Archives Index, 2019, November
28 November 2019
Happy Thanksgiving
Best wishes to everyone for a pleasant Thanksgiving. There are many reasons for me to be thankful this year; among them, the splendid support Flathead Memo receives from its readers. I’m celebrating the holiday at my home northwest of Kalispell with a traditional feast of turkey and vegetables. Outside, an icy north wind is roaring. Inside, I’m toasty warm having, figuratively speaking, thrown another log on the fire. Tomorrow, it’s back to blogging and stirring other fires. — James Conner
26 November 2019 — 1727 mst
Only four Presidents have been removed from office before
their terms ended; none was removed through impeachment
Impeachment clauses were inserted in our constitution to provide a way to remove a President through legal, bloodless, means that gave him a chance to defend himself. At the constitutional convention, writes Michael Gerhardt in The Federal Impeachment Process (3rd Edition), Benjamin Franklin:
…pointedly remarked that history showed “the practice before this in cases where the chief Magistrate rendered himself obnoxious [was to make] recourse … to assassination in [which] he was not only deprived of his life but of the opportunity of vindicating his character. It [would] be the best way therefore to provide … for the regular punishment of the Executive when his misconduct should deserve it, and for his honorable acquittal when he should be unjustly accused.”
Two centuries after Franklin delivered his argument for including an impeachment clause in the constitution, no President has been removed from office through impeachment.
23 November 2019 — 0711 mst
Note to William Barr: Mexico did not create
the demand for methamphetamine in Montana
At yesterday’s meeting on meth in Kalispell, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said meth use in Montana is rising because Mexico is producing the stimulant and shipping it north.
During his opening statements, Barr pinned much of the blame for the methamphetamine crisis on Mexico, where local and federal officials say much of the drug is coming from.
“We have to get Mexico to fight these drug cartels … They have totally lost control of their own country,” Barr said. “The head of this snake is outside of the United States and we have to stomp on it.” [Flathead Beacon]
22 November 2019 — 1553 mst
A quick look at drug overdose death trends in Montana
Sen. Steve Daines, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and regional law enforcement leaders are meeting near Kalispell this afternoon to discuss concerns about the use of methamphetamine in Montana, which may be increasing.
One metric for assessing the extent of meth use is the number of overdose deaths per 100,000 persons. The graph below, using Centers for Disease Control data, displays the overdose death rates in Montana for all drugs, non-opioid drugs (mostly meth, so far as I can determine), and opioids.
21 November 2019 — 0059 mst
Wit and wisdom: the Democratic debate’s best one-liners
A keen sense of humor indicates a keen mind. Therefore, politicians go for laughs, usually with one-liners they insert into the debate when the opportunity arises. A quick-witted comeback to a question, the kind of quip for which John F. Kennedy was famous, is the highest kind of political wit.
Last night’s debate had a number of planted one-liners that were funny or pithy, but Andrew Yang’s response to Ashley Parker’s question about a phone call with Putin was pure JFK, the best of the evening.
Here are my favorites, cut and pasted from NBC News’ transcript of the debate.
20 November 2019 — 1525 mst
Friday is a double senator day in Kalispell
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester will be at Flathead Valley Community College for an open to everyone town hall. It starts at noon in Room 139 of the Arts and Technology building, and is scheduled for two hours.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines will meet with local law enforcement officials at 1400 at the Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse Center to discuss efforts to reduce the use of methamphetamine. He’s bringing with him U.S. Attorney General William Barr, perhaps the nation’s worst attorney general since John Mitchell, who besmirched his office during Nixon’s administration and served 19 months in prison for conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice.
19 November 2019 — 1415 mst
When did Zac Perry resign as
state representative for House District 3?
According to information posted today on the Montana Legislature’s website, he resigned on 5 November 2019.
According to Perry, who announced his resignation in a 27 August post on Facebook, his resignation was “…effective September 1, 2019.”
