by Travis Mateer
I am a butthurt, angry, bitter person right now hate-reading local headlines and trying NOT to do what I’m doing right now, which is writing a post for a community I am done making sacrifices for.
It started with this article about some local business dudes who said fuck zoning and are now crying about zoning fucking them. But that’s not the disgusting part. No, the disgusting part is how the Indy replacement calling itself The Pulp is apparently platforming these idiots because, I imagine, they think saunas should be a part of American culture.
Here’s the part, way down in the article, where the “reporter” acknowledges these dudes knew about the zoning restrictions and opened up their business anyway (emphasis mine):
Built in 1930, the building Johnson and Raddue hope will house Montana Sauna Co. was originally a grocery store called the Toole Avenue Food Center, but for years the property, not even two blocks away from neighborhood anchor Draught Works Brewery, has been conspicuously underused. Its mixed-use designation would welcome, say, a daycare or plant nursery, but not any business that offers “personal improvement.” They knew this, they admit, but, determined to open in the fall and short on cash (the rezone application fee typically costs around $5,000 and the process lasts several months), they opted to forge ahead anyway.
Before this part of the story, The Pulp showed its hand by trying to get its readers excited about sauna culture before admitting these guys were too entitled to follow the rules (emphasis mine):
They say Montana Sauna Co. is about bringing “bathing culture,” with its social and health benefits, to Missoula.
“The U.S. doesn’t have that culture,” Johnson says. “I mean, do you want liquor stores and casinos and pot shops, or do you want a vital community center?”
Actually, Johnson, I want the rules that everyone is supposed to follow to be followed by everyone, otherwise counterproductive things start happening in Double-Standard Town.
The other article I hate-read was like watching an act of fellatio. Was it good for you, Aaron Wilson? Because reading fawning prose of this figurative act of bureaucratic dick-sucking was NOT good for me.
From the link:
This morning, Wilson is sporting fluorescent gloves with matching neon sunglasses. Rolling up his jeans to keep them out of puddles, he shows off socks that feature bright yellow stars.
Wilson, 42, looks like he should be riding to a hip coffee shop, not his office at City Hall.
Wilson is a transportation planning manager with Missoula’s Public Works and Mobility department, the team that dreams up how to make it safer for people to get around the city.
To get to Wilson’s office you first have to pass by the suits and briefcases of accounting and law before heading into the basement, but once you’re there, the entire vibe changes.
Framed art hangs next to cat memes. Coworkers are overheard having a heated discussion about the best practices for keeping a bike clean through winter. Wilson takes off his bike helmet and sits at his computer, surrounded by 14 potted plants.
If James Dobson wants to write smut fantasy pieces about fucking Aaron Wilson, then write smut. If James Dobson wants to write about transportation infrastructure, then write about the infrastructure, not fucking cat memes.
Moving on, Missoula’s leadership is so fucking stupid that they’re going to potentially repeat the authorized camping site dumpster fire they royally fucked up just a few years ago.
Jill Bonny, director of the Poverello Center, told city council on Wednesday that most of the city’s service providers have been collaborating on a “pro forma” document that will estimate the resources and cost for a service provider-run camp.
“It could be that it’s not possible, it could be that it’s possible in certain ways, we are just continuing to have that conversation,” Bonny said.
Ward 6 Councilor Kristen Jordan pushed for the city to support an authorized campsite. She has previously called for a campsite to alleviate the impact of camping in parks and other city-owned lands.
There are not enough shelter beds to accommodate Missoula’s homeless population, Jordan said, adding the city can’t afford to build another shelter.
“An authorized campsite really is a good solution,” Jordan said. “I am disappointed that it is not a part of the conversation.”
If you want to read actual reporting, this article of mine is worth checking out because I know A LOT about the last authorized camping site, just like I know A LOT about many other homeless issues, like how Jill Bonny should be reflecting on the woman who was picked up outside the Poverello, then beaten to death with a hammer recently.
Homeless people die all the time, like Sean Stevenson, who was beaten INSIDE my former employer’s facility then euthanized by the Sheriff’s Office. If you want a post that features OVER FORTY article on that case, click this link.
It’s good the murderer of the homeless woman confessed immediately because that’s the only kind of murder case our local law enforcement is capable of handling. Murder an 88 year old woman with an antler? Yeah, not so much.
With local media being such consistent shit, Reddit often has perspectives you won’t read anywhere else. Here are some curated comments about dead homeless people, and just in time for the holidays!
Giving someone a lethal dose of drugs is a great way to kill someone and get away with it in Missoula. I’ve been hearing about “hot shots” for years, so I think this has been an effective way for organized criminal networks to keep a firm grip on the homeless drug addict market. Another good way to kill someone and get away with it in Montana is to put their body in the river. Just ask the mother of Rebekah Barsotti about her daughter’s case, which has been a great catalyst for the demise of my former life.
For those new to the state of Montana, we’ve got the additional distinction of being the state where Taylor Sheridan got America all excited over YELLOWSTONE. The Missoulian tries to cover this story, like with Seaborn’s recent piece, but NO ONE has the goods on this Hollywood production like I do, as you can clearly see in this post which, again, has LOTS of links to explore.
While Seaborn gives a beneficial platform to a shit legislator like Danny Tenenbaum, I expose how this legislative asshole snuck into a church a few years ago to secretly film the Christians inside and their dastardly scheming.
Funny how Danny never got in trouble for that incident, despite my filing a police report. If he had, he might not be around to champion his work on Gianforte’s housing task-force, where he served with the legislator currently displaying my mugshot at the Senior Center.
Here’s Danny’s quote form the Yellowstone article:
Danny Tenenbaum, a former state lawmaker and a current member of the taskforce, said he believes the suite of broad recommendations that emerged from the group will help incentivize the construction of more housing in every community in Montana that needs more homes.
Exactly how much housing will be needed statewide, however, is difficult to pinpoint in the Aterio data.
I’ll probably kick out a few more posts before the end of the year, but my writing priority now is focused on legal briefs and parenting plans, because instead of being an unpaid citizen journalist, I’m shifting to being an unpaid, pro se lawyer for myself, since the legal community in Montana are a bunch of fucking pussies.
If you’d like to help me out, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is the way to do it. And if you want to help the homeless, just give them whatever they want. I heard from a downtown business owner that he called 911 for an old lady who was being yelled at for not giving a homeless man money for pizza. The man then spit in the face of the business owner, and 40 minutes later, the cops finally arrived and did nothing.
That’s because Montana is a failed state.
Thanks for reading.