Is Justice Served?

Cops and courts writers face such a steady stream of daily stories that they sometimes overlook articles about how the justice system works. It's a rich field for enterprising journalists. For great story ideas, check out Covering Crime and Justice, a Web-site produced by some of the nation's top justice journalists and featuring basics of beat coverage and a great assortment of story ideas.

Another thing to keep in mind is your obligation to see that the system is fair. Sometimes cops and prosecutors go too far. Check out the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers for examples. The folks at Truth in Justice have some resources too.

The Endorsements Assignment

Here's what I need from each candidate group by midnight Monday:

1. How much money has the candidate raised and spent as of Monday?

• List the totals for each category. (You may have to add up the totals from a couple of reporting periods).
• List the major donors (say $100 or more) and provide their city and occupation, if available.

2. List the organizations and prominent people ((Parties, business groups, etc.; mayor, other council members, politicians, etc.) who have endorsed them.

Resources on the Justice Beat

Missoula Police Department daily public reports
Checking these skimpy reports is a start. Look for more serious sounding events and those with A8 or A9, indicating they were serious enough for a report to be written. A good beat writer will also make daily calls, early in his or her shift, on routine sources, usually, detectives, to see what's new.

Missoula County jail roster
The public jail roster reflects charges listed at the time of booking. For the current status of the charges against an individual, contact the Missoula County attorney's office 258-3246. The roster can tip you off to arrests that didn't appear in the city public reports because they were made by other law enforcement agencies.

The Laws:

• State criminal laws


• Missoula municipal ordinances


• Federal criminal code

State and tribal courts

Federal courts

The Ponyter Institutes links for crime reporters

The Budget: It's About People, Not Numbers

By now, you should know that writing about public affairs is writing about people, not processes, not dry statistics or numbers. That goes for even the most number-driven story: budgets. The critical questions are the same as always:

• Who wins?



• Who loses?



• Why?



• Whose taxes are going up?



• Whose services are being cut?

Once you understand the the answers, the trick it to write about them without getting lost in the numbers. One key is to use only the meaningful numbers and make comparisons that readers will easilty grasp. Here are some tips that might help.

One of the pitfalls in writing about spendig or taxes is making accurate comparisons over time. Because inflation eats a way at a dollar's buying power, you'll need to adjust for its impact. Here's a handy calculator that can help you do that.

Resources for Backgrounding Candidates

Ask for a résumé or CV. Smart candidates these days have Web sites and post résumés and other interesting stuff there. Ask them to help fill in any unexplained gap, and double-check items that sound unusual or too good to be true.

STUFF YOU CAN CHECK ON YOUR OWN:

A. Education: You can’t get their grades, but you can confirm the dates they attended a school and degrees conferred. Be on the lookout for exaggeration.

B. Awards and honors: Check for publicity concerning such by contacting people or associations that confer them. Again, be on the lookout for exaggeration, especially in things they tout, as in a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.

■ You can verify claims of military service by checking Military.com.
■ Poynteronline has a good tip sheet for military info.

C. Occupations: If there’s reason to be skeptical, check these directly. How long did they work there? What positions did they hold? How did they leave? Voluntarily? Check employer Web sites, association directories, etc.

D. News history: Check the archives of your local newspaper for mentions. Go back several years. Why were they in the news? (If they’ve moved here recently, check the paper where they used to live.) Always check Lexis-Nexis, Newsbank and other news databases.

E. Criminal and legal history: Check with the Clerk of District Court for felony charges or civil suits filed in Missoula County. Justice and Municipal courts have misdemeanors. You can check the state’s criminal history database, but it will cost you $11.50 per request. However, searching the state’s correctional offender network to locate people in prison is free. So are the state’s sexual/violent offender databases. You can get federal information though a database called PACER, but it costs. (I have an account.) Again, the Web is a good starting place.

F. Political/Public service history: Again, start with a basic Web/News search, but there are other databases, including minutes of government meetings and government directories. You can also check to see if they’ve given money to state or federal candidates. If you’re researching the voting record of a state or federal elected official, check with the good folks at Project Vote Smart.

G. Property and taxes: If they own property in Missoula County, you can look up its physical description, location and tax information. To see if they own property elsewhere in the state, check the Montana Department of Revenue’s Web locator.

H. Business records: If people own businesses, you can check to see what type they are and who represents them. Remember that incorporated businesses can own property, so search the property-tax databases for that information too.

I. Bankruptcy: Bankruptcies, in which individuals or businesses seek protection from their creditors, are filed in a special federal court. You can get this through PACER. The nearest U.S. Bankruptcy Court is in Butte.

OTHER ELECTION/GOVERNMENT TOOLS

For information about a Montana candidate’s past fund-raising, check the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices site. It can lead you to information about lobbyists, too. For information about groups running so-called issue advertisements (“527 groups”) , see Opensecrets.org.

Covering the Candidates

Besides covering tonight's City Council meeting, I want you to file a photograph and a short biographical report on your council candiates this week.

Due by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5 -- A jpeg. photo and biographical information on your candidate. Keep it short and answer the following:

Name and Ward (also indicate whether your candidate is an incumbent) :

Age:

Occupation:

Marital or domestic partnership status:

Education: (degree and major)

Professional and military experience:

Public service:

Party affiliation:

Due by class Monday, Oct. 8 --

• Q&A (10 questions)


• Background report

Writing on Deadline

It's rarely easy, but you will get better with practice.

Preparing -- even for a few minutes -- helps tremendously. Otherwise, get in the habit of thinking of a simple lede or headline as you report. You'll tweak it as new information comes in, but the process gets you ready to write.

One trick that works for me is to write a bare bones version of the story without looking at my notes. I'll flesh out the details and add quotes from my notes on the second run-though. That way I don't get bogged down in details at the start.

Here's some other advice on deadline writing from the pros.

This Week: Council, Taxes, Election

We'll be covering tonight's Missoula City Council meeting. The story deadline is midnight. You're on your own as far a prepping for the assignment, but you know the drill by now. Don't go tonight without an idea or two for the story. Bring questions to class.

No beat story this week, but I want you to start digging into the City Council candidate you'll be be assigned to cover today. We'll draw for candidates and teams.

We'll be talking about the property tax in today's class. Here's some official literature on the subject from the Montana Department of Revenue, which administers taxation. The tax, which provides money for cities, counties and schools, is collected at the county.

Let's Hear it for Hillview Way

Barring any surprises, it's the public's night to tell the City Council what it thinks of the a $3.3 million plan to rebuild Hillview Way, a twisty, dangerous road serving Missoula's South Hills. Missoulian reporter Keila Szpaller gave you a good look at the project last week, so you should be well prepared. She followed up with another good piece Monday.

If that's not enough, here's a map of the project and a fact sheet produced by the city's Public Works Department.

Take good notes so you can give readers a sense of the debate. It's hard to say if the council will vote on this after the hearing. If it does, you'll want to build your story on the decision and reaction. If it doesn't, then give readers a sense of the hearing (without getting lost in the process.)

You might even draft a few grafs of background ahead of time.

Your other assignment this week: A story from your beat.

