Month: May 2023

by Travis Mateer

Most of the people I write critically about are decent people, like Jacob Coolidge, a municipal judge who used to volunteer for my Homeless Outreach Program many years ago. Back then Coolidge was a grad student and his thesis was a critical look at the Broken Windows Theory. Here’s a portion of the definition from the link:

In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.[1] The theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking, jaywalking, and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness.

The theory was introduced in a 1982 article by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling.[1] It was popularized in the 1990s by New York City police commissioner William Bratton and mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose policing policies were influenced by the theory.

Jacob Coolidge studied my homeless outreach program for his thesis to provide an alternative to the Broken Windows policing approach to the “shelter-resistant” population my program served, a population with a significantly higher rate of police interactions than the general public. I was even invited to listen to Coolidge defend this thesis in front of the scholarly inquisition that vets this kind of academic work.

I became critical of Coolidge when he joined two other judges and allowed Westridge Creative to steer their collective campaigns. For context on Westridge Creative and the disappointment I experienced when Coolidge threw-in with these political hacks, check out the following posts:

Corralling Progressives: The Political Pedigree Of Pete Talbot And Family (August 24th, 2020)

Jim Parker’s Killer Connection To Peace Keeping (September 6th, 2021)

Does Jim Parker’s Westridge Creative Give Zero Fucks About Campaign Laws? (November 1st, 2021)

What Kind Of Judgements Will The Westridge Defenders Be Bringing To Municipal Court? (November 5th, 2021)

To answer the question posed in that last post about what kind of judgements the Westridge Defenders will bring to municipal court, it appears the police think they have an answer, and it isn’t a good one. But is it accurate? That is the question being asked in this Missoula Current article about whether or not Municipal Court is holding homeless campers accountable.

From the link (emphasis mine):

City officials on Wednesday said they’ve received concerns from police officers who have issued urban campers a citation for any number of violations, only to see the charges dismissed in municipal court.

“We heard from various staff that municipal court has dismissed more than 100 different citations related to houseless people,” said council member Kristen Jordan. “We heard there’s a lot of citations being issued by the police and the city attorney tries to prosecute, only to have them dismissed when they get to municipal court.”

Missoula Municipal Court Judge Jacob Coolidge pushed back on the suggestion, saying a recent Ninth Circuit Court decision has changed the landscape when it comes to dealing with homeless campers.

The image above is one I took of a camper, truck and trash near my studio. It’s been there for a very long time, and one local business told me the inhabitants often engage in abusive arguments with each other. Since this business rents out bike and river equipment, the impacts of what’s happening this spring, and soon to be summer, are hitting them on multiple fronts–and the tax bill hasn’t even arrived yet!

Once upon a time I was an adamant critic of Broken Windows, but that was before the graffiti spread literally everywhere, including trees. Further down from the camper pictured above are some not-so-subtle communications from a houseless member of our community to the rest of us:

Now let’s get to some of the numbers that are fueling the argument that the police are not perceiving things correctly (emphasis mine):

“We heard there was reference that perhaps we’ve dismissed 100 of those cases and are somehow flippant about their existence,” Coolidge said. “We ran a report and saw there were 50 cases cited in the last calendar year and we had dismissed two. From our data and perspective, we’re not sure where this narrative is coming from that we’re dismissing cases, because our data suggests we aren’t.”

At this late stage of the everything crisis, where structural rot has metastasized across every institution, I’m sure most within the criminal justice system THINK they are doing their job, it’s just that the definitions of those jobs have changed without the public getting the memo–because the everything crisis is all over the media as well.

Maybe we, the public, should get more creative like those resilient houseless people who are trying out clever things along the river trail, like this trap and/or art installation:

What the hell is this? I don’t know, but a stick to the left seemed to invite me to poke the wire to see if it was, in fact, a trip wire. Was it a trip wire? No, but the plastic card, when turned over, did bring a smile to my face:

Isn’t this hilarious? I thought so, but maybe my sense of humor is out of whack from the rivers of rage I keep experiencing. To counter a possible anger-trigger, I decided to pocket the card, since I like to stop in to the Missoula Downtown Association every now and then to give them updates on the blogging I “bill” as journalism. These images will be fun to share with the crew!

If you appreciate what I share with YOU, the reader, then Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to support my work, and making a donation at my about page is another.

