MontanaBuzz

July 26, 2010

 

THE BUZZ

Heard of Russ Sullivan? Buzz never did until July 26 when the Washington Post ran a short -- and favorable -- profile of him.

Sullivan is director of the Senate Finance Committee, which is chaired by Montana Sen. Max Baucus. Post writer Mary Akers says it would be hard to find an aide on Capitol Hill who strives as hard as Sullivan does to emulate his boss. "I would love to be characterized as a mini-Baucus," Sullivan told Akers. "I'm doing my absolute dead-level best to think as much like him and become as much like him as I can. That's what I want to do."


Sullivan, who played a key role in developing the health-care reform legislation, is originally from Arkansas, and once worked at the same law that Hillary Clinton worked for. In fact, he decided to go to Washington based on her advice.

Sullivan, a devout Christian and single man, is also a foster parent who has cared for a dozen young men and teens. Four are still in his care.



Gov. Brian Schweitzer was in Las Vegas Thursday to kick off the 5th annual convention of the progressive group, Netroots Nation.

The organization, an influential voice on the left, was originally organized by readers and writers of Daily Kos. The term netroots describes political activism spurred by blogs and other online media.

Other speakers includedHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, and MSNBC personality Ed Schultz.

UPDATE: Markos Moulitsas, the founder of DailyKos, railed against "bull... Democrats" at the kickoff event, and urged Schweitzer to run in the 2012 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate against Max Baucus.  Baucus is blamed by many liberals for sinking the chances of a "public option" in this year's health care bill.


Travis R. Kavulla, the GOP candidate for the Public Service Commission in District 1, has been profiled in what might seem an unlikely spot: The Harvard Crimson. But then, Kavulla earned the honor by graduating from Harvard just a few years ago.

As a student, he wrote a column for the Crimson and served as editor of The Harvard Salient, which garnered national attention by republishing the infamous Danish cartoons that aggravated many in the Muslim world. Later, the Montana native worked for William F. Buckley's National Review, and toured east Africa. During his travels and studies, he wrote about subjects ranging from religion to energy. 

“I've always been kind of an energy policy nerd,” Kavulla told the Crimson. 

Kavulla told the Crimson his conservative views were often challenged at Harvard --an experience that helped him to appreciate that “so many people of such different political persuasions have very good points.”

There's an odd twist to the news that San Diego Gas & Electric wants to invest up to $600 million in a wind farm on the Montana Hi-Line.

And the twist? The power wouldn't go to Southern California, but would be shipped to Canada, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. So why would the San Diego utility be investing in a Montana wind farm if the power won't be shipped to California? It's because the utility can use the investment to meet an arcane California requirement that utilities get 20 percent of their power from wind, solar and other alternative sources.

The program is called the Renewable Portfolio Standards, or RPS, and the utility could earn RPS credits by investing in the Montana wind farm.

Consumer groups are expected to protest the San Dieto utility's plans to the California Public Utilties Commission. "It's (the utility's Montana investment) a disturbing example of how this Commission's obsession with renewable power results in perverse incentives for utilities," said Michael Shames, executive director of UCAN, the Utility Consumers' Action Network. "And a very compelling reason why the regulators have to seriously reassess its tradeable renewable energy credit policy."

Last year, San Diego Gas & Electric signed an agreement with developer NaturEner USA to purchase 309 megawatts of power from the $800 million Rim Rock wind farm in Glacier and Toole counties. In a July 15 filing with the state of California, the utility asked to amend the original power purchase agreement to allow the $600 million equity investment in Rim Rock.


Sen. Jon Tester is being targeted by a group that doesn't like him messing with the gun laws in Washington, D.C.

Tester is the sponsor of a bill that would eliminate any locally enacted firearms regulations within the District. That has drawn the ire of a group called the Free and Equal D.C. Fund, which claims the bill would let people in the District carry around semiautomatic rifles and is just an effort to score "cheap political points" with the NRA.

The group has started running a radio ad in Montana that accuses Tester of ignoring Montana interests and instead wasting time on D.C. matters. The ad doesn't mention what precipitated the controversy: Tester's gun legislation.

If it did, it probably would score points for -- rather than hurt -- Tester. Of course, Montanans may be so curious about the ambiguous ad that they do a little digging. If they do and they  find out that Tester is sticking up for gun rights, it is unlikely that the ad will do the Democratic senator much, if any, damage.


Montana ranked a measly 36th in CNBC's annual survey of the "Top States for Business."

Montana got its best scores in the Quality of Life and Economy categories. It ranked 15 in both categories, compared to the countries other states.

The Treasure State was weakest in Technology and Innovation (rated 44) and Business Friendliness (rated 42).

Montana has, for the most part, avoided the severe economic stress that some states have experienced. Yet this survey suggests it has considerable work to do to boost its appeal to the business world.


President Barack Obama's poll numbers may be slipping, but he's still an inspiration to White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, a  University of Montana graduate who also once served as Sen. Max Baucus' chief of staff.

"It's like a dream every single day," Messina said about his job in the White House. "It's the single best thing. It is as cool as you think it is."

Dana Milbank, an acerbic Washington Post columnist, wrote about Messina's comments to a group of young Democrats in a column that surmised that one reason for Obama's struggles is that he "set impossibly high expectations." Milbank said Messina's remarks showed that Obama's deputy chief of staff showed that he still believed his boss "walked on water."

Milbank said Messina called Obama "the leader you all wanted him to be" and proclaimed that "I couldn't be any more proud of the guy."

