Tuesday’s Quick Hits

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Here is a quick look at some of the topics that caught my attention:

  • Great Falls Homeless Issue
  • The Southern Border
  • Martha, Martha, Martha

GREAT FALLS HOMELESS ISSUE:

When a local Great Falls Church did what churches are supposed to do and helped the homeless, they were ridiculed, and the city leaders put a stop to it. They basically chased the homeless people off the church property. They went elsewhere – out of sight. The situation was not handled well by the city, IMHO.

Now there are reports that some homeless people are staying under the Sun River bridge. Great Falls City Commissioner and Mayoral candidate Joe McKenney posted a video on his campaign page telling viewers that a constituent brought it to the city’s attention. The video showed a lot of trash had accumulated under the bridge. McKenney says “you can bet it will be taken care of.” (Source)

It’s campaign season!

Over on another commissioner’s Facebook page, some of Rick Tryon’s hateful followers posted things like, “Put them on a bus and send them to the city” and “Get all the bleeding hearts to clean it up. If you’re fine with them doing it go clean it up.”

There’s an easy answer to this problem: a dumpster. If you are going to force the homeless out of sight, the city could at least provide them with a dumpster for their trash.

Of course, the problem is deeper than having a dumpster near homeless encampments – the city needs to do more to help these people get back on their feet. Sadly, that is not a popular thing to do, so don’t expect the current crop of elected officials to step up.

THE SOUTHERN BORDER:

I happened to read about Montana’s Republican Governor, Greg Gianforte, visiting the southern border recently. I’m not talking about Montana’s southern border with Wyoming, either.

Gianforte visited the border with Mexico. MEXICO!

In case you sucked at geography, Montana borders Canada.

Maybe some of the more gullible folks are thinking Gianforte taking time out of his busy schedule to visit the southern border is a good thing. The fact is that his little trip is all political. Gianforte has no say in how the USA controls the border with Mexico – he’s doing this trip to attack President Joe Biden’s policies on the border or Gianforte is looking at running for another office, like U.S. Senate.

Here’s the proof from his statement:

“I’ve been to the border a handful of times over the last six years, and the situation has never been more dire for our country. Human traffickers and drug cartels are profiting on catastrophe the Biden administration has made worse, with thousands of illegal crossings each day,” Gov. Gianforte said. “We’ve got a serious problem that’s putting the safety of the American people at risk, and the only person who can fix this mess is the president.”

I think our governor could have issued that same statement from his desk in Helena and saved our taxpayer dollars. While drugs are a problem coming in from Mexico and other countries, they have always been a problem and will continue to be no matter who is president. You wouldn’t hear Gianforte whining about it if the Republican president was in office. That is the problem with border policies and immigration: politics.

You can read the complete press release from the governor HERE.

MARTHA, MARTHA, MARTHA:

In case you missed the news, Martha Stewart is a 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model. Stewart is 81 and is the oldest to pose for the publication.

Check out the photos HERE. Go, Martha!

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4 thoughts on “Tuesday’s Quick Hits”

  1. Drug problem? Simple answer. Decriminalize drug use. Allow Public Health to administer drugs to addicts—severe penalties for those outside an open transparent readily available system. Create a market with humanity and treatment in mind. The government could make money and better identify the problem. It is obvious the past process is a failure. Good blog by the way:)

  2. On the GF homeless issue, The Electric has a story about a proposed supporting housing project for a vacant building downtown on 2nd Ave S. The project sponsor is Neighborworks.

    “On May 16, City Commissioners will consider a request for HOME and HOME-ARPA funds for $2.15 million to NeighborWorks Great Falls for the renovation of the Baatz building for a supporting housing project.”

    That’s this evening.

    Someone is proposing to actually do something about the GF homeless issue aside from the usual: Put them on a bus – to somewhere else. Chase them out of the church parking lot – to somewhere else. Chase them out from under a bridge – to somewhere else. It’s always chase them to somewhere else … and yet Great Falls’ homeless issue never seems to go somewhere else.

    How will our commissioners respond? The HOME-ARPA funds are earmarked for this very sort of project.

    • Great information. Thanks. From first impression, I hope they support it. -JmB

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