Month: October 2022

by Travis Mateer

I’m not sure why I held off on the report of a body found near the California Street Bridge, but I did, and it looks like the whole thing ended up being fake. So fake that the story is now that the initial story was fake. From the link (emphasis mine):

On October 6, 2022, at approximately 10:34 a.m., the Missoula Police Department issued a statement regarding a social media post that was beginning to go viral.

Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold provided the following information.

“Unfortunately, this social media post has gained traction and caused unnecessary concern in our community,” Arnold said. “The post contains only false information. The safety of Missoula’s residents is our top priority. We work hard to ensure people feel safe to live, work, recreate, and visit our hometown.”

Even though Missoula’s Public Information Officer, Lydia Arnold, said this was all bunk, the idea didn’t just dissipate into the ether:

The social media post deemed fake by the authorities mentioned multiple bodies found stabbed in a similar fashion, and the term “serial killer” was even used.

This fake story is coming on the heels of the town of Clinton, just east of Missoula on I-90, being told there is NO THREAT to the public after an 88 year old woman was found beaten and non-responsive with no suspect in custody. From the link (emphasis mine):

Deputies responded to a report of an assault in the 5600 block of Donovan Creek Road just after noon.

On scene, deputies found Delphine A. Farmer, 88, unresponsive. Farmer was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Officials say a person has not been taken into custody in relation to the homicide and there is no risk to the public at this time.

Anyone who reads that bold part is subjecting themselves to the cognitive dissonance of state power.

In addition to downplaying what might threaten the public, there’s also that SWAT training that wasn’t a training, the guy shot by authorities near the airport who went unnamed for nearly a month, and other incidents that raise questions that don’t have good answers.

It’s too bad local media had to waste time setting the record straight on this weird fake news because there was a MUCH bigger event happening on Thursday, and that’s the appearance of Missoula County’s VERY FIRST pet commissioner!

Yes, that’s right, a PET commissioner. Why? Because cuteness is a weapon even those who know better can’t resist.

Coming up on Sunday, I think I’ve discovered a magic button authorities have access to, and you won’t believe what it can do.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

When I went on KGVO last week it was to discuss the violent incident that occurred last month during a cleanup at the Reserve Street camps, specifically the rationale to only charge the homeless sex offender who assaulted TWO staff from MDT (Montana Department of Transportation) with ONE misdemeanor assault.

To contrast the misdemeanor punches to the face sustained by one MDT staff, here is a story about a felonious knee to the balls. I guess that’s what can happen when law enforcement responds to a passed out individual rendered unconscious by the substances he consumed from, I’m assuming, the casino where he was found.

This is what happened next (emphasis definitely mine):

According to court documents, Littlelight became aggressive with a female employee of the casino. An officer spoke to the female who said she found Littlelight unconscious on the ground outside in an awkward position and tried to wake him up, which was not effective, so she called 911. 

Medical staff was able to wake Littlelight. When Littlelight saw the female, he began calling her names and making comments about her weight. One of the firefighters said Littlelight’s behavior was out of hand and stepped between the female and Littlelight to protect her. 

Officers placed Littlelight under arrest for assault. Littlelight was yelling and cursing at officers. Littlelight kept trying to turn around and resist arrest. While officers were holding Littlelight, he kicked an officer in the testicles with his knee. The kick is visible on officers’ patrol and body-worn cameras.

Littlelight is currently being charged with felony assault on a peace officer, assault, and disorderly conduct.

So, the obvious question in my mind is this: what justifies the disparity in the charges? If one recalls my earlier reporting (links above), or my appearance on the radio, the excuse I was given by Sheriff Deputy Jessop as to why the homeless sex offender only received a misdemeanor was due to the LACK of fear by the victim.

Does that mean the police officer was TERRIFIED of the homeless native man who had, moments before, been unconscious until roused by medical staff?

I’m glad medical staff were already on hand for the arrest because this is what Dean Littlelight looked like after he was booked for a felonious knee to the testicles of law enforcement:

It’s so confusing trying to find rhyme or reason in our criminal justice system. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying, though.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Ok, this is impressive. Without further comment, here is a “press release” from Michael Burks, the owner of Fuel Fitness and former candidate for House District 97. If you want to know why the Fuel Fitness locations in Butte and Helena suddenly closed, here it is.

Get ready for the most amazing press release of all time. Thank you.

________________________________________________________________________

My name is Michael Burks and I am the Founder, Owner and CEO of all 7, well 5, Fuel Fitness & Nutrition Locations located in Montana and Idaho. I have read enough of your comments to realize that I have made the right decision to close both down and run like Forrest from both of your communities, so thank you in advance for that.

