Weeklies Reader: 3 puppies die after release from Thompson Falls shelter’s kennel

Editor’s note: Each week, the Missoulian provides readers with a sampling of news gleaned from weekly newspapers around western Montana.

THOMPSON FALLS – A decaying deer head and three dead puppies are part of a mystery that now carries a $500 reward for anyone who can help solve it.

The Sanders County Ledger reported this week that the Thompson River Animal Care Shelter is looking for information that can lead to the identification, and possible prosecution, of the individual or individuals who set a dog and her nine puppies loose on the night of Monday, May 7.

The Ledger said all dogs at the animal care facility were locked in their kennels when the shelter worker left that day at 5:30 p.m. When a worker arrived the next morning at 8:30, an old, decaying deer head was in the driveway and the 10 dogs were on the loose.

The mother and her nine puppies were all recovered, but by Wednesday some of the pups were sick and by Friday some were dying. They lost three of the puppies, and another is at a veterinary clinic in Plains.

“We don’t know why they died,” said TRACS founder Wanda Thorpe, “but we’re theorizing the deer head may have something to do with it.”

Thorpe told the Ledger that although all the facilities’ kennels have locks, the one holding the mother and her puppies didn’t have a lock that secured the kennel as well as the others.

The puppies are a mixed breed of husky, shepherd and collie.

“This is pretty distressing,” Thorpe told the Ledger. “We’d sure like to find out who would do such an act.”

The reward money comes from a Kalispell group concerned with solving crimes against animals. Anyone with information can contact TRACS at 827-3098 or the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office at 827-3584.

***

New chef cooking at Philipsburg restaurant

PHILIPSBURG – The Silver Mill is back in business.

Not the one that processes the precious metal that built this town, but the one that serves – well, chef Tony Critella wants the customers to the Philipsburg restaurant to help decide that.

For now the menu will include traditional dishes and gourmet cuisine such as blackberry duck breasts, Critella told Michael Stafford of the Philipsburg Mail. He’s the chef whom new owners Claudette and Tim Dringle and Mayor Anne Fillmore hired out of Las Vegas for the Silver Mill’s reopening.

The downtown business closed last summer after the death of the new owners’ friend, John Collins. When Collins’ family first approached the Dringles to buy the business, “we just sort of laughed them off,” Claudette Dringle told Stafford. “But they were pretty persistent about it.”

They made the decision to take the plunge in January and opened the bar end of the business on May 4. Now the eating end is open. Collins had already begun several renovation projects, and the new owners worked hard to finish them. And they hired a chef with a long background in the culinary arts.

Critella took over his father’s Italian-American diner in Syracuse, N.Y., at age 20, and 25 years later opened Critella’s Italian Takeout Kitchen. After a divorce, he became executive chef at the Yacht Clubs of America in Key West, Fla., and three years later moved west to work as a private chef for Las Vegas Retreats. Critella worked a short time in Montana between Florida and Nevada and told the Mail he wanted to get back. When the Dringles and Fillmore advertised for a chef, Critella punched his ticket to the Treasure State and the Silver Mill.

“The people of Montana are the No. 1 resource,” he told Stafford. “I’m not trying to play politics. I’m being honest.”

***

St. Ignatius student digs 1st bitterroot of season

LONEPINE – Patricia Christiansen was both honored and charged with an important responsibility a couple of weeks ago.

Christiansen, 10 and a student at St. Ignatius Elementary, was chosen to dig the first bitterroot as the gathering season began on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

“Typically the young girl chosen will help with keeping the culture and traditions alive, which ensures that the bitterroot returns each year,” reported Kim Swaney of the Char-Koosta News.

Also per tradition, Dorothy Woodcock was selected to peel the first root. Woodcock wore an “FBI” shirt that said: “Full Blooded Indian … Fry Bread Inspector.” What it could have also said, wrote Swaney, was “Famous Bitterroot Inspector.”

The emergence of the bitterroot in the spring “is like a circadian clock for Mother Nature,” Swaney said. “The deep green tendrils signal that the traditional gathering season has begun for the people here. It also tells the people it is the time for the bears to awaken from their winter sleep.”

The bitterroot cues the return of the wild onion, wild carrot, camas and berries as the spring and summer months unfold. Usually the arrowleaf balsamroot is in bloom and ready to harvest as well.

“For the people here, the bitterroot dig and feast is still part of their culture and tradition, and less a main staple as it once was 50 to 75 years ago,” Swaney said.

Weeklies Reader is compiled by reporters Vince Devlin, Tristan Scott and Kim Briggeman.

Article source: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/weeklies-reader-puppies-die-after-release-from-thompson-falls-shelter/article_614c567c-a20e-11e1-a4c8-0019bb2963f4.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 20th, 2012 , Politics
Republican candidates across country face tight battle for U.S. Senate – Longview News

WASHINGTON — Divisive Republican primaries, an out-of-nowhere GOP retirement in Maine and an unexpectedly competitive race in North Dakota add up to an unpredictable battle for control of the Senate this fall, confounding early forecasts that an era of Democratic rule was inevitably coming to an end.

