Thursday

THE BUZZ

Rock superstar John Mayer has raised his happy quotient by settling down in the Bozeman area.

Mayer has gained fame in recent years for hobnobbing with a series of celebrity girlfriends -- Jennifer Anniston, Jessica Simkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt, among them -- and for a 2010 Playboy interview in which he divulged many graphic details about his love life and his addiction to porn.

Mayer let on that he moved to Big Sky Country when he appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Monday. He said some friends had taken him on a trip of middle America to help him recover from vocal surgery, and one of their stops was Bozeman. He was so taken by the area that he called a real-estate agent, who showed him a house that he really liked and ended up buying.

"Why not be happy after a while?" he told DeGeneres. "You get to a certain age where you prepare yourself for happiness. Sometimes you have to remember to actually. So I remembered to get happy."

Mayer has a new album, "Born and Raised," that comes out May 22.

A "citizen watchdog" forum that aims to provide bloggers and citizens with tools they need to become more effective monitors of government agencies is slated for Helena July 14.

The forum, sponsored by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Accountability, and Montana Watchdog, will address such issues as investigative reporting, state and local government budget processes, and getting a message out through social media.

Montana Watchdog and the Franklin Center, which bills itself as government-watchdog group, says the forum is a nonpartisan event that will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with registration required.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show usually targets his comedy daggers at Republicans on the national stage, but he just at Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his recent remarks about Mitt Romney and polygamy.

Schweitzer had declared Romney was going to lose a lot of votes from women because his father was born in Mexico to a polygamous commune founded by early members of the Romney clan. Schweitzer declared women voters were "not great fans of polygamy."

Schweitzer later argued he wasn't talking about religion. He said: "And as I’ve said before, Mitt "Romney and his family — that I know of — (don’t) accept polygamy today.”

But Stewart wasn't buying it, saying the governor was speculating about that. “I don’t think anybody in his (Romney's) family believes in polygamy — that I know about,” Stewart said, as he jokingly pretended to talk like Schweitzer. “I mean we can’t be sure.”

Stewart said both liberals and conservatives were wrong to hammer Romney on the basis of his Mormonism. Check the video at Mediaite if you want to see more. (Hat tip: Montana Watchdog)

Montana voters back Mitt Romney by a 48-43 margin over President Barack Obama. No surprise there.

But they also favor Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul over Obama by an even wider 49-41 margin, according to a recent Public Policy Polling survey.

And no, that result isn't likely caused by bias in the poll. Public Policy Polling is a Democratic firm with a reputation for accuracy.

“Barack Obama probably missed out on his best chance to win Montana in 2008,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “But the race there is still closer than you would expect it to be."

Dan and Don Nichols were the famous 'mountain men' duo that abducted biathlete Kari Swenson and killed her would-be rescuer Alan Goldstein near Big Sky in 1984.

The younger Nichols is on the lam, the elder Nichols has just asked the Montana Parole Board for release from prison. And Swenson penned an impassioned letter to the Bozeman Chronicle that argued against Nichols' release -- and criticized the public and the press for romanticizing the duo as "Mountain Men."

The Nichols, she said, weren't like Jim Bridger or John Colter -- rugged, hard-working men who helped settle the vast and wild West. Instead, she says, the Nichols are "two crazy misfits ...(who) lived in the mountains part-time but they couldn’t survive there, at least not without poaching, breaking into cabins and stealing supplies, leaving the mountains for months at a time and purchasing modern equipment. Ultimately they were caught without a fight because they were cold, hungry, and tired of living in the mountains."

Swenson said letters and journals by Don Nichols show how disturbed he is, in blaming her for what happened.

"I endured being grabbed by both wrists, hit in the face, thrown to the ground, chained to Dan, threatened with knives and guns, marched through the woods, secured like an animal to trees and spent a terrifying night chained next to Dan. Don kept telling me what a great story this would be to tell my grandchildren. Are these words of a sane man?"

Swenson, a veterinarian in the Bozeman area, was shot in the chest in the ordeal. She says she's spent years in counseling, and still has shrapnel in her chest. "We the victims have a life sentence, not Don Nichols. They invoked a death sentence on Alan Goldstein."

UPDATE: Swenson's efforts no doubt helped, as the Parole Board quickly dispatched Nichol's third request for release from prison on Friday.

Antler hunters from far and wide race onto the Sun River Wildlife Management Area Tuesday to search for elk antlers shed by bull elk on the game range. (Rion Sanders / Great Falls Tribune)

Labor Board backs Legislature in fight over state workers' pay

Unhappy 'Three Cups' readers appeal ruling to 9th Circuit Court

Secretary of State candidate blasts absentee ballot process

Federal judge tosses more Montana election laws

Former Polson city worker arrested for alleged death threats

Montanans might see partial solar eclipse on Sunday

Cold front descends on Montana, but warmer weather ahead

Rescue crews search for man who jumped into Clark Fork River

Possibly pregnant caribou wanders into Montana from B.C.