He even held out the possibility that the students could someday "be Jim Messina," a status that allows you "to have a cool car and work for a cool president."



ALL THINGS MONTANA


Mt Travel Info

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WEATHER

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Missoula



A wildfire started Sunday in the Sapphire Range east of Hamilton about the time the Bitterroot Red Sox and Mission Valley Mariners began playing in the Western A district tournament championship game. On Monday, the fire had grown to about 1,000 acres. ( David Erickson / Ravalli Republic)

Fire in Bitterroot explodes to as much as 1,000 acres

Yellowstone fire is three-quarters contained

Timber-thinning project approved for Rock Creek

27 MT agencies didn't report spending of stimulus funds

Bozeman's Story Mansion celebrates 100th birthday

Horny biker endears himself to Bozeman residents

Bitterroot fire grows to 100 acres

New $12M prison facility ready to open in Anaconda

Hot history at Clark Days at Pompeys Pillar

End to Saturday mail deliveries making some nervous

Coroner to look into antifreeze death of Deer Lodge boy

GTF man crusades against option tax for court debts

Townsend woman dies in South Dakota plane crash

Allegiant flight out of Billings makes emergency landing

Wildfire near Corvallis covers close to 75 acres

Plan to buy Spotted Dog Ranch for $15M questioned

Hordes of hoppers hitting crops in Southeastern MT

MT-Saskatchewan climate project goes down tubes

Wal-Mart guard fired for restraining shoplifter

Kootenai sturgeon spill test hampered by low water

$7M math, science building added to Blackfeet school

Whitefish River cleanup includes drying up riverbed

Tiny Wilsall celebrates 100 years in bang-up style

Planting a whitebark pine nut garden in the mountains

MT behind other states in developing wind resources

NorthWestern doesn't want to pay a lot for windpower

Early jail releases in Missoula County miffs many

Madison Co residents fret over MTSI power lines

MT biomass project wins fed stimulus funds

UM Journalism School overhauls its curriculum

Retired MT Supreme Court Chief Justice Gray honored

Robbie Knievel comes home to honor his father's day

VP Biden to promote value of park's stimulus projects

Billings man 'gives something he didn't have to give'

Democrats urged to 'heckle' Rehberg at hearings

More sections added to GTF's River's Edge Trail

Same-sex couples hope lawsuit changes MT law


BUSINESS

Seattle fragrance firm to open plant in Corvallis

Building 'visitable' homes for disabled Montanans

Downtown GTF firms fed up with panhandlers, vandals

MT firm hopes to help clean up Gulf oil

First Interstate Bank earnings dip sharply in 2nd quarter

Demand for Flathead cherries high due to shortage

EPA wants to see Keystone pipeline review revised

Poor market forces Columbia Falls to lower lot prices

Bozeman farmers sell camelina oil as health supplement

Freeport-McMoRan creates $1M endowment at Tech

Shelby develops 120-acre transport site


SPORTS / OUTDOORS

Griz may open against Tennessee Volunteers in 2011

Gates go up around MT under new bridge-access law

Grizzlies add 3 transfers to football roster

Ashland angler lands record rock bass

Kalispell horse triathlon lures nation's elites

UGF athletics director leaves after 3 weeks on job

Travis Lulay to start for BC Lions Friday

Marias River State Park is a little-known gem

All Grizzly games will be broadcast live

Billings Central's Jackie Elliott to play for Bobcats

Charges dropped, ex-Griz tries to get back on track

Griz picked as favorite to win another Big Sky title

Bozeman schedules new rodeo Aug 6 and 7


OPINION

Let's get drivers off phones when they're behind wheel

Grizzly-human encounters are only bound to grow

MT's medical-marijuana law for patients, not profits

Highwood plant sponsors should stop work on project

Montana hunt helps guarantee extinction of wolves

Butte's Evel Knievel Days pay tribute to a legend

Billings Police Department must get its act together


FEATURES

Grant to fund study of Montana's 1873 railroad battles

Artist: 'I hope to die painting' Glacier Park

Ivan Doig: The writing doesn't get easier with age

Whitefish man, 25, serves as Sudanese diplomat

State employee pay hikes a tough sell in current climate

Daly Mansion re-enactors bring history alive

Crows have long viewed Pompeys Tower as sacred

Lawyer hopes record swim opens doors for girls

Bozeman's historic Story Mansion makes a comeback

For tourists, life is good on the Last Chance Ranch

Artist creating 'Log Henge' near Seeley Lake

With help of Montanans, Pakistani overcoming adversity


 EVENTS

Suzy Bogguss plays in Livingston July 31

Country star Josh Turner in Billings August 1

Jackson Browne to perform Aug. 3 in Bozeman

Scorpion, Hinder 2 others at MontanaFair in August

Dylan, Mellencamp play in Billings Aug. 11

Mission Mountain Wood Band plays in P-burg Aug 22

Celtic Woman comes to Billings August 22

Beach Boys plan Aug. 26 concert in Missoula

Beach Boys will play in Billings Aug. 28

Justice Scalia speaking at Museum of Rockies July 28

Dylan, Mellencamp play Missoula double-header Aug 31

Willie Nelson back for Big Sky concert Sept 3

MT Economic-Development Summit in Butte Sept 11-13

Sarah Palin speaks in Missoula Sept. 12

Baucus plans economic summit in Butte Sept. 13-14

Country star Brad Paisley plays in Bozeman Sept 30


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