19 November 2019 — 1231 mst
Kalispell’s Three Mile Drive overpass was not
designed to maximize pedestrian safety
Updated. Yesterday, a 50-year-old man was found dead on Kalispell’s westside bypass underneath the Three Mile Drive overpass. Whether his death was an accident is under investigation.
Update 1. According to a post on Flathead 411 Event’s Facebook page, the death was a suicide.
Update 2. Both the Daily Interlake and the Flathead Beacon have published stories about Jerad Avery, the counselor at Glacier High School who died, how Kalispell’s public school system is handling the situation, and funeral arrangements.
I know that overpass well. It’s on one of my regular walking routes, just a mile from my home. Although the overpass is equipped with sidewalks and a tall fence directly over the bypass, at the ends of the fence there are steep drops and limited or no protection.
In 2016 and 2017 I posted photographs of the unprotected areas, which I called pedestrian jumps. Here’s a photograph from 2017:
The overpass at Four Mile has a similar level of protection against pedestrian falls.
Adding protection to these overpasses would not be prohibitively expensive. I recommend that Kalispell's city council and administrators take a field trip to these bypasses, and then start doing what’s necessary to make them safer for pedestrians.
18 November 2019 — 1642 mst
Greta Thunberg’s ride across the Atlantic
Thunberg, bound for the 2–13 Madrid conference on climate change, is crossing the Atlantic on a 48-foot catamaran, La Vagabonde, skippered by Australian Riley Whitelum. As of today, La Vagabonde was a couple of hundred miles east-northeast of Bermuda, moving east at 5.8 knots, or 6.6 miles per hour. Readers can follow her progress online.
17 November 2019 — 0826 mst
Patients’ data stolen, compliance reports gundecked
Scandals continue to bedevil Kalispell Regional Healthcare
I’ve received what I think was adequate care at Kalispell Regional Hospital — but I don’t like the place, and I most surely don’t like the way it’s run. Last year we learned that empire building by Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s executives (a way to boost their salaries) took liberties with the law in a way that, after the federal government forced KRH back on the legal straight and narrow, resulted in a multi-million-dollar payout, and in various restrictions and conditions being placed on the organization.
Now we learn from the InterLake’s Colin Gaiser that:
The Office of Inspector General sent a letter on Aug. 28, 2019, to Kalispell Regional that demands stipulated penalties “based on the failure to comply with the obligation to meet board member training requirements and for a false certification by or on behalf of KRHS (Kalispell Regional Healthcare System) as part of its Implementation Report.”
Sweet Jesus! Is there not a single true pointing moral compass at KRH? Gundecking the certification is inexcusable. And crazy.
13 November 2019 — 1924 mst
George Kent and William Taylor: two good men
Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan: two national embarrassments
Today’s impeachment inquiry displayed America’s best and worst. The best came from two quintessential public servants, George Kent and William Taylor. Their careful, professional, testimony was the product not just of their indisputable expertise but also of their unflinching integrity and unchallengeable loyalty to their nation.
13 November 2019 — 0713 mst
Mac Thornberry’s defense of Trump: he’s guilty as hell, but
was denied due process and therefore shouldn’t be punished
Mac Thornberry represents the nation’s most Republican congressional district, the 13th in Texas. Carried by President Trump with 80 percent of the vote, the district has a Cook Partisan Index rating of R+33. Thornberry is not running for re-election, but he is running, and running hard, to defend Trump against impeachment — and he’s not letting the facts get in the way. According to the Washington Post:
The former House Armed Services Committee chairman and steadfast critic of Russia on Sunday called Trump’s use of foreign aid to elicit a political probe from that nation “inappropriate” but accused Democrats of running a “tainted” and “one-sided” probe.
“There’s a reason we let murderers and robbers and rapists go free when their due process rights have been violated,” Thornberry said on ABC’s “This Week.”
