Month: August 2024

by Travis Mateer

The casualty I’m curious about is NOT an actual death. The director of Missoula’s Chamber of Commerce, Mark Losh, is no longer the director. I found this out yesterday when I stopped by for a chat, but no explanation WHY Losh is out was offered.

Losh began this new job leading Missoula’s chamber of commerce in January, so he only lasted 8 months. Here’s an article about his hiring from last December (emphasis mine):

“Mark is an accomplished professional with experience revitalizing Chamber organizations and an in-depth knowledge of the Missoula community,” said Zachary Bashoor, chairman of the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “Mark brings a wealth of experience and innovation, with a deep understanding of the local community, that will undoubtedly contribute to our continued growth and success.”

Losh has headed the West Plains chamber since 2021. During his tenure, he revamped a struggling organization through community collaboration and grew the organization’s membership. Before that, he twice served as membership director of the Missoula chamber, where he grew membership by 20%, according to chamber officials.

“I’m honored to come home to Missoula and join the Missoula chamber as part of the team dedicated to fostering a healthy and thriving business community,” Losh said. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to contribute to the continued success and growth of the chamber, focusing on advancing business through community collaboration to create a united Missoula.”

Sure, community collaboration sounds great, but that’s NOT what our local narrative controllers actually want if it means losing some of that control over their chosen narrative that ALL urban campers are helpless victims who require MORE resources from taxpayers before they can be helped. That’s why I think comments about urban camping might have contributed to Mark Losh’s curious departure from his new position.

Here’s the comment about urban camping buffer zones that inspired me to reach out to Losh in the first place:

Other poeple, including representatives from the Missoula Chamber of Commerce and the Missoula Midtown Association, were worried the buffer zone would not protect businesses and tourists enough.

“The businesses of Missoula are looking for a swift resolution of action to help reduce the challenges of unhoused to include property crime… camping without regard to buffer zones in our business districts as well as along the river,” Missoula Chamber of Commerce President Mark Losh said. “The buffer zone along the river that you have listed as 50 feet, 50 feet is not very far.”

Over at Western Montana News, my article this week is about why I decided to start a relationship with AI, and it’s NOT just the amazing images it can create, though that definitely helps. For example, below is an image that shows what I think of the dynamic between Missoula law enforcement and Municipal court.

For some language that describes dealing with modern bureaucracies, here’s an applicable quote about Kafka that made me nod my head:

As Johannes Urzidil reminds us, Kafka’s work speaks of the inescapable mechanism of life, of the bureaucratic machinery that keeps man in ‘a state of perpetual preventive custody’; this infernal machine brings accusations whose substance and purpose are never fully known to the accused and forces him to confess to crimes he has never committed, inflicting on him refined and incomprehensible punishments and torture, the violence of which is barely perceptible. The power of bureaucracy, through its formidable weapons of paper, is to lock us in a state of perpetual inferiority, characterised by the deep sleep of reason; almost as if we were schoolchildren who feel guilty, obliged to ‘write down the same meaningless (in repetition, at least) sentence ten times, a hundred times or even oftener.’

You nailed it, Franz!

If you appreciate my local journalism telling you stuff about our community before anyone else does, then please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). I’m very broke and any little bit will help me out immensely.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

The images I’m sharing in today’s post were taken on August 27th, which leads me to my first question: WHY has this riparian habitat near Lion’s Park NOT been cleaned up yet? What the hell is Parks and Rec waiting for, more of our tax money?

Despite the alarm I’ve been raising FOR YEARS, people who should be more informed about local developments around homeless policy, like a former Republican legislator, are doing the predictable NIMBY freakout now that THEIR little park is being threatened.

Here’s Doc Moore and his wife, Penny, telling NBC Montana about their reactionary non-profit and adorable little protest against turning Bellevue Park into a homeless camp.

Bellevue Park is at the epicenter of tension between homeowners and city officials over a homeless ordinance the city rolled out late last month. Butler and her partner, Dave Moore, who live near the park, co-founded the nonprofit No Camp Missoula.

“We’re just keeping an eye on things and doing outreach to people, because even now a lot of people in the neighborhood and in the city are unaware of this problem,” Moore said.

