves for one heck of a conversation in our communities because one is […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Warming Up to Tourists

Summer tourists began arriving in droves over Memorial Day weekend. And with them, we heard the first gripes from locals who complain that the sightseers are overcrowding our roads and a few of those same visitors (the humanity!) may opt to stay permanently. But this year, perhaps more than the previous, just as many Montanans […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

A Tall Order for the Class of 2009

In the next few weeks, hundreds of Flathead Valley high school and college students will graduate. When the confetti is swept up, cake has gone stale and accolades have worn off, many of those wide-eyed former students will wonder what’s next. It’s certainly an inopportune time to be looking for a job. These students are […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

All This for $200 a Month

The race is on for Kalispell City Council and I’m eager to see who puts his or her hat in the ring. As my colleague Dan Testa wrote last week: “Here’s an opportunity to put your money where your mouth is.” On the comment threads at flatheadbeacon.com, perhaps no government entity takes as much heat […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

A Few More Mental Health Breaks

We should all thank state Rep. Joel Boniek. The Emigrant Republican rode a steed – part donkey, part horse and a “Democrat” – to the state Capitol in the waning days of the 2009 Montana legislative session. He said he wanted to lighten the mood. Lawmakers had become testy as the deadline for agreeing on […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Hardin Has Gitmo Aspirations

Few towns are as welcoming to felons as Hardin, Montana. Residents there have pleaded with Gov. Brian Schweitzer to send any and all criminals to their town. And since that hasn’t worked out, they have turned to alleged terrorists to fill their empty prison by recently proposing shipping accused members of Al-Qaeda to Eastern Montana […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Railroad Anxiety

Burlington Northern Sante Fe is up to something. The railroad giant has approached property owners in Whitefish and Somers, offering to buy their land. No one knows why, exactly, not even those who have been asked to sell. And BNSF isn’t talking – leaving entire neighborhoods apprehensive about what their backyards may soon look like. […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

Divorcing Reality

There is a time for relevant debate of cultural issues. And there are merits to arguments when actual laws that affect abortion, guns or privacy are on a ballot or being considered by elected officials. Then there’s this: Rep. Tom McGillvray, a Billings Republican, has proposed that an interim committee made up of lawmakers study […]

By Kellyn Brown
Like I Was Saying

More Than ‘No’

There is an effort afoot headed by congressional Republican leaders in Washington to shed the label increasingly used against them that they are members of the “party of no.” Whether fair, Democrats have effectively used the GOP’s opposition to the stimulus plan, and now the national budget, to paint the party as one devoid of […]

By Kellyn Brown