Month: November 2022

by Travis Mateer

For years I’ve been saying Montana is a state that is acutely incapable of handling its citizens mental health needs, but that hasn’t stopped our local leaders and naive do-gooders from pretending we can help more and more homeless people while simultaneously inviting refugees from around the world.

Nationally, people like to talk about the 80’s and President Reagan’s move at deinstitutionalization, but that was nearly a half-century ago. Now, all these years later in the state of Montana, the meager help that vulnerable populations once relied on, like case management and counseling services, have STILL not recovered from what Montana politicians did in 2017.

I’m not recalling what happened in 2017 just for the hell of it. The Missoulian has a big feature piece about mental health, titled In Montana, lack of mental health resources linked to growing gun violence, especially in hospitals, and it’s the article that reminds readers about the devastating impact of those budget cuts under Governor Bullock in 2017.

Making an appointment with a mental health provider is becoming increasingly difficult in Montana. Therapists are booked out for months and waiting lists sometimes stretch past the six-month mark.

Community resources in rural places in particular have evaporated at an alarming rate, according to Mary Windecker, executive director of the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana.

The 2017 state budget cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services are largely to blame for the mental health crisis that followed, Windecker said.

Before the $49 million budget cut, Montanans had access to case workers in their community who helped them stay on top of medications and engage in therapy to manage symptoms of mental illness or substance-use disorder (SUD). These resources allowed people to live relatively normal lives, Windecker said.

After the budget reductions, case workers and providers were laid off en-mass, and mental health centers around the state could no longer afford to staff at the same capacity.

It’s good this Missoulian article came out BEFORE the result of the election because this 2017 reminder can be quickly eclipsed by the gnashing of teeth that is going to ensue over the failure of the crisis levy, if current voting trends hold.

And what about those “trends”? For an early report on the human error known as Bradley Seaman, here’s KGVO:

“As we were running our initial preliminary release of results, one of the very first steps that we do is we make sure that the number of ballots we have recorded by the system matches the number of ballots coming out on the report from our compiling system,” began Seaman. “We noticed that those numbers didn’t align. We confirmed that indeed, our test results from last week’s test have remained in the system, so we are clearing out all of those test results. We have updated results from our system, and then we’re going to recompile those and have those available at the 10:00 p.m. result report.”

To help exemplify what it means to be a human error, Seaman continues:

Because election reporting is a complicated issue, Seaman said every effort is made to ensure accurate results.

“What we’re always working on is a system of checks and balances in elections,” he said. “And as we go through this step, what we noticed was that when we are pulling reports before we put them out for public consumption, we make sure that they’re accurate and get a match. As soon as we noticed that discrepancy in the number of ballots, it directly aligns with the number of tests ballots that were run previously. So we’re going to clear all results, run new reports from our system, and then load all of those reports in so that we have an accurate and clear number from this election.”

Is everything clear? I hope so. I also hope a guy with the last name “Seaman” stops using the word “load” (emphasis mine):

Seaman said the initial hiccup in the computer system will be dealt with by the midnight report at the latest.

“Each time that we run one of those it takes about 45 minutes for the system to load and compile them together so we’re working on that right now,” he said. “As soon as we noticed that error we pulled them out and we got them going. We’re going to try and make sure that we have as much together by our 10:00 p.m. results and but come midnight it will be like this never even happened.”

If, after all this stress, Bradley Seaman finds he needs some counseling, I hope the failure of the mill levy, if it holds, can provide another safe and effective scapegoat for our officials, who are never ever to blame for anything.

If you appreciate this content, please consider making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

As election day begins I have a question: why is low voter turnout going to possibly lead to slow election results? From the link:

Because of the low return rate, election officials anticipate slow vote tabulation on Election Night.

“To ensure accuracy and reduce the risk of human error, elections staff will wrap up ballot tabulation at midnight on Election Day and resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday, if needed,” a press release from Missoula County stated.

Does this make any sense? Are we being set up for something? Will the crisis mill levy pass, despite every indication I’ve seen that it has little to no support?

For my action-packed voting adventure, check out the video below. The song begins around 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Enjoy!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/768344955?h=705bc4f18b&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

by Travis Mateer

You guys are adorable. Seriously, don’t ever change. Just keep doing what you’re doing and hope it will all get better by darkening bubbles on a ballot.

Those who still invest excessive amounts of energy worrying about the outcomes of national elections have willingly allowed hamster wheels to be placed in their brains where neural pathways for critical thinking once existed. Dr. Oz vs. Fetterman is the inevitable result.

In Missoula there is virtually NO CHOICE regarding the power structure of our local criminal justice system. Kirsten Pabst WILL BE the County Attorney again, and Jeremiah Petersen WILL BE our Sheriff.

And the result? I’ll make an easy prediction about that: their policies of “diversion” to limited/non-existent treatment programs will continue placing the risk of addiction and untreated mental illness on the streets of Missoula for citizens to deal with.

For the wealthy who have flooded the state of Montana at a higher rate than ANY OTHER STATE over the last two years, they might want to consider hiring private security as a strategic hedge against the Mad Max environment that will surely continue to devolve around them.