I’ll be testing out the questions I’ve developed for urban campers soon, and am considering offering a dollar per-question-answered. Thoughts? This is riding the line of enabling, but no-strings cash is a potent incentive. I’m on the fence, personally. In any case, stay tuned, there’s plenty more to come.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

I took some footage of Trent Holmgren on Saturday during the market because he was obviously VERY high on drugs, shirtless, and dancing in a provocative manner while families with young kids tried avoiding him. This is the guy who shot arrows at the Youth Homes, along with other acts of violence, like beating up his girlfriend. He was also a witness to a drive-by shooting, interviewed here by the Missoulian:

Not far from where Holmgren was showing off his drug-fueled dance moves, activists obsessed with the possibility of undermining parental rights in order to transition children into their “movement” were holding flags by the red X’s on North Higgins. I made the mistake of attempting to converse with these activists about narrative control. It didn’t go well.

I began by asking them if they have heard the names Sean Stevenson or Rebekah Barsotti. No, they said, so I explained to them my concerns about narrative control and local media. When I gave the example of Zooey Zephyr’s supporters throwing at least one object from the gallery, and how that was NOT reported during the protest in support of her silencing, one of the activists loudly objected, stating THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!

Suddenly a young white woman materialized, striding between us to confront me because she could tell I was “escalated”. It’s true that local ignorance about local bodies piling up is a trigger for me, so I told the righteous white woman I’d move along to satisfy these activists need to be bubble-wrapped against any deviation from TOTAL ACCEPTANCE of EVERY DEMAND they are making, parents be damned.

Earlier last week, the Target store in Missoula entered the culture war, and the result was a predictable tantrum by some asshole who doesn’t understand that he’s playing directly into the culture-trolling trap being set up to produce this EXACT reaction.

From the link (emphasis mine):

A transgender Missoula couple was told to “enjoy it while you can ” while shopping Thursday in the LGBTQ+ section in Target by a man who went on to throw merchandise from the section onto the floor.

The man was later escorted by a Target employee out of the section, which includes clothing with rainbow colors, for example.

Octavia Jimenez and her non-binary partner, April Dean, said they were rattled by the experience.

“I think that those are temporary feelings that are going to pass,” Dean said.

Both said the opposition to Target’s merchandise is “profoundly silly.” Jimenez added people are just living their lives “and want recognition for who they are.”

Sorry, Octavia Jimenez, your depiction of this movement is NOT ACCURATE. People are advocating for MINORS to access drugs and surgery in order to make life-altering decision that can’t be undone, and many within this movement are incredibly hostile to parents and PARENTAL RIGHTS, so as a parent of three kids, I am NOT going to be silent, especially as the drug crisis rages on our streets and in our parks.

To hit back against Target’s financial decision to pull back displays in certain stores, someone called in bomb threats to several stores. This is from a local Cleveland news station:

From the link:

Cleveland 19 News received a bomb threat Friday afternoon against five Target stores in the area.

The threat, received at 12:26 p.m. via email, centered around Target’s LGBTQ+ merchandise.

Immediately jumping to action, our staff made reports with each local police department as well as the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Will a news story like this get national traction? It’s doubtful, just like it’s doubtful we’ll ever see the manifesto from Audrey Hale, the transgender shooter in the Nashville mass-casualty attack. If you want a manifesto, it’s probably more palatable to consume a white supremacist one, like the Buffalo shooter. Here’s some analysis I found on HIS sad screed:

“The truth is my personal life and experiences are of no value. I am simply a White man seeking to protect and serve my community, my people, my culture, and my race.”

These words were written in a manifesto which was posted online before an 18-year-old gunman went to a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and opened fire on citizens in the parking lot, and then within the store. Ten people were killed in the incident on 14 May, which largely targeted Black shoppers in an act which is being investigated as racially motivated violent extremism. The alleged perpetrator, Payton Gendron (the Buffalo shooter), livestreamed the shooting, and posted the 180-page manifesto, which was shared widely online. This Perspective interrogates the manifesto produced by the Buffalo shooter.

Downplaying political violence on the left, while hyperventilating over anything the political right engages in, ensure the culture war will continue, and that’s good for the transnational political elite who give ZERO FUCKS about the wedge issues they exploit to keep the plebes at each other’s throats.

As this movement relates to parental rights and narrative control, I will continue to write about it, but reluctantly, because the tactics of canceling and censorship are still being deployed, just like they were against people like me who opposed medical interventions we didn’t agree with.