Moore, a former Republican state representative, and his partner spoke to NBC Montana from the spot where a homeless person camped out over the weekend. The unhoused person eventually left, the couple said, leaving their stuff.

According to this article, Doc Moore is from Great Falls, spent 30 years working on cars, and has degrees in business and organizational communications. I suspect Doc is going to need that communication degree to explain how creating a non-profit called “No Camp Missoula” is going to help this NIMBY insulate his neighborhood from urban campers.

Yesterday I visited Bellevue Park and used my amazing skills of analysis to determine this park is a particularly bad one to open up for urban camping. Maybe Doc Moore would like to HIRE me as a consultant, since his non-profit, I’m assuming, will be soliciting money to address this issue. Since there might be money here for an expert like myself, I’m going to hold off on explaining WHY this park will be such a challenge.

The money raised by this NIMBY couple will initially be used for yard signs. The signs that popped up claiming NO CAMPING, though, that sign is NOT sanctioned by our elected braintrust. That’s why this article claims the signs were removed (emphasis mine):

The nonprofit is working to get 500 yard signs, Moore said. The group’s aspirations extend all the way to Helena, where members will try to get state law changed so park use can not stray from its intended purpose.

NBC Montana reached out to the city about urban camping in Bellevue Park, and the city confirmed via email that overnight camping is permitted in the area, specifically in a small portion near Paxson Street.

As for the signs declaring no camping is allowed in the park, the city said it is not aware who put the signs there, but the postings were removed “because they were inaccurate and not approved by the City.”

The city of Missoula wrote it is not aware of who placed the signs in Bellevue Park.

Not ALL the postings were removed, as the image below shows. If the signs are inaccurate and NOT sanctioned by the city, why the partial removal?

NBC Montana interviewed the man who put up the signs and discovered that much of the public in this area of town are ignorant of the controversy that’s been simmering ALL SUMMER (emphasis mine):

NBC Montana spoke with the man behind the homemade postings — Dan Alt. Alt said he was responsible for placing the signs, saying the city asked for them to be removed earlier this week. Only two remain in the park, one of which is lying on the ground.

“I just decided to take action and put them up to make it known that we’re very upset with the decisions that the City Council has made and making,” Alt said.

Several neighbors told NBC Montana they were unaware of the new homeless ordinance and its ramifications until very recently.

This type of ignorance is incredibly frustrating for a citizen journalist like myself who reports on this topic at great personal risk. If I knew how to make people in this town less ignorant and stupid about how to mount an effective response, I would, but I’m only one person, and my ability to report on this topic has been significantly impacted by the lawfare I’m currently experiencing.

If you’d like to help out my local journalism, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is the way to do it, and any little bit helps. I guarantee that no one is covering homelessness in Missoula like I am.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

My palpable frustration with Montana’s media landscape got more palpable when I read earlier this week that the Montana “free” Press will be featuring Jim Messina at their Free Press Fest next month. Here’s Mr. Free Press, John Adams, promoting the three day event on campus:

“Free Press Fest is bringing together journalists, authors, leaders, decision-makers and Montanans to engage in informed, civil dialogue, celebrate Montana’s unique heritage and empower our community to make a difference,” said John Adams, editor-in-chief and executive director of Montana Free Press. “As we approach the 2024 election cycle and confront various challenges facing our state, the Fest is a crucial opportunity for Montanans to come together, exchange ideas and drive positive change.”

Are we supposed to be impressed that we have PERHAPS THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL POLITICAL AND CORPORATE ADVISOR gracing our humble little town to lecture us about shitty corporate media hollowing out local newsrooms? Because I am FAR from impressed, and I made sure to let the Montana FREE Press know with a less-than-friendly message on their general voicemail.

To make sure clients and prospective clients of the Messina Group are impressed with this GREAT man’s achievements, here’s what Jim has supposedly done for Democrats and the world:

The mastermind behind President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Jim Messina seized the reins on what Bloomberg Businessweek dubbed “the highest-wattage crash course in executive management ever undertaken”—and succeeded, earning the President another term in the White House. With the guidance of technology’s foremost leaders, Jim abandoned every step of a traditional presidential campaign and merged technology and politics in a way that was both unpredictable and unprecedented.