Adding to the uncertainty, tea party-backed challengers are on the primary ballot against establishment candidates in New Mexico and Texas in the coming weeks, a continuation of an internal Republican struggle that Democrats hope will aid them as it did in 2010.

With the support of two independents, Democrats now hold an effective 53-47 majority in the Senate, control that they and President Barack Obama can ill afford to lose. Republicans have repeatedly pushed their own versions of legislation through the House in the past year, only to have it blocked or altered by the Democratic Senate.

Democrats are defending 23 of the 33 Senate seats on the ballot this fall, including the two held by independents. Republicans must gain four to be assured of a majority when the new Congress convenes in 2013.

Republicans claim Nebraska, North Dakota, Missouri and Montana as the states where they have the best chance to pick up seats, followed by Wisconsin, New Mexico and, possibly, Ohio.

Democrats point to Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada and perhaps Indiana, where veteran Sen. Richard Lugar fell in a primary to a tea party-backed challenger, as opportunities to offset any losses they suffer elsewhere. They also claim hopes for Arizona, which Obama’s campaign hopes to make competitive in his race against Mitt Romney.

“I would say we still have a great opportunity to win a majority,” said Rob Jesmer, the executive director of the Senate Republican campaign organization. He said his party is defending only three seriously contested seats it holds and is mounting strong challenges in 10 or 12. His bottom line: “We feel good about our chances, but it is going to be close.”

A political shift

Even that is an acknowledgment of a shift that has taken place in the political landscape since the two parties began evaluating their chances for 2012 more than a year ago.

” I just remember when I took this on a year and a half ago, there wasn’t anyone who said this was easy or we were going to get the majority or we even had a chance,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the head of the Democratic counterpart organization. “The map has changed dramatically” since then, she said.

Still unknown is the full impact of outside groups, including the newly formed super PACs that operate under rules that allow them to accept donations of unlimited size.

For example, conservative organizations already have spent millions of dollars on television advertising against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio in hopes of making him vulnerable to a challenge, $6.5 million by his campaign’s own count.

While outside groups have recently pumped in an estimated $700,000 to support Brown, a spokesman said Wednesday his lead in the race as measured in public polling has been cut roughly in half. The first-term incumbent recently began advertising on his own.

The list of competitive races underscores the impact that retirements, candidate recruitment and primaries have had on the fortunes of the two parties since the 2010 elections.

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson’s decision to retire in Nebraska opened up an early opportunity for Republicans.

Democrats countered by recruiting Bob Kerrey, a Medal of Honor winner, former governor and former senator who has more recently been a university president in New York — and boasted they had at least made the race competitive.

But little-known state Sen. Deb Fischer emerged victorious Tuesday night in a three-way Republican primary after winning an endorsement from Sarah Palin and benefiting from a $200,000 ad campaign backed by TD Ameritrade founder and Chicago Cubs co-owner Joe Ricketts.

Privately, Republicans and Democrats both said Wednesday that her win had probably made Kerrey’s comeback more difficult.

North Dakota looked like a sure thing for Republicans when Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad announced plans to retire.

But Democratic challenger Heidi Heitkamp, a former attorney general, is credited with running a strong campaign that even Republicans concede has made her race against Rep. Rick Berg a competitive one — even though the state is expected to vote heavily for Romney this fall. At a minimum, the GOP and allied groups are likely to be forced to spend money on television advertising that once seemed unnecessary.

Endangered incumbents

In Missouri, a three-way Republican primary is on the horizon, but already Sen. Claire McCaskill is rated among the most endangered incumbents of either party. Unlike other Democrats in tough races, she probably won’t benefit from the White House race, since Obama appears unlikely to spend time or money in the state.

In Montana, Democratic Sen. Joe Tester has been defending his seat against a challenge from Rep. Dennis Rehberg in a race that is expected to remain close through Election Day.

Democrats’ chances got a lift in Maine with Sen. Olympia Snowe’s decision to retire, although they still have virtually no chance of winning the seat outright.

The primaries won’t be held until August, but former Gov. Angus King’s decision to run as an independent has overshadowed all other events. He won’t say which party he would side with if elected to the Senate. Republicans say they doubt it would be them and have encouraged speculation it would be the Democrats, an apparent attempt to sully his chances.

Other races

In Massachusetts, Democrats viewed Republican Sen. Scott Brown as an interloper after he won the race to fill out the unexpired term of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. They eagerly recruited Elizabeth Warren to run after Republicans blocked her nomination to a consumer protection post in the Obama administration.

Warren has raised more money than Brown since joining the race, pulling in $15.8 million as of her most recent report to the Federal Election Commission. But she has stumbled recently following the disclosure that she had listed herself as having Native American heritage in law school directories.