Assignments for the Week of Sept. 9

Here's what's due this week:

1. A story from Monday's Missoula City Council meeting. Deadline: Midnight Monday.
2. A story from your beat. Deadline: If you've got breaking news, the story is due by midnight of the day it happens. News features are due no later than noon Friday.

Local government reporters: There's a city primary election Tuesday. See me after class for details.

Covering City Hall: Preparation is the Key

The action starts at 7 p.m. Monday night at the weekly Missoula City Council meeting. Get there (140 W. Pine St.) early and grab a seat where you can see who's talking. Before you go:

• Read the agenda and follow the links on issues you think might be newsworthy.
• Read Missoulian reporter Keila Szpaller's story in Sunday's paper about "roundabouts."
• Go to the paper's archive link and click on advanced search. Look for any other articles on "roundabouts" over the last 12 months. (Hint: You'll have to change the search dates.) You should find an earlier story about the Miller Creek Road project.

You should also take a look at Keila's Monday story about a controversial plan to rebuild Hillview Way, a dangerous road that curves through Missoula's southern hills. The story anticipates a public hearing on the project scheduled for Monday the 17th. Good beat reporting like this gives people a chance to participate in the process.

Welcome to Public Affairs Reporting

I'll use this space to continue class discussions, post assignments and publicize your best work. It's also a handy reference guide to links that can help you on your beats. Don't be shy about diving in. For starters, you might check out these tips from the pros for covering a beat.

On the Record: Backgrounding Business

Learning how to learn about a business can come in handy.

In some ways, businesses are like individuals: They own things (property records), they pay taxes (property-tax records) and they sue people or get sued (court records), and they can go broke (bankruptcy filings).

Beyond that, they also leave special paper trails with:

-- Licensing agencies, agencies than permit corporations (Secretary of State's office)
-- Regulatory agencies (OSHA, EPA, FAA, FTC, state and local agencies, etc.)
-- Agencies that contract for products and services, or that grant business loans (SBA, CDBG, etc.)

What you can learn may also depend on what kind of business you're investigating.

Privately held businesses are generally owned by families or small groups of individual investors, who share the profits and the risks. They do not sell shares to the public. Typicially, you'll find less public information about them, although you may find plenty through trade or business sites, such as Hoover's.com. (Its free service offers basic info and links to news and press releases. Try searching for Mars, Incorporated. The pay service will look up company's public paper trail.)

Publicly traded companies share the profits and risks with shareholders, who buy and sell shares to the public in stock markets. To protect shareholders from being swindled, such companies are regulated by federal and state governments.

The federal regulator is the Securities and Exchange Commission, which To requires such companies to file a whole string of public reports, which can tell investors -- and reporters -- a lot about the way the company operates. You'll find annual and quarterly financial reports, announcements of major changes in ownership, etc.

In Montana, the State Auditor regulates companies that sell securities (stocks and bonds) and insurance. The auditor occasionally investigates wrongdoing and can instigate prosecutions through the courts.

Nonprofit companies or organizations are a different breed of business altogether. Most are exempt from paying taxes, and in return for that special treatment they must file an annual report (IRS Form 990 or PF990) that outlines what they do, how much money they take in and spend, who runs the show, etc.

Companies are required to keep copies of these reports for inspection but you can also order them from the IRS or find them online through an outfit called Guidestar.

On the Record: Backgrounding Individuals

You may be surprised to find at what you'll find on Google, Lexis-Nexis, Facebook, etc., but don't overlook public records when you're investigating an individual. Here are some public records that may prove helpful:

Birth records (Montana makes them available 30 years after a birth.)

School records (Dates attended, degrees conferred, theses, dissertations. No grades.)

Property records (Deeds, property assessments, taxes paid and unpaid.)

Marriage and divorce records (You can see a marriage license but not the application. Divorces are civil action.)

Bankruptcies (Individuals have to file with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Lots of detail here about what people own and owe.)

Driver's licenses and other licenses (Hunting, fishing, etc. You may not get to see the application but you should be able to find out if a person is license for these activities.)

Professional license information (Most states keep these records for doctors, nurses, lawyers, public school teachers, pilots, cosmetologists, etc. You can find out if someone is in fact licensed.)

Court records (Criminal and civil histories -- convictions, judgments, complaints, depositions, etc.)

Some military records (Dates of services, rank, medals and commendations.)

Concealed weapons permits (Check with the Sheriff's Department.)

Some lending information (UCC filings document some loans. Check with the county clerk and recorder, Secretary of State.)

Salary information for public employees (Check with the human services officer in the agency that employs them.)

Voter registration information. (You can also find out if someone voted but not how they voted.)

Public officials' voting records (Local govt. minutes, legislative and congressional journals, Project Vote Smart, etc.)

State and federal campaign donations (Check followthemoney.org for donations to state candidates. Check opensecrets.org for contributions to federal candidates.)

Make Readers See

Here's an old post, but a goodie.

It's not easy getting busy people to read longer stories. You have to make it worth their time.

Make readers join you in solving a mystery, in sharing a vicitim's pain, in exposing an outrage, in puzzling over what makes the powerful tick. Make them wonder if there isn't a better way to solve problems that threaten their safety, lighten their wallets or disturb their peace.

Show rather than tell.

Make readers sense the mystery, feel the outrage, smell the danger, hear the disturbance, sting from loss. It's not easy to write pictures into readers heads. It take just the right words, and less is usually more. It takes pacing (short sentences, like short breaths, shows tension) and a deft hand on the zoom lens (zoom in to focus closely on an individual example; zoom out to show a problem's widespread effect). It takes an ear for the sounds of words that click together to make an emotional effect.

You'll probably never do it well unless you read journalists who do it well, journalists like Jim Sheeler, Julia Keller, Kim Murphy, Walt Bogdanich, Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland.

They'll make it worth your while.

Profiles: Portraits in Words

Profiles can round out good beat coverage. But doing them well takes time and an artist's eye for telling detail.You also need a good reason -- a news peg -- to do them.

Good profile subjects are often people wielding great power or those about to wield it. Sometimes they're about quiet people doing remarkable things behind-the-scenes. Other times, they're about ordinary people whose stories illuminate great public problems.

Good profiles put their subjects in the context of the news and reveal their passions or motives. The best ones look at their subjects from lots of perspectives and aren't shy about focusing on flaws as well as strengths.

Poor profiles are superficial, vague and distant. The worst are hero-worshipping puff pieces that seem as if the subject paid the reporter to write them. Nobody's perfect, as they say. And in public affairs, it's a rare leader who climbs to prominence without making enemies as well as friends.

Complexity is what makes people truly interesting, anyway. Capturing it requires intelligence and flair -- and lots of sources.

You're not a judge; you're not the jury

Believe it or not, some of the people arrested and charged with committing crimes are not guilty.

So play it straight in police stories. Dont' write that a Missoula man has been arrested for robbing the bank. If he's yet to be charged, say he's been arrested in connection with the robbery at the bank.

If prosecutors decide to charge him, then lead with that: A Missoula man has been charged with robbing the bank.

I'd be wary even after a judge or jury had decided the case. For instance, I wouldn't write that a bank robber has decided to appeal his sentence. Unless he's confessed to the crime, or the evidence is overwhelming, I'd say a man convicted of robbing the bank has decided to appeal his sentence.

It's a sublte but imporant point.