Jim’s strategies established the modern presidential campaign—Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt called it “the best-run campaign ever.” The American Association of Political Consultants later crowned him the Campaign Strategist of the Year.

In 2013, Messina launched The Messina Group. In this role, Messina provides strategic consulting to businesses around the world. The firm has been involved in winning public policy campaigns on five continents. TMG believes the most interesting problem in the coming years is: “Does regulation stifle or assist innovation?” Clients include Uber, Pillpack, Airbnb, Google, Delta Air Lines, Hutchison Whampoa, and over 300 others. In this role, Jim continues to advise Democratic organizations on domestic political issues in the US.

Since then Jim has led his team at The Messina Group in advising over thirteen Presidents and Prime Ministers on five continents including: UK’s Theresa May and David Cameron, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, Argentina’s Mauricio Macri, Italy’s Matteo Renzi, and in 2016, helped Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy win a surprising re-election margin.

How did John Adams transform himself from a reporter into a media entrepreneur? With a little help from the Institute for Non-Profit News, that’s how.

From the link (emphasis mine):

An accomplished political reporter, Adams had recently left the Great Falls Tribune amid a much-publicized Gannett restructuring. A couple of Montana’s top political journalists had just been let go by another chain when we spoke, creating a hole in the state’s media ecosystem. At the time, Adams was underemployed and eager to get back to work. But he wasn’t ready to be a media entrepreneur.

“I’m hoping that somebody comes up with a model and then says, ‘You know who we need? John Adams,’ and then I’m ready to go,” he told me then. “But I don’t know the likelihood of that happening. I hope that happens, that’s my great hope.”

Since then—with a little prodding from others—Adams has decided to try to build that model himself. The 37-year-old has started his own nonprofit news outlet, The Montana Free Press, under the fiscal sponsorship of the Institute for Nonprofit News. Adams chairs MTFP’s board, which also includes an attorney, former Democratic and Republican state senators, and an ex-investigative reporter who is now a licensed private investigator.

What does having a “fiscal sponsorship” mean for this local news effort? It means DEI bullshit, that’s what it means.

It’s unfortunate this penis-packing person with Caucasian-hued skin thinks making a deal with the DEI devil is how local news will be saved because I think the opposite will occur. For an example of what I’m talking about, here’s an article from the Montana Free Press about housing that I think exposes the influence that undermines this project’s claim that they are producing journalism and not agenda-driven propaganda (emphasis mine):

Among nearly two dozen suggestions included in a report released this week by Gov. Greg Gianforte’s housing task force is a proposal that, if adopted by next year’s Legislature, could prevent Montana’s largest cities from requiring that parking spaces be included with new multifamily housing developments.

That recommendation, authored by Bozeman housing activist Mark Egge, argues that requiring fewer parking spaces for urban-density development will make it cheaper and easier to build affordable housing units. It also argues that larger Montana cities can use public transit systems to make cars less necessary for residents and that private sector developers will still include parking with many projects.

“More than half of renter households in Montana have one or zero vehicles available, yet in most Montana cities any dwelling with two or more bedrooms would be required to have multiple parking spaces,” the report says. “Parking spaces add measurably to the cost of housing.”

Here’s the question readers of this “news” outlet should be asking themselves: WHY is parking the focus of this article when there are over two dozen recommendations to choose from? Could it be that reducing parking is part of a LARGER goal? Like the global movement to herd humans into 15 minutes cities, perhaps?

At first glance, the 15-minute city spells the end for the parking industry. Designed specifically to cut emissions from private car usage, the city planning model calls for decentralized neighborhoods where residents can live, learn, shop and work without needing to drive. The 15-minute city would enable people to get anywhere they need to go in a quarter of an hour by walking, cycling or taking public transit.

A key tactic for cities implementing the 15-minute model? Cutting back on parking. Paris converted the parking lot of its Caserne des Minimes barracks into a public garden. Melbourne, Austrailia; and Amsterdam, among other cities, have converted curbside parking spaces into bike lanes. Cities across the United States are eliminating parking minimums.

Anyone who uncritically accepts this premise is, in my opinion, a useful idiot who doesn’t understand the anti-human goals of the psychopath class, and this lack of understanding is what a news outlet supported by the Institute of Non-Profit News is unwittingly promoting.