In Nevada, Democratic hopes rest on the party’s ability to defeat appointed Sen. Dean Heller. Two years ago, the GOP chances of winning a seat vanished when tea party-packed challenger Sharron Angle emerged from a primary.

This year, Indiana appears the state likeliest to test the Democratic claim that tea party candidates hurt the Republicans — as happened in Delaware, Colorado and Nevada in 2010.

State Treasurer Richard Mourdock defeated six-term Sen. Lugar in the GOP primary and will face Rep. Joe Donnelly in the fall. Democrats say the race is winnable, and Republicans concede that, as elsewhere, they are likely to have to spend campaign funds to make sure the seat stays in their column.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.news-journal.com/news/nation/republican-candidates-across-country-face-tight-battle-for-u-s/article_412a3b60-1b6e-5a34-951a-c9e9ce0175d0.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Tea Party
Wisconsin recall slipping away from Democrats

Just two and a half weeks remain in the recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), and momentum seems to be firmly on the GOP’s side.


Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in this April 17, 2012 file photo taken in Springfield, Ill. (Seth Perlman — Associated Press)

All three polls out this week show Walker leading Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) by between 5 percent and 9 percent. Perhaps more illustrative, though, are the candidate’s personal favorability and approval numbers.


Despite all the attempts by Democrats and organized labor to turn him into the bogeyman, Walker’s job approval and favorable rating both remain in positive territory, at right around 50 percent.

Barrett, meanwhile, has no such luxury. The latest Marquette University Law School poll of this race showed his favorable rating at just 37 percent, compared to 45 percent who view him unfavorably.

As of late March, the same pollster showed Barrett, the 2010 Democratic nominee against Walker, was viewed favorably by 34 percent and unfavorably by just 27 percent.

That’s a massive shift, with his unfavorable rating jumping 18 points in just seven weeks. It reflects both the difficult primary that he just emerged from (in which labor backed his opponent) and Republicans’ sustained early effort to define him.

The question from here is whether he can recover in the coming weeks.

In politics, though, it’s much easier to chop down your opponent than recover your own good name, so we would expect and all-hands-on-deck effort on behalf of Democrats to tear down Walker.

But there are two problems with that. One is that there has been a concerted effort to do just that for about two straight years now, and Walker still isn’t unpopular.

And secondly, Democrats may not have the money to make it happen. As the Plum Line’s Greg Sargent reported this week, top Wisconsin Democrats are fuming that the national party hasn’t done more to help them.

The Democratic National Committee is now pushing back on that idea, pointing to all the things it has done to help defeat Walker.

Regardless of who’s right, these kinds of fights don’t happen on the winning side of the ledger. And they should be seen as further evidence that the Wisconsin recall is getting away from Democrats.

That’s not to say it’s over; as the Nebraska GOP Senate primary showed us, two and a half weeks is a long time in politics. But in a race where both candidates are very well-known (as Walker and Barrett are), moving the needle significantly in a short period of time is certainly more difficult.

Which is why this race slides down our governor’s line, from No. 2 to No. 5 (in order of which seats are most likely to flip control).

To the line!

5. Wisconsin (Republican-controlled): See above. All of the seats on this line are competitive, but at this point, we’re not ready to put Wisconsin ahead of the toss-ups listed below in Montana, New Hampshire and Washington state. Barrett is certainly the underdog at this point. (Previous ranking: 2)

4. Montana (Democratic-controlled): This is by all accounts a Republican-leaning state, but Democrats have a statewide official, in Attorney General Steve Bullock, while Republicans have a pretty uncertain crop of candidates. The leading GOP contender appears to be former congressman Rick Hill, who Democrats noted this week was once rated the second most-difficult boss in Congress. We have yet to see what Hill is made of, but it will go a long way in determining the GOP’s chances here. An automated poll from Democratic-leaning pollster Public Policy Polling this week showed Bullock and Hill tied at 39 percent. (Previous ranking: 3)

3. Washington (D): Quitting Congress to campaign may not have been enough for former congressman Jay Inslee (D). Stand for Children, an education advocacy group that backed Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2008, just endorsed Attorney General Rob McKenna (R). And McKenna outraised Inslee in April despite special legislative sessions that gave him only 18 days to raise money. (Previous ranking: 4)

2. New Hampshire (D): The Democratic primary here appears to be more competitive than the GOP race, where attorney and 2010 Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne has a huge early edge in a new PPP poll. On the Democratic side, former state senators Jackie Cilley and Maggie Hassan were neck-and-neck in the same poll, but Hassan recently landed the backing of the Democratic women’s group Emily’s List. The general election is a virtual tie no matter who emerges. (Previous ranking: 5)

1. North Carolina (D): There’s been some rare good news for Democrats here in the past couple weeks. Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, the stronger candidate, won the May 8 Democratic primary, and the latest polling has former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory’s lead shrinking to the (high) single digits. But Democrats still face an uphill battle here, and the Republican Governors Association quickly started hammering Dalton with ads. Democrats, to their credit though, were quick with a response. (Previous ranking: 1)

Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/wisconsin-recall-slipping-away-from-democrats/2012/05/18/gIQAnVP5YU_blog.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Republican
Letters: Skip the politics when deciding on Keystone XL pipeline

Both positions on the Keystone XL pipeline are close to nonsense. Oil and gasoline trade is on the open, free global market, and to suggest that the price of gasoline or crude oil will be dependent on the pipeline is just misleading from either side. Oil will be sold at the market price and could/will be shipped to China anyway, from whichever ports are available.

