So you got this guy Murdoch callin' the gravel pit owners thieves in the night. Nice try! You go DEQ with a 10 year back log? Really! Now who is the thief in the night? Looks like DEQ is run by a bunch of eco-terrorists. THe commissioners kept draggin their feet in earnest while the came up with a plan to stop land owners from exercising their legal land use rights. Government likes 3 things, control, control and control. The commissioners are the thieves in the night and they steal land owner freedom. THese guys along with DEQ want the state of Montana to become a national park.

The opinion piece in today's Chronicle gushes the same typical, anti-gun diatribe that gun-control supporters regurgitate every time: We MUST restrict legal, law-abiding gun owners to insure they don't go off and shoot up everything!!!

There are several faulty arguments here.

1. The requirement to unload and make gun "inaccessible" is "simple": Who defines whether a gun is accessible or not? Where is the "inaccessible" place for the millions of owners of pickups, vans, SUVs, and yes, even Subarus? Is disassembling my gun considered "simple"?

2. If a law-abiding citizen has easy access to a loaded gun, he/she will be much more likely to haul off and take pot shots at wildlife: Really? There are already laws coving the discharge of firearms in National Parks. Do you really think that if some gun owner is going to break one or two laws, that he/she will really be all that concerned about another?

3. There are no systematic searches of vehicles: It all depends on the attitude of the park officer who pulls you over...

Published 4.25.2008

PrintingForLess ordered to pay worker overtime wages
By Peter Vandergrift, Enterprise Staff Writer

In an April 18 Montana Department of Labor and Industry decision, more than $16,000 was awarded to a former PrintingForLess employee from the company.

The case centered around whether a technical service representative, a widely held position at PFL, was exempt from being paid overtime wages.

PFL claimed that a TSR fell under a professional and administrative federal law exemption, and it did not have to pay time-and-a-half overtime wages.

Former employee Julia Kenny challenged the no-overtime policy and received a favorable ruling at a Department of Labor hearing, official documents stated.

In a response crafted by PFL media contact Danton Rice, the Livingston-based online printing company vowed to appeal the ruling of what it labeled a “nuisance claim.”

An appeal would be heard in District Court in Livingston and could be appealed all the way to the Montana Supreme Court.

If the ruling is not overturned,...

Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter had to partially shut down on Tuesday as a result of a puppy infected with parvovirus. As a result, all four of the puppies that were dropped off were euthanized.

What do you think?

Should the state grant State Auditor John Morrison's request for a 50% increase in funding for the "Insure" insurance program? The "Insure" program is an insurance pool that helps businesses cover the costs of health insurance by pooling the businesses and helping them pay their insurance premiums (story on page A3).

What do you think?

Whoa, and I thought PFL was a great company because you could bring your dog! I am shocked by this ruling, shocked! ;)


http://dli.mt.gov/hearings/decisions/2008/whdec284_2007.pdf

The Bozeman Continuum of Care is planning an event called Project Homeless Connect for the middle of July. You can find out about this national program on the internet--both Billings and Missoula have already had one. If you or anyone you know is interested in being involved in this, please email me at kcox@milp.us. It is a wonderful opportunity to give back to those who have so little.

There are a group of us (12 people) that live in California and we e=mail each other everyday about the Bozeman Police Department. Everyday there is something in there that we laugh about, especially the drinking ones. It reminds us of Mayberry. We just cannot believe what people will call the police for. Like the time the police were called because the sister did not make his hamburger right. LOL

Just wanted to let you guys know that we think Bozeman is great.

novveronica
San Bernardino, California

Since the Chronicle is running a series of articles on all the new money that has flooded the area over the past decade or so, I thought it would be fair to open up a discussion topic on the impact of wealth in general.

How has the influx of money affected you, good or ill? How has it affected your neighborhood, your town, your wallet? Is this ultimately a good thing for the area, or has it somehow altered this part of Montana at a fundamental level?

Talk amongst yourselves...

Thank you for helping us spread this idea. The students are very excited about the possibilities.
Have a great day!

/Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 8-9 p.m. (local time) is EARTH HOUR. By turning off your lights during this hour you are participating in a world wide attempt to conserve energy. Last year 2,100 businesses in Sidney, Australia turned their lights off for an hour, and by doing so they reduced the city's energy consumption by 10 percent. Just by turning off a few lights is participating. Imagine if this became a global event! What can you do to contribute?

Thank you for your time, for forwarding this, *and for doing your part!* /

Debate over lowering the national drinking age is heating up in several states, fueled in part by legislators who contend that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to buy alcohol legally. Legislation introduced in Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina would lower the drinking age for military personnel only. A planned ballot initiative in Missouri would apply to everyone 18 and older. An initiative in the works in South Dakota would allow all 19- and 20-year-olds to buy low-alcohol beer. Earlier in the week, Presidential hopeful Barack Obama made headlines by telling an underage Army veteran in Connecticut that lowering the drinking age would not be something he would support under any circumstances. What do you think... if someone is old enough to enroll in the armed services and participate in acts of war, should they be also be allowed to drink alcohol even if they're underage?