I hear your “demands” as to why I legally closed 2 of my businesses without consulting one of you beforehand. I cannot wait until the last member is paid their refund so I can close this chapter and never look back….

Here is the explanation that I have absolutely no obligation to share with you, but will to shut you all up once and for all

A member of Fuel’s staff in Butte oversaw all insurance billing for all 7 Fuel Fitness Locations, Fuel Fitness has 3 sources of income from these insurance avenues and some months they are very hefty. Well, this particular employee kept the larger of the 3 policies in Butte’s back pocket without anyone’s knowledge, which caused the following:

Unearned bonuses and raises have been generated and accepted by the employee in question as well as duping me into believing that the Butte location was doing much better financially than it really was. In fact, after backing out said revenue as well as the fact that I own (and for all of those that have contacted me, I do appreciate the incredible support, but cannot sell as I have just found out that I have a very large sum of money to make up that I was not aware of just one week ago) both the Butte and Helena buildings, only charged both locations a little more than half of the current market rate of monthly lease ($12,500 charged, $24,000 potential) …The actual potential revenue would have been close to $2M over the past 5 years. For those members in Helena that are wondering what this has to do with your club, the Helena Fuel Fitness was losing close to twice as much as the Butte club and was only allowed to be open as I was under the impression that Butte was making just enough to allow me to absorb the never-ending losses coming from 3336 N Helena. The employee in question, who just experienced a full expense paid, 5-star resort vacation (other than alcohol) to Hawaii, paid personally by me, along with 9 other Fuel Fitness employees and their +1 for a total of 20 fully comped for a total travel expense of $150,000.00 I was not able to attend as luck would have it, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was exposed to Covid the day before we were all to leave. The employee in question, along with a member of Fuel’s Helena staff, abused my credit card like a couple of pissed off teenagers, booking every excursion that they could fit in, while the rest of my team, spent about half that amount. Ironically, these two employees came from the worst two performing Fuel Fitness locations, never coming close to breaking even now that we have found out that sales were fraudulently inflated

On Friday, September 30, these indiscretions were brought to my attention, where I demanded both to be shut down immediately to stop the massive carnal bleeding. Other than losing millions over the past 5 years from these horrifically ran operations, I also lost out on 5 years of lease from both buildings at market rate, as I would have shut these down years ago (which had been discussed multiple times, even before my first regional general manager left to start his own gym in Arizona) This amount comes to a total of $1.38 million dollars of potential lost revenue from leasing the two buildings. As soon as we clean out the memory of what was once the most premier fitness centers in both Butte and Helena Montana, these building will be available for lease. Please contact Airika Lakkala, from Berkshire Hathaway as she has the listing for both. 406-498-6465

This is not the first time I have been kicked in the gut after investing close to $500,000 into the Butte Community… Years ago, I, a “never” time resident of Butte Montana, created and operated a junior hockey team, known as the Butte Cobras. As a multi-year owner of the Missoula Maulers, I already knew what I was getting into as the rink, if you dare actually use that term, was thrown into the scariest building I have ever played a hockey game in. There was no way I would every put a team on the ice of a dismal excuse of a rink, such as the Butte Community Ice Center, so I wrote a check in the amount of $250,000 to put some very expensive lipstick on a very ugly pig. To this day, I have yet to be thanked or even a hint of gratitude anywhere in that rink for the investment into the Butte hockey community. Furthermore, after reading a USA Hockey article during my ownership of the franchise, a local Butte Amateur Hockey Association volunteer took 100% credit for the “incredible resurrection” of hockey in Butte America. No mention of me, my investment, or the boys that worked their butts off every night for the fans on the ice as well as the love they gave back to the community that I still hear stories about today. Some may remember that the team won the Chamber of Commerce excellent in community service as I had the team support Mariah’s Challenge, The Doctor Peter Sorini Foundation, as he was the first doctor ever to donate his time to the Butte Cobras, and the raising of funds for the Peck children, who we adopted after a very unfortunate incident. In addition, the boys were consistently making their presents throughout Butte along with Coby, the team’s mascot. Once I finished the last season of play, where my boys took the multi-year championship Idaho Steelheads to a thrilling 3 game series to give Butte its first playoff run in decades, I dumped the team and all its assets in the lap of BAHA and washed my hands of junior hockey for the rest of my days on this planet

