Such a fast meeting last night!

The Missoula City Council meeting, of course.

During comments, Councilman Dave Strohmaier announced a request he plans to make of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a full blown study of the impacts of coal export terminals in Washington and Oregon.

From Strohmaier’s referral:

Numerous coal export facilities are planned for Oregon and Washington that will facilitate significantly increased coal train traffic through Missoula. This letter urges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who is charged with reviewing these coal export facility projects, to conduct a programmatic EIS that examines the full gamut of impacts resulting from the construction of these facilities—not just the localized impacts at the site of the facilities.

Earlier this year, we did a series on coal train traffic. The photo here is one editor Kurt Wilson took.

Here’s a paragraph from Strohmaier’s draft letter, which he will present Wednesday to the Missoula City Council Conservation Committee:

The railroad tracks and railyard in Missoula cut through a significant portion of town. The crossing at Greenough Drive, in particular, cuts off the Lower Rattlesnake neighborhood.  The increased train traffic will cause much more frequent delays there and will result in significant additional emissions of air pollutants, including greenhouse gases, from numerous cars idling for additional hours per day. In addition, increased diesel exhaust and impacts from coal dust emissions should also be thoroughly analyzed.

I’m looking forward to the meeting.

Strohmaier is running for the U.S. House of Representatives, and he’s not alone in wanting that seat. Today, though, the mail bag on our letters page brought some letters of support, including this one from Missoula Mayor John Engen, who lauds the councilor as a man of hard work:

A bunch of folks from around the state who didn’t know Dave Strohmaier before this year are going to vote for him in the upcoming primary election. I’m going to vote for him. I hope you do, too.

Hard work still means something in Montana.

I’ve written about Strohmaier’s candidacy before here.

In other news, there’s a plan for new Mountain Line bus routes.

Note to self: Take the bus this week.

– Keila Szpaller

If you missed it, here’s my latest story about Mayor John Engen’s proposed 2013 budget. The general fund is 29 percent larger than it was in the 2006 budget, when Engen’s predecessor was in office.

While the budget has grown under Engen, the mayor and his department heads also have found savings.

City finance director Brentt Ramharter estimated the savings amount to some $2.2 million in fiscal years 2010 and 2011; that’s $1.1 million each of those years.

Ramharter provided a lot of spreadsheets for the story, and I’m going to attach them below.

Also, Mayor Engen provided a handout he gives people who have frequently asked questions about the budget. For instance, folks want to know why city employees pay relatively little into their good plans, and here’s Engen’s response in part:

I’ve owned and operated two small businesses and provided health insurance for employees for the reasons I’ve mentioned here, and because I believed it was the right thing to do. I think the majority of Missoula’s citizens, as shareholders in our municipal corporation, want us to lead by example and be the best employer we can be, without taking advantage of our citizens’ magnanimity. And as a citizen and taxpayer, I believe it’s the right thing to do.

From the City Finance Department, budgets in Excel:

FY2006. FY2007. FY2008. FY2009. FY2010. FY2011. FY2012. FY2013 proposed.

Also, here’s some budget comparisons I put together based on data from Ramharter. Bet you can’t wait to print this stuff out, walk to Greenough Park, and bask in the sun with your crisp Excel spreadsheets.

What else? Oh yes. A history of city tax levies, also courtesy of finance director Ramharter. (Thank you, Brentt, for providing so much information and making sure the comparisons weren’t missing things.)

That’s it for now. Well, except I took that direct and affordable Allegiant flight to Oakland this weekend. Man, if we can keep that one running, I’ll be in heaven.

– Keila Szpaller

Mayor John Engen sent his first original tweet today! Follow him: @engenjohn.

EngenJohn10:51am via web

My first tweet: Missoula, my hometown, is a great place that’s getting better. bit.ly/JUSrDa

EngenJohnMay 07, 6:30pm via Twitter for iPhone

RT @jenifergursky: If the interest rate on student loans doubles, the average student pays $1000 more per year. Let’s make the right cho …

Also from Mayor Engen in an email with “Sendak” in the subject line:

My favorite (Maurice Sendak) quote from ‘Fresh Air.’ I wept in the garage while listening. Couldn’t figure out how to tweet it back to you, so am relying on e-mail.

I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … What I dread is the isolation. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.

- Maurice Sendak

I think he sent it because I’d forwarded this one:

RT @Lgpguin: Observation: Many Maurice#Sendak obituaries, profiles do not mention he was gay. 50 years with partner till 2007 death

@Lgpguin is a good one to follow, too, ’cause she comments frequently on city government affairs.

