In September’s past, we’ve looked at the Community Decay Ordinance, Beer Taxes North and South, Paper Wasp Body Language, Why it had to be Guns, Bears and Apples, and Back to School Bread.
Community Decay…Part 1
One could be forgiven for assuming that community decay ordinances were the business of rather fussy municipalities in places other than here. One would, as it happens, be wrong on two counts. Lincoln County, Montana, has one. Back in December of 2018 the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2018-05 “An Ordinance to Control Community Decay Within Lincoln County and to Establish Procedures for its Enforcement”. So, this leaves us with several pressing questions: What exactly is community decay?Who does this apply to?Enforcement? None of these have short answers, so I’ll discuss each in depth in later posts. For…
Beer Taxes North and South
I listened to a comment from north of the line about how cheap beer is south of the 49th parallel. So I decided to investigate – and a lot of the difference is alcohol prices is the governmental controls. Taxes do make a difference in what we drink – particularly when we look at alcoholic beverages. A 2018 report titled “Beer Taxes – A Canadian – U.S. Comparison” makes the research easy. “Beer taxes in Canada are higher in both absolute value and when calculated as a percentage of selling price with an average government beer tax percentage of 47%…
Paper Wasp Body Language
If you know what signs to look for when you meet a wasp, it’s easy to avoid being stung. Have you ever been buzzed by a bee or a paper wasp? They dive bomb you, fly close to your face, even collide with you, but without stinging? Those were probably sentries for a nest, trying to keep danger away. Sentry wasps can be stationed 10 to 20 feet away from the nest they’re guarding, and circle back to it from time to time. These wasps are the ones you’re most likely to come into conflict with. Yesterday, I went out…
Why Did it Have to be …Guns?
Why Did it Have to be … Guns? by L. Neil Smith lneil@lneilsmith.org Over the past 30 years, I’ve been paid to write almost two million words, every one of which, sooner or later, came back to the issue of guns and gun-ownership. Naturally, I’ve thought about the issue a lot, and it has always determined the way I vote.People accuse me of being a single-issue writer, a single- issue thinker, and a single- issue voter, but it isn’t true. What I’ve chosen, in a world where there’s never enough time and energy, is to focus on the one political…
Bears know that the apples are ready…
It’s time to pick apples – at least according to the local wildlife. This weekend, we happened upon an adult black bear and her cubs munching on the apples down by the Trego railroad crossing in the wee morning hours. Bears aren’t too picky about ripeness. Like many mammals, they’re attracted to the smell of fermentation – (the smell indicates a fruit has the highest calorie content it’s going to get). As apples get ripe (and then overripe) they become even better bear attractants. Can bears become inebriated? Certainly! Glacier Park had a number of incidents back in the 80’s.…
Back to School Bread
This versatile classic frequently receives compliments. It can be made into rolls and bread-sticks. With a little cornmeal it becomes pizza dough. It also serves as the foundation of Lunch in a Bun, a popular menu item at Trego School. For lunch in a bun, each bun has a filling. Sometimes, it is taco meat and cheese. At other times, they are filled with pepperoni, ham and cheese, then served with marinara sauce. These numbers in this recipe are reduced to result in a smaller amount of bread than is produced in the school kitchen. Single Rise Dough 2 Tbsp.…
Trego's Mountain Ear 