Columns

Sorry, grandma, but it was a really good party

Published on Mon, 08/10/2020 - 12:00am

Monday night, hundreds of partygoers descended on a mansion on Mulholland Drive, allegedly owned by an absent Australian soap opera star. Houses like that rent out for occasions for very high multiples. Mulholland is a beautiful and windy street, dotted with big, huge houses with lots of land. This house was high above Beverly Hills. Living up there is perfect if you never need to push a stroller, run to the store for milk or drive home late at night. It’s a nightmare when your kids are 16-year-old drivers.

Public access in the Crazy Mountains requires long-term solutions, not land swaps

Published on Fri, 08/07/2020 - 2:40pm

EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece was written and endorsed by the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Park County Rod & Gun Club, Enhancing Montana’s Habitat & Wildlife, Skyline Sportsman, Montana Bowhunters Association, Hellgate Hunters & Anglers, Montana Sportsmen Alliance, Traditional Bowhunters of Montana, Helena Hunters & Anglers and Friends of the Crazy Mountains.

 

When the counterculture becomes the culture

Published on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 2:51pm

In November 2015, three years after taking the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert, a career journeyman most recently unsuccessful with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The following preseason, Kaepernick began donning garb designed to mock police officers, including socks with cops dressed as pigs. He also remained seated for the national anthem during a preseason game, claiming, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” 

How America got so inferior

Published on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 2:50pm

Europe took dramatic steps to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Its shutdowns were so tight that the eurozone economy has fallen into a recession even deeper than ours. 

But guess what. Despite occasional spikes, Europe has beaten the virus down to size. With a public reassured that it could return to the beaches, bars and restaurants in relative safety, it reopened. That’s why Europe “is having a much bigger snapback” than the U.S., Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding told The Wall Street Journal, “and there are some indicators that it may be getting ahead.” 

‘Having a fantastic time’

Published on Wed, 08/05/2020 - 3:30pm

In the post on Twitter, Herman Cain was surrounded by four grinning Trumpers, presumably members of Black Voices for Trump, which Cain co-chaired. They were crowded together at the Tulsa Trump rally on June 20, a maskless audience in the front rows of a mostly empty hall. Seat signs that intended to enforce social distancing — an easy mission when there are more empty seats than occupied ones — were removed by President Donald Trump’s staff.

Nazis, speech and hydroxychloroquine

Published on Wed, 08/05/2020 - 3:29pm

The parade in Coeur d’Alene was 16 years ago last month. The contrast with that event and the recent fuss over medicine makes it seem as if it happened on another planet.

And let’s be clear, we have no idea whether the medicine is effective against the China virus. We have to be having a good day to even pronounce the name correctly.

It’s not as if anyone should take any advice offered here, but just so we’re clear here: We don’t claim that hydroxychloroquine cures anything.

It is, however, quite effective in sparking discord.

Update growth policy before new rail crossing

Published on Tue, 08/04/2020 - 3:28pm

This evening the Livingston City Commission will consider a proposal to put a $15 million mill levy on the ballot in order to fund a new railroad crossing near the freeway exit on the west side of town — a crossing has been a top concern for Livingston residents since the 1970s and remains so today. 

Understandably, residents are exhausted by the debate and want results. But the proposed ballot initiative is yet another railroad crossing proposal doomed to fail. 

The land of plenty sinks into anxiety

Published on Mon, 08/03/2020 - 4:29pm

A friend and I shared the same consumer frustration — and guilt over having it. We each wanted a bike rack for our cars but could not obtain our first choices. 

“I wanted to order a 1UP bike rack,” my pal, who used to manufacture sports equipment, said. “Sold out and won’t take orders until August 29th.” 

Apparently, there’s a shortage of bikes as well, and, to get granular, a dearth of 26-inch inner tubes for their tires. 

My friend also wanted a specific golf push cart. “Every model sold out,” he said, “with no forecasted availability.” 

Working together on access issues in Crazies

Published on Fri, 07/31/2020 - 12:00am

My love affair with the Crazy Mountains began nearly two decades ago.

Park County should look to Oregon on zoning

Published on Fri, 07/31/2020 - 12:00am

In 1972 I drove down Paradise Valley en route to Gardiner, where I lived for most of the winter. I remember thinking it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen and deserved the name “Paradise”.