Gasoline price is a function of supply and demand. Supply is a function of refinery capacity, not current crude availability. Tar crude is more expensive to refine than west Texas crude oil. The price of gasoline will likely be unaffected. While the environmental concerns are valid, deal with the concerns, and don’t just oppose the shipping of crude.

But what really confounds me is that a northern section of pipeline to the Midwest already exists. Just build the southern section to Port Arthur, etc. and be done with the political rhetoric.

Anthony C. Bernardo

Bloomfield Hills

A route to oil profits

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton spouts oil company dogma with great aplomb but fails to tell the rest of the sorry story (“Keystone pipeline will bring jobs, greater energy independence,” May 10).

TransCanda has a great surplus of the oily sludge it calls “heavy crude” and needs to get it to refineries that can make it into something like petroleum to sell on the world market. TransCanada already has a pipeline that goes as far as Cushing, Okla., which it could complete. But while it might serve the Gulf Coast refineries that supply the middle of the U.S. (including Michigan, which is why gas costs so much by the time it gets back up here), it wants to sell a great deal more to world markets. Our country is just the company’s route to billions in international trade.

Let’s call the Keystone pipeline what it is — not XL but XP, for “export.”

Brendan Wehrung

Royal Oak

Save the planet

Standing for something, doing what is right, is the mark of a strong leader. President Barack Obama did something important recently. He endorsed gay marriage. He didn’t equivocate, he didn’t compromise, he took a stand. Simply by standing firm, he changed the course of history.

He should do it again. It is time for him to draw a line on the threat of global warming. With headlines like “Game over for the climate” (James Hansen, May 10) screaming off the pages of the New York Times, the president must be aware that he needs to act, and act decisively, if we are to avert the most serious consequences.

This means that he has to explain that we, as a nation, can no longer be cowed into submission by the big-money backers of the oil and gas industry and their Republican allies who want to dupe us into believing that the threat has been manufactured. Instead, he must make it clear that it is simply no longer an option to continue dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

He can start, as Hansen suggests, by unequivocally denying tar sands oil from Canada additional access to Gulf Coast refining. Then he needs to convince our Canadian neighbors that the tar sands, which Hansen says contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history, are “better left in the ground.”

The only solution to the looming catastrophe of manmade climate change is strong leadership, and we need it now. As Hansen said, “Civilization is at risk.”

Let the president lead on this issue and do what is right.

Katie Jacob

Birmingham

Build a refinery instead

Why not build an oil refinery in the North Dakota region with the money needed to build a proposed pipeline to the south? This eliminates the potential environmental problems people have and would probably save money overall.

Imagine the savings by eliminating the upkeep of a megamile pipeline. Or do the oil companies have a lock on refineries?

Ron Calcaterra

Sterling Heights

Pipeline to exports

Regarding the Keystone XL pipeline: Why would it send Canadian oil to U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico? Is the oil for U.S. consumption or another way for Canadians to ship their products overseas? Why should we expose thousands of miles of U.S. land to oil spills and mega-disasters so oil companies can make money shipping their oil out of the country?

Let’s build refineries in North Dakota and South Dakota, which can then distribute oil to the upper Midwest states. There’s a real energy opportunity!

Dennis Paulson

Warren

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120519/OPINION04/205190315/Letters-Skip-the-politics-when-deciding-on-Keystone-XL-pipeline

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Keystone XL
HUFFPOST FUNDRACE — Donor Disclosure Weekend

Donor Disclosure Weekend: The presidential campaigns and super PACs will be disclosing their donors and expenses for the month of April over the weekend. This evening the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee disclosed that they raised $25 million and $14 million, respectively. We’ll be reporting on the numbers all weekend.

Some other notes on fundraising in April:

Sen. Jim DeMint’s campaign put another $200,000 into the conservative Club for Growth Action super PAC. That brings his total to $700,000 to the group that spent big to depose Sen. Dick Lugar in the Indiana Senate primary race.

Labor unions continue to give big to Democratic super PACs. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association gave $1 million to the pro-Obama Priorities USA Action. The American Federation of Teachers gave $300,000 to Majority PAC and $100,000 to America Works USA. Services Employees International Union put $500,000 into We Are Wisconsin, a group spending big to defeat Scott Walker in the upcoming recall election.

HuffPost will be looking into the donors to the super PACs and the presidential campaigns and posting over the weekend and into next week.

