Welcome to the first “Caught My Eye” of September! I’m glad you stopped by!

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word the “Caught My Eye” column is posted every Friday morning right here! It’s where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week – and I often throw in a touch of sarcasm just to make you smile – or maybe to irritate you just a little. So, get ready to head into your weekend armed with knowledge and a smile.

Today I write about Steve Daines, Cory Stapleton, Champ Edmunds, Obamacare and the GOP, Former Senator Melcher’s birthday, Beartooth NBC, the unemployment rate for August, Alyssa Milano and Syria, plus there are three winners who are Making Montana Proud, so read on!

Failure to Communicate:

Cory Stapleton is now running for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat because he claims current Congressman Steve Daines is running for the open U.S. Senate seat. Stapleton was running for the U.S. Senate. Stapleton also ran for Governor in 2012.

If it appears to be a circus, it is.

Stapleton told Lee Newspapers that Daines’ team “reached out to us last week” adding “Daines staff had indicated to his campaign staff last week that the congressman was going to run for the Senate.” In a campaign e-mail Stapleton said, “I believe this switch will give us the best shot at winning both seats.”

Apparently the “campaign staff” for Daines had not cleared that with the big guy yet; his spokesperson “said Daines has not yet made a decision on his political future.”

Daines and Stapleton are looking foolish. If Champ Edmunds (current senate candidate) changes races, I think we will have a three stooges moment.

Obamacare:

The Montana GOP sent me an e-mail saying, “ObamaCare is bad for Montana and we have a new website illustrating just how bad.”

You can check out the website HERE. The instructions are easy, “Plug in your zip code to find out how Montanans are feeling the brunt of Obamacare, then share the site to spread the word.” You can also see a clock that counts down to the Obamacare “train wreck.”

I know this is a major campaign issue for the GOP, and we’ll see if they win any seats because of it, but I think it would be nice if Democrats and Republicans worked together to make Obamacare better for all of us.

Happy Birthday Sen. Melcher:

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Sen. Jon Tester are planning a birthday bash to celebrate former U.S. Sen. John Melcher’s 89th birthday! Details can be found HERE.

I wonder if they are trying to convince Melcher to run for U.S. Senate, since no other Democrat seems to want to…

Beartooth NBC:

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning tied an NFL record last night with seven touchdown passes. The game was broadcast on NBC. Unfortunately, people who were watching the game on KBGF in Great Falls, Mont., saw their television pictures frozen with no sound starting around the 9:00 mark of the third quarter, which caused viewers to miss part of the game. It came back on sometime in the fourth quarter, I believe. I stopped watching and was monitoring the game on the computer.

According to Beartooth NBC’s website, KBGF-LP, is a low power station and is “broadcasting in standard definition/analog.” I contacted officials several weeks ago to ask when KBGF would go digital and received no answer. I don’t ever watch the station unless it is for football, but I would if it was digital (and more reliable).

The product being put forth by Beartooth NBC is worthless and substandard. Maybe the new cable company, Charter Communications, will bring in an NBC station from somewhere else in the state to provide better quality for their subscribers.

I’m thinking a couple tin cans and some string would be an improvement…

Making Montana Proud:

This is the section where I mention people/groups/organizations whose actions embarrass Montana in some way.

-From the Casper Star-Tribune: The caption to the photo was kind of embarrassing, “John Abarr, a kleagle of the United Klans of America out of Great Falls, Mont., speaks Saturday night during a meeting with leaders of the NAACP Casper branch at the Parkway Plaza hotel in Casper.”

That photo and caption was in several newspapers.

Note to readers – Just so you know, most people living in Great Falls, Mont., don’t belong to the United Klans of America.

-From KRTV (CBS)/Great Falls Tribune Facebook pages: A Great Falls teenager was set to appear in court when he jumped from the third floor of the Cascade County Courthouse rotunda. He was bound in “leg shackles and handcuffs” according to the Great Falls Tribune. The 16 year old teen, Kaleb Kuebler, was listed in critical but stable condition. According to the Tribune he was to appear in court to answer to the assault and rape of an 11 year old girl.

I agree that people like this are the scum of the earth and deserve harsh punishment if found guilty. Some of the comments initially posted after the incident on the Facebook pages went way too far. Some comments were removed by administrators and that was good, but the haters were out in force.

There will be a lot of questions surrounding this incident. The first is how someone in leg shackles and handcuffs so easily got away from those responsible for his safety and security.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs:

The unemployment rate for August dropped from 7.4% to 7.3% adding 169,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor reports, “In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was about unchanged at 4.3 million.”

It’s still a tough situation in the job market…

Alyssa Milano & Current Events:

Alyssa Milano released a “sex tape” which also gives viewers a lesson about Syria. Don’t worry, it’s PG, and I thought it was funny enough to show my readers.

As the Washington Post reported, “Next, maybe she can tackle Obamacare implementation.”

I am ready…

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…

 

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