If you appreciate my ability to identify and resist DEI bullshit and globalist talking points, please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). My lack of institutional support means donations, like the $50 dollar donation I just received, are not just appreciated, they are critically needed so I can cover the basic expenses of living. If you’re on the fence about supporting my work, hop off that fence and send some financial support TODAY!

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

While NBC Montana is calling it a “slow roll out”, it appears the transformation of public parks into open air meth colonies is being tweaked (pun intended) by our Harvard-educated Mayor. What’s wrong, Mayor Davis, didn’t Harvard give you the answers to solving our urban camping problem?

The city brought portable toilets to about seven locations before removing them, Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis said at a community forum last Thursday. The rollout of Missoula’s new ordinance, which took effect a day after last month’s severe storm, is off to a slow start.

“We are visiting with our service providers now to think about ‘How do we start smaller?’ and looking to larger community parks that have more amenities, centrally located and that we can then focus our education and enforcement in those locations as well,” Davis said.

The city isn’t just enacting a “slow roll out” of their new ordinances. What the city actually appears to be doing is taking action, then reversing those actions when they get blowback. Even the maps are being removed (emphasis mine):

Davis acknowledged the frustration of many, saying she shares it because the city does not have the necessary resources. Ideally the city could buy up small motels to get homeless people off the street, so individuals can go to work, sleep better and get better access for services, she said.

The city of Missoula posted a map of some locations where camping is permitted; however, the city pulled the map down, citing changes in ordinance implementation.

“We’re not going to be identifying every single park in every neighborhood and then putting out a map on that,” Davis said. “It’s quite busy and actually not helpful. We’ve actually gone through the exercise and don’t believe it’s actually that helpful.”

This shit show is happening because our elected leaders are no longer fluent in a language I call REALITY, and because they don’t speak REALITY they can’t acknowledge what allowing the proliferation of urban meth colonies is actually doing to this community. Hell, I’m still trying to figure out what a NEEDLE TRAP looks like.

Does it look something like this?

People aren’t just “frustrated”, Mayor David, they are desperate and angry that you empower a Homeless Industrial Complex that has been failing this community for MANY YEARS. I know this because I was once a cog in that complex, but now I work to expose it and the people who use humans like shields to hide their schemes behind.

You know the kind of people I’m talking about, Mayor Davis, because they give you money.

I’m sure things will improve with a few more Harvard classes because those smart people on the other side of the country have a great track record of educating people, like a gifted young Ted Kaczynski.

If you appreciate the work I’m doing at great personal cost, then please help me out by donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Someday the FULL story of what I’ve been going through will be told, and I think readers of this blog will have an even greater appreciation of how little regard our elected leaders and influencers have for the truth.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Before I get to our broken, busted state, you might be wondering where I got his interesting image from. This image is a result of me going on a second date with ChatGPT and finally paying the $20 bucks to access the good stuff. I’ll be writing about my second date, and sharing some more images, at Western Montana News later this week.

Today I’ll be quoting from two articles about two types of organizations that are supposed to be helping people. The first article is about a survey our Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, seems a little sensitive about. Maybe that’s because his State Troopers are NOT happy about the leadership driving Montana’s justice department? From the link (emphasis mine):

New context in an internal survey at the Montana Highway Patrol unearthed by the Daily Montanan showed troopers had serious concerns about the influence of the attorney general and human resources staff over morale in the agency.

The survey results, provided in part by the state justice department to the Montana State News Bureau earlier this year, suggest a strong level of trust among troopers with their immediate supervisors and team members, but that reliance appears to fade further up the chain of command.

The full results of this survey were not released by the AG’s office. When they survey results DID get released, the person who did so no longer has a job. Isn’t that interesting?

The Department of Justice has so far declined to release the survey in full, citing state rules about employee files with human resources information. And while a highway patrol spokesperson this year framed the results as “overwhelmingly positive,” the agency fired the union president when she shared it with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, the state’s public employee union, due to the concerns troopers raised in the survey. After the survey was submitted to MHP, Col. Steve Lavin retired from the agency.

