Month: March 2022

by Travis Mateer

During this past week there was more than one moment where I felt like I had entered the twilight zone, but the multiple calls I made to the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department provided some of the strangest WTF jolts of disbelief for me, and that’s saying something.

The title of this post is both a reference to the Rebekah Barsotti missing person case AND a very real question I now have after confirming two things on Monday, February 28th: Sheriff Mike Toth was in St. Pats hospital (room 440) and the person who answered the phone at the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department (Lisa) had no clue.

Now, one person not knowing that the Sheriff is in the hospital, even if it IS the person answering the phone at the Sheriff’s Dept, isn’t necessarily outlandish. But it wasn’t just one person on one day not knowing. That Monday I also texted Monte Turner, who works at the Clark Fork Valley Press, and he was similarly unaware. I asked him who would take over for Sheriff Toth if he was unable to exercise his duties, and Monte told me it would be Wayne Cashman.

I called the Sheriff’s office AGAIN on Tuesday. This time the woman I spoke with was immediately defensive and refused to confirm what I had ALREADY CONFIRMED by calling St. Pats directly on Monday. WTF?

The timing of Sheriff Toth being out of commission gets even more curious when you know, like I do, that out-of-state search and rescue professionals are back on the Clark Fork river looking for Rebekah Barsotti who, if you didn’t know, was last seen at a Town Pump in Mineral County on July 20th. Since that time Sheriff Toth has exemplified how NOT to handle a case like this.

As the week provided other twilight zone moments, I put Toth on my back burner. Then I heard he was STILL in the hospital at the end of the week.

Was this Sheriff (who is up for reelection, by the way, running against Sheriff Deputy Ryan Funke) about to kick the bucket?

On Saturday I decided to go to St. Pats to see what I could find out, but by then Sheriff Toth had finally been discharged. I made one more futile call to the Sheriffs Department, and this time a man answered. Unlike the second woman, who seemed to know something behind her curt denials, this dude’s obliviousness seemed genuine. Which genuinely baffles to me.

Does this guy actually RUN the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department?

For a little context on Sheriff Toth, the Clark Fork Valley Press did take some note of who their Sheriff is, like in this profile piece written by Monte Turner two months before Rebekah Barsotti went missing. Here’s Toth telling the part of his story where “tinsel town” momentarily distracted him from his law enforcement career:

Being raised in Billings and graduating from Skyview High School, Mineral County Sheriff Mike Toth knew all along that he wanted to be in law enforcement. 

“That was the plan since I was a little kid. Then later on, one of my older brothers’ friends became a police officer in Billings and I looked up to him and it kept going.” 

After high school he even dabbled with Tinsel Town. 

“I worked on the movie set of Far and Away. Thomas Gibson, who played the villain, came into a clothing store I worked at and we had a friendly visit as he purchased cowboy boots. Three days later someone came into the store and said, ‘Whose Mike’? And they pointed me out. ‘Would you like a job on the set? Mr. Gibson said to hire you.’ It was a blast as I got to meet Tom Cruise and Ron Howard and the experience was very exciting. That was the only career that kind of distracted me from my pursuit of a career in law enforcement thinking that this would be fun to do for a living, but it wasn’t the driving force that law enforcement was.”

If elements of this story weren’t so unbelievable, I’d consider reaching out to Tinsel Town myself to pitch this craziness, but Twin Peaks has already been made, and this drama is impacting REAL lives.

If Sheriff Toth is back on the job this week, I hope he takes that job seriously, because there are some seriously problematic data points accumulating.

To wrap up this post, here’s the man himself describing how Seattle policing opened his eyes, and what that means for the citizens of Mineral County.

“Within my second or third week being there, my training officer shot and killed a guy in front of me. ‘Wow! I’ve made it to the big show’, I thought. We drew our weapons a lot out there and the culture of carrying personal weapons or firearms is totally different from Montana.” 

However, the SPD is big on community policing and very transparent on how officers and complaints are handled. 

“I’m trying to bring that here and people will see that we are posting much more on Facebook. I try to take the time to meet with people who come to talk to me face to face. I take phone calls all day, every day and I want people to know who is working for them and that our entire department from deputies to jailers to dispatch are here to serve them. This is my home and being their sheriff is an honor and I want to remain right where I am.”