One may think that is a very harsh reaction to an article found in a magazine, but this is the not first time I have seen my name nowhere on a rink as the Glacier Ice Rink tossed my name plate that was on the east wall for years for my donation of $100’s of thousands of dollars when it was desperately needed most. Back when the Glacier Ice Rink was a slab of ice on dirt and nobody in Missoula even knew there was a rink, I just happened to come in at the perfect time as , board members were in the process of financing their own homes to save the rink. After a complete remodel to what you to see today and a check written in the total of $800,000, the Missoula Maulers were brought in to entertain 1500 fans some random Friday and Saturday nights many moons ago After 9 years of bringing top tier hockey as well as a game day presentation that took 40+ people to present, the lease was inexplicably changed and among other phantom increases and other trumped up game day charges, I was being told that I was to pay $200 per game night to use my own bleachers… the bleachers that my founding partner found in South Carolina and shipped into Missoula on my own semi-truck. These bleachers can now be found proudly sitting on the visiting sideline of the Loyola High School’s football stadium where they have been extremely appreciated by both sides as for years the fans had to endure each other on the same set of bleachers on the home team’s side of the field. In addition to this shocking change, the Maulers who had been given the #2 spot on the schedule behind GHL for the first 9 years of her existence, found themselves left with ice time after the following user groups (it has been a while since I have thought twice about anything hockey) GHL, WHAM, Boys High School, Girls High School, U16 boys and girls, U14 boys and girls and Pee Wee, Squirts, Mites, Termites, Figure Skating, and Curling. After the smoke was cleared the Maulers were give a total of 7 weekends in which a Friday, Saturday and Sunday schedule was available. At that time, the Western States Hockey League dictated that 10 weekends be submitted as all 28 teams fought all out wars to try to get the schedule of their dreams for the upcoming season. These 7 weekends did not include games in November, December, or January so any Teddy Bear toss or holiday collections were impossible to hold, which would have not worked for me as delivering the teddy bears to kids all over the Missoula community was one of the highlights of mine, every season we were blessed to hand them out. I was forced to shut down the team and consequently my place as a top donor of the history of the rink was vanished like a fart in the wind. I was not the only person that had their recognition stripped from history as every historic donor prior to the current board were wronged by this egregious action and were also tossed in the dumpster like Superbowl Sunday’s left over dip.

As far as the media is concerned, I have tried to keep my distance ever since the blood bath caused by the irresponsible reporting of Bill Speltz and the Missoulian, accusing me of the most heinous crimes when I had no choice in the matter and was told to get my “crap” out of the rink That “crap” consisted of my bleachers, the sound system, the game day special effect lighting as well as the entire locker-room as well as the contents in it. Basically, I left the walls and a raw floor as that was their demand and I would never want to deviate from a direct order of my landlord, especially when they threaten with legal action. The ironic part about this is that when I donated the construction, I was very clear as to what was donated and what was allowed to use as I knew one day, I would be booted out like an evil stepchild, because, well, let’s face it, that is what rinks do… Just ask many of junior hockey owners that have faced the same appreciation Unfortunately, the powers running the rink at that time had no clue as to what I owned and what I donated. They found out quickly and then with the help of Speltz used me as a catalyst to sell as many cupcakes as possible to make up for the $350,000 in bleachers that I had generously allowed every user group to use and abuse without consequence

Let’s get back to the mistrust factor of the media, I didn’t even allow one interview during my recent HD97 campaign run, in which I lost by a mere 37 votes to Lyn Hellegaard, who was endorsed by the Jesse Ramos’ ran, extreme right- wing group, Americans for Prosperity… Unimaginable… a political candidate that ran from an opportunity to come through your living room to let you know what he or she.. or, whatever pronoun is being used in 2022, will do for you if you just cast that vote in their direction. ICK! No thank you!

Now that I have answered your demanded questions, I ask you leave me alone so that I can focus on converting 4 out of the remaining Fuel Fitness & Nutrition’s into FUEL, a functional fitness center that will rival any in this country.

Sincerely Michael Burks Owner CEO FUEL

___________________________________________________________________

Wowzers. Did I mention this former political candidate was tied to the LifeGuard Group? Yeah.

by Travis Mateer

I’m not that good on the numbers side of what things are worth, though I can tell you the relative cost of driving to a remote hot springs resort outside of Butte and spending the night just to be present and fully caffeinated for the Governor’s appearance at the crime prevention conference put on by the Montana Board of Crime Control: more than other media were willing to spend, if they even knew this was happening in the first place.

Seven months ago our Governor was just starting off on a series of public roundtable events. The use of the word “public” turned out to be a little strange, considering how NOT public the roundtable in Missoula turned out to be. It would take too much time for the purposes of this post to describe how I ended up finding this “public” roundtable being secretly held on the University of Montana campus.

