[news]
WEEK IN REVIEW
VIEWFINDER
by Cathrine L. Walters
Wednesday, May 15 The Montana Supreme Court finds that former Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar violated the state’s ethics code when he accepted gifts from NorthWestern Energy and PPL Montana, companies that the PSC regulates.
Thursday, May 16 A pickup truck hits sisters Pamela and Roberta Demmert as they walk along North Fifth Street West. Police say the driver, Tom George Vinyard, has a blood alcohol level of .239. Roberta Demmert is pronounced dead at the hospital.
Friday, May 17 More than 80 musicians perform in the Wild Things Music Spring Rumpus at the Missoula Children’s Theatre. The concert features performances of songs by Hank Williams, Soft Cell and Pink.
Saturday, May 18 About 1,000 graduates participate in the 116th University of Montana commencement ceremonies at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. UM alum Jim Messina, who ran President Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election, quotes Jay-Z during the commencement address.
Sunday, May 19 A Jefferson Bus Lines coach en route to Missoula erupts into flames near Williston, N.D. The Associated Press reports that all 20 passengers are safe and that Jefferson is unsure what sparked the blaze.
Monday, May 20 Ture-Adon Ehud Thibodeaux, 19, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role alongside four other alleged suspects in the beating of a Missoula Jay’s Mart employee with a baseball bat and fleeing with the cash register.
Tuesday, May 21 The EPA proposes designating about 3,200 acres surrounding the former SmurfitStone mill as a Superfund site. If approved, the designation will make the Frenchtown property eligible for additional study and cleanup resources.
Flowers, balloons and candles are placed on the sidewalk along North Fifth Street West in memory of Roberta Demmert, who was hit May 16 by a drunk driver while walking with her sister.
Forests
Mapping public comment Recreationists long at odds over motorized use in and around the Great Burn Wilderness Study Area have found a new digital forum in recent months. And while the debate over motorized use has fallen far short of civility in the past, level heads are so far prevailing as the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest gathers public comment on revisions to its forest plan. The forest launched its e-collaborative project last fall, featuring a USGS-developed mapping tool that allows members of the public to attach their comments to a specific point on the forest map. Other commenters are then able to view those statements and reply. People can even include pictures of certain locations. Project coordinator Carol Hennessey says this is the first time a national forest has employed this method of gathering comment. She feels the tool adds new depth to the collaborative process. “People have a really important sense of place, and they’re very visually based,” Hennessey says. “They can say, ‘I ride in the Great Burn,’ but the Great Burn is very, very large. When they can put a point
on a map and say, ‘This place, this basin right here, is really special to me and this is why,’ it brings people who have differences together at a smaller scale.” Hennessey adds the online back-and-forth has been surprisingly respectful to date. Snowmobilers, mountain bikers and primitive backpackers—many of whom desire different designations on large swaths of the Great Burn—have “really matured a lot,” Hennessey says. The Nez Perce-Clearwater has already held a number of meetings in tandem with the online project this spring. But the online map continues to draw comments primarily on the question of motorized use in the Great Burn, and likely will until the comment period ends Aug. 1. Ultimately, Hennessey says the pilot project will help the Forest Service determine whether such maps are “a good tool to use for forest planning nationally.” Alex Sakariassen
Sexual assault
Attorney stands his ground Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg came out swinging last week in response to the U.S.
Department of Justice’s criticisms of how his office has prosecuted sexual assaults. “They’re a bunch of bullies is what they are,” Van Valkenburg said of the DOJ. On May 15, the federal government released findings from a yearlong investigation into how the Missoula Police Department handled more than 350 reports of sexual assault between January 2008 and May 2012. The report outlined significant flaws in communication between police and the Missoula County Attorney’s Office as among the deficiencies hindering local efforts to hold perpetrators accountable. “MCAO generally provides no information to MPD about why it has declined to prosecute a sexual assault case,” the DOJ found. Similarly, federal investigators said, “attorneys rarely documented their decisions in a meaningful way” and that MPD officials told them “that detectives are ‘frustrated’ with MCAO’s ‘lack of follow-up and prosecution in cases of sexual assault.’” Van Valkenburg has, unlike the University of Montana and MPD, refused to cooperate with the DOJ investigation. He argues that the DOJ doesn’t have authority over his office. “Our job is to work with the Police Department
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[6] Missoula Independent • May 23 – May 30, 2013