One donor stood out like a sore thumb yesterday. TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts came out of nowhere to become the billionaire super PAC donor of the day with a proposed plan–since discarded–to spend $10 million on ads hitting President Obama for his past connection to his controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright. But who is Joe Ricketts anyways? HuffPost reports, “He has already contributed more than a half-million dollars to super PACs in the 2012 cycle. The Campaign for Primary Accountability, which backs primary challengers to congressional incumbents, reported a $500,000 contribution, and Ricketts’ own super PAC, the Ending Spending Fund, spent $250,000 to support Senate candidate Deb Fischer in her victory in Tuesday’s Nebraska GOP primary. Like many a staunch fiscal conservative, Ricketts is a self-made man. Born in Nebraska City, Neb., in 1941, he put himself through college, taking nine years to graduate from Creighton University while working to pay the bills. In the 1970s, he co-founded the firm that would eventually become Ameritrade (later to merge with TD Waterhouse). The company was a pioneer in providing individual investors with the tools to trade, first through touch-tone phone services and later through the Internet with its well-known $8-a-trade offer. … A staunch opponent of both partisanship and wasteful spending is how Ricketts portrays himself and his political activism. But theory doesn’t always conform to reality. Ricketts’ monomania about spending drives very one-sided giving.”

iWatch News reports that campaign finance watchdogs are concerned about Ricketts’ spending to help Deb Fischer win the Republican nomination for Senate in Nebraska.

The Supreme Court decision that unleashed the Joe Ricketts’ and Sheldon Adelson’s of the world onto our elections is coming up for some serious criticism in a just filed amicus brief by Sens. John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse. HuffPost’s Mike Sacks reports, “In an all-out broadside against the current state of campaign finance, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) submitted a brief on Friday morning urging the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand Montana’s century-old ban on corporate money in political campaigns despite the court’s Citizens United ruling two years ago declaring unconstitutional a similar federal law sponsored by McCain. …Siding with Montana and agreeing with Ginsburg and Breyer, the senators ask the Supreme Court “to confirm that Congress and state legislators may, upon an appropriate record demonstrating the potential for corruption or perceived corruption created by independent expenditures, enact legislation in response to that real and significant threat.” McCain, a notable supporter of Mitt Romney in the Republican primary race, has not been shy during this campaign season about emphasizing the differences between himself and the presumptive GOP nominee on Citizens United and super PACs.”

The folks over at the Center for Responsive Politics have been following the money trail of some of the undisclosed spending by non-profits and found one health care group supplying a lot of funds to other conservative non-profits: “A secretive, well-funded group whose name gives the misleading impression that it is solely concerned about health care gave more than $44 million in 2010 to other tax-exempt groups, many of which spent millions on TV ads attacking Democrats running for the House and Senate and have begun spending for the same purpose this year.”

Mitt Romney sent out a document to his biggest donors to outline the perks they win for raising funds for the campaign. Politico reports, “Romney Stripes and Romney Stars pledge to raise $500,000 and $250,000, respectively. The “stripes” bundlers get special access at debates, the convention and election night, as well as dedicated briefings and their name published in the stars and stripes commemorative book. The “stars” bundlers get stars level convention, election night, and entry to all local finance general receptions, as well as other benefits.”

Romney and his wife have each donated $75,000 to a joint fundraising committee that funnels money to the Republican National Committee, the Romney campaign, and state Republican parties.

Barack Obama isn’t done raffling off seats to Hollywood fundraisers. This time you can win a seat at a New York fundraiser hosted by Sex The City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Is contributing money to Scott Walker’s reelection campaign a fraudulent expense? It’s complicated. ProPublica reports.

Democrats are having a chuckle over a Chamber of Commerce ad touting the business experience of Hawaii Senate candidate Linda Lingle.

AD WATCH

Help us populate our list of campaign videos. Send any notable TV, radio or web ads that you see to Fundrace. Send your submissions to paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.

Committee: Mitt Romney for President
Spot (English Language): “Day One”
Spot (Spanish Language): “Dia Uno”
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: American Bridge 21st Century
Candidate Opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: “Romney’s Day One Ad Updated”
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.

Committee: Barack Obama for President
Spot (Spanish Language): “Daniela Urbina”
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Barack Obama for President
Spot (Spanish Language): “Ernesto Apreza”
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Barack Obama for President
Spot (Spanish Language): “Lynette Acosta”
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Barack Obama for President
Spot: “Higher Education”
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Democratic National Committee
Candidate Opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: “The Bane of Romney’s Existence”
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.

Committee: Republican National Committee
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: “Nice Try Joe: You’re Not Foolin’ Coal Country”
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.

Committee: American Crossroads
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: “Great II”
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.

Committee: American Future Fund
Candidate Opposed: Bob Kerrey
Spot: “New York Bob Kerrey (:30)”
Spot 2: “New York Bob Kerrey (:15)”
Market: Nebraska.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Majority PAC
Candidate Supported: Claire McCaskill
Spot: “Them”
Market: Missouri.
Buy: ~$247,760.