A secretive Governor doesn’t have to be AS secretive when a crime prevention conference is being held in a far-flung part of the state where no struggling media entity is going to foot the cost of sending a reporter. And why would they? It’s not like local media has any substantial context to our Governor’s FAVORITE non-profit in Missoula, the LifeGuard Group. No, not like I do.

If there was any question in readers minds at this point regarding the connections between the LifeGuard Group and the Governor’s office, those questions were put to rest by the Governor himself, considering his brief chat highlighted the training of beer truck drivers, the “education” provided by the LifeGuard Group, and the support Gianforte has PERSONALLY given this Missoula non-profit.

After the morning chat, our Governor was whisked away for some fentanyl PR in Butte. This part of the Governor’s Tuesday WAS reported on.

Here’s my favorite part of the article, the part where the Governor promises media access and an ongoing conversation:

“Our door is open,” Gianforte said to NBC Montana after the meeting. “We’ve made some connections today between our policy staff and local leaders. I’ll continue to do public safety roundtables. I held one here in Butte-Silver Bow a month ago. So, our door is open, and as we find things that work, we look forward to acting on them.”

If you’re wondering what the Governor thinks will work, I’ll tell you. At the fireside chat Gianforte talked about his Angel Initiative, a program that supposedly allows addicts to walk into their nearest Sheriff’s Office or police station to start getting help with drug addiction. How this works is beyond me, but supposedly 22 counties in Montana are already participating.

If you think I’m being unnecessarily vague, let’s take a look at how the actual language from the DPHHS website describes this program (emphasis NOT mine):

The goal of the Montana Angel Initiative is to improve the access and entry point into substance abuse treatment, and ultimately get more people into treatment.

The initiative allows someone who is struggling with addiction to come into any participating law enforcement office and receive assistance in locating and being connected with treatment, without consequences or questions (subject to certain limitations). With support from Governor Greg Gianforte, the initiative is a collaboration with DPHHS, treatment providers and participating law enforcement offices.

When you go further down the page, you will discover, like I did, that only THREE counties are actually participating, according to the website:

Leaving the question aside of how many counties are actually doing the work for now, the larger strategy Gianforte is promoting is the most unoriginal and overused strategy of them all: the public/private partnership (PPP).

Am I being overly critical by seeing the function of the PPP like I see the Confidential Criminal Justice Information statute? For the PPP, we are told collaboration between the public and private sector will bring efficiencies that government isn’t capable of doing on its own. And with CCJI, we are told it’s to protect individuals who didn’t have enough evidence (collected?) against them to warrant charges from a prosecuting agency.

In theory, PPP and CCJI are supposed to be protections against government waste and violations of privacy, but in practice they seem to actually PROTECT POWER. Is that by design?

To wrap this post up (it’s getting long) the end of the fentanyl article indicates we are gonna try insanity as a policy. What do I mean? Well, how did the Montana Meth project do as an advertising campaign to reduce meth use in Montana? Do you see the success all around our Big Sky State?

No, you don’t, so it’s disappointing to read this (emphasis mine):

One local effort that will begin by mid-Nov. is described as a “shock” advertising campaign to warn residents, especially teenagers and young adults, about the dangers of fentanyl. The initial funding is coming from a $100,000 charitable grant from Town Pump, and ads will be seen on social media and on billboards.

“What we’re going to be doing is a strong social media presence,” said Bill McGladdery, Town Pump Director of Corporate Communications. “We’re going to be using Device ID, Youtube — both six second and 15 second non-skippable spots — Spotify, Snapchat, and Hoola … We’re going to be developing a website for a landing page to direct people to, we’ll be developing a Facebook page that will be more geared towards the secondary audience. We need to reach parents, we need to reach grandparents, we need to reach aunts and uncles.”

Oh look, the lovely PRIVATE part of this particular PPP, Town Pump, is at it again, this time helping with substance abuse like they were helping with trafficking–I mean, ANTI-trafficking–back at the beginning of the year.

I’ll leave it there, for now. But stay tuned for more on our Governor and the Partner’s he’s PP’ing with. Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Before yesterday’s post on the deplorable legacy of Missoula County Attorney, Kirsten Pabst, I didn’t realize Pabst is running unopposed this year to keep her job. Since no one apparently wants her job, no one in the media seems interested in critical coverage of her office because what’s the point? Missoula County voters don’t have a choice.

That means we’re stuck with Pabst for FOUR MORE YEARS.

