WOW! I am impressed — KFBB used to have one of the absolute worst and most useless websites of any TV station — two or three local stories, usually several days old — but they have done a complete overhaul and it is awesome. Major re-design, with an emphasis on black, silver, and white, and it is now PACKED with news and information, video, community links, etc. Kudos to KFBB!
September 30, 2007 | Filed Under
internet,
media |
Leave a Comment And fresh on the heels of the Josh Hutchins joining our blogging community comes another new blog: Great Falls In The Know! She’s off to a great start with some questions for pet owners and about our local animal-control policies. Go on over and say “hi!” to Janna Lee! And check out all of the other Great Falls bloggers…
ALSO: if you would like to add the roster of Great Falls bloggers to your blog, just copy this code snippet and paste it into your sidebar (or an entry):
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.bloglines.com/blogroll?id=davidmsc&folder=Great Falls"></script>
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September 29, 2007 | Filed Under
blogging |
1 Comment Great Falls has a new blogger: Josh Hutchins! His blog is titled “Yard Whisperer” (heh), and his primary focus is real estate, which makes sense since he is a realtor (and former Air Force officer - bonus points!). Go welcome him to our blog community!
September 28, 2007 | Filed Under
blogging |
2 Comments What’s new in the world of downtown parking? Glad you asked! Got an e-mail from a downtown merchant with some news about a new type of parking meter:
In an ongoing effort to solve the neverending problem of parking meters downtown, The City of Great Falls Parking Commission and The BID are announcing the “unveiling” of the new free time parking meters.
* The meters will be here around the first of October and hopefully installed around the 5th.
* These are trial meters and will be installed on the 400 block of Central Avenue only. (both sides)
The button on the front of the meter can be pushed anytime the meter is between 0 and 20 minutes. The meter will then read 20 minutes without putting any money in the meter. If someone wants to park for longer than 20 minutes, they must push the button first to get the free 20 minutes, and then add coins up to one hour. These will be one hour meters, however, a car can park in the space for up to two hours. (they, of course would have to come back to the meter to add in more time) If someone puts coins in the meter first, they cannot push the button and get and additional 20 minutes free. To get the free time, the button must be pushed before any coins are inserted.
And here’s a glamour shot of the new parking meter:
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September 27, 2007 | Filed Under
business,
civics |
2 Comments Driving east on 10th Avenue South on Tuesday and saw SNOW on the Highwood Mountains - hooray!
September 26, 2007 | Filed Under
weather |
Leave a Comment GeeGuy has an entry which addresses a commenter’s concern that the entire debate is somehow being controlled by Mayor Stebbins. Trust me - she has nothing to do with organizing the debate. The last time that I saw Mayor Dona was back in July, when I ran into her and her husband downtown as they were enjoying a meal at a restaurant. About a week later, she e-mailed me to ask if I was attending a local sporting event. That was my last contact with her.
This reason for this debate is quite simple: people like me, GeeGuy, and plenty of others want to take a more active role in our local government, and we don’t want to wait around for the Tribune or KRTV to organize a “debate” — and I use quotes around the word because most of what passes for a “debate” (on the state and national level, too) is usually nothing more than bland questions being met with canned responses from the candidates that, while they may reveal where a politican stands on an issue, often reveal very little about how candidates will actually govern and lead.
If you don’t like the idea of the debate - great, then don’t show up! But if you want the opportunity to see the candidates responding to real questions, and interacting with citizens in a more lively forum than a press conference, then come on down!
September 26, 2007 | Filed Under
civics,
election |
5 Comments Wow…didn’t realize that there would be so many “nattering nabobs of negativism” regarding the debate. Yes, it is not perfect - but no one ever claimed that it would be. But it’s something — a venue, a forum, for the candidates to talk directly to the voters and field questions posed by citizens. Some of the problems with organizing this event are a matter of election laws, and others a matter of “should have thought of that” items that can be addressed the next time around. But overall — I truly believe that this debate will be a good thing — for the candidates and for the citizens. And I am optimistic that the candidates won’t restrict their views and comments to the traditional “canned” campaign-speak.