She (”a woman working too much” in Missoula) replied to a tweet I’d sent Monday during the Missoula City Council meeting:

LgpguinMay 07, 9:36pm via txt

Hell freezes over! I agree w/ KMJ MT @KeilaSzpaller: Kandi Matthew-Jenkins said we celebrate booze in MSO while trying to fight DUIs. Do …

That was “doublespeak.”

Anyway, it was good to get a note about something human and literary from the mayor since tomorrow we’re talking about his proposed budget.

– Keila Szpaller

Here’s some data from Missoula Municipal Court on DUI and partner-family member assault tickets written by police.

You can see that this year, Missoulians are on track to rack up 1,240 DUIs, and that’d be a 71 percent increase from tickets written in 2009. Wow. These are just DUI tickets written, though. I don’t have a breakdown of the various results, like how many end up dismissed. But still. It’s lots.

Also, in case you didn’t know, Animal Control officers started patrolling city parks by bike to try to keep dogs on leashes. Photographer Michael Gallacher took the picture. I’m glad that’s not me and my dog, although that’s a really cute pup.

– Keila Szpaller

Sometimes, I get a letter that’s worth sharing more widely. This weekend, Missoula Police Department detective Katie Petersen sent a note talking about how she’s a community member and not just a cop.

Here’s a picture of her in regular person mode, and below is her letter in full. She mentions volunteering at an event at Scotty’s Table, and in case you don’t know, the restaurant’s nonprofit Mondays are ongoing. “Like” them on Facebook for updates.

Thanks, Petersen, and other police who make the community a better place. Here’s her letter:

“Hi Missoulians,

“In light of all the not-so-fantastic press about local law enforcement, I’d like to let you know many Missoula Police Officers are great people, and their off duty lives, the things that humanize them, often go unnoticed.  I have been a Missoula Police Officer for almost 11 years, and being a police officer is hard, dangerous, often thankless, and stressful.  I’m often asked, “How do you stay sane?”

“I tell them a large part of my free time is spent volunteering, engaging in outdoor activities, shopping locally, blending in at local events, raising a child, and on top of all that, I’m married to a fantastic Missoula County Deputy.  I love Missoula, and I do what I can every day to make this a safer community, for me, my family, and the 70K residents I don’t even know.  Why do I continue this job?

“Because I can do it, it needs to be done, and I do things to keep myself healthy so I don’t lose my mind.  For years, that badge protects my heart and shields me from all the community frustration, and every day I go to work knowing it is thankless AND worthwhile.

“So with all this stereotypical police stuff that is in the media every day, I’m writing a group of you to tell you about just one of the non- stereotypical things that go on, that you are likely not aware of.

“I am currently involved with The Parenting Place as the president of the Board of Directors.  It is a local nonprofit with a mission to prevent child abuse.  So much of my job as a police officer is reactive, and it is my chance to try to make a proactive difference in this community.  This, along with insightful phone calls to my supportive family, yoga, and my “normal” activities, keeps me sane.

“People who get to know police officers outside of their job (neighbors, kids go to school together, met them at an event) usually are really surprised to find out that person works as a police officer.  They would never have guessed that the person who shoveled their walk/intervened in a situation when they were in plain clothes/ made small talk in store, was a police officer, because all they read about is all the community frustration with police, and forget they are human and doing their job.  I challenge you to pay attention to some of the good things off duty police officers are doing in this community.   We are good people, we want a healthy and safe community, and we are willing to do a thankless job when no one else wants to.

“I know there have been individuals that have caught on to what we do in our off time as police officers, and as an aside, a producer at one point was very interested in coming to Missoula to document this activity, knowing that the stereotypes of police could be blown out of the water if someone just paid attention.

“Are you interested in shining a light on some of the great things Missoula Officers do in their off time?  Well, I’m inviting you to an event I am involved with, and this gun toting police officer will be slinging burgers at Scotty’s Table tomorrow (Monday May 7th).  I will attach the flyer.  I will be there with several other fantastic Missoula residents (Matt Ellis (Osprey/MSO Hub), Lee Cox (Exchange Club member/EVE Foundation/Donation Warehouse), Bob Deaton (Ret. UM Professor), Dan Morgan (Ret. Juvenile Probation Officer), and my sister, Lara Grover (a work-at-home mom who loves her police officer sister) donating their time for this event, including the owners and staff of Scotty’s Table who make this event possible.