Committee: U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Candidate Supported: Linda Lingle
Spot: “Linda Lingle believes small businesses can create jobs for our future”
Market: Hawaii.
Buy: Undisclosed.

Committee: Patriot USA
Candidate Opposed: Denny Rehberg
Spot: “Charter”
Market: Montana.
Buy: ~$211,138.

Committee: Tom Barrett for Governor
Candidate Opposed: Scott Walker
Spot: “Guitar Hero”
Market: Wisconsin.
Buy: Undisclosed.

TRACKING INDEPENDENT SPENDING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:

These numbers represent spending by independent groups, like super PACs and non-profits, to support or oppose a particular candidate for the presidency in 2012. Fundrace will update this spending daily to help show which candidates are gaining from the proliferation of independent groups in this coming election.

Newt Gingrich (R), $13,017,772 to support, $18,885,161 to oppose.
Rick Santorum (R), $7,548,235 to support, $20,923,379 to oppose.
Mitt Romney (R), $7,327,516 to support, $12,348,985 to oppose. (+$3,605,222)
Rick Perry (R), $4,167,697 to support, $1,404 to oppose.
Ron Paul (R), $3,748,218 to support, $214,158 to oppose.
Jon Huntsman (R), $2,453,204 to support, $0 to oppose.
Barack Obama (D), $455,569 to support, $1,279,069 to oppose.
Herman Cain (R), $501,717 to support, $954 to oppose.
Gary Johnson (R), $518 to support, $0 to oppose.

RECENT INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Majority PAC, $247,760 to support Claire McCaskill for Senate in Missouri.
Texas Conservatives Fund, $240,600 to oppose Ted Cruz for Senate in Texas.
House Majority PAC, $54,031 to support Julia Brownley for Congress in California’s 26th District.
House Majority PAC, $108,282 to oppose Jesse Kelly for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District.
House Majority PAC, $21,931 to oppose Linda Parks for Congress in California’s 26th District.
Patriot Majority USA, $211,138 to oppose Denny Rehberg for Senate in Montana.
National Republican Congressional Campaign, $284,051 to oppose Ron Barber for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District.
League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, $10,790 to support Elizabeth Warren for Senate in Massachusetts.
League of Conservation Voters, $100,000 to support Julia Brownley for Congress in California’s 26th District.
California League of Conservation Voters, $91,607 to support Julia Brownley for Congress in California’s 26th District.
Conservatives Acting Together PAC, $19,275 to support Michael Williams for Congress in Texas’ 25th District.
League of Conservation Voters, $28,000 to support Paul Gallego for Congress in Texas’ 23rd District.
League of Conservation Voters, $95,307 to oppose Ciro Rodriguez for Congress in Texas’ 23rd District.
Committee to Elect An Effective Valley Congressman, $10,138 to support Howard Berman for Congress in California’s 30th District.
Priorities USA Action, $3,605,222 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.

RECENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE REGISTRATIONS

Veterans for a Strong America Action Group, Sioux Falls, S.D., Treasurer: Joel A. Arends. (Super PAC

Send tips, hints, submissions, rumors to HuffPost Fundrace at paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/18/huffpost-fundrace----dono_n_1528721.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Politics
MT Congressional delegation addresses potential ICBM cuts




Bookmark and Share

Another amendment affecting the military mission in Great Falls has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act.

U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) says that his amendment will prohibit the use of funds for the reduction of America’s nuclear force unless Russia also reduces its force.

Rehberg contends that the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was a bad deal for the U.S. because Russia was already below the weapons threshold designated in the treaty, so the only nation actually reducing its nuclear force is the United States.

He believes his amendment will protect Malmstrom Air Force Base from additional cuts.

“It’s been reported the National Security Council has plans to cut our nuclear force by up to 80 percent, slashing it to a level not seen since the 1950′s. To that end, the new START treaty will go down as one of the worst, most one-sided deals in our country’s history,” Rehberg said.

An Associated Press report from May 15th states that a panel chaired by former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Cartwright calls for a total of 900 nuclear weapons; the report states Cartwright is known to be close to President Obama.

U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Jon Tester (D-MT) both supported ratification of the new START agreement.

Tester’s office points out that the treaty had bipartisan support from current and former cabinet members dating back to the Ford administration.

“Malmstrom’s own commanders told Congressman Rehberg that the new START treaty allows us to keep better tabs on Russia’s nuclear weapons. Jon isn’t going to second-guess what Air Force commanders believe, that new START strengthens our security without costing jobs at Malmstrom,” Tester spokeswoman Andrea Helling said.

Baucus contends that START will not lead to more missile cuts at Malmstrom; he says people should be concerned about additional cuts moving forward and feels Rehberg’s amendment could leave Malmstrom open to unlimited cuts.

