Big Sky Blog

Helena is making lots of waves, not just in Montana, but across the nation, because of a proposed sex-ed curriculum. Usually when Montana makes national news, it’s because of “lone rangers” or severe winter weather, but this time MSNBC and Fox News are covering the Helena beat, and Helena schools superintendent Bruce Messinger was on the Laura Ingraham radio show on Thursday defending the proposal.

Here is a part of the curriculum that is causing such outrage:

It lays out sex education topics for each grade, K through 12. In the first grade, children would be taught that human beings can love people of the same gender; in second grade, kids are taught not to make fun of people by calling them “gay” or “queer.”
By fifth grade, they are taught there are several types of intercourse, and by the sixth grade, the draft document states that students should, “Understand that sexual intercourse includes but is not limited to vaginal, oral, or anal penetration; using the penis, fingers, tongue or objects.”

Click here to read the entire proposed curriculum.

About 500 people turned out for the school board meeting this week – and for a Montana town, that’s a LOT of people.

Awww, how cute. Randy tipped me off that the city of Chicago is trying to whip up its citizenry in a “battle” against Montana.  Apparently, the state of Montana has launched an ad campaign in Chicago urging residents to behold the majesty of the Treasure State, and the Chicago Tribune isn’t taking to kindly to it; here’s some excerpts from the paper’s challenge:

Chicagoans, the time has come to defend our civic honor against a large enemy: Montana.
They are trash-talking us, Chicago! Montana is thrusting its mountainous finger right in our Midwest faces, taunting us with its magnificent scenery and world-class outdoor recreation.
Are we going to take it, Chicago? Are we just going to let Montana kick Lake Michigan sand in our faces?
Join me, friends: Let’s tell Montana to fly-fish this.
The Chicago Tribune hereby announces “Take THAT, Montana,” a photo campaign in which we are asking readers to assert their civic pride.
Post your best photos of Chicago-area nature to chicagotribune.com/nature: woodlands, wildflowers, lakes, birds, deer, butterflies — anything that proves that we’re in the outdoor beauty game too.
Let’s show our civic pride, people, and show Montana — and each other — what we’ve got.
It’s on. Bring it, MT. We are going to make you IL.

It’s all in good humor, of course, and I have no problem with Chicago trying to generate some civic pride in their community.
But…really? As if ANY place could top Montana in natural beauty and scenic wonder, much less a major metropolitan area!

Gary Marbut, President of the Montana Sports Shooting Association (MSSA) is scheduled to be on the Glen Beck Show this Friday, 3 to 4PM, MDT on the FOX News Channel, to talk about MSSA’s Montana-made guns bill. HB 246 sponsor, Rep. Joel Boniek (R-Livingston) is scheduled to be on the show also.

One of my blog-buddies in Washington is looking for some online help to get the playing field at the school in Busby refurbished:

My mother-in-law is teaching at a reservation school in Montana. They need their playing fields refurbished- and Kellogg Foods is ready to help.

Vote here for this school:

N.C.T.S. Eagles Field
Busby MT 59016

It would make a huge difference to a very at-risk group of kids.

Use the Search box, narrow it to Montana, and then choose the Busby field; once you “support” it by passing a captcha test, you get a coupon for Kellogg’s cereal! Go vote and make a difference!

The Montana Policy Institute, a new free market think tank, has created a a one-stop shopping source for school spending information in Montana:

http://www.SchoolsOpenMT.org

The Montana Policy Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research center whose mission is to equip Montana citizens and decision makers to better evaluate state public policy options with a respect for individual freedom, an expectation of individual responsibility, and a belief that government intervention should be viewed as a last rather than a first resort.

Up here in Great Falls, the cost of parking downtown might be going up from 25-cents to 50-cents per hour. I’ve got no problem with it, but there are plenty of folks who are steamed about it. Someone mentioned to me that there are no parking meters in downtown Missoula and Bozeman, which got me wondering: how do other communities in Montana deal with downtown parking – or do they at all? Is Great Falls the only “metered” downtown community? Drop a comment and let me know if you have to drop some silver for the privilege of parking in your downtown.

For all sorts of population statistical break-outs by county, city, town, unincorporated area or ZIP Code:

1. First go to: FactFinder @ Census.gov

2. At the top of the page, where it says, “Get a Fact Sheet for your community…”, enter the name of the county, city, town, unincorporated area or ZIP Code (if using the ZIP Code, bear in mind that the borders of ZIP Codes are not the same as the borders of the community whose name that ZIP Code “shares”) in the box labeled “town” and select Montana for “state”, and then click “GO”.

You will be able to access tables that show how many and, except for counties, maps that show where the different races and socio-economic groups are in that city, town, area or ZIP Code. Here’s an example using Bozeman.

Shaping up to be a busy few days in Montana: the “full court press” is on as candidates and proxies begin criss-crossing Big Sky Country to rally support for our last-in-the-nation primary on June 3. Hillary Clinton appeared in Pablo today; Bill Clinton will be appearing at several locations this weekend, including Stevensville, Great Falls, and Helena; and Barack Obama will be in Great Falls on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the Flathead Beacon has an interview with both Democratic candidates, the Liberal Wacko proclaims fealty to Obama, and a homeowner in Great Falls displays an unusual pro-Clinton sign.

And if you’d like to talk about the political campaign, you should give a listen tonight (Wednesday) to Montana’s very own “Small Town, Long Streets” call-in podcast, hosted by Craig of MT Politics.

This week, Small Town, Long Streets returns to its regularly scheduled 9:00 p.m. slot. On the agenda tonight: Obamagasms, the upcoming primaries, and whatever else rings our bell. Remember, this is a call-in program, so I encourage you to do so.
Phone: (718) 664-9769
Email: podcast@mtpolitics.net
Yahoo! IM: mtppodcast

Other tidbits to get you in the mood for the primary: latest M-D poll shows Obama with a huge lead over Clinton; the view from Miles City; and the Montana division of Operation Chaos is up and running in an effort to keep the Dems in turmoil.

Whew. Promises to be an interesting – entertaining, even – several days!

In keeping with today’s theme of Moon Over Montana, here is my entry, taken (IIRC) in February of 2003 in the very early morning…

It seems that Montana is the only state out of 13 total who were tested that failed.

Montana stands out in a federal report published this week as the only one of 13 states where a targeted campaign to reduce drunken driving failed. Or seemed to, anyway. The percentage of highway deaths involving alcohol actually rose in 2003. The increase was slight – 1.6 percent, but it rose to about 49 percent of all highway deaths. In 12 other states where a federally funded campaign to discourage drinking and driving was tested, alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped by an average of 6.7 percent.

This dubious distinction will no doubt fuel the ongoing efforts to crack down on drunken driving in Montana. That’s good. Montana has a drinking problem, and it’s serious. That’s reflected in the fact that the state’s alcohol-related death toll is significantly higher than the national average of 40 percent of all highway deaths.

Here’s something for all to chew on:

In 2003, more Montanans died on Montana highways than Marines in Iraq.

It’s another sobering statistic for Montana