As you may have heard, Butte will be the site of an Economic Development Summit next spring with ties to some pretty big names in media and business.

From the Billings Gazette:

WASHINGTON – Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw will headline an economic development summit in Butte in April.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is organizing the summit. Gates will appear live via satellite.

“The summit is about working together to boost our state’s economy and create more good-paying jobs,” Baucus said. “We want our kids to be able to stay here and raise their families.”

The summit begins April 30 and ends May 1.

Well, it is an excellent honor for Butte to be selected as the place to host the summit.

One commenter on the Billings Gazette story thinks that it’s a wasted honor.

Hole wrote on November 18, 2006 4:14 PM
Butte is a hole. If Montana were to be given an enima, that is where they’d stick it. How about Billings, Missoula, or Bozeman for such an event!

We are pretty sick and tired of Butte having this rap to the rest of the state. People who haven’t been here in a while really have nothing to base this kind of comment on. Butte’s a changing place. We really are going to have to work extremely hard just to climb out of the “hole” of everyone elses’ biases.

I think the summit will be good for Butte, and it’s no wonder that Baucus would select us for his damn summit. We’re the only place in this state that supports his party in the first place, aren’t we?

So come on Butte, it’s our turn to shine. Don’t let the naysayers have the satisfaction of being even CLOSE to right.

And for the record, we in Butte can manage to spell enema right…

I am a die-hard Grizzly fan, but anyone who has an interest in Big Sky football knows the Montana Grizzlies’ defensive performance was the only reason they were able to hang on to the Big Sky title.

The Grizzlies defeated the Cats 13 to 7 today at Washington Grizzly Stadium. Montana’s two field goals should’ve been touchdowns with no questions asked. Not to mention, making it to the 2 yd. line with 20 seconds to go in the half and coming up short.

Josh Swogger, quarterback for the Griz, completed only 17 passes out of 41 total attempts and had two interceptions.

The Grizzly coaching staff really needs to revise the Montana offense if they want to have a chance in the playoffs. The Griz will host the first round of the playoffs next Saturday in Missoula. Parings will be announced tomorrow.

Read the full story from the Billings Gazette.

After hiding out and letting the realizations of his loss sink in, Conrad Burns finally conceded to Jon Tester early this afternoon.

“I stand ready to help as Montana transitions to a new United States Senator,” Burns said in a statement provided to the Associated Press. “We fought the good fight and we came up just a bit short.”

If a good fight means political mudslinging of false facts, then good job Conrad!

The only thing I will never understand is how he managed to get so many votes. How can people in this state still be so ignorant? It is embarrasing to all Montanans.

Anyway, have a nice life Conrad and keep your dirty politics out of our state.

It’s so nice to wake up to such good news.

• Tester Declared the Winner (Billings Gazette)
• Democrat wins Montana Senate seat, CNN projects (CNN)
• Democrat Wins Montana Senate Race (CBS)
• Democrats on Brink of Controlling Senate After Cliffhanger Win in Montana; GOP Loses House (ABC)
• Democrat Wins Montana Seat, Ties Senate (Newsvine)

I would have posted this sooner but I’ve been kinda glued to the TV waiting for Conrad to conceed. Secretary of State hasn’t yet called the race though, that I can find. Oh well, it’s coming…..

Plus Rumsfeld is resigning? Holy awesome, batman.

I may just give up and go to bed without final numbers on the Tester/Burns race or the close race in Virginia. But first, I have some thoughts on some of the races/numbers from today and BSB’s results…

• Okay, Butte. Seriously. In the race for House District 76, a member of the National Socialist Movement got 472 votes?! How is that possible? One vote for this guy is too many. White separatists aren’t the kind of people we need representing us.

  Mostly, to me, it shows that some people will just vote for the party even if they know nothing about the candidate. At least, I hope that is what it means.

• Mike Kerns, unseated in Commission District 1. Very, very interesting…… Now who will be Rick Foote’s best friend on the council?

• Is anyone ever going to run against Mike Sheehy? Ever? Come on people, someone needs to step up.

• Cindi Shaw takes Commission District 11. She’s knowledgeable and well spoken. Good luck to her.

• In my opinion the Study Commission REALLY missed the boat and just let the chance to affect some meaningful change pass us right on by. Oh well, maybe in ten years…. In the meantime their namby-pamby ideas seemed to fire up the typical Butte voter, so who knows.

• The Fire Department will get their new truck. Good. Jeff Miller (Director of Fire Services) runs a tight ship and I think he’s a great department head.

• Law Enforcement Levy defeated…

  Who’s surprised? This is a clear message to Sheriff Walsh: the public thinks that the resources that he already has aren’t managed appropriately or effectively. The less-than-favorable WRICOPS study of the Law Enforcement Division and general public opinion around town pretty much guaranteed this levy would fail.