“Have a fantastic day, and I hope to see a few of you at this wonderful community event tomorrow.  I will be the one in the Parenting Place apron, smiling and serving burgers, knowing my time will help fund child abuse prevention, and maybe one child will have a better day because of it.

“Respectfully,

Katie Petersen.”

Wanna help shape the political debates this year?

The Missoulian is looking for two informed and opinionated  citizens who want to share their views and engage with others on a political blog that runs from now until the end of the 2012 election season.

We want folks who can discuss everything from candidates to ballot measures.

If the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Jon Tester and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg gets you fired up, you could be our blogger. Or if you have things to say about the way the Montana Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court are making decisions on campaign finance laws, this forum might be for you. Yes, we want your thoughts on the presidential race, too.

Interested? Think you know someone who is? We’re looking for two people, both from the Missoula area, one on either end of the political spectrum.

Want to learn more? Or have an idea of someone who would make a good blogger or commentator? Email sdevlin@missoulian.com or call 523-5250.

– Keila Szpaller

Alright, here’s to the holiday, and now we’ve got some ground to cover.

First, something fun. It’s Bike-Walk-Bus Week, and that means the Pedal v. Metal competition, bikes v. cars.

Our very own Michael Moore nabbed a third place in this Wednesday competition. The reason this is a big deal is Moore was asked to drive a car, and cars don’t win. But he vowed to beat at least some bikes, and he did.

Ahh, me. Moore’s last day was Monday, but he’s still writing columns and other things for the Missoulian.

Anyway, the champion was Councilman Jason Wiener, who completed the race in a zippy 26 minutes and 14 seconds.

“It’s hard to imagine something better proving the efficiency of getting around Missoula on a bike than a fat guy in jeans and boots on his lunch break winning Pedal vs. Metal,” Wiener said in a news release about the event.  “But, improbably enough, that’s what happened.”

Here’s a photo of all the winners, courtesy of Gabriel Furshong, of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board. In second place was Rachel Stevens of Adventure Cycling.

Moore dropped his medal off on my chair while I was gone this week, and it’s the coolest thing, so I’m putting up a picture of it for you. I don’t know if you can tell, but the ribbon is actually a bike inner tube, and the medallion is made out of … I’m going to get the name of the part wrong … maybe a gear? Reporter Kim Briggeman just told me “sprocket” is probably more correct.

Anyway, you can see that piece.

I’ll paste the full release about Pedal v. Metal at the end of this post, and let’s cover a couple other things first.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen that the feds are investigating the way Missoula has handled 80 rape reports the last three years.

Here’s Mayor John Engen in the story:

While “I and Chief Muir have no sense that we have failed to do our jobs … if there are things we aren’t doing right, we’re absolutely committed to doing them right.”

Here’s Engen’s response in this CNN story:

“If Justice has enough information that it believes an investigation is warranted, I’m not going to question that,” Engen said. “Clearly they have a responsibility to act on whatever complaints they are hearing. I think time will tell whether this was the right call or not.”

The U.S. Department of Justice promised fast action but made no estimates on when its investigation would be complete.

Other things:

I wrote this story about a misdemeanor probation program that’ll probably be starting up in Missoula. Councilman Adam Hertz provided an additional document with questions that came from a source who wished to remain anonymous.

In committee this week, Championman Wiener said he noticed at least one inaccuracy, but he also said Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Jenks should be prepared to answer some of the questions raised in the document during the full council meeting.

Oh, while Wiener won the race, he goofed up in his remarks to fellow Councilman Jon Wilkins, according to this letter to the editor from Paul Sopko.

Well, I’ve gotta run, so I’m going to paste the full release Furshong sent so you can see all the places people have to bike and drive to AND all the businesses sponsoring events. Just click on the “more” link.

TTFN.

– Keila Szpaller

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Gabriel Furshong at (406) 461 6897

Missoula City Councilman, Jason Weiner, was the winner of this year’s Pedal vs. Metal Challenge, an annual bicycle vs. car commuter competition held at high noon today as part of Bike Walk Bus Week.

In a chilly wind that brought intermittent rain and snow flurries, six cyclists and four drivers took off from the transit center to see who could complete all of the errands and return to the transit center most quickly.  Weiner was the first to return, soaking wet and out of breath, with a time of 26 minutes and 14 seconds, barely edging out Rachel Stevens of Adventure Cycling by just 26 seconds.  Michael Moore, who was driving for the Missoulian, came in third place.