“We get into dangerous territory when we start playing politics with our national defense and open the door for the President to make unlimited cuts to the ICBM force without any Congressional oversight,” Baucus said.

Montana’s News Station has been told by several sources in the past that Malmstrom will be losing only 10 of its 150 ICBMs due to the new START treaty, but the actual numbers have yet to be confirmed by the administration.

Article source: http://www.kaj18.com/news/mt-congressional-delegation-addresses-potential-icbm-cuts/

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Politics
Governor says judge’s order to block bison transfer unwarranted

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer contests the validity of a Blaine County judge’s halt May 9 of transferring several dozen Yellowstone bison from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

As part of a conservation effort, 60 quarantined Yellowstone bison were transferred to the Fort Peck reservation in March. The move happened in March to avoid the bison’s spring calving season, the governor said. The judge’s order stopped the plan to transfer 40 from that 60 herd to the Fort Belknap reservation.

In his decision, Judge John McKeon ultimately blocked state wildlife officials from arranging future transfers of Yellowstone bison to any public or private land until a lawsuit filed by a number of ranchers and property rights groups is pending. 

But the governor upped the ante.

“We’ve already filed a motion of appeal to the Montana Supreme Court,” Governor Schweitzer said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It says we’ve followed the Montana state law to a ‘T.’ I’m confident they will see these bison were moved according to Montana law.”

The litigants are suggesting that 60 bison, which are currently at the Fort Peck reservation, threaten Montana’s entire cattle industry because of the possibility that they carry brucellosis, which can cause abortions in livestock. 

“These are the least likely animals in the state to have brucellosis,” Schweitzer said. Quarantined for five years the bison underwent 17 tests in three years, he said, adding that no other animal in the state has been tested as much. “They’re less likely than my dog to get brucellosis.”

The litigants also don’t want the bison competing with their livestock for food.

“Why aren’t they complaining about the 150 buffalo ranches that are already in Montana?” he asked. “Ted Turner has proved you can contain buffalo,” adding that the media personality has 55,000 head of buffalo in eight states.

When the Assiniboine, Sioux and Gros Ventre tribes of the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations signed the agreement to accept the transfer of the quarantined Yellowstone bison, they accepted responsibility for providing a brucellosis testing facility as well as an electric fence to contain the transferred bison. 

“This isn’t just a barbed wire fence but the kind used all over the world,” Schweitzer said. “Even the litigants knew that, but they still decided to sue.” The conservation plan aims to maintain the Yellowstone bison’s pure breed.

“This still doesn’t pass the laugh test,” Schweitzer said about the alleged threat to the cattle industry. “There are 3 million cattle in Montana. Do you think 60 buffalo are going to threaten them? Now a buffalo doesn’t breed like rabbits. A female needs to be 3 years old before she can have a calf.”

With so few transferred buffalo to cattle numbers in the state, it would take generations to get to 1,000 head.

“I know a little bit about this,” he said, “because I’m a third-generation rancher in Montana.”

Another aspect of the judge’s ruling that the governor disagrees with is the judge’s characterizing the buffalo as a large predator.

Montana law defines a large predator as a wolf, bear and mountain lion.

“That’s why we now want the appeal,” Schweitzer said. “Let’s just move it out of that court. 

Article source: http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/news/article_7c8af824-a107-11e1-9363-001a4bcf887a.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 19th, 2012 , Governor
Can Montana brief end Citizens United?

Montana’s attorney general is due to file a brief Friday in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to uphold the state’s Corrupt Practices Act. This 1906 law prohibits corporations from making expenditures on behalf of candidates in Montana elections.

The Supreme Court’s response could have repercussions far beyond Montana — the case may well determine how much states can regulate money in politics after Citizens United. The state high court cited Montana’s long history of corruption, when corporations often spent unlimited sums to steal elections, as the reason to narrow Citizens United and uphold the law.

Continue Reading

The Supreme Court should heed the Montana attorney general’s argument. More important, this case could offer the high court a viable means to revisit its Citizens United decision. This 2010 ruling, extended by lower federal courts, has spawned the super PACs now threatening to bring Wild West corruption to federal elections.

Months away from November, numerous corporations have each donated more than $1 million to super PACs dedicated to electing specific candidates. They’re not doing it for altruistic reasons. Super PACs that receive — and spend — unlimited donations from parties seeking specific government actions threaten to bring about a new Gilded Age.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, for example, pledged to spend up to $100 million to determine who controls federal agencies now pursuing three investigations against his company. Harold Simmons, who stands to reap extraordinary profits if nuclear waste rules are relaxed, has given super PACs $16 million — including at least $700,000 to the super PAC functioning as an arm of Mitt Romney’s campaign.

Those now challenging the Montana law say it cannot be reconciled with Citizens United. They’ve asked the court to take the extraordinary step of throwing out the Montana law without even allowing briefing and oral argument.

The court should reject this request. Montana’s history demonstrates the corruption that blooms when corporations can spend without limit to capture government. The state’s history demonstrates again and again why the anti-corruption law should stand.