Good Election Coverage

You'll find some good stories on ballot issues and candidates at Montana Votes, a Web site professor John Saul and I have put together to feature good student work on the election.

The Seattle Times has an especially good profile today on the Burns-Tester race.

Resources on the Justice Beat

State and Local Resources

Montana law gives you access to:

Daily incident reports – They’re often skimpy and filled with code. But they’re a start.

Daily arrest reports – Name, DOB, charge.

Jail logs – Who’s in jail, arresting agency.


Other Local and State Web resources

Missoula Police Department

Missoula County Sheriff’s Department

Missoula County Detention Facility.

Montana’s court system. Find links to various branches and resources of Montana’s judicial system, from the state Supreme Court down to Municipal and Justice of the Peace courts.

Montana’s laws. It’s all here, but Title 45 is the state criminal code. You’ll find descriptions of different crimes and any sentencing guidelines.

Montana Supreme Court decisions. You can read them yourself.

Montana State Law Library. Look up old court decisions. Contacts here can help you research a case.

Montana Department of Justice. We elected a state attorney general, who acts as Montana’s top prosecutor. He also represents the state in lawsuits. His department covers everything from law enforcement and forensics (State Crime Lab) to gambling regulation. It also keeps state crime stats.

Montana Department of Corrections. Officials here track everyone convicted of felonies. They have databases of violent and sexual offenders and everyone currently in the state prison system.


Federal Resources

The U.S. Attorney for Montana. The federal Department of Justice picks a top prosecutor to handle federal crimes in every state.

Federal Criminal Code. Here are the crimes that could land you in U.S. District Court and the federal prison system

U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney General runs this huge department. It’s responsible for enforcing federal law.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. The federal government’s chief law enforcement agency. There are others: the Drug Enforcement Agency; the Border Patrol; Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Bureau of Indian Affairs, etc.

Federal courts in Montana. The U.S. District Court is the main trial court from crimes and civil suits in the federal system. But there are other federal courts: Federal Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Tax Court, etc.

Federal Prisons. If you’re convict of federal crimes, you go here.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Appeals from U.S. District Court are heard here, in San Francisco.

U.S. Supreme Court. The high court, the court of last resort in the federal system.


Resources for Journalists

Covering Crime and Justice: A Guide for Journalists. Great primer on how to cover various aspects of the justice system. It’s written by top criminal justice reporters.

Powerreporting.com. A wonderful guide to resources on crime and justice issues.

Harmful Error: Investigating America’s Local Prosecutors. Here’s an example of reporting on the system itself. How well does it work?

The Innocence Project. Sometimes the system fails, as these folks know only too well.

Hit the Campaign Trail

One way to get to know your candidate or subject is to tag along on a campaign trip. You'll get to see how well they handle the people, the pressure and the questions. For a good example of this kind of story, check out Gwen Florio's recent trip to the Hi-Line with Jon Tester.

How to 'Truth Check' a Campaign Ad

Stories sifting fact from fantasy in campaign ads are becoming more frequent as checking them becomes easier to do. Here are some examples in print and broadcast.

Some pointers for doing your own 'Truth Check' story:

1. Insist that candidates provide sources to back up their advertising allegations. Most will. In fact, check the sponsor's Web site first. If they refuse to offer proof, you've got a story they're really going to hate.

2. Most often, candidates will point to their opponents' voting records. Look up the bills and votes yourself. Don't rely on their opponents' "spin."

If we're talking about state legislation, go to the Montana's Legislature's site. Click on "bills" for the right session. You can search by bill number, sponsor or general topic. It's easy to verify a vote or see what a bill would do, but often the bill's costs are the issue, so be sure to look at the "fiscal note," which is the state's best guess at costs for taxpapers.

If we're talking about federal legislation, go to the Library of Congress' Web site.

3. After you've seen the facts, bounce your finding off of both candidates or their people. You can include their reaction in your story. They may offer you more context or sources, too.

Some pitfalls:

1. Make sure you're reporting a candidate's final vote on the issue at hand. Legislators may vote many times on a single bill: at the committee stage, on amendments to a bill and finally on the bill as amended.

Here's an example: In 1997, state Sen. Mike Taylor initially voted to deregulate the wholesale price of electricity, a highly controversial idea in Montana. But he changed his mind on the third and final vote, making him one of the few Republicans to ultimately reject the idea. He's running this year for the state's Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities.

2. The questions legislators face are not always black and white. For example, a legislator could support a sale tax as an additional tax or as a substitue for eliminating or cutting other taxes. The effect on taxpayers could vary enormously.

3. Beware of singling out a lawmaker's vote as his or her only vote on some controversial issue. Often Democrats and Republicans will offer similar solutions to some problem. A Republican legislator who votes against a Democratic version may vote for his party's solution instead.

See How They Run

Here are the election assignments. If you want to switch with someone, I need to know quickly.

Amber – Karen Townsend, district judge’s race.
Karen – Dusty Deschamps, district judge’s race.
Emma – Jon Tester, U.S. Senate
Jessica – Conrad Burns, U.S. Senate
Oriana – Open-space bond issue, Missoula County
Colin – County charter, Missoula County
Patrick – Enforcement of marijuana offenses
Katie – Jean Curtiss, county commissioner
Leslie – Jim Edwards, county commissioner
Mike – Mike McMeekin, Missoula County sheriff
Alex – Don Mormon, Missoula County sheriff
Brian – Frenchtown schools bond issue
Dillon – Casey Gunter, justice of the peace
James – Karen Orzech, justice of the peace
Sean – Shrinking the City Council.
Miller – Nonpartisan City Council elections

Covering Elections

Before the Election

POSTURING – Who’s thinking about re-election? Who’s considering a challenge?

FILING STORIES – Who are they? Why are they running? Who's behind them?

Covering the Campaign

SEE HOW THEY RUN – Events (picnics, appearances), debates and forums. What are they saying? Is it consistent? What aren’t they talking about?

SELLING THE CANDIDATE – What’s true? What’s misleading? What does it say about style and integrity? What kind of advertising works? Truth-in-advertising stories are more common these days.

FOLLOW THE MONEY & SUPPORT – Who's giving it and why? It’s an important gauge of strength in big races. In lesser races, it’s at least window into who’s supporting a candidate, which can be telling.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPE? – Good profiles take time, but they can give readers a peek into a candidate’s head and heart. What makes a candidate tick? What were his or her formative experiences? Who are their friends and enemies? How are they perceived?

THE POLLS – Beware. At best, they’re only snapshots of voters’ leanings. At worst, they’re campaign devices themselves. Who’s doing the poll? How are the questions phrased? What’s the margin of error?

THE ISSUES – What are they? What's at stake? Are the candidates talking about issues voters want discussed? Are they ducking others? Some news organizations sponsor town halls or focus groups to help guide their coverage.

OTHER FACTORS – What about those third-party candidates? What effect are bloggers having on the race? What steps are the parties taking to ensure that their supporters actually vote? Are their problems with registration?

Election Night

WINNERS AND LOSERS – Reaction? Difficulties in voting or counting the vote. Where will the candidates be? Got cell phones?

After the Vote

HOW DID THEY WIN? -- How did a candidate win? What part of the city, county or state gave him or her the margin of victory? What do candidates, voters, expert observers say were the factors?