Since Roger’s International lost its city contract to secure homeless sites around town, I think David Pritchard’s assessment of the situation offers an opportunity to create a new niche service–call it the SECURE SHOPPER and offer holiday rates for the novel experience of hiring tactically-clad men to make your downtown shopping experience as safe as possible.

Or, if you want to support a local business, you might want to consider shelling out some money for a statement piece by Zombie Tools.

Because nothing says safety like a blade longer than the arm of a charging meth head!

While David Pritchard opines on the homeless population’s fascination with machetes on a citizen-led Facebook group interview, readers of THIS blog should consider the value of the content I’ve been producing at a consistent rate of 5-6 posts every week because a BIG transition is coming thanks to some decisions (political?) that were made to FORCE this transition on me.

Later today I’m hoping to make an appearance on a show hosted by a REAL private investigator about growing interest some national media outlets are starting to show, behind the scenes, on a case I’ve been covering extensively this past year.

For a visual hint, and to offer a clue on one magazine’s connection to ANOTHER case I’ve been covering, check this cover out:

The PI I’ll be speaking with recently interviewed a fellow synchromystic, Jasun Horsley, who I also interviewed in April of 2021.

Synchronistically, this was the same month I first spoke with a homeless man by the name of Johnny Lee Perry, a drug-addicted young black man from Oakland who ALSO liked long blades called machetes, and was actually gunned down by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office for not putting one down.

For additional Zoom Chron coverage of this case, here’s my latest article, published on Halloween.

Once this election cycle passes any mention of the national spectacle from me will be in regards to local stories that may or may not get national attention, and the implications, good or bad, that may have.

To help me start preparing for kicking things up a notch, the donation options can be found at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Before getting to the mugshots of the alleged exploiters of minors for sexual gratification, and the question why only 4 of the 6 were published by the Missoulian, I want to time-travel back to 2011 when a younger T.J. McDermott and Guy Baker were tracking crimes against Montana children.

First off, wow, nice picture guys!

Second, notice the article is penned by Gwen Florio, who must have REALLY been longing for the fictional writing career she has now. Why do I say that? Just read how this article begins:

The 14-year-old “girl” gets all the glory.

You know the one. She chats online and seemingly has no problem talking dirty with men twice, three times her age. She even wants to meet them for something more than talk.

Except that when the guy in question shows up, he finds out the teenager with whom he intends to have sex is actually a Missoula cop.

It makes for good reading, not to mention a near-guaranteed conviction in court.

But such cases comprise only part of the work – arguably the easier part – done by Montana’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

The one guy I’m not familiar with, pictured in the cheerleading piece by Gwen Florio, is Chris Shermer. So I did the usual thing and fell down quite a rabbit hole, which began with this blog post by Crystal L Cox. Wow!

I definitely suggest a good perusal of that one. Then consider thanking Crystal L. Cox for helping those who might be forgetful that the first amendment is so kick ass, it even protects bloggers! Forgive the link going to a Huffington Post post, the original AP link doesn’t work.

Crystal L. Cox, a blogger from Eureka, Mont., now living in Port Townshend, Wash., was sued for defamation by Bend attorney Kevin Padrick and his company, Obsidian Finance Group LLC, after she made posts on several websites she created accusing them of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and other illegal activities. The appeals court noted Padrick and Obsidian were hired by Summit Accommodators to advise them before filing for bankruptcy, and that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court later appointed Padrick trustee in the Chapter 11 case. The court added that Summit had defrauded investors in its real estate operations through a Ponzi scheme.

A jury in 2011 had awarded Padrick and Obsidian $2.5 million.

“Because Cox’s blog post addressed a matter of public concern, even assuming that Gertz is limited to such speech, the district court should have instructed the jury that it could not find Cox liable for defamation unless it found that she acted negligently,” judge Andrew D. Hurwitz wrote. “We hold that liability for a defamatory blog post involving a matter of public concern cannot be imposed without proof of fault and actual damages.”

The appeals court upheld rulings by the District Court that other posts by Cox were constitutionally protected opinion.

Ok, pulling out of THAT rabbit hole, let’s take a look at the Missoulian article about the SIX people just busted for sexually exploiting minors.

If you’re a Sheriff beleaguered by a blogger who doesn’t know his place, it must be nice to have your sex crime fighters make time for a productive visit from the other side of the state.

Here is the part of the article that caught my attention. I’ll note it was at the BOTTOM of the article (emphasis mine):

The press release stated the task force is composed of law enforcement agents from various jurisdictions in Montana, along with federal officers.

“This is the first time in recent years that the task force has focused their efforts in Missoula,” it read. “The Task Force is focusing their efforts throughout Montana in areas where there is a concentrated population base.”

My first question is WHY is it the first time in recent years (plural) that this task force is focusing some sex crime fighting energy on Missoula?

My second question is this: who would like to know where a task force like this is NOT operating?

Things that make me go HMMMMM….