Indeed, a close review of the case shows that the court would be well-served to revisit — and substantially narrow — Citizens United.

Montana voters adopted the Corrupt Practices Act at a time when national copper mining companies were running roughshod over the state government. “Bribery of public officials,” the Montana Supreme Court explained in its ruling, “and unlimited campaign spending by the mining interests were commonplace and well-known to the public.”

The most egregious corruption involved the Anaconda Co., a firm controlled by the powerful Standard Oil. In a struggle over mineral rights, Anaconda locked horns with an entrepreneur, F. Augustus Heinze, who had already bought and paid for the state judges in Butte. They invariably decided cases in his favor.

So Anaconda decided to put the squeeze on the remaining branches of government. The company shut down all its state operations — which put 80 percent of the Montana workforce out of a job. Then, it declared it wouldn’t start hiring until a law was passed, allowing it to avoid litigating in the Butte courts.

Article source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76448.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 18th, 2012 , Politics
Montana labor board backs Legislature in dispute

By MATT GOURAS

HELENA, Mont.

A state board on Thursday backed the 2011 Montana Legislature’s pay freeze for state employees, rebuffing a complaint from unions that the Republican-led move to spurn a deal negotiated with the governor violated fair labor practice standards.

The Board of Personnel Appeals voted Thursday to accept the earlier findings of a hearings officer in rejecting the state employee unions’ unfair labor practice complaint.

The board agreed that the labor deal negotiated between the governor’s office and state employee unions held a specific provision that the deal was contingent upon legislative approval.

The pay plan included a 4 percent pay hike over two years. The Republican-led Legislature rejected the plan and instead imposed a pay freeze.

A union representative said a decision will come later on whether to appeal to the courts.

Montana Public Employees Association executive director Quinton Nyman said the labor groups involved in the complaint want an order forcing future legislatures to fairly bargain. He said there was never much chance of forcing the legislature to re-do the pay plan and endorse the small pay increase negotiated with the governor.

The unions said the board’s decision means that the groups have very little motivation to go through the labor bargaining process with the governor if the Legislature can just simply ignore it. Nyman said that the Legislature does not have to approve the deal, but it does have to continue fair negotiations that give the unions a chance to object.

During the last session, Republican legislative leaders argued there was not enough money to pay for the raise. The Legislature said that it was under no obligation to simply ratify the deal negotiated by the governor and the unions.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat who backed the pay deal, countered there was plenty of money and said state employees deserved a small raise after several years of stagnant pay.

One board member who opposed the move said he thinks the courts will force the board to look at the case again. Jay Reardon said the board had an obligation to do fact-finding in the case rather than to simply accept the hearings officer’s motion for summary judgment.

“I believe there are material facts and evidence that are in dispute,” he said.

Other board member, however, argued the law was clear that the legal negotiating process stops when the governor submits the negotiated pay plan to the Legislature.

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-05/D9UR5NKO0.htm

Leave A Comment, Written on May 18th, 2012 , Governor
Mitt Romney vows approval of Keystone XL pipeline on first day in White House

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney is vowing to approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline on his first day on the job if elected U.S. president in November.

In a campaign ad unveiled on Friday, the presumptive Republican nominee asks voters to imagine Day 1 of his presidency, and lists Keystone as a top priority.

“Day One, President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline, creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked,� the ad’s narrator says.

Romney has been maligning U.S. President Barack Obama for months for failing to give the green light to Keystone. The president rejected the $7 billion pipeline earlier this year, but invited TransCanada to apply for another permit once the Calgary-based company rerouted the project around a crucial aquifer in Nebraska.

“I will build that pipeline if I have to myself,� Romney said last month.

TransCanada recently came up with a new route for Keystone XL, one that skirts the Nebraska aquifer before joining up with the original proposed path of the pipeline.

Environmentalists say the new route continues to pose threats to Nebraska’s drinking water since it still traverses the aquifer, only avoiding a portion of the state’s Sandhills region where groundwater is close to the surface.

U.S. environmentalists have mounted a massive campaign against the pipeline, calling it a disaster waiting to happen and insisting it would sustain America’s addiction to “dirty oil.�

Keystone XL would transport oilsands crude from northern Alberta through six U.S. states to Gulf Coast refineries.

The debate over the pipeline became a political migraine for Obama. Keystone XL proponents said he was turning his back on much-needed American jobs by stalling on the Canadian pipeline, while environmentalists urged him to stand up to the oil industry as he promised to do while running for president in 2008.

The State Department will make the final decision on the pipeline because it crosses an international border.

Article source: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Mitt+Romney+vows+approval+Keystone+pipeline+first+White+House/6644190/story.html

Leave A Comment, Written on May 18th, 2012 , Keystone XL
<< Older Entries

Montana Votes is proudly powered by WordPress and the Theme Adventure by Eric Schwarz
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).

Montana Votes

Voting Awareness Big West Style