And where the fuck is that, Sheriff Toth?

by Travis Mateer

Yesterday was quite the interesting day. After finding a public meeting (or was it private?) of VERY IMPORTANT people that I wasn’t invited to, but crashed anyway, I did a quick survey of the Reserve Street camp.

Instead of doing the usual image collage, I was so inspired by the REACHING HOME 10 year plan to end homelessness, I made a song instead.

Have a GREAT weekend! And, it being first Friday, there might even be some love and adoration of GREAT LEADER expressed this evening.

https://vimeo.com/684576517

by Travis Mateer

UPDATE BELOW

I didn’t begin my day planning on being in the same room as Montana’s Governor. No, I just wanted to check out the Public Safety Roundtable I read about while sitting on my porcelain throne, doing what I imagine communication specialists do before preparing statements for public consumption.

My first problem was just finding out where to go. The public information person who I find to be consistently unhelpful, Jeanette Smith, told me to check with the Office of Emergency Management, but Nick had no clue about any roundtable.

I even spoke to someone at a non-profit that should have known this was going on, considering the federal money this organization has received to work directly with substance abuse and treatment options, but, again, a dead-end.

It wasn’t until I randomly asked a stranger downtown outside Break Espresso (who I later found out was Shannon O’Brien, H.D. 46) that I discovered this curiously secret “public” (or was it private?) event was being held on campus.

After paying for the privilege to park, I went to the UC, but, still, finding the event was challenging because it wasn’t listed where you’d expect.

Finally, after asking around (even some members of law enforcement appeared confused about the location) I found the public (or was it private?) meeting.

Well, despite the misinformation posted on the door, I strolled in (I tend to do this quite often as a person with white skin and a penis) to see what I could see.

And what I saw was some VERY IMPORTANT people.

So, who were some of the VERY IMPORTANT people at this public (or was it private?) roundtable meeting about fighting meth and finding indigenous woman (boys/men don’t ever seem to count). I’ll tell you, since I was there. County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, Police Chief Jaeson White, County Commissioner Josh Slotnick, and politicians like Ellie Boldman (formerly known by last names Smith and Hill), Shane Morigeau, Diane Sands, Shannon O’Brien and a guy I’m trying to recall his name. Also present, UM President Seth Bodnar.

One curious no show to this heavy-hitter meeting was the Sheriff of Missoula County, TJ McDermott. For some reason, TJ had better things to do, so he sent undersheriff Rich Mericelli, perhaps for his skills at doing media PR and acting in front of LIVE PD cameras.

The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office appeared in the first episode of Live PD last week on A&E and western Montana is abuzz with what they saw.

Undersheriff Rich Marcelli says that they have received both positive and negative comments but so far it’s been about 10 positive to every negative comment.

Law enforcement says they expected a mixed response from the community and did extensive research leading up to the show to make sure it would be a positive experience for Missoula County.

Well, I can empathize with Rich Marcelli. I ALSO get a mix of positive and negative comments. And I ALSO want a camera following me around to document my kick-ass citizen journalism.

But, alas, all I can do is pull out my phone and record myself for a close-up.

https://vimeo.com/684337530

Yes, excitement IS building.

Thanks for reading (and watching) this public (definitely public) report.

UPDATE

This KGVO article has a VERY interesting quote from Governor Gianforte because this quote is from BEFORE the roundtable, where several of the very important people DID NOT SHOW, like our Mayor, our Sheriff and two of the three County Commissioners.

Here’s Gianforte anticipating their presence at the meeting I crashed:

“We’re having a Public Safety Forum,” said Gianforte. “I did one in Billings about a month ago. Today we’re bringing together the mayor, the county commissioners, the sheriff, the chief of police, as well as addiction recovery experts. I’m here to listen. We’ve seen a remarkable spike in violent crime. Drugs are intertwined with this. What should we be doing as a state and in our local communities to make our communities safer and help people that are trapped in addiction become healthy and be self sustaining?”

This is all VERY curious. Insights in the comments are welcome.

by Travis Mateer

I don’t think the spike in pedestrian deaths, as reported two weeks ago by the New York Times, is being driven by reckless drivers and fraying social norms, as this headline suggests.