FOLLOWING THROUTH – Are they making good on campaign promises? Are donors with vested interests getting special treatment?

More Election Resources

1. Missoula County Election Officials : You'll find sample ballots and voting rules. Go to their office at the county courthouse and you'll find campaign finance reports for legislative and local races. This is the place to be Election Night for results. After an election, you can find out who voted.

2. Secretary of State: Oversees state voting process. They publish an voters guide too.

3. Federal Campaign Cash and Donors: The Center For Responsive Politics` tracks donations in races for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Watch the dates, though. You could go straight to the Federal Election Commission too.

4. 527 Committees: These organizations produce advertising apart from the campaigns. The messages are clearly slanted , but they're careful not to tell you how to vote. An outfit called Source Watch tracks them. So does opensecrets.org.

5. State Campaign Contributions: Records for donation to statewide races and ballot issues are kept by Montana's commissioner for political practices. Nothing on-line yet.

6. Project Vote Smart: Lots of information here. You'll find candidate bios, links for campaign finance info, voting records, positions on issues. You'll need to verify this stuff, though.

Backgrounding Candidates: Who Are These People?

Before you interview your candidates, make sure you know something about them. You'll ask better questions. You won't get snowed quite so much. Here's some tips on researching a candidate's background.

1. Read all about them. Many candidates these days will include links to favorable news coverage on their Web sites. A better strategy is to newspaper archives or check with Lexis-Nexis or Newsbank. Look for clashes in d substance and style. Build your story around the differences.

2. Visit Project Vote Smart. You'll be glad you did. The nonprofit, nonpartisan site tracks all sorts of information about candidates. You'll find biographical details, links to how much money they've raised, their positions on major issues of the day, their voting records or better yet, how their voting records look to various special interest groups. Has your candidate voted with or against education most of the time? That sort of thing.

3. Check the candidates' Web sites (all serious candidates have them now). See if the information matches what you know to be true about them. See what the political blogs are saying. (Most of them are hightly partisan, so put them in context.)

4. Check the political advertising on You.tube.com. How are the candidates portraying each other on television? It might be fun to ask them to react to the commercials. Which one bugs them the most? Is the tenor of the campaign nasty or civil? Are the commercials informative or vague and fluffy?

5. Check in the candidate's home counties to see if they've been convicted of a crime or the subject of lawsuits.

Only after you done these things should you site down and write a list of questions you'd like to ask your candidates. Craft them carefully. Make candidates response to specific points with specific answers.

If you've read the clips, you'll know that stuff cold. Toss in some odd but revealing questions such as "Who's your political role model?" or "What mistake have you learned the most from?" or "What's the one thing people would be surprised to know about you that hasn't been reported?" (Montana's Lee State Bureau reporters ask candidates what's the latest book they've read -- other than the Bible, of course.)

Let the Sunshine In

Montana has strong open meeting and open records laws and a constitutional "right to know," but enforcing them is an endless fight.

It's not just a Montana problem. Reporters in other state are making the fight too.

And then there's federal government, which has become increasingly stingy with information since 9-11.

Stay abreast of these battles. Every reporter who caves in makes it harder for those who follow.

Writing a Council Story

If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know what might be newsworthy before you ever get to City Hall. Be alert, and take lots of notes. Get the best quotes. Get correct spellings. Be thinking of leads as the meeting rolls along.

Generally, two kinds of stories come out of a local government meeting:

1. The council takes action on some controversial proposal.

Missoula dog owners, be warned. The city has raised the penalties for letting Fido roam without a leash.

The City Council voted Monday to ….

2. The council debates some controversial idea or listens to arguments from residents. Action will come later.

Dog owners by the dozens told the City Council Monday that the fines in its proposed new leash law – some as high as $5,000 – are way too harsh.

“I try hard to keep Fido under control, but dogs being dogs, they just get away sometimes,” resident Larry Labradoodle told council members at last night’s hearing on the proposed ordinance. “Cut us some slack, will you?”

The writing gets straight to the point. It doesn’t mess around. It’s conversational and easy to understand. It doesn’t wallow in “governmentese” or bog down in “procedure,'' as in this poor lead:

After listening to canine owners’ complaints for more than three hours, the City Council voted 7-5 Monday night in favor of substitute amendments to the proposed animal control ordinance that emerged earlier in the week from the council’s Public Safety and Health Committee. (That’s nice. So what did they do?)

Or in this awful concoction:

The City Council listened patiently as residents argued for hours Monday about the topic of leash laws.

Sniffing for News on the City Beat

Stories are everywhere on the City Beat, once you know what to look for. The City Council’s weekly agenda is good place to start.

The first thing you see are minutes of the most recent council meeting, which can help you figure out the history of some recent controversy. Next, the council will schedule its committee meetings for the week. Makes some notes. Could be that the story you’re interested in is being discussed in one of the committees. At the very least, it tells you when and where you’ll find council members during the week.

The next stop is the consent agenda, containing items for council approval that received unanimous consent from various committees during the week. You might find news here. For example, take a look at Item No. 6 and follow the link.

Public hearings can sometimes be very newsy, especially if what the council is considering has the potential to affect a lot of people in some serious way. If you quote speakers during hearings, make sure you get their names. If you’re really into the beat, you’ll know which public hearings are likely to be controversial Monday. Chances are, council members argued about it earlier that week in a committee. If you can’t make it to the committee meeting, at least read committee minutes before Monday night. You’ll have a leg up on any discussion. If you read Sunday’s Missoulian, you’ll see that city beat reporter Bob Struckman has already written a backgrounder on the issue at stake in Monday night’s second public hearing.

Committee reports can be newsy too. They usually contain recommendations on various ordinances or resolutions. And because they’re not on the consent agenda, it means the committee couldn’t agree entirely on whatever it is they discussed.

Items to be referred are problems that council members or city staffers want the council to discuss. Think of it as “coming attractions.” You’ll get your first look at future controversies here. If you see something interesting here, make a note of which committee it was referred to. You’ll want to cover that meeting for sure.

The agenda also includes lot opportunities for council members, city staffers and the public to sound off on anything. Sometimes its news. Sometimes it might be news to more legwork. Sometimes is hot air.

The bottom line is that the more time you spend with the agenda, and following the links to background information, the better you’ll perform on Monday night.

A Virtual Trip to City Hall

The City of Missoula has a pretty good Web site. You'll find links to the city's laws (Municipal Code) and agendas for City Council meetings and meetings of council committees. You'll also find a good FAQ with answers to such burning questions as "How do I find out who's on the council and what ward they represent?" and, an oldie but a goodie, "How do I go about getting copies of records such as minutes, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, etc.?" Heck, you can even get daily police reports on this site.

A Handy Guide to Missoula Government

Missoula's League of Women Voters has put together a pretty good site with links to lots of Missoula-area public agencies. Check it out for contacts and phone numbers of agencies near and dear to your beat.

And speaking of beat coverage, here are some great tips from those wonderful folks at the Poynter Institute, a Florida-based think tank devoted to doing great journalism.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Beats!

Here's how the assignments worked out. If anyone would rather cover the local economy or K-12 schools, I'll accept requests for changes there.