Belgrade man charged with selling illegal pharmaceuticals

Kalispell bison meeting doesn't attract large turnout

Film found in GTF basement shows CM Russell, Will Rogers

Bozeman man charged with rape of girl at dance

Glacier Park tries to determine best use of shuttle buses

Hutterite colony teacher honored as MT's rural teacher of year

Darby legislative candidate's horses released from pasture

Wildlife group sues for USFS records on bat disease

MT Hutterite colony to be focus of series on NatGeo channel

Poll: Schweitzer would thump Baucus in 2014 Senate primary

Stepmom of Belgrade kids faces extradition in abduction

MT golfer wins hole-in-one contest, then aced out of $18K prize

500 scramble over Sun River WMA hills in race for elk antlers

Prosecutors: Sherry Arnold said 'Hi' to suspects before attack

Cusker fired as joint staff director of Montana National Guard

Samples from Yellowstone River reveal no oil near spill

Documentary film explores MT's medical-cannabis controversy

Parties squabble over redrawing of districts in Billings area

Gov candidate wants to drug test state's welfare recipients

State kicks off meeting to gauge sentiment toward bison

State appeals court decision to block bison transfers

Rehberg moves to stop transfer of F-15s from MT w/ amendment

Routine blast unleashes discharge of water in Drumlummon mine

2 suspects in Sherry Arnold murder case plead not guilty

Whooping cough surfaces at more northwestern MT schools

November trial date set for Billings man accused of killing wife

Just who is a Native American? That's a tough one to answer

Legislators hope MT ghost towns are lively places this summer

Military families get free passes to national parks on Saturday

Norman Maclean 1 of 4 inducted into MT Cowboy Hall of Fame

Judge blocks Philipsburg man from suing government agencies

BNSF to start cleanup of contaminants in Whitefish Lake

Horse put to sleep after falling through trailer near East Helena

Man arrested for evidence tampering in missing woman's case

Oil executive makes impromptu $20K gift to Billings shelter

Judge orders an end to use of choppers to haze bison

Rising from ashes, historic Deer Lodge theater reopening

UM backs off plan for Breathalyzers at Foresters' Ball

Kentucky woman pleads not guilty to charge of drawing gun

Students, parents object to principal swaps at GTF schools

Margolis wants to reverse constitutional ban on gay marriage

Man arrested in case of GTF woman who disappeared last year

Governor signs oil and gas pact with Blackfeet Tribe

Whitefish may slap limits on yard sales

Whooping cough cases continue to mount in Flathead County

Helena teen found guilty of molesting toddler

Belgrade dad charged in sailboat abduction changes plea

Tester flees from Obama stand in support of gay marriage

UM student wants police to end rape investigation

BUSINESS / ECONOMY

Bozeman music store changes focus to keep doors open

Havre, Miles City schools to train workers for Bakken oil fields

Officials: Electric co-ops learning lessons from SME debacle

State program aims to reduce workplace injuries, provide savings

North Dakota passes Alaska as US's 2nd largest oil producer

Judge denies Yellowstone Valley co-op's request to leave SME

Frontier flights from Great Falls to Denver launch Monday

Billings housing starts jump thanks to Bakken oil boom

Feds submit new rules for drilling on public lands

Extensive renovations planned for Bozeman's Armory

SPORTS / OUTDOORS

UM's Bob Beers leaving for scouting job with Houston Texans

UM men take home Big Sky's all-sports trophy

Nate Montana leaving UM for West Virginia Wesleyan

Former Griz Lisowski signs 3-year deal with Seahawks

College of Idaho will ask to join Frontier Conference for football

Former Bozemanite adjusts to life on pro cycling tour

MSU men, women win 2nd in Big Sky track tourney

Griz football players decide to shut down Twitter accounts

OPINION

Proposed changes in Montana's wolf hunt make sense

Restore bison to the CM Russell Wildlife Refuge

Montana is no law unto itself when it comes to Citizens United

Postal decision becomes political football

Paying tribute to 2 special women

Do election years bring out the worst in people?

Making college affordable for Montanans is a must

Safety of Missoula citizens is top priority in sex probes

New fracking rules are reasonable way to cut air pollution

FEATURES

Trying times at Montana's Indian boarding schools

BLM gives new look to old homesteads

1862 Homestead Act planted seed of MT's ag industry

Another chapter in reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone

Branding iron: Montanans leave their mark in ranch history

An idea takes root: Saving seeds that grow in Montana

In pursuit of the elusive owl in Montana's wilds

GTF officer teaches others how to fly fish Iraq's still waters

MSU student's 'really quiet' photos win trip to London show

CALENDAR

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld returns to Helena May 18

Tech N9ne, other rappers coming to Great Falls May 20

Lineup set for Butte Folk Festival on July 13-15

Steve Martin to perform in Missoula on July 20

Uncle Kracker, Craig Campbell at Helena fair July 25

Red Ants Pants Festival names artists for July 26-27

Sara Evans, Jo Dee Messina headline State Fair Acts

Animal expert Jack Hanna visits Great Falls Aug. 14

Condoleeza Rice to speak at MSU convocation Sept. 5

Flathead Lake's first dragon boat race slated for Sept. 8

Have a tip? Email editor (at) montanabuzz.com

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