Missoula, Mont. — Senator Jon Tester toured Higgins Street in Missoula’s downtown Monday afternoon.
Missoula has been hit hard by the economic downturn. Smurfit-Stone shut its doors in January and laid off more than 400 lost their jobs. Unemployment hit 7.7%.
Sen. Jon Tester will hold forums in Helena and Anaconda Tuesday to meet with Montanans on topics such as the economy and jobs.
Retired Montana District Court Judge Gordon Bennett took on an interesting summer reading project. He volunteered to review the office policies and records of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to see if the senator and his staff were walking the walk — conducting all business in accordance with the ethics policy Tester instituted on the same day he took office in January 2007.
Overall, the judge was pleased with what he found, but it’s also reassuring to know he proffered some constructive criticism as well. A rubber-stamp report would have raised red flags. Nothing’s perfect.
SWEETGRASS PORT OF ENTRY — Better communication between United States and Canadian border patrol officers, improvements to the current entry port system and increased security efforts between the ports were identified as ways to further secure the northern U.S. border during a visit to Montana by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the state’s senators.
Napolitano, along with U.S. Customs and Borders Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin and Montana senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus traveled around the state Wednesday to tour border ports in Piegan and Sweetgrass and hold meetings in Sunburst and Havre to talk about security at the United States’ 545-mile border with Canada. The area has seen increased security efforts since the September 11 attack. It has also faced drug-trafficking issues.
HAVRE— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told concerned locals Wednesday that there may be a way to salvage an underused crossing post that was left in the lurch amid a multimillion renovation when the Canadians closed their side of the border.
The tiny border station — which not too long ago closed for the night by placing three orange traffic cones on the road — primarily serves as a passage for cross-border farmers on a lonely stretch of the border. An $8.5 million renovation was under way to deal with modern security needs when Canada announced it would close its side of the crossing that sees just five travelers a day.