Local economy – Brian Gaul
Missoula’s K-12 schools – Amber Kuehn
Higher education – Sean Breslin
Missoula police and Missoula County sheriff’s dept. – Anne Pastore, Dillon Tabish
Local and federal courts – Colin O’Keefe, Karen Plant
City and County government – Katie Michel, Leslie Brown
Public health – Pat Carey, Miller Resor, Stacey Davis
Natural resources, energy, environment – James Laber, Alexandra Brosh, Oriana Turley
Transportation – Mike Handford
Diversity, minorities – Jessica Mayrer, Emma Schmautz

Welcome to Public Affairs Reporting

This is newzhound, my incredibly hip class blog. Visit it often to find assignments, discussion items and useful links.

Here's your first assignment:

By 9 a.m. Tuesday (Aug. 29), along with your first story, send me an e-mail with your top three choices for a beat to cover. I’ll let you know your assigned beat by the day’s end. (Make sure the e-mail address is the one you intend to use all semester.) My e-mail address? dennis.swibold@umontana.edu.

The choices are:

1. The local economy
2. Missoula’s K-12 schools
3. Higher education
4. Missoula police and the Missoula County sheriff’s department
5. Local and federal courts
6. Local government
7. Public health
8. Natural resources, energy and the environment
9. Transportation
10. Minorities

The Big Money

Executive pay makes an interesting story, especially when a company is in trouble. But as you discovered on your Internet hunt, coming up with a figure isn't so easy. That's because bottom line depends on what you decide to include as compensation.

Travis Poling, a business reporter for San Antonio’s Express-News, offers this formula for assessing executive compensation:

Salary + Bonuses + LTIP (long-term investment payouts) + Other Annual compensation + All Other Compensation + Value Realized from Stock Options (profits from company stock CEO's have actuall sold ove the past year.)

You’ll find this information on a report public companies file annually called a “Proxy Statement.” The SEC calls it DEF-14A. The report is usually filed before a company’s annual shareholder’s meeting, and it includes tables with information you can plug into Poling’s formula.

Using Poling's forumla, here’s what I learned about Mary Junck compensation for the latest available year (2004):

Salary -- $ 750,000
Bonus -- $1,080,000
Other-- $ 242,800
Stock Options Sold -- $ 863,900
Total -- $2,261,700

That’s a fair number, though it doesn’t include the value of all Lee stock she’s holds but has yet to sell.

Fifteen Questions

Congratulations. You've just been hired as second banana on the Missoulian's business desk. It's your first day on the job, and your boss has just told you that Lee Enterprises, the Missoulian's owner, has announced that it is moving its corporate headquarters from Davenport, Iowa, to Missoula. (Not really. It's just an exercise in backgrounding a business.)

Your boss will contact Lee officials in Iowa to do the main story on the reasons for the move and the consequences for Missoula.

Your job is gather information for a sidebar, perhaps a big graphic. You've got the rest of this class period to provide that information in the form of a comment to the blog. You may use any sources short of calling Lee or its employees. Cite your sources. Be sure they're authoritative.

The questions:

• How many newspapers does Lee Enterprises own? What's Lee's total daily circulation?
• What's its biggest paper? What's its circulation? How has the paper itself been in the news lately?
• Who are Lee's top corporate officials?
• How much was its top official paid in 2004?
• What's Lee's stock selling for today?
• How much revenue did the company report on its most recent annual report?
• Lee is not forecasting normal earnings over the next few years. Why?
• How old is the company? Who is its founder? How did its connection to Montana come about?
• Are there any independent business analyst who follow Lee? Name a couple.
• What's the most unusual fact you've found to spice up the profile?

(Psst! Wanna Cover Business?)

OK, you might not want to admit it in front of the class, but if you’ve got a secret jones to be a business reporter, you could go places. Really. I’m serious. Punch “business reporter” into journalismjobs.com and see what I mean.

There’s even a support group for odd ducks like you who don't twitch at the sight of numerals, who fairly tingle at the thought of poking though a corporate exec's compensation package or thumbing through a charity's tax return.

And there's no end to the help you can find on this beat.

Here’s a great interview with a national business reporter who's made a career of asking the stupidest questions he can think of about the economy. “What’s a stock?”

Face it, most of us are fairly clueless about the economy, so if you've got a yen to explain stuff that people really don't understand, think business journalism.

Seriously.

Make Readers See

It's not easy getting busy people to read long news stories.

So make it worth their time.

Make readers join you in solving a mystery, in sharing a vicitim's pain, in exposing an outrage, in puzzling over what makes the powerful tick. Make them wonder if there isn't a better way to solve problems that threaten their safety, lighten their wallets or disturb their peace.

You show rather than tell. Make readers sense the mystery, feel the outrage, smell the danger, hear the disturbance, sting from loss.

It's not easy to write pictures into readers heads. It take just the right words, and less is usually more. It takes pacing (short sentences, like short breaths, shows tension) and a deft hand on the zoom lens (zoom in to focus closely on an individual example; zoom out to show a problem's widespread effect). It takes an ear for the sounds of words that click together to make an emotional effect.

You'll probably never do it well unless you read journalists who do it well, journalists like Jim Sheeler, Julia Keller, Kim Murphy, Walt Bogdanich, Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland.

They'll make it worth your time.

Got a great news writer you'd like others to read?

Profiles: Portraits in Words

Profiles can round out good beat coverage. But doing them well takes time and an artist's eye for detail.

You also need a good reason -- a news peg -- to do them. Good profile subjects are often people wielding great power or those about to wield it. Sometimes they're about quiet people doing remarkable things behind-the-scenes. Other times, they're about ordinary people whose stories illuminate great public problems.

Good profiles put their subjects in the context of the news and reveal their passions or motives. The best ones look at their subjects from lots of perspectives and aren't shy about focusing on flaws as well as strengths.

Poor profiles are superficial, vague and distant. The worst are hero-worshipping puff pieces that seem as if the subject paid the reporter to write them. Nobody's perfect, as they say. And in public affairs, it's a rare leader who climbs to prominence without making enemies as well as friends. Complexity is what makes people truly interesting, anyway. Capturing it requires intelligence and flair -- and lots of sources.

Who in Missoula would make a timely subject for a profile? Why?

Ray Ring and the Meaning of Journalism

Ray Ring struck the right notes on many things Wednesday, but I hope you caught his smart explanation of the different levels of reporting. Most of what we've done so far qualifies as what he called "template" journalism -- you know, deadline reporting about incidents or events in which we scramble to get perspective on what the news means and whom it might affect. Write enough of these and it's easy to see the formula.

Breaking that mold means digging for truth among competing versions, finding the reality behind the rhetoric, exposing problems that aren't apprarent. That's analysis or interpretation, and if you're going to do it credibly -- with confidence and authority -- you have do a ton of reporting. The writing has to be better too, because in most cases you'll be telling stories, not merely summarizing the news and listing facts to support your lead. Now's the time to use what you've soaked up in all those lit classes about storytelling, about developing characters, setting the mood, and building tension. Such stories live and die on the telling details you find.