September 26, 2007 | Filed Under
civics |
Leave a Comment Coming up on one year since my kerfuffle with the Great Falls Development Authority, and it saddens me to report that nothing has changed on the GFDA website. The link to “Quest” still appears on the GFDA site, and none of the things that I mentioned back in January have changed:
“It is still somewhat depressing, though, to see that not much else has changed at the site, such as the monthly newsletter section, with the most entry of April 2006 and all “recent” success stories dated 2005; or the Taxes and Incentives page, featuring data from 2005 and a link at the bottom to the Montana Dept of Revenue page that is broken.”
Sigh. Whatever happened to the excitement that the GFDA had back in June about updating the website?
UPDATE: received an e-mail from Brett Doney, the chairman of the GFDA, and he assured me that the new site is indeed being developed and will be up within a few weeks.
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September 24, 2007 | Filed Under
business,
civics,
GFDA |
2 Comments Like to know more about the candidates for the November 2007 local elections, and be able to pose questions to them about issues that YOU care about?
I am pleased to announce that GreaterFalls.com, in conjunction with some of the other local bloggers, will be sponsoring a debate of the candidates for the Great Falls City Commission and Mayor. The debate will be held on October 17, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. at the Northwest Center (lcoated at 2201 Northwest Bypass).
This debate will be different from the usual debate in a number of ways. First, it will be underwritten by a private citizen, so there will be an admission fee of $5.00. After the costs of renting the venue are repaid, any remaining funds will be donated to the C.M. Russell High School Debate Team.
The CMR Debate Team will help with this project in a number of ways. This will not only allow the students to participate in a real-life civics lesson, it will help us create an environment where citizens can truly learn the candidates’ views, rather than pre-planned sound bites.
The exact format has not been determined but, in conjunction with the Debate Team, we will develop a town meeting type format. We want to ensure the possibility for some real give and take. Local attorney Channing Hartelius has agreed to serve as our moderator.
We will solicit debate questions from you — blog readers. With the help of the Debate Team, we will select the top questions, and be sure to go beyond the standard run-of-the-mill debate questions that every election features. We want voters to get to know the candidates, and be able to really get a chance to see how they communicate with local citizens, and how they respond to tough questions.
You might be wondering how this debate will differ from traditional media-sponsored events…and rightly so. How’s this: everyone who pays admission to the debate will be given a ballot. After the debate, the audience will vote for the candidate he or she believes won the debate. And, more than a mere vote, each audience member will, along with his or her ballot, contribute $10.00 to the candidate he or she believes won. When the results are totaled, the candidate with the most votes (and money) will be declared the winner. Every candidate will receive the money ‘voted’ for him or her for that candidate’s campaign.
Please plan to support this community event on October 17. If you have any questions, please e-mail me (david AT greaterfalls.com) or leave a comment here.
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September 23, 2007 | Filed Under
civics,
election |
5 Comments OK, so it probably won’t affect us here in Great Falls — our elevation is somewhere around 3300 feet — but it’s the first Snow Advisory of the season for our area!
Statement as of 9:28 PM MDT on September 22, 2007
… Snow Advisory remains in effect from 3 am to 6 PM MDT Sunday for elevations above 5500 feet…A Snow Advisory remains in effect from 3 am to 6 PM MDT Sunday for elevations above 5500 feet.
An early autumn storm system will continue to spread across central Montana tonight. Expect widespread rain over most of southwest and north central Montana this evening and Sunday. A cold front across north central Montana will usher in cooler air overnight as it drops southward. As the cold air moves into the region tonight… the rain will change to snow for elevations above 5500 feet. The snow could be heavy at times in the mountains late tonight and on Sunday morning… with visibilities less than one half mile at times. The snow will begin to decrease in intensity on Sunday afternoon. Total snow accumulations will generally range from 4 to 8 inches for elevations above 5500 feet… with amounts around 12 inches near some of the higher mountains.
Some mountain ranges that will likely receive the heaviest snowfall include… the Highwood… Little Belt… and Big Snowy Mountains. A Snow Advisory means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered roads and limited visibilities… and use caution while driving.
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September 22, 2007 | Filed Under
weather |
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