Mr. Schweitzer goes to Frisco
Gov. Brian Schweitzer usually looks at things from both sides, which is to say from a practical point of view and from a political point of view.
The first gives him his credentials as a straightforward "man of the people." The second usually helps to keep him out of trouble, as the "smell test" usually prevents him from stepping into anything soft and squishy.
This week, however, the governor seems to have stepped first and sniffed later. His office announced that he had flown to San Francisco (but not at taxpayer expense) to attend a fundraiser Wednesday night, and that he would be hanging around to film an interview with Bill Maher on HBO.
The left-wing blog Daily Kos was delighted, and announced that, "Montana is our next target in the transformation of the Mountain West" into a Democratic stronghold. They called Schweitzer a "transformative figure in the West."
All of which is fine, except some folks in Montana would like to see the governor be a "transformative figure" in the Statehouse, especially when the Legislature is trying to pound out compromises on important legislation.
The governor says no harm will be done by him being out-of-state, but Senate Minority Leader Corey Stapleton took a different view:
"During the waning days (of the session), when all the deals are done, and tempers are flaring, and people need direction on multimillion, if not multibillion dollar decisions, … it would be nice to know that someone other than (the governor's staff members) are speaking for the state of Montana," Stapleton said.
Sorry, Mr. Governor, but we have to agree. To paraphrase the Bible, "Fundraisers you will always have with you, but you will not always have the legislative session" - just 90 days every other year.
Which means roll up your shirt sleeves, loosen the bolo tie, and get to work - and let San Francisco take care of itself for a few weeks.
Montana dinosaurs have done it again.
Dinosaur research in Montana often has helped rewrite paleontological science, and the latest news from researchers (they decoded proteins from a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex) is from a Montana fossil.
This may sound like arcane news, but it adds new weight to the concept that dinosaurs were the ancestors of modern-day birds.
The proteins came from soft tissue from a T. rex bone found near Fort Peck Reservoir in 2000. Scientists analyzing the tissue found collagen - and the closest match to creatures living today is collagen from chicken bones.
So although some wags may conclude that T. rex tasted like chicken, the protein work really is a landmark discovery in dinosaur science.
As noted dinosaur expert Jack Horner put it, the protein work "changes the idea that birds and dinosaurs are related from a hypothesis to a theory."
As the rains and the runoff get under way this spring, closer attention than normal is being paid to Libby Dam operations.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Gov. Schweitzer (as well as people living downstream in Idaho) are keeping an eye on how the Army Corps of Engineers manages the dam and Lake Koocanusa levels.
The attention is due, of course, to last spring's disastrous spill from the dam that lasted 19 days, violated Montana water-quality standards on the Kootenai River and led to flooding at Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
So everyone is justified in making sure there's not a repeat of that spill scenario and that the Army Corps does a better job of following its variable flow plan and adjusting properly for runoff.