Missoula City Election Results

For Mayor
X John Engen, 7,458, 60%*
Lou Ann Crowley, 4775, 39%

Ward 1
X Dave Strohmaier, 1,385, 61%
Cass Chinske, 879, 39%

Ward 2
X John Hendrickson, 834, 51%
John Couch, 798, 48.5%

Ward 3
X Bob Jaffe, 1,228, 50.5%
Lee Clemmensen, 1,194, 49%

Ward 4
X Jon Wilkins, 1,126, 52%
Tim Lovely, 1,014, 47%

Ward 5
X Dick Haines, 1,266, 65%
Mark Fitzgerald, 678, 35%

Ward 6
X Marilyn Marler, 790, 60%
Write-in, 354, 27%
Jeffrey-James Halvorson, 181, 14%

Fire Dept. Bond Issue
X For, 8,132, 70%
Against, 3,443, 30%

Voter Turnout
12,881 votes cast, 33%

*All results are unofficial. Percentages may not equal 100 percent due to rounding.

Floyd's Write-in Campaign Falls Short

KERIANN LYNCH and KARL KREMPEL

Marilyn Marler, a noxious weed specialist who knocked off Councilman Clayton Floyd Jr. in the Ward 6 City Council election Tuesday, said she hopes her victory will help restore civility to council politics.

“It’s appalling how much fighting and bullying has gone on in the council the past few years,” Marler said. “I’m known for being a people person and diplomat. My opponent has been neither for the past four years and that was the difference.”

Marler, who works for both the University of Montana and the City of Missoula as noxious weed specialist, received 790 votes, almost 60 percent of the total. Write-in candidates, led by Floyd, received 354 votes.

Floyd filed as a write-in candidate for re-election after an unsuccessful mayoral campaign that ended with his fourth place finish in the Sept. 13 primary.

Also on Tuesday's ballot in Ward 6 was Jeffrey-James Halvorson, who stopped campaigning after Floyd’s announcement and urged his supporters to vote for Floyd. However, Halvorson's name remained on the ballot and he received 181 votes Tuesday.

Floyd could not be reached for comment late Tuesday but said earlier in the day that the race would come down to whether residents thought Missoula had been on the right track for the past four years.

Marler said her appointment was indicative of voters' discontent and Ward 6's desire for change and better communication.

Ex-legislator Wins Ward 5 Council Race

By IAN GRAHAM and PATRICK GRUHLER

Former Republican lawmaker Dick Haines soundly defeated Missoula newcomer Mark Fitzgerald to capture the Ward 5 seat in Tuesday's Missoula City Council election.

A former state representative and retired U.S. Forest Service engineer, Haines finished the night with 1,266 votes, about 65 percent of those cast. Fitzgerald, manager of the Starbucks on North Reserve, had 678.

Haines, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, campaigned on his frustration with city government, explified by the cost overruns on the citywide project to build new swimming pools and splash decks around Missoula. He said the city needs to halt and re-examine the project.

Fitzgerald said Tuesday he expected a difficult campaign. He signed up to run at the last minute because there was only one candidate in Ward 5. He said he couldn’t believe more people weren't interested.

“I wish I could have won, but I knew it was an uphill battle to begin with,” Fitzgerald said.

Despite his loss Tuesday, Fitzgerald may still have a shot at a seat on the council. Last month's death of Ward 5 Councilman Bob Lovegrove created a vacacy on the council that will have to be filled by appointment.

Fitzgerald said he hasn’t decided whether to pursue the job.

“I’ve considered applying for the position and seeing what I get back,” he said. “But there’s no final decision.”

'Infill' Critic Wilkins Wins in Ward 4

By DYLAN LASLOVICH and TIM DAILEY

Retired construction work Jon D. Wilkins, a critic of efforts to build more housing in existing Missoula neighborhoods, edged two-time candidate Tim Lovely to take the Missoula City Council seat in Ward 4.

Wilkins garnerd 1,125 votes to 1,014 for Lovely, who lost a race for the same ward two years ago.

“Well, I was surprised it was that close to tell you the truth,” Wilkins said after the results were announced. “I just thought I would beat him by more.”

Lovely, who also lost a legislative race in 2004, was philosophical in defeat.

“I wish the results were different, but you got to accept them for what they are,” Lovely said.

Wilkins cited his involvement in neighborhood issues as the main reason he won.

“I have been fighting for Ward 4 for at least three years,” he said.

Lovely disagreed with Wilkins’ assessment.

“There probably was a lack of information in the hands of voters,” Lovely said. “I think a lot of folks were voting without knowing about the candidates.”

He said he did as much as he could to get his message out but "[t]here’s only so much time in the day.”

Wilkins said his passion for representing his area was an advantage.

“Tim’s an all right guy but I never thought his heart was really in it,” he said. “He didn’t get involved in neighborhood issues until he announced his candidacy.”

One of those issues was how to handle Missoula’s growth. The candidates offered different opinions.

“As for the infill issue in established neighborhoods, he was all for alley houses and I’m all against alley houses,” Wilkins said.

Tuesday's win marked a successful end to the 57-year-old Wilkins’ first campaign for public office. The Great Falls native moved to Missoula in 1978 to work construction but was forced into retirement in 1991 after losing a leg in a work-related accident. He has been the president of the Lewis and Clark Neighborhood Council for three years.

The 53-year-old Lovely, a self-employed contractor, has worked for the local Democratic Party, but he has yet to hold public office.

Lovely said he couldn’t rule out running again.

Jaffe Takes Close Ward 3 Race

By DANNY PERSON and PETE DELMOE

Computer consultant Bob Jaffe won a narrow victory Tuesday over retired teacher Lee Clemmensen to claim a Ward 3 seat on Missoula’s City Council.

When all the votes were counted, Jaffe won by 34 of the 2,431 votes cast.

Jaffe attributed his win to a late get-out-the-vote effort that included visits to UM fraternities and sororities and a phone campaign.

He said his moderate stance on neighborhood growth issues resounded with voters, but added that the close vote showed him that the city is still closely divided on the subject.

“I wanted to show that I accept growth and change,” Jaffe said. “But it’s not like I have any huge mandates.”

During the campaign, Jaffe said City Council efforts to prevent new housing in existing neighborhoods, or "infill," were against the “evolution” of neighborhoods. He also endorsed design standards as a better way to preserve Missoula’s neighborhoods.

Jaffe said Tuesday night that he had no immediate plans to push specific legislation when he takes his council seat. His first action as a city councilman, he said, will be to “assess the situation.”

“I’m definitely in a learning stage,” he said. “There’s a huge learning curve and I want to make that learning curve as short as possible.”

Clemmensen could not be reached for comment at press time.

Hendrickson Collects a Victory in Ward 2

By JACOB BAYNHAM and PATRICK CROSS

Self-employed collectibles dealer John Hendrickson slid past forest products worker John Couch by a slim 36 votes last night to secure the Ward 2 seat on Missoula's City Council.

The 53-year-old Hendrickson, originally from New York, collected 834 votes to Couch's 798. Some 21 percent of the ward's 7, 895 registered voters cast votes.

“It’s been a long road, but I feel good,” Hendrickson said upon hearing the results. “I got my message out. People are dissatisfied … they want to feel part of the process, and I told them I could help.”

Due to the unexpected October resignation of Ward 2 Councilwoman Anne Kazmierczak, Hendrickson will join Don Nicholson in representing the ward starting next Monday. Tuesday's other victorious council candidates will take office in January.

Hendrickson said he has been keeping up on the issues and is ready to jump in.