As I was talking loudly on the phone in the middle of Target about my theory of mental instability and the corrosive impact of non-prosecutions from County Attorneys, like our very own Kristen Pabst, the woman who lowered her mask to speak to me (I was preparing for a scolding) VERY MUCH agreed with what I was saying.

So, what’s my counter theory on the surge in fatalities that now includes a tragic loss of life in Missoula that resulted from the impact of a Mountain Line bus?

Before I get to how Covid may have impacted this number, let me first reference my time working at the homeless shelter (I do this a lot because new readers might not know I often draw conclusions from direct experiences) because the way clients interact with traffic was a significant concern voiced by the Missoula community when the Poverello Center moved from its previous location downtown to the busy West Broadway corridor.

To explain why that concern is real, I’m going to risk engaging in stereotypes, which some might find stigmatizing. Even worse, by describing my personal frustrations, I’ll ALSO sound very insensitive at times.

The prospect of a mentally ill person being killed by a vehicle first became a distinct possibility for me, as the Homeless Outreach Coordinator, with one particular woman who considered herself invisible and thus impervious to the dangers of traffic. She demonstrated this by showing no regard whatsoever for “streets” and the death machines hurling down them.

I video taped this woman’s theory of invisibility in order to help make the legal case for involuntary commitment to the state hospital (which is currently in total crisis). Since that time, over the years, I have seen people of various cognitive abilities ignore crosswalks in ways that are absolutely reckless in this area of Missoula.

When I worked at the shelter, I did what I could to redirect jaywalkers to the crosswalks just west and east of the shelter, but the vast majority I spoke with didn’t give a shit. They wanted to go straight from the shelter to the other side of the street, where the bridge to no where connects west broadway to “the island”, which provides scenic spots for the raunchier elements of the homeless population to shoot meth and rape their unconscious peers.

What I think is happening is this: the contrived pandemic accelerated the already existing trends of non-prosecution and jail-reduction that might sound good to criminal justice reformers but, in reality, without effective alternative programs for chronic offenders, the result is more chaos and anarchy on urban streets.

Back in June of 2020, we got a peek into the rationale for using Covid to “overhaul” county jails. From the link:

Criminal justice system reformers for years have sought to reduce county jail and state prison populations in Montana. The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the process, mostly at county detention facilities across the state.

Jordan Gross is giving a lot of thought to a graduate seminar on criminal justice reform she’ll teach this fall. Gross is a law professor at the University of Montana. It’s on her mind because the COVID-19 pandemic has, in certain ways, had significant impacts already. 

“What we’ve seen is that if the criminal justice system wants to react swiftly and effectively, it can. It illustrates just the tremendous amount of discretion that is baked into the system. There was no change in the law. There was a change in policy,” Gross says over Zoom.

That change in policy led to rapid reductions in county jail populations across the state in March and April. State and local officials got behind calls to release as many non violent offenders as possible.

Now, I’m not saying the solution is keeping humans in cages. I would LOVE for their to be the appropriate amount of help out there for anyone who needs it, like REAL supportive housing with ACTUAL wrap-around services, but what exists in terms of tangible help in a state like Montana is a fucking joke.

The pedestrian who was killed by the impact of a Mountain Line bus was likely under the influence of alcohol, authorities are saying.

According to Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold, the accident involved a bus and pedestrian.  The preliminary investigation indicates the deceased pedestrian was intoxicated.

If there is anyone who witnessed this accident and has not spoken to law enforcement, please contact Detective Bare at 406-552-6281.   This investigation is ongoing and KGVO will provide more information when it becomes available.

Of course alcohol was involved. Lots of tragedies and violence and misery have alcohol as the common denominator, but alcohol is the lifeblood of downtown, so a dead pedestrian is an acceptable cost of doing booze-business downtown.

Instead of focusing on what kind of unstable pedestrians might be saturating city streets, the tragedy of a young boy killed in New Mexico provided an opportunity to focus on the vehicular side of the fatality equation. This is from that NYT article linked at the top of the post:

The streets of Albuquerque, where Pronoy Bhattacharya was killed in the hit-and-run, showcase the challenges that pedestrians face. Around the sprawling metro area, home to almost one million people, drivers routinely run red lights or speed past stop signs. Cars without license plates abound on Albuquerque’s roads.

