Welcome faithful readers! Here are some of the issues that caught my attention for this column:
- Dumpster Diving
- Memories…
- DeSantis Launches
- Indianapolis 500
- One More Thing
DUMPSTER DIVING:
Back in 2019, the Great Falls Police Department posted an announcement on Facebook which alerted readers:
ATTENTION DUMPSTER DIVERS! According to City of Great Falls Municipal Code 8.8.190 – Salvaging is prohibited and it could land you in jail, with a hefty fine, or both.
“No person may pick over, sort, segregate, or salvage any refuse deposited in an authorized disposal area, refuse container or refuse pile.”
Please be respectful, and law abiding, by leaving other people’s trash alone.
I had heard about this Municipal Code before, but in the past few days a few people have been commenting about it, so it came to the top of my Facebook feed. I think this code is about as silly as banning the use of a cell phone while driving code.
The city is wanting more money for public safety, but having stupid codes on the books about dumpster diving is another reason that I think they need to look deep into what they are spending our valuable taxpayer dollars on and significantly adjust their priorities.
For that and many other reasons, I will be a hard “NO” on the city’s public safety levy.
I follow a guy on TikTok (something else that is scheduled to be banned in Montana) and he is a dumpster diver who resells or gives away items he finds in dumpsters, and he recycles all types of metals he finds. It’s amazing what he finds.
So, if you live in Great Falls, Montana, you can’t dumpster dive to help those less fortunate and the environment. I guess my second or third career will have to wait.
On another note about public safety, look for the supporters of the public safety levy to highly publicize/sensationalize any crimes committed to bring them to the voters’ attention. Then look for them to say something like, “We’re not going to attract ‘good paying jobs’ or ‘abundant housing opportunities’ here if we keep kicking the can down the road on public safety. We’re about 50 years behind.”
Sadly, I think some of the leaders in Great Falls are some of the main reasons the city can’t attract good-paying jobs.
MEMORIES…
A memory from May 25, 2017:
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana’s U.S. House special election after being charged with assaulting reporter. (Source)
In case you are not from around these parts, Gianforte has a large ego and an even larger bank account. A few years ago, he was elected (purchased) the Governor’s seat.
DESANTIS LAUNCHES:
I once thought that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis might make a good president. He is a veteran and that is always a big selling point for me. He is young – just 44 years old. I believe we need someone under 70 to lead our country.
But what turned me off was DeSantis made a hard-right turn to MAGA land. Even the NAACP issued a travel warning for his state.
Basically, DeSantis is a younger version of Donald Trump.
The Associated Press reported the big announcement like this:
DeSantis launches GOP presidential campaign in Twitter announcement plagued by glitches
The DeSantis campaign should have known better than to depend on an outside entity (Twitter) to be in charge of the most important announcement of his life. It was screwed up. It makes one wonder what else he and his team will screw up.
Voters should take notice.
INDIANAPOLIS 500:
The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place this Sunday, May 28.
The race is scheduled to start around 10:45 a.m. (Montana time). NBC will televise the race.
Reminder: Indianapolis is in the Eastern time zone
More information can be found HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
When we Christians become convinced that we are the only authority on truth, that anyone who opposes us is evil, and that things will only get better if we are in charge of all positions of power, that is when we know we are no longer worshiping God.
We are worshiping ourselves.
The Western Word 
If local crime stats had much if anything to do with attracting good-paying jobs and housing to an area no one would have ever moved to metro areas like Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, etc. But they did. And stayed there, even during ultra-high crime eras like the 1970’s. Arguing that the police have to come first is a back-asswards argument. Especially for most towns in Montana, which are in reality very low serious crime areas compared to many other places in the U.S.
Good paying jobs come first, attracted by welcoming and encouraging local government policies, geography, and “other considerations” like complementary local businesses / institutions / trained workforce / cultural resources / moderate taxes. The housing will follow when developers see the need.
What is NOT going to attract businesses that will create a significant number of high-paying jobs is a retrograde community that is openly hostile to “others”, the 21st century and the greater modern world, thinks merely arresting and locking up more people is the path to making a community attractive, and adding bodies to the public payroll (and increase the tax burden on any prospective business) equates to growth. Suck $11 million more dollars per year out of the local economy to hire cops and you’re sucking $11 million dollars per year of disposable income out of all the existing local businesses.
The “50 years behind” argument is also B.S. An effective government should not have to pile on extra mills of tax every few years. Tax mill values are by nature designed to grow with the community. If the community isn’t growing to also grow that tax base and thus the tax dollars, that’s on the community leaders.
That said, the City could use another fire station. That’s part of a separate $30 million or so bond ask this coming November. Maybe vote yes for the bonds and no for the levy.
Good points. Thank you! -JmB
Amen to “One More Thing”
Thank you. -JmB
The school crossing guards and the kids the City hires to mow and weed eat the parks each summer have something in common. Both jobs are just as dangerous as police work. Ricks’ a badge bunny.