“I’m not going to be a deer in the headlights,” he said. “I want the city to start planning for infrastructure and growth.”

Hendrickson said his first priority will be to try to stop the so-called "Broadway diet" – the city's effort to narrow West Broadway from four lanes to two – which he opposed during his campaign, saying it was hurting businesses on the street.

“Store owners are losing money, and I’m going to try to go to bat for them,” Hendrickson said.

During his campaign, Hendrickson said that Couch’s plan to make the street more bicycle and pedestrian friendly was not a viable solution for an unsafe road.

Hendrickson also supported plans by Safeway and St. Patrick Hospital to swap property on West Broadway to allow both businesses room for expansion. He said that Safeway is an asset to Missoula, and may relocate if the deal falls through, taking with it a pharmacy that the area’s elderly need.

Couch opposed the swap and is currently part of a group that is suing the city to stop the zoning change.

Couch was with his friends and supporters in the Union Club when the results came in. Although disappointed, Couch said he had a life to fall back on.

“I don’t have to have a contingency plan, I have a good job,” he said. “This was not about employment, this was about representation.”

Couch predicted Hendrickson will take similar stances to those of Ward 2's other representative, Don Nicholson, in supporting private businesses.

During the campaign, Hendrickson described himself as an “independent conservative,” explaining that although he has Republican leanings, he does not vote strictly along party lines.

Missoula Voters Back New Fire Station

By DANNY BOBBE and DANNY DAVIS

Missoula voters gave their fire department a green light Tuesday to expand and update its services to a growing city.

“We’re very excited,” said Missoula Fire Chief Tom Steenberg. “I think the voters realized it’s an important issue.”

The fire station bond issue passed with overwhelming support, garnering over 70 percent of the nearly 11,600 ballots cast. Steenberg praised Missoula voters who recognized the importance of the bond issue and credited the department's strong advertising campaign.

“I think there were a lot of active members of the community who helped us get our message out,” Steenberg said.

The bond issue gives the fire department $5.74 million to construct a new station in the South Hills, demolish and rebuild Fire Station 2 on Mount Avenue, and buy new equipment, including a new fire engine.

A key concern in the campaign was the fire department’s aim to reduce its average response time from 11 to six minutes in the city's rapidly growing southwest corner.

“We’re very pleased that the community realized the importance of response time and the need to grow with the community,” said Jason Diehl, the department’s planning administrator.

The new station, Fire Station 5, will be built in the Linda Vista and Miller Creek area on the south side of town.

Steenberg said that the next step is to draw up plans and advertise for bids.

“We hope to have them go up to bid early next year,” he said. “We’re kind of at the mercy of an architect.”

Strohmaier Thumps Chinske in Ward 1

By ALLISON SQUIRES and PETER BULGER

Dave Strohmaier, a contract historian and political newcomer, won the Ward 1 City Council seat in Tuesday's election, taking more than 60 percent of the vote in his race with real estate agent and former City Councilman Cass Chinske.

The 40-year-old Strohmaier, who also does freelance nature writing, colleced 1,383 votes to Chinske's 879. Chinske, who touted his experience throughout the campaign, also ran unsuccessfully for the same seat in 2001. He represented Ward 1 on the council from 1977 to 1984.

During the campaign, both candidates stressed the importance of securing open space around Missoula to prevent urban sprawl. Both favored building new homes in existing neighborhoods -- or "infill" -- as a way to solve Missoula’s growth problems, though Chinske was more cautious.

They also clashed over the city's efforts to extend sewers into the Rattlesnake. Strohmaier said sewers are necessary to protect Missoula's underground water supply, but Chinske worred that they will allow developers to build too many homes in the area.

Strohmaier attributed his win to his focus on sustaining the community of Missoula as a whole.

“Other candidates, including Chinske, focused on separate, though important, issues." he said. "I unified those issues under one common theme.”

Chinske said he didn’t know why he lost or how Strohmaier’s election will affect council politics. He refused to comment on anything else.

During the campaign, Strohmaier endorsed the proposal by Missoula and five other Montana cities to buy NorthWestern Energy and provide public power to thousands of Montanans as a nonprofit, publicly owned utility.

Chinske said he couldn’t support the plan without more concrete information about how the utility would be run.

Engen Wins Hard-Fought Mayoral Race

By LAUREL WALL-MacLANE and BRENNA MOORE

City Councilman John Engen, who defeated fellow council member Lou Ann Crowley Tuesday to become Missoula's next mayor, said he hopes to create more affordable housing and pass a new open-space bond issue in 2006.

"My hope is that (my campaign) made sense to people, and that people find me to be reasonable and practical," the 41-year-old businessman said.

Engen won with 60 percent of the vote to Crowley's 39 percent.
He received 7,458 votes to Crowley’s 4,775. Turnout for the election was 33 percent, compared with 27 percent in 2001.

Engen has represented Ward 1 on the Missoula City Council since 2001 and is chairman of its Plat, Annexation and Zoning Committee.

He said Tuesday he was optimistic about Missoula's future and his future as mayor.

“It’s good that Missoula is growing, we just need to make sense of it,” said Engen. “We need to make sure we have open space, clean air, clean water and rules people can understand.”

Engen also told Election Night well-wishers of his plan to pass an open space bond in 2006 and build more homes so people can have more comfortable lives.

By contrast, his opponent, a veteran representative from Ward 3, was clearly disappointed in the night's outcome.

“I’m really disappointed for my supporters, because my supporters were really excited to have me be mayor,” Crowley said.

Crowley also said Engen won because he collected large campaign contributions from builders and Realtors.

“He had a lot more money to spend,” she said.

Engen and Crowley differed on several issues during the campaign.

Engen has supported Missoula's leadership in a five-city bid to buy NorthWestern Energy and make it a a nonprofit, publicly owned utility, saying ownership of power distribution would give Montana more control over energy costs. Crowley has been skeptical of the plan, saying there are too many risks and unanswered questions.

Engen is also a proponent of building more housing close to the city center, making transportation less of an issue for Missoula residents. Crowley was generally more skeptical of "infill" development.

Hey, It's Only Money

Now that you've crunched the numbers on Ourtown's budget, you must have a couple of burning questions for Ourtown's budget director. Go ahead, post your best shots, but support those incisive inquiries with facts you've found. Be nice but firm.

Oh, and remember that for class Wednesday, I want you to bring a written proposal for an in-depth project.

Taxing questions

According to a recent Lee State Bureau story, Missoula's property taxes are the highest among the state's seven major cities. When you add up all the mills levied by the city, county, school districts, the university system, the state, etc., Missoula's total comes to about 720.20 mills, about 9 mills more than last year.

Answer the following:
1. If the taxable value on a typical Missoula home is $2,756.89, how much will its owners pay in property taxes this year?

2. In 1992, Swibold paid $1,156.92 in property taxes. For 2005, he will pay $2,083.56. How much have his taxes increased in real percentage terms?

Send your answers as a comment to this blog entry. As always, any pertinent observations on this stuff would be welcome as well.

Hints
The answer to Question 2 requires two steps.