• I’m still not giving up on Jon. He’s still ahead by 1% as I write this.

  If, however, Conrad Burns gains re-election I may just give the hell up. This man is making us look like a state full of assholes, people. I don’t appreciate being a laughingstock in the first place, but then to just put him back in for another term when he keeps embarrassing us? Ridiculous.

  It’s really tough to be blue from head to toe in such a red state…..

I’m going to get a couple hours sleep. With my fingers and toes crossed.

Did anyone catch Judy Martz moments ago on NBC Montana kissing Burns’ ass and trashing Jon Tester? She said she didn’t trust Tester. “Kettle, you’re black,” says pot.

Can’t say as though I find having our former Governor’s favor a plus necessarily.

It’s still early, and I’m holding out for Jon.

Governor Schweitzer is all riled up in Great Falls and I like it.

Go Butte – Go BLUE.

It’s Election Day! Our opportunity in this country to let our voices be heard.

If there’s one thing you can say about Buttians, it’s that we certainly turn out at the polls.

If the crowd of people at the Civic Center when I cast my ballot today is anything to base my guess on…. I’d say that voter turnout will probably set yet another record in Butte-Silver Bow, which is amazing for a mid-term election. Good on ya, Butte.

More later.

And if you haven’t voted yet, the polls close at 8, so you still have plenty of time!

Our troops and families deserve to know the plan.

The Mother Lode Theatre. Impressive enough with its nostalgic exterior and lavish interior.

But add in supporters of both Conrad Burns and John Tester: holding signs; passing out flyers and fact sheets; stickers and T-shirts galore; shows the sheer importance of this close senatorial race.

Even more impressive is the inside of the theatre: filled to the brim with young and old, regular folks, reporters, and experts. Cameras everywhere, ready to capture every moment of the debate to come. You could just feel the intensity of both sides gearing up to cheer their candidate on.

When Mr. Burns appeared on the stage, his collection of supporters in the first ten rows stood up; a tight mass of cheering fans screaming for their pick. But when Mr. Tester came on the stage, you could see the rest of the theatre stand up and applaud. If there was any doubt before — that alone showed the extent of Butte’s liberalism. Conrad will have his work cut out for him trying to convince voters from this blue city.

The debate was swift and very informative. Each candidate took turns getting a question first, had two minutes to respond, and then the other candidate would have two minutes to respond. Then, the first candidate got another minute to rebut the argument. Halfway through the debate, each candidate got to ask the other a question of their own. At the beginning, there was some confusion of the times, with both Tester and Burns trying to give an extra rebuttal while the moderators tried to call, “Time!”

The questions ranged from minimum wage, taxes, the Patriot Act, Jack Abramoff, veteran programs, fiscal responsibility, and environmental programs. Their praise for Butteans was almost annoying as the debate neared its close. Tester frequently stepped out in front of his podium to make an important point, which did catch everybody’s attention.

At a few points in the debate, there was some childish jeering between the candidates. And the only audience interruptions were when a man in the front rows started yelling when Burns was talking, and when the majority of the audience clapped and cheered when Tester said he wanted to repeal the Patriot Act.

After an hour, both candidates gave their closing remarks, shook hands, and then it was over.

And in the end, one has to always wonder, who won? In this BT writer’s opinion, it depends on what you’re looking at. Burns is an excellent speaker. When compared to Tester, his speeches were much more fluent, articulate, and made his point far more clearly and effectively. Yet Burns seemed very pompous and full of himself, while Tester seemed genuine and truthful about everything he talked about.

It also seemed that on pure information, Tester could back up what he was saying on more occasions than Burns could. Especially since all Burns could say about his connections to Jack Abramoff is that they were, “Baseless allegations.”

It’s going to be a close race, and a big decision for all Montanans. Do we get rid of someone with eighteen years of experience in the U.S. senate for a new fish? Or do we leave the broken cog in the political machine that may end up hurting our state more than helping it?

When leaving the debate, this BT writer overheard an informative opinion about the entire event. “I thought it all was just some sugar-coated bull.”

But isn’t that what politics is really all about?

Debate Coverage

• Montana Standard
• Helena Independant Record
• Missoulian (Audio)
• Great Falls Tribune
• Washington Post

Debate Blogging

• Left in the West: Debate Live Blog Coverage
• Left in the West: Resodyn Buys Debate For Burns?

Okay, so they put another 45 MPH sign southbound along Rowe Road, which is great. It’s not buried in the weeds. And that’s fantastic.

I still have yet to be able to actually go 45 MPH on Rowe Road because there’s always SOMEONE who insists on going 20! This is my biggest Butte peeve by FAR. If you want to go that slow, Butte has many other streets available. But for now, the speed limit on Rowe/Holmes is 45 and it’s dangerous to drive that far below the speed limit. There is going to be an accident one day with how backed up it tends to get.