Despite such behavior, residents say they can go years without seeing drivers pulled over for violations of any kind. After the boy’s death, readers flooded The Albuquerque Journal with emails assailing local authorities after having witnessed lawless driving on a daily basis.

Why the focus on vehicles? Because this focus has an agenda behind it, and that agenda is for cities to go carless. Here’s a Bloomberg article from 2019 that highlights what I’m talking about:

In the U.S., we have seen a rapid rise in biking, and now e-scooters, in our cities. With this, there is increasingly a feeling that the geometry of space shouldn’t favor one very large mode of transportation over others that need room to grow and flourish. The use of shared bikes and scooters has grown tremendously in just a short period of time—more than double the number of trips between 2017 and 2018—with 84 million shared micromobility journeys taking place last year. In 2019 this number has only continued to grow, reinforcing the need for greater space for mobility choices.

Today, we see a growing movement in cities throughout the world to stem the usage of cars and close streets to unmitigated traffic. The two most prominent examples in the U.S. are New York City, with the closing of 14th Street, and San Francisco, which will soon close Market Street to cars.

That’s right, drivers of vehicles, your time on the streets of US cities is apparently numbered. Even in a town like Missoula, where snow and slush and cold temperatures make the utopian delusion of a multi-modal transportation network a ridiculous pipe-dream, that won’t stop the tax-addicted visionaries from exploiting tragedies and demanding more tax money to radically transform the world into a globalist wet dream of panopticon surveillance and diminished freedom of mobility.

I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. Just be a good citizen, unlike those pesky Russians, and your convenient electronic payment methods for local transit will NEVER be disrupted.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

Yesterday, before recording my Zoom Chron episode for the week, I noticed a woman with blankets and personal items strewn about the sidewalk in front of the County Courthouse. This woman was pacing around and struggling with a conversation with a female PD officer. Since I can sometimes be helpful in these situations, I crossed the street to feel it out, but this woman was not benefiting from more attention to her erratic behavior, so I moved on.

I decided to stop in City Hall, which requires passing the bus transfer station, but I wasn’t prepared for the new safety measures now deployed, with a cell-like entryway holding-pen and a uniformed officer behind safety glass to “greet” you.

I asked the man behind safety glass if I could get a message to our Mayor about the AMAZING success I was witnessing outside, in his fair city. I suggested to this stone-faced man that our Mayor take a walk to see for himself the phenomenal strides being made on this, the TENTH year of the TEN year plan to end homelessness.

Seeing that I was getting no where, I bade this dour gate-keeper adieu, and carried forth, stopping at the intersection where the ninja tacos became virtue-signaling golden yoke tacos in order to chat up some other officers. Since they weren’t dealing with a tweaker (just a no-filter speaker) who appreciates the boots-on-the-ground realities of first responders, it was a nice conversation.

I didn’t expect to be taking a pic and quickly sending it to a media outlet because a body was apparently laying on the ground, a few feet from where I was hours earlier.

It’s not unusual for bodies to appear at the bus transfer station. In fact, nine days before Christmas last year, the body of a 70 year old man was found.

The Missoula Police Department received the report of an unresponsive man at the downtown Mountain Line bus station at 5:30 Thursday

When police arrived on scene they discovered a 70-year-old man was deceased.

No cause of death has been determined at this point.

Missoula police are currently investigating.

Another death I remember well is the death of the infamous “transient” Jimmy Lee Ferguson. It was during the early hours of January 26th, 2012, when he was found deceased. No foul play was suspected but, then again, no one really cared. Rumors was someone gave him some strong drugs he couldn’t handle. Knowing some of Jimmy’s history when he was more mobile, I’d say he deserved it. He was a mean bastard.

The weirdest part of seeing the aftermath of this traffic fatality is the fact I was listening to the Propaganda Report and, wouldn’t you know, Monica Perez was talking about TRAFFIC FATALITIES.

Welcome to being a synchronicity resonator, Monica! You mentioned that newspaper synch you had recently, and now this, because that is apparently how this universe works.

If you don’t believe me, just ask Christopher Knowles. I really think he’s on to something.

Thanks for reading!