1. You know that a dollar buys less each year. That’s called inflation. It happens. So if you hope to be accurate comparing dollar amounts from different years, you have to adjust for inflation. There’s a formula for that, but I prefer using an online inflation calculator provided by America’s official inflation watcher, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It will tell you what a dollar amount from a bygone year would be worth today. Once you find that, you can do a simple calculation to determine the percentage increase.

2. Here’s that formula for that: (New number – Old number) divided by Old number.

Example: A Missoulian will pay about 720 mills this year compared to 711 mills last year. Here’s how you would calculate the percentage increase using the “NOO!” formula:

(720-711) = 9
9 divided by 711 = .0126 or 1.26 percent

Election Night Extravaganza

Your stories from Tuesday's city election should include the results from your race (Who won and what it might mean), reaction from the winners and losers (Why do they think they won or lost? What issues seemed to resonate with voters?), and some background on the candidates and the issues they ran on. As you talk to your candidates this week, make sure to get a number where you can reach them for responses Tuesday night.

Where can you get results?
The Missoula County Courthouse.

When will results be available?
Polls close at 8 p.m. Counting could be done by 9:30 or 10.

When is your story due?
Midnight. Not a minute later.

How can you prepare?
You can prepare background grafs on your the candidates and their stands on major issues. Top it with the results and reaction.

What surprises should I anticipate?
Laughter, tears, close votes, demands for recounts, breakdowns in vote counting, tight-lipped losers, inebriated winners, low turnout, upsets, etc.

Got any sample election stories, Swidog?
Sure. Try this one. Here's another.

How about a sample ballot?
Demanding, aren't we? Here you go. Enjoy.

City Stories

Need a story from the city beat? There's a forum for the mayoral candidates tonight (Tuesday) at the Crystal Theater. Otherwise, check out the City Council committee meetings this week. Looks to me like the Public Works Committee has the juiciest agenda: a discussion on the city's space needs (think council chambers) and a plan to rebuild sidewalks in some areas of town (controversial if homeowners have to kick in).

You're also free to follow up on some issue that struck your fancy Monday night. (When and how will the council consider replacing Lovegrove?) Other prime prospects include various scheduled forums for City Council candidates this week at several neighborhood councils. If your candidate is debating his foe, cover the debate and make contact. You'll be glad you did. (Check with organizers before you go to make sure the forum is still on.)

Other ideas? Share them with the class.

This just in ...

I hope you've all had a chance to read Saturday's post about tonight's council meeting, but you should know that there's another story on the horizon. Ward 5 Councilman Bob Lovegrove, a former mayor, died Sunday of complications from brain cancer. The mood at tonight's meeting is likely to be somber, and the council's reaction to Lovegrove's death will be news. Among other things, the council will have to decide how to replace Lovegrove.

This week's assignments:

1. Monday's council meeting.
2. A story from the city beat. (Latest deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.)

Power Politics

I know you're finishing your candidate background reports, but spend some time this weekend backgrounding yourself for Monday night's City Council meeting. Check out the agenda online, and read Ginny Merriam's preview in Sunday's Missoulian. Me, I think Monday's meeting will be a test of the council's commitment to Montana Public Power Inc.

It's hard to know which side is right in that debate, but that isn't your worry. Your job is to help readers understand what each side is saying. To do that, get familiar with the most recent news about this. Ginny wrote a story Wednesday about a committee's debate on the very same issue the council will consider Monday. The Lee State Bureau also reported Saturday on Northwestern's latest reaction to the MPPI's latest buyout offer.

Me, I'd read that stuff and write three grafs of background on the MPPI issue before I went to cover Monday night's meeting. Graf 1 would explan in broad terms what MPPI is and what it wants to do. Graf 2 would explain why MPPI thinks it can better serve customers than NorthWestern can. Graf 3 would explain why NorthWestern thinks that is like so totally wack. (<-- Incredibly hip slang for cattle manure.)

If you'll do that, you'll be in a much better position to look for news Monday night instead of trying to figure out what everyone's talking about. By the way, everybody will be tossing around the phrase due diligence as if you should already know what that means. Maybe you should.

Questions? Comments? Humorous observations? World Series tickets for sale?

Happy Hour at the Heron?

C'mon, it wasn't that bad. In fact, most of you nailed the news on council's about-face on what to do with its moldy, old night club. Some brave souls even ventured to write about the surprise fuss over the aquatics project, though you had little, if any, background. Good instincts! That story has a far greater personal and financial implications for your average Missoulian.

Ginny Merriam did a solid job of reporting both angles. In simple, clear prose, she told her readers what happened and what it might mean, and she put the news in context with just enough background. She also gave readers a sense of the debate (the pros and cons) and the captured the frustration some speakers felt. Her story would have made perfect sense to readers familiar with the issues and those seeing them for the first time. The only thing I might have added to her reporting on the swimming pools would have been a response from the mayor to his critics. (Did you catch a whiff of election politics in both issues? The city's critics included two City Council candidates.)

I was especially proud of those you who sat through some of the energy expert's criticism of the cities' bid to buy NorthWestern Energy. As dense as that subject must have seemed, I'll bet you understood the thrust of his main argument: the cheap hydroelectric power the cities' hope to offer customers may not be there.

If anything, I hope Monday night drove home the need to be as prepared as you can be before the meeting and to listen hard, even when it the jargon gets thick. And don't be afraid to grab people to answer your questions.

Questions? Comments? Observations? Bad jokes?

The Blue Heron Blues

It's showtime on the City Beat. We'll cover tonight's City Council meeting for a midnight deadline. Meet at the first-floor conference conference of St. Patrick Hospital (500 W. Broadway) a few minutes before 7 p.m. Get a good seat. Take good notes.

Why are we meeting at a hospital instead of City Hall? Funny you should ask because that oddity looks like the Big News on tonight's agenda.

Here's the deal. Missoula's City Council is essentially homeless, having surrendered its comfortable chambers to Municipal Judge Don Louden, who's court was bursting at the seams. Initially, the council had considered moving the court to a former night club on West Pine Street called the Blue Heron. The council bought the building for $550,000, but when estimates came in for remodeling and cleaning up some asbestos and funky mold, the council balked. Eventually, and with some embarrassment, it decided to sell the Heron and build a new City Hall annex to house a new council chambers. Case closed?

Hardly. Uncomfortable in its awkward settings (where it could remain for two years or more) the council's Public Works Committee voted 6-1 last week to recommend the Blue Heron sale be delayed and the building be remodeled as a temporary home for council meetings and the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. The issue is contentious. In fact, the council was soundly criticized for buying the night club in the first place.

What will the city do? You tell me. By midnight, and not a minute later.

Reminder: No class Wednesday. Be working on your candidate background reports, which are due in class -- in writing -- Monday, Oct. 24.

Welcome to City Hall

Contrary to earlier reports, there will be no City Council meeting Monday. Why? It's Columbus Day, a holiday celebrated by city employees but not state workers like me. Hence the confusion.

The upshot? Obviously, you won't be asked to write a preview of Monday's nonexistent meeting, much less cover it. Instead, I'll ask you to dig through the city's Web site and Ginny Merriam's recent beat coverage in the Missoulian and submit a written report proposing three stories from the city beat. For each idea, provide the necessary background and suggest specific sources.

Deadline: Friday, Oct. 7, at 5 p.m.

Don't forget you also owe me a story from your beat this week.