As for those mugshots, I think the reason the Missoulian only ran 4 of the 6 is because, maybe, they didn’t realize the other two could be found under “releases”. Here they are.

It’s nice our outgoing Sheriff and former sex-crime fighter has this figurative send-off to cap an impressive span of Sheriff’ing, something he’ll be discussing next week.

If you appreciate this content, please consider making a donation at my about page.

And thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

While recreational Cannabis has been legal in Montana for 11 months, I haven’t seen much critical writing on its local impact. Sure, money is being made, and storefronts across town are popping up with neon-green crosses in the window, but beyond that, how is the industry doing?

If I had to apply one word to recreational Cannabis in Montana it would be this: confusion. What is the reason for this confusion? It’s pretty simple, there are lots of rules, and those rules keep changing, so the businesses that aren’t tracking these changes might be surprised come January 1st when they get fined for violating these rules.

For me, the question about rules started with edibles, like gummies. The concern from the state is about kids and NOT making edibles too visually appealing to them. To get a better sense of these rules I spoke with Tanner, a state employee who works on educating Montanans within the Cannabis Control Division, which is housed in Montana’s Department of Revenue.

My conversation was semi-clarifying on some questions I had, but overall left me with a sense that this miasma of confusion has definite state origins, and can’t be simply ascribed to stoners trying to become adept business people.

Before Cannabis in Montana could become commercially viable, legislation had to be developed, and one Missoula politician at the forefront of this movement to legalize weed has been Ellie Boldman (formerly Hill, then formerly Smith).

How much at the forefront has Ellie been? Well, let’s take a look at some reporting from a few years ago to see what Ellie and her husband, Tyler Smith, were doing before recreational Cannabis became legal. From the link (emphasis mine):

Other lucrative sectors of the marijuana business are baked into Montana’s current regulatory scheme, such as private testing labs. State law mandates that providers submit their products for safety compliance, which can cost from $300 to $700 per five pounds. Confusion over rules regarding testing labs and independent THC extraction labs that are external to a provider’s business led to multiple lawsuits against the health department from large providers like Lionheart Caregiving over the past few years.

After a flurry of debate in the 2019 Legislature, lawmakers passed SB 265 to further clarify the state’s medical marijuana regulations. While much of Montana’s medical marijuana industry supported the bill, Lionheart opposed it, with its attorney, former Montana federal drug prosecutor Josh Van de Wetering, saying at an April legislative hearing that new restrictions limiting how many providers independent extraction labs are allowed to work with would hurt Lionheart’s business.

Lobbying records also show that Lionheart paid $20,000 to political consultant C.B. Pearson and his firm, M+R Strategic Services, to oppose SB 265 for the same reason. The lobbying report was certified by another Lionheart attorney, former Democratic state Rep. Ellie Hill Smith (now running to represent a Missoula district in the Montana Senate). In November 2018, investors in an independent extraction lab registered to Hill encouraged Lionheart to sue the health department after the state rejected the provider’s permit to work with the lab, according to an affidavit filed by Hill’s husband, who was an investor in both the extraction lab and a separate marijuana testing lab, the latter of which he has since divested from.

After this pre-recreational positioning occurred, a little pandemic ensued, and a few billion monkey wrenches were thrown into the lives of, well, everyone on the planet. This is where PUBLIC MONEY enters the picture to help out people like Ellie Boldman, who benefited from some Covid Cash last year, which I wrote about here. Let’s take a look at a screenshot of my article:

Since testing Cannabis for potency is a part of the process for local growers and retail sellers, I was interested to hear a complaint from a local Cannabis shop that joints had to be tested TWICE. If true, that would mean more business for the companies that test Cannabis products, so I decided to visit the location of Willow Bark Science, which can be located by doing a business search the Montana’s SoS.

Ellie Boldman is just half of the public-money-benefitting, Cannabis-supporting duo I’m referring to as Nickel. And, from what I understand, she isn’t as invested in the industry she helped craft legislation for anymore, nor is her husband, Tyler Smith, who used to be involved with White Buffalo Labs.

The other half of Nickel is, of course, Nick Checota, the man who owns Groove, which is next door to his recently revived music venue, the Top Hat.

As I was doing my research with Cannabis businesses around town, I heard a rumor about Nick Checota using his music business, Logjam Presents, to influence WHERE musical acts can perform, or simply show up. Is this true?

After speaking to both Logjam, and the Cannabis business, I discovered that musical acts that play a Checota venue with Logjam have a “radius clause” in their contract, banning them from performing, or even doing a meet-and-greet, at ANY other local business. This means Nick Checota can use his influence on music to benefit his Cannabis business by DENYING competing Cannabis businesses the ability to do anything with visiting, or local, musical acts.

Here’s my on-the-ground report on this facet of the Nickel duo:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/766946782?h=cd7e5ce360&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479

Yes, you heard me right, the clock is now ticking on my time at the ZACC and that is all I’m going to say, for now.

If you appreciate the content I put out SIX days a week, please consider making a contribution at my about page. I have a feeling I’m going to need all the financial help I can get.

Thanks for reading!