12 November 2019 — 1454 mst
Rep. Debo Powers has primary competition
23-year-old Democrat files for House District 3
Borstad and her son, Troy.
Updated. Sylvia Borstad, 23, last week became the first Democrat to file a C-1 form for the Democratic nomination for House District 3 (Columbia Falls, map), which is now represented by Debo Powers, who was appointed to replace Zac Perry after he resigned in September.
Borstad, now living in Columbia Falls, grew up in Kalispell and attended the University of Montana, where she studied political science and was politically active, serving as a student senator and campaigning for funding for higher educations. She has a three-year-old son, Troy.
As reported by the Montana Kaimin, her life has been far from easy. The grit and determination that enabled her to survive and overcome desperate circumstances may appeal to the voters of HD-3, a red district with a large working class population.
8 November 2019 — 0927 mst
A Friday morning toe-tapper from Feufollet
Dans un Magasin (in a store) performed in New Orleans by Feufollet. This toe-tapper and a cuppa strong French roast will get you moving briskly on this cold November morning.
6 November 2019 — 1000 mst
Lewis & Clark goes nonpartisan, the Gallatin does not
Flathead municipal elections prove that
nonpartisan elections are low turnout elections
Flathead County. Just one in five registered voters cast ballots in yesterday’s municipal election in the Flathead County cities of Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell. Of the county’s 67,885 registered voters, 23,647 were eligible to cast ballots: but only 4,797 did. Complete returns are available at the website of the Flathead County Election Department.
5 November 2019 — 1409 mst
Energy notes: Paris, electric ferries, light bulbs and dimwits
Pulling out of the Paris climate accord. Yesterday, to no one’s surprise, President Trump announced that the United States had just given notice that it was withdrawing from the accord to limit greenhouse emissions that was negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency. One reason for the withdrawal, of course, is Trump’s determination to undo all of Obama’s accomplishments.
4 November 2019 — 0500 mst
Debo, Greta, and five recommended reads
How do constituents get in touch with Debo Powers, the new state representative for House District 3 (Columbia Falls)? She’s not listed on the legislature’s website. Nor is she listed on the website for the Flathead Democratic Party. I found a gMail address for her in a spreadsheet on the website of the Flathead County Elections Department, but when I sent her an inquiry, she did not reply.
3 November 2019 — 0501 mst
Climate Smart Glacier wants you
to pledge not to use plastics on Fridays
China is not the problem
American recycling firms have stopped receiving certain plastics, because China’s plastic remanufacturing plants are refusing shipments of salvaged plastics from the United States. Our plastics, the Chinese correctly contend, are contaminated.But let’s not blame the Chinese for our recycling problems. Shipping garbage overseas is obscenely irresponsible. We must localize recycling, reusing, and remanufacturing.
That’s right: no coffee in an expanded polystyrene cup, no synthetic fiber underwear, no Gore-Tex rain jacket, no plastic handled toothbrush, no eyeglasses with polycarbonate lenses, no hearing aid, no catheter for the incontinent, and don’t touch that polypropylene medicine vial filled with blood pressure medications. That’s the logical outcome of attempting to abide by Climate Smart Glacier’s Plastic Pledge, which was on display at yesterday’s so-called plastics symposium in Kalispell that drew a sizable crowd that was treated to China bashing.
Why Friday? Damned if I know. Perhaps the pledge’s authors are secularized Catholics who miss meatless Fridays and are substituting polyvinyl chloride for a medium rare t-bone as a way of satisfying their need to suffer through self-denial.
1 November 2019 — 1256 mdt
Environment Montana releases document on its
study of waterborne plastics at 50 fishing access sites
Environment Montana, which is part of Environment America, yesterday released a document, Microplastic in Montana: A Study of Fifty River Access Sites, that’s partly a report and partly an advocacy brief for the organizations’ campaigns to outlaw single-use plastics such as straws, grocery bags, and foamed polystyrene fast food containers.