If you appreciate my willingness to write about this issue from THIS side of the fence, you can help insulate me from cancel culture by supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page. Both can be anonymous.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

If David Winterburn had been homeless–meaning without any personal property of significant value to take–I’m not sure our criminal justice system would have handled him losing his shit in the same way. Are the charges serious? Yes they are, and “Rasta Dave” is still sitting in jail as I write this on $750,000 dollar bond, so for now the community is safe from THIS particular individual who allegedly went berserker, causing Lowell school to temporarily go on lock down.

Here are the charges:

Since writing this post about Winterburn’s arrest, I’ve had several conversations about the days and months leading up to the standoff with police that COULD HAVE resulted in Rasta Dave getting shot. I’ve talked to three neighbors, an old acquaintance, and a former roommate, and the picture emerging is fascinating, though it doesn’t bode well for Rasta Dave and his ability to defend himself in court.

What could be at stake? Well, the future ownership of this piece of property, which Dave either built entirely himself, or improved on significantly over the years:

On Friday I knocked on the door again, but no one answered. That’s when I met a neighbor who has lived in Missoula for over 60 years. He knows Dave well, and confirmed what I had been hearing from several sources: Rasta Dave’s decline was precipitated by a relationship with a woman he met in Jamaica, but instead of a companion who Dave thought he was engaged to, she turned out to be an extortionist with ties to a Jamaican street gang.

Sounds like an interesting variation on the Nigerian romance scam.

According to the neighbor, the alleged female victim of Winterburn’s rage moved out of the house a few days ago. I guess the dream of helping Rasta Dave run an Airbnb is officially over.

But what about this burglary that occurred BEFORE Winterburn lost it? Was it just a case of roommates reporting a legitimate crime, or was something else going on? Like maybe a setup? Hopefully those people won’t disappear if/when David Winterburn approaches his day in court.

As for the Jamaican love interest, that’s WAY beyond my capacity to check out. Unless someone wants to buy me a ticket to Jamaica, I think I’ll let a more appropriate entity follow up on that interesting piece of local news.

If you appreciate what I’m able to turn up and make into content within our little Missoula information market, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to support my work, or you can make a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

I know the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office is busy, what with people dying in parks and on sidewalks and all, but I’m worried that a County with no investigators is being expected to be the primary jurisdiction responsible for determining how Joey Thompson ended up dead in the river 40 miles west from where he was supposedly last seen in Missoula on April 11th.

Since I had been communicating with the Missoula County Sheriff Office about those other bodies, I decided to inquire about the status of Joey Thompson’s case. And the answer? There is no status, because there is no development since an April press release. Here’s the email correspondence:

Since the body of Joey Thompson showed up in Mineral County, I called the Sheriff’s Office earlier in the week and left a message with Sheriff Funke. Have I heard back? No, I have not. Again, I know people are busy, because on Facebook I see that Montana’s Attorney General was visiting Mineral County on Wednesday. Is that why I didn’t get a call back?

Why was our Attorney General visiting Mineral County? Because that girl in the overalls made a nice picture and won a nice award and it’s a very pretty picture and everyone is safe because law enforcement is the best ever!

If I HAD received a call back from Sheriff Funke, I would have asked about the status of the investigation, because according to this May 12th press release, there IS an active investigation:

Another question I have, if there truly is an active investigation going on, is WHO is doing the investigating? I think that’s a fair question, especially for a grieving parent trying to understand what is happening, or NOT happening, which too often is the case.

One thing not happening in the normal way this week is the Week in Review. The pressure after these LONG weeks to review what I’ve spent all week writing about is not something that feels sustainable to me, and my co-host too often has born the brunt of that. I’m considering a more simple Sunday post with links to the week’s articles, and maybe some other audio stuff thrown in, like songs, or chapters of books.

Regardless of what I figure out, I remain committed to the content creation that hits Monday through Friday at 7am sharp (usually), with something more reflective for Sunday. If you understand the media gap I’m trying to fill, and would like to support my work, there’s Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or the donation button at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

If the director of community planning and development, Eran Pehan, wants to explore a different career path someday, I suggest stand-up comedy, because the suggestion that we still have adequate tools to deal with criminal behavior is HILARIOUS! What we ACTUALLY have is well-paid bureaucrats like Pehan giving us the lip-service they are paid to give us, and it’s a bunch of bullshit (emphasis mine):

The city of Missoula confirmed Eran Pehan to be the director of the new Community Planning, Development and Innovation department in Monday’s City Council meeting.

The department isn’t supposed to cost more money to create, but NBC Montana found out Pehan will receive a $15,500 raise, bringing her salary up to $144,500.

