Taxes at Trego School
School taxation is not a simple subject. Part of the school taxes go to Helena, and are returned, not dollar for dollar, but apportioned according to school enrollment. Another part of taxes are assessed and go from the county revenues into the school accounts. Each portion has minimum and maximum levels. It isn’t hard math,…
Litter vs Artifacts?
If you leave trash sitting around long enough (about 50 years), something mysterious happens and it stops being litter (punishable by a $200 fine) and becomes an archaeological resource which if you remove from federal land could lead to a $500 fine and six moths in jail. What’s the difference? Litter is, according to the…
Trego School Enrollment Soars
Enrollment at Trego School continues to rise, in defiance of the historical trend. For the last few decades, school enrollment has been fairly steadily dropping. How low did enrollment actually get? The lowest official ANB (Average Number Belonging -i.e. the official state count of students) that I can find is seven, in the spring of…
A new batch of widowmakers
The recent windstorms have left new widowmakers in the trees. I spoke with a young neighbor who was hit by one, and left with a gash in the back of his head – and was reminded that they aren’t all that easy to see when you are dropping a tree. It is a reminder of…
Weird Words: Emoluments
Perhaps we should call this “ask the etymologist”… “Emolument” comes to us by way of Latin – specifically, ēmŏlŭmentum literally means “something that is produced from work”. Different forms of the Latin word “emolument” meant striving for success and achieving success, but it also referred to profits, gains, or benefits. “Emolument” can be dissected into…
Where Covid Fits in the Demographic Transition Model
The first stage of the demographic transition model includes high birth rates and high death rates – and infectious diseases dominate – for example, the black death was a highly infectious disease that killed millions in Europe – if memory serves, 60% of Venice died, and about a third of Italy’s population. The 90% fatalities…
Trego's Mountain Ear 