Last week, the Daily Montanan obtained and published the entire survey results, including hundreds of pages of comments that shed more light on the contours of troopers’ responses to the survey. The comments are anonymous.

So, how bad is it here in Montana? Here’s a response from Ben Alke, the Bozeman attorney running against Knudsen for the AG office, about what’s NOT happening in Lake County (emphasis mine):

As crime increases, Montana Department of Justice needs to provide more support to local prosecutors and law enforcement. The attorney general must also coordinate with federal and tribal law enforcement officers to combat drug traffickers.

What we are doing today is not good enough. The State is not stepping up to provide help where it is needed most. For example, Lake County does not have the resources to prosecute felonies on the Flathead Reservation and there are around 2,000 outstanding warrants. The attorney general needs to spend more time fighting crime and less time on politics.

I included this lack of prosecutorial action in Lake County in a post I wrote in May, titled Montana Is A Jurisdictional Joke With Politicized Cogs Creating An Illusion Of Criminal Justice, and I will CONTINUE writing about this deplorable state of affairs that puts politics WAY AHEAD of citizen safety.

Shifting gears, the program I once coordinated for the Poverello Center is getting some interesting media attention I feel compelled to document and respond to. From the link (emphasis mine):

For those who are served by both the center itself and the outreach team, help is not always received well, or according to those outside the Poverello Center that MTN spoke to, received at all.

“[The] HOT Team doesn’t do a lot,” said Robin Trustee, someone who shelters outside of the Poverello Center.

Trustee went on to tell MTN that over the years the center has stopped providing many resources, whether that be meals, clothing, water or cleaning the porta potties outside the center.

“They want us out of sight, out of mind.”

On top of the seeming lack of care for those in and outside the shelter, Trustee also claimed that staff at the Poverello Center are siphoning off donations — like a $120,000 check — and are abusing substances like meth themselves. 

Trustee claimed that he witnessed staff unload a truck full of donated items and take some things home with them. He also claimed that he had witnessed staff members picking up meth paraphernalia only to be later seen being used by the same staff members.

While it’s not unusual to hear complaints from clients about the work being done by service providers, it is unusual for local media to put THESE types of accusations into print. Curious.

The director of the Poverello Center had some decent responses to these claims, but when it came to the concern about meth use among Pov staff, this is Jill Bonny’s suggestion:

Addressing the claims of the staff using substances, Bonny stated that she hoped that if someone saw a staff member using a substance like meth, they would report it to another staff member.

Is this a good suggestion? If we’re only talking about ONE staff member using meth, sure, tell another staff member. But if we’re talking about a CULTURE of permissiveness at the Pov, then I don’t think Jill Bonny’s suggestion is a good one.

Last year, when a Poverello staff member was arrested for allegedly filming his co-workers in the bathroom, we were told by the Pov’s communication coordinator how important they take the safety of their staff and clients.

Ty R. Grimmett, 37, is charged with 18 counts of surreptitious visual observation or recording in a public establishment, or an alternative charge of attempted surreptitious visual observation, Missoula County court filings show. The first two charges of illicit recording are misdemeanors, while the third and subsequent counts are felonies.

If convicted of all charges, Grimmett faces a total maximum sentence of 80 years in state prison and a $160,500 fine.

In an emailed statement, Poverello Communications Coordinator Beckett Redinger said, “The Poverello Center views the safety and privacy of our staff and guests with the utmost importance.”

A few days ago, someone claiming to have worked at both the Johnson Street Shelter and the Poverello’s main shelter asked for inquiries, which implied there would be response. I’m still waiting.

I was hoping someone at the Pov would finally have the decency to comment on a client being brutally beaten in the men’s dorm of this facility, but I guess this “anonymous participant” isn’t up to the challenge of actually responding to serious inquiries.

Don’t worry, NO ONE in leadership positions across this entire state seems capable of dealing with what’s happening to our state and country, which begs the question: what are YOU going to do about it?

I know what I’m doing, and that’s countering the bullshit everywhere I find it, but I’m only one person with VERY limited resources. You could help me with that by donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), but that assumes you WANT to know what’s going on in your own backyard.

Am I wrong to assume enough people in this town give a shit about what’s happening to lift a finger and do something about it? I guess we’ll see.

Thanks for reading!