It’s already been a long slog with Pabst. To get a sense of what I’m talking about, let’s go back to Pabst’s statement in 2015 after Krakauer’s book came out. Here is some of the damage control from that statement talking about the new programs and the new day that allegedly arrived seven years ago:

In all of the hubbub, the importance of our new program and efforts at improving sexual assault prosecutions has been in the shadow. Now is not the time to refute the many factual errors in the book. While the charges the author has made against me, the Missoula County Attorney’s Office and my predecessor, are inaccurate, exaggerated and unnecessarily personal, he is correct in that our investigation and prosecution standards needed to be improved. That has been done. Ask the Montana Attorney General’s Office. Ask the US Department of Justice. Today is the day to celebrate our new direction.

In essence, we’ve taken a look at everything we do as an office and re-written it in accord with best-practices. Our whole approach has shifted from being process centered to victim centered. Our community has banded together, rolled up our sleeves and is breaking ground on great and permanent changes in the area of sexual assault prosecutions. The Missoula County Attorney’s Office is committed to taking the lead and becoming the flagship model for other communities facing similar challenges. To do that, we are examining past practices, studying the nation’s best practices and engaging in specialized training.

Reading this now, in 2022, makes me wonder what Pabst has actually been doing. Failing up? At least one seemingly informed commenter makes a compelling case, but before we get to that, here’s Pabst from that bullshit book, “To Prosecute”, explaining how she was going to communicate with the public better:

How do you keep the community informed about and involved in these policy and practice changes?

I feel strongly that I have an obligation to communicate with the citizens who elected me. The best way to do that is to have an open and ongoing dialog with them via the media. Among my avenues to do so, I appear on a weekly radio show where I run through new complaints my office has filed and talk about new programs such as diversion. I also respond to media requests for information to share what we can with the public about individual cases.

Yes, Pabst goes on the radio to consistently provide updates on what her office is charging, but there are other dynamics at play before the Attorney’s Office even gets involved, and that would be the investigative work done by public institutions, like the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

The full statement Pabst provided seven years ago speaks a lot about facts and tries to minimize emotion (while using emotion to gaslight victims), but here’s the thing about facts: to be considered, they have to be collected in the first place. If that doesn’t happen, then what is a County Attorney to do?

While Pabst feels strongly about her obligation to communicate, so do members of the public. Despite being an old article, there’s a relatively new comment from just 4 months ago worth considering, so I’ll reproduce it in full below.

I think that does it for a quick round 2. Thanks for reading!

And, if that’s hard to read, here’s the comment in quote form:

It’s hard to fathom how Kirsten Pabst continues to be employed in the legal profession after what’s she’s done, let alone in a position of such trust, and with such power over many of the people she’s harmed over the years in her relentless pursuit of prestige.

Pabst’s statement is infuriating but also should be treated as a master class in dishonestly effective crisis PR. She skillfully weaves a distracting straw man argument hinting that Krakauer assailed her simply because of her (abysmal) record of prosecuting rape cases, completely sidestepping and not bothering to explain all of the damning revelations in the book. She also cleverly tries to stoke tribalistic pro-Missoula defensiveness by insinuating repeatedly that Krakauer is out to get the town that he supposedly is so “obsessed” with. And then she buries all of that underneath long winded, sometimes irrelevant fluff meant to deflect blame while portraying herself as a hero for sexual assault victims (which might come as a surprise to the ~90% whose cases she ignored in her prior job). If you manage to get through Pabst’s statement, you’d be forgiven for not realizing that she didn’t actually get around to addressing any of the very serious issues that Krakauer’s book reminded us of. Though she vaguely implies factual errors in the book (as if a book that prominent and no doubt vulnerable to lawsuits if anything could be construed as defamatory wasn’t fact checked and lawyered down to the tiniest detail), many of her misdeeds were already known from independent sources. If that wasn’t enough, Pabst is notorious for lashing out against the press when it is reported that her office mistreated and ignored credible accusations of rape. Despite some vague and unapologetic suggestions that certain (quite small, no doubt) things could have been done better, nowhere in this statement does Pabst show recognition, let alone remorse, for what she did to countless victims, both as a prosecutor and, quite menacingly, as a defense attorney in private practice.

I congratulate Kirsten Pabst both for this obnoxious statement and for continuing to fail upward, no matter the cost to the women of Missoula and the University of Montana. If only she would turn her impressive skills of self protection and promotion toward the public good. At some point, the rush of professional success fades and we (at least those of us with a conscience) are left reflecting on whether we lived a good life. I sincerely wonder how Kirsten Pabst is able to sleep at night.

Amen!