Quote for the Day…

My neighbor just yelled at her kids so loud that even I brushed my teeth and went to bed. – Unknown

Welcome to Caught My Eye (CME)!

CME is the once-a-week column that is posted every Friday morning. This is when I look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week.

Here are some of the things that “Caught My Eye” this week:

• Great Falls Municipal General Election
• Montana’s Congressional Districts
• Reefer Madness in Billings
• No Show
• One More Thing

GREAT FALLS MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION:

On Wednesday and Thursday, there were a lot of people crying in their coffee about conservatives in Great Falls not being able to beat incumbent Mayor, Bob Kelly. Kelly soundly defeated Fred Burow by 3,374 votes.

Susan Wolff had the most votes (6,407) for two commission seats. Joe McKenney was second with 5,086.

Kelly and Wolff were deemed liberals by some on the conservative side. There were some hateful things posted about them. No wonder people don’t want to run for public office. This “non-partisan” election was turned into a partisan one by people labeling the candidates.

Ironically, Kelly, Wolff, and McKenney all refused to answer questions from a local right-wing blog and were easily elected. Tehee…

Maybe candidates should take notice and stop wrapping themselves in the Trump flag.

Late Thursday, “The Electric” reported that Commissioner Tracy Houck is resigning from the City Commission, effective Nov. 5. In a Thursday afternoon Facebook post, she wrote that she has accepted a position with Northrop Grumman in their Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program as a small business liaison officer.

Houck has been one of the moderate voices on the commission. I hope they fill her position with someone like-minded. It looks like the four remaining commissioners will get to pick the replacement. This might get dicey.

Best of luck to Houck with Northrop Grumman. Our loss is their gain.

MONTANA’S CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS:

The Associated Press reported late Thursday that Montana’s redistricting commission chair selected on a congressional district map proposed by Republicans, dealing a blow to Democrats who hoped to craft a western district that would give them a better chance of winning.

Oh my gosh – The horror…the horror…

I was not too excited about the drawing of the districts since a few weeks ago it was decided that Great Falls (the HQ of The Western Word) was going to be in the eastern district.

I honestly don’t think Montana had the best people serving on this commission. Most were partisans – and think they know it all. There must be a better way than this playing out like a soap opera every 10 years.

REEFER MADNESS IN BILLINGS:

I think the folks in Billings must be stoned…

KTVQ reported that Billings voters are headed to a prohibition of recreational marijuana dispensaries in the city with 55 percent saying no in unofficial results Tuesday night.

But they want the taxes from it. KTVQ says that voters were even more clear on the question of taxing marijuana at 3 percent in Yellowstone County. A measure to tax recreational marijuana passed easily at 82 percent, while the tax on medical marijuana passed with 60 percent. It’s estimated that by year five of the tax, Billings would see between $250,000 to $350,000 per year.

It was also reported that even after the voters said no to recreational dispensaries, there are still six other types of marijuana businesses the city has to regulate. They include: cultivation, manufacturer, medical marijuana dispensary, combined use licenses, testing lab, and transportation.

So, Billings does not want the recreational dispensaries, but they want the taxes that are generated from them. Silliness. They are stuck in the wild, wild, west.

Although Billings and some other places in Montana are stuck in the 1800s, Gallup reported this week that more than two in three Americans (68%) support legalizing marijuana, maintaining the record-high level reached last year.

Read the full report from KTVQ HERE.

Read the full report from Gallup HERE.

NO SHOW:

John F. Kennedy Jr. was a no-show this week…

In case you missed it, about 300 people, by estimation of journalist Steven Monacelli, who reported on the QAnon event for Rolling Stone, had shown up in Dallas waiting for Kennedy Jr. to arrive, believing that President Kennedy’s dashing, dark-haired son would reveal himself, along with his father, and become Donald Trump’s vice president.

JFK would be 104 years old…

Snopes reported that none of this came to pass, of course, as Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash in 1999, President Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, and Trump, having lost the presidency in the 2020 election.

Hey folks – these are the nutjobs that we have in this country – they will fall for anything, and they support Trump.

Beam me up, Scotty!

Read the full report from Rolling Stone HERE.

Read the full report from Snopes HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

I don’t want to adult anymore. I don’t even want to human. I want to goat. Just eat all day and head-butt anyone who annoys me. -Unknown

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##