It’s impressive that this kind of salary can produce such a well-informed suggestion on what to do if a homeless person is committing a crime. For example, let’s say a man steals a sandwich and puts it down his pants. Call the cops, right? And what might the result be? Quote below (emphasis mine):

The employee explained that he tried to address Grable by informing him that he was permanently trespassed and requested that he return the item he was attempting to conceal and depart from the store with.  

The employee stated that Grable demanded the establishment contact law enforcement. The employee explained that while waiting for law enforcement to arrive, Grable withdrew the sandwich he was concealing in his pants and ate it in front of the employees while mocking them. 

When the officer arrived on the scene, he observed Grable showing no remorse for his actions. Grable displayed his displeasure with law enforcement through verbal dialogue and refuted having committed burglary. 

Giving zero fucks about committing a misdemeanor felony theft is something locals have come to expect from certain individuals, like Kenneth Grable, but this next story is a little different because the alleged perpetrator of multiple arsons is a 24 year old University of Montana student who wants to be a crazy writer like Hunter S. Thompson.

Here’s Sean Staples earlier this year when he was profiled by the Kaimin about starting his writing career (emphasis mine):

After jumping among computer science, media arts and literature majors, 24-year-old University of Montana student Sean Staples has officially begun his writing career by publishing his first book, “Vision.” This is more than just a compilation of short stories — it’s a passion project years in the making. 

“‘Vision’ is just like off the rails crazy,” Staples said.

Later in the article, we get the sense that Staples has some awareness he’s chased the darkness a bit too enthusiastically, but the emphasized part of the quote shows he hasn’t learned his lessons quite yet:

“‘Vision’ is more like a Hunter S. Thompson-type story,” Staples said. “I feel like it’s a lot of craziness, a lot of wildness, but now, since I’ve been writing recently, I’ve been writing a lot more positive stories. More symbolic spirituality stories that kids could read as well.”

He’s already working on a second. He plans to keep this one more positive but to incorporate his dark humor as well. He also plans to continue this style of writing because he prefers shorter reads. For his next book, Staples teased that “it’s not going to just be all positive spirituality, the craziness is coming back.”

At least Sean Staples appears to be a man of his word, because the craziness DID come back with a vengeance. But before that, here’s one more quote that makes me sad, because it indicates this asshole has procreated:

Staples’ journey to “Vision” was no smooth road, even driving him to consider a Catholic monk’s life for a spell. His drive for creativity was made easier by the birth of his two-month-old son, Beckum James Staples. He dedicated his first book to his son because “they came out around the same time” and his son drives him to do better every day.

“I felt like I needed to start doing something with my life rather than just sitting around being a freaking piece of crap on the couch,”  he said. “Since he’s been born, it’s given me more drive in life. Every day I get up and I want to do something.”

Well, despite Staples’ stated intentions, this 24 year old decided to start some fires. Literally.

From the link (emphasis mine):

Officers responded to a report that a man lit a tree on fire and was walking west on Third Street around 2:15 a.m.

A police press release says law enforcement found 24-year-old Sean Staples, who reportedly threatened to pour gasoline on the police officer and light him on fire.

Police say Staples threw gasoline toward the officers and held a lighter in his hand.

Well, that sounds like some INSPIRING criminal behavior from a GOZNO writer educated by our lovely university. Let’s take a look at the charges and ask ourselves WHY NO BOND YET?

Interesting. And for me, a reminder of another young man I had to deal with while he was acting like a psychotically impaired driver. How ya doing, Francis Fidler? I see some new views on my article about you, so knowing there’s interest, here’s a screen-shot of another person to be aware of in our increasingly lawless town:

It’s nice of the Director of Community Planning and Development to tell the public to call 911, but Eran Pehan and company–like the Director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, Ellen Buchanan–ALSO want their Tax Increment Financing tool to continue to play with, and THAT tool is a drain on the general fund that pays first responders, like police officers and fire fighters, so the recommendation is just a tad disingenuous, in my NOT so humble opinion.

As for the young men with zero fucks to give about the laws intended to restrain their out-of-control behavior, citizens empowering themselves with lethal stopping power might not show the kind of restraint paid police officers try to show so they can keep getting a paycheck. If you don’t want to find out at what point that restraint ends, then stop fucking around because fucking around DEFINITELY leads to finding out, one way or another.

And remember, I’m not getting a salary of $144,500 to tell you this.

What I DO do at the end of each post is ask for voluntary monetary support, like the MUCH APPRECIATED $200 dollar donation I just received for Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Another way to support me is making a donation at my about page.

Thank you for the support, and stay tuned. More local reporting, analysis, and artistic expressions are on their way!

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!