“It’s hard to imagine something better proving the efficiency of getting around Missoula on a bike than a fat guy in jeans and boots on his lunch break winning Pedal vs. Metal,” Wiener said.  “But, improbably enough, that’s what happened.”

Every year the results from the Challenge offer some insight into the efficiency of getting around Missoula by bicycle versus a car.  This year was no different.  Three of the top five finishers were cyclists and the first driver to cross the finish line was a full two minutes behind Weiner.  But, efficiency is only one of the lessons learned during this year’s Challenge.

“When regular people ride bikes,” Weiner explains, “transportation infrastructure goes further, fewer community dollars wind up on oil company balance sheets and, it turns out, you can get your errands done faster.”

Missoula consistently ranks among the top 10 cities in the nation for cycling.  The Missoula Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board was recently invited to apply for an upgrade in its rating as a Bicycle Friendly city by the League of American Cyclists.  Missoula has been rated highly, at the Silver Level, for several years, but members of the advisory board feel that Missoula deserves an even higher rating.

“Missoula has made big strides in the last several years to improve travel for those who choose to bike and walk,” said Gabriel Furshong, a member of the board.  “These include small steps like creating new bike lines and painting sharrows along narrow roadways as well as some major improvements like the extension of the Milwaukee Trail, which I think served bicyclists very well today as they raced to the Good Food Store on one of their errands.”

Sponsors of the Challenge included the Missoula Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, the Bike Walk Alliance Missoula, and Open Road Bicycles, which provided the three top winners with medals made of bicycle gears and tire tubes.  See below for a complete list of competitors and participating businesses.

~

This year’s bicyclists included:

Jason Wiener, Missoula City Councilman,

Julie Huck, MOBI (Missoulians on Bicyclists)

Bob Wachtel, Missoula Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board

Rachel Stevens,

Drivers included:

Jean Curtiss, Missoula County Commissioner

Michael Moore, Missoulian

Jen Gursky, President of the Associated Students of the University of Montana

Rod Austin, Downtown Business Improvement District

The errand route included the following stops:

Ace Hardware (Eastgate Center)
Garden City Garden Supply (525 E. Spruce)
Good Food Store  (1600 S. Third W.)
JRPC Fair Trade Store  (519 S. Higgins)
Natural History Center (120 Hickory Street)
Open Road Bicycles (517 S. Orange)
Runners Edge  (325 N. Higgins)

Wowza. Did you see this one?

A U.S. Justice Department investigation into the handling of sexual assault cases by the Missoula Police Department, the Missoula County Attorney’s Office and the University of Montana will be announced Tuesday.

A couple other things in case you missed them:

1. My story about Verizon’s plan to cut a road across Waterworks Hill for a cell tower. One of the things I learned about at the Kiplinger Program was maps, and here’s my first attempt. In a voicemail exchange with the Office of Planning and Grants’ Mike Barton, I learned that cell phone companies are supposed to submit to OPG each year their list of towers and whether the towers are in operation. OPG’s Ana Aronofsky said Verizon is the only company that complies, and she sent me their list. I made this map based on their information:

2. The Missoulian editorial board calls for openness from the Missoula Economic Partnership.

All for now. I’m having all kinds of trouble with the embed code for the map, so I hope I can publish this thing. If not, I’ll just link to it and cry a little.

– Keila Szpaller

Check out this video passed on by Councilwoman Caitlin Copple: Dave Strohmaier, a member of the Missoula City Council and a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, “fake marries” a gay couple in Caras Park to show support for marriage equality.

Get this: Strohmaier conducts the ceremony wearing his fishing hat. (Sorry but I had trouble with the embed code, but click on the link to watch.)

In other news, the Missoula Independent has this story about the cell phone tower proposed for Waterworks Hill, the one I mentioned here yesterday, when I asked you about granny suites. (Hint, hint.)  More on cell phones again soon.

– Keila Szpaller

Finally! Whirlwind trip.

Here’s a picture of the Olentangy River in Columbus, Ohio.

So what’d I miss? I’m going to jump on a story about a cell phone tower, and I’m taking other ideas to add to the clean list of stories to write.

Also, if you have a mother-in-law unit you think is really sweet or hideously terrible, shoot me the address. It’s time to take a closer look at some of those homes in Missoula. My email is keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.

Oh, and you saw this story about the mom who says TSA treated her daughter like a terrorist, right? Her daughter is 4 years old.

Alrighty. Back in the saddle.

– Keila Szpaller