by Travis Mateer
I took this picture of an “urban homeless camp” AFTER a sign warning that a cleanup was going to happen was posted in the area near Jacob’s Island. Well, the sign isn’t there anymore, but the camp sure is, which brings me to the question posed in the title of this post: did the Supreme Court decision on homeless camps really change anything?
A news article from Yahoo news caught my attention recently because it highlighted what happens when a Sheriff’s Offices doesn’t want to enforce the law, and what happens is NOTHING. From the link (emphasis mine):
In the Seattle suburb of Burien, Washington, city leaders are battling with the county sheriff, who runs the police force, over the enforcement of public camping bans. Citing concerns about constitutionality, the sheriff’s department has declined to take action, even after the Supreme Court ruling.
For geographical context, Burien is south of Seattle and located in King County, the most populous county in the state of Washington, so it would be the King County Sheriff’s Office that the city of Burien is “battling” in order to get them to enforce the law. Isn’t that interesting?
Back in Missoula it’s just a normal day of knife wielding at the homeless camps near the California Street footbridge, but for some strange reason the person doing the knife wielding was arrested. Why? Didn’t the cops take into account the fact this homeless person has both a vagina AND dark skin?
From the link:
At approximately 6:27 p.m. on July 11, 2024, a Missoula Police Department Officer was dispatched to the area of 501 North California Street. The 911 complainant said there was a female with a knife swinging it at people. Another officer contacted the female on the bike path west of California Street. Officers could see the knife in her right pocket. Once the officers gained positive control of the female, they removed the knife from the female’s right pocket.
The officer placed her in the back of his patrol vehicle and read her Miranda warning. She refused to answer any questions regarding the incident. The female was identified as 64-year-old Linda Rodriguez.
To stay in knife-wielding shape, Missoula has a great medical provider for Linda to access when she gets out of jail, called Partnership Health Center. I still follow a former administrator of Partnership Health Center on Facebook because she’s a poet and someone I once appreciated in my former life as a homeless service provider.
Here’s an article from 8 years ago about her role in expanding services for those in need:
When Mary Jane Nealon first arrived at Partnership Health Center in Missoula, the facility was viewed as a free clinic serving middle-aged adults at the lower end of the income spectrum. It’s operating budget was a few million dollars and its services were somewhat limited.
But with an $8 million renovation now complete and a new medical residency program firmly in place, the center’s image as a free clinic serving the poor is a thing of the past.
Partnership’s operating budget now stands at $22 million and its staff of 45 physicians saw more than 15,000 unique patients last year for a combined 60,000 visits. It’s pharmacy prescribed 90,000 medications in 2015, making it one of Montana’s largest.
“I don’t know that our patient population is driving the growth as much as opportunity,” Nealon said. “The family residency program was a huge opportunity for us because, in the past, we had providers who didn’t want to work with children. They were internists or family nurse practitioners focused on adults. What the residency has done is really bring in families.”
I’m bringing Mary into this post because what she posted on Facebook indicates she’s suffering from a serious condition that many liberals have fallen victim to, and that’s TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. Because of this difficult-to-treat psychological condition, Mary appears to think Trump’s use of language justifies the use of violence against him.
About a week previous to this lovely comment, Mary thought her thoughts on Biden were important enough to share with her followers. Here’s what she wrote about Biden NOT stepping down:
Thinking this east coaster still resided in Missoula, I made a comment, and this is how she responded:
Actually, Mary, what’s not helpful is the warped liberal mindset that’s taken hold of millions of Americans who can no longer think clearly because Trump is such an existential threat to them. Add a complicit propaganda machine operated by shit-heels like Rachel Maddow, and it’s amazing what can be done to vulnerable minds.
While brain damaged liberals throw deranged social media tantrums, truth-tellers like me are getting pummeled by the underhanded tactics of nasty political creatures and influencers. Tomorrow, at Western Montana News, I’m working on a plea for legal help as I wait for a decision from the County Attorney’s Office about whether or not I’ll be facing felony charges. I’ve received quite an education about our legal system over this past year, and when I’m able to, you better believe I’ll be describing what’s been done to try and shut me down.
If you would like to help a beleaguered local journalist who has the temerity to describe REALITY, as I see it, on the ground, then please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Any little bit helps.
Thanks for reading!