Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Heard Around the West
Posted inSeptember 1, 2014: Lost in the Woods
Wildfire and bare-bottom bike riders
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inAugust 18, 2014: Alaska's Uncertain Food Future
George Harrison’s tree is killed by beetles, and more
UTAHIf you’re an education blogger in Utah, don’t try to tell your online students that English words that sound the same sometimes mean different things – i.e., “for,” “four” and “fore.” The technical term for this confusing aspect of the language is “homophone” – but when Tim Torkildson tried explaining this to his mostly foreign […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
California water waster fines and condoms from conservationists.
COLORADOYou could almost hear the teeth gnashing in Aspen. A well-connected man, Robert K. Steel, chairman of the board of the Aspen Institute, exploited a loophole in county regulations so that his daughter could be married in remote splendor – in a “pristine sub-alpine meadow on the backside of Aspen Mountain at 10,000 in elevation,” […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
WWII code talkers, cleaning Utah caverns and more
COLORADOAnyone who reads a blog called Government Executive now knows that some U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staffers are not just unhappy; they also appear un-housebroken. In the agency’s Denver office, for example, there have been several incidents of “inappropriate bathroom behavior, including defecating in the hallway.” Managers said they were trying to find the culprit […]
Posted inJune 23, 2014: River of No Return
Hooligans etch on a petroglyph, a cow breaks a natural gas line and a new website helps ranchers navigate drought.
NORTH DAKOTAEveryone knows that ravens can manipulate sticks as tools, and that squawking magpies enjoy teasing dogs and cats, but who knew that cows – with their bodies alone – could make pipes spill natural gas? In Bismarck, North Dakota, one cow apparently did just that, simply by trying to satisfy an itch or maybe […]
Posted inJune 9, 2014: Border Out of Control
The first college degree in drones, a baby born in Walmart parking lot and more
IDAHOIn the TV studio, the faces of the journalists questioning the four Republican would-be candidates for Idaho governor sometimes registered dismay, other times wonder. They simply could not believe what they were hearing, when Walt Bayes declared his “main loyalty” was to God and against vile affections and wickedness, when motorcyclist Harley Brown boasted that […]
Posted inMay 26, 2014: The Great Gun Rights Divide
Baby birds get wood-chipped and draft horses for heavy dude ranchers.
THE WESTHuge draft horses, those “diesels of the horse world,” as the Idaho Statesman dubs them, are showing up at dude ranches these days, on tap for rugged trail rides because more and more would-be adventurers have supersized themselves. At Chico Hot Springs in Montana, for example, Heidi Saile of Rockin’ HK Outfitters said her […]
Posted inMay 12, 2014: Parks for All?
Guns are welcome, Idaho poachers, and a popping eyeball.
IDAHO A secretive predator stalks the elk, moose and deer that roam the forests of north Idaho, reports the Spokesman-Review, and according to George Fischer, a state Fish and Game conservation officer, these two-legged, stealthy animals are “probably killing as many (game animals) or more than wolves … that is the shock-and-awe message.” Poachers have […]
Posted inApril 28, 2014: Two-Wheel Revolution
Voting down science education, world’s toughest boss, and bending over backwards for healthcare.
THE NATIONWhat if you went to your family doctor complaining about that nasty rundown blah sort of feeling and were advised to experience the joys of nature rather than those of pharmaceuticals? In a nutshell: Take two aspen and call me in the morning. Daphne Miller says it’s not a joke: Nature in general is […]
Posted inApril 14, 2014: A landscape of surprises
Strange little museums and zoos enliven the region
British ColumbiaAs you wander the West, keep an eye out for the tiniest, quirkiest museums and zoos tucked in unexpected and obscure spaces. They often provide outsized amusement and – fair to say – unrivaled learning experiences. You can see, for instance, “Canada’s largest ant farm,” along with hulking tarantulas, Malaysian rainbow frog beetles and […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2014: When California Kicks Coal
Absurdly high rents in North Dakota, feral chihuahuas, and “meth” candy in Albuquerque.
THE HOUSING MARKETIf you’re paying $4,500 per month in apartment rent, you’d expect to have a great view, wouldn’t you? Perhaps the red towers of Golden Gate Bridge rising majestically from the fog? Or joggers in beautiful Central Park, far below your penthouse suite? These days, however, a high-priced apartment is just as likely to […]
Posted inMarch 3, 2014: Fallon’s deadly legacy
A 100-pound pet tortoise wanders away, and cats are still killing birds.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the West.
Posted inFebruary 17, 2014: The Gila $olution
Terrorized by coyotes, denied a school lunch, and a controversial superbowl ad
UTAHIf you’re like us, you’ve occasionally fallen behind in paying your credit card or utility bills. And maybe you’ve had to face the consequences, perhaps nasty letters from a collection agency or a robo-caller with a vague accent demanding that you make an “arrangement.” But the folks at Uintah Elementary School in Salt Lake City […]
Posted inFebruary 3, 2014: The Hanford Whistleblowers
A new cowboy reality show, city dwellers encounter peregrine falcons and a snowboarder harasses a moose
THE WESTWatch out, ranching families, a “docu-reality” television company wants to cast you in a new series, but only if your personalities can be described as “dynamic, engaging and uninhibited.” Tim Marema, whose blog, AgricultureProud, helped spread the word, found much of the producers’ concept laughable, especially the requirement that “All members of the family […]
Posted inJanuary 20, 2014: Building a More Sustainable West, One City at a Time
Oilfield workers on Facebook, dynamite in a sperm whale, and more.
NORTH DAKOTA, MONTANAThere’s now a brilliant, low-cost way to start a newspaper smack in the middle of nowhere: Just open up a Facebook page or two, and share what you know and what you’d like to know more about. Ask local readers to pitch in with Smartphone photos and tips, and voilà! You’re in business, […]
Posted inDecember 23, 2013: Beauty or Beast
A bighorn sheep comes through the window, $500K left in airport change buckets, and more.
MONTANAMaybe blind belligerence is just “a guy thing,” or so Lori Silcher concluded after a male bighorn sheep crashed through windows of her rural home in Hamilton, Mont. “All of a sudden, we all felt the house shake and there was a resounding thud,” recalls her husband, Peter, who at first thought someone in his […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2013: The Tree Coroners
A tiny town gets a new name and a coyote joins a 5K race
THE WESTAs writer Jeremy Engdahl-Johnson puts it, “There were lots of ways to lose money during the government shutdown that choked off Grand Canyon river trips for 11 days in early October.” There were also unusual trickle-down effects, so to speak. A Flagstaff-based company called River Cans Clean disposes of most of the human waste […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
“Bear with me,” he said, and meant it
THE NATIONWhat combines the scents of musky dirt, grain and old-fashioned hay barn in a way that appeals to the discerning cow as well as to your typical wannabe cowboy, who imagines himself “with the sun and dust clouds casting a warm light across his weathered skin?” The answer is Farmer’s Cologne, reports Modern Farmer […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
I love guns and coffee
Mishaps and mayhem from around the West.