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Posts published in “Day: November 9, 2005”

Missoula to Corvallis

November 9, 2005

Newspaper alert: The editor of the Missoula Missoulian newspaper has been transferred, within Lee Enterprises, to the chain's daily in Corvallis, the Gazette-Times, as its publisher.

This constitutes a promotion, but it must be tough for the transferee, Mike McInally, who has spent decades in Montana and has been deeply invested in that state. The change may be of use to Corvallis, though; the Missoulian has (and has had for quite a few years) a good reputation, better in general than the daily in Corvallis.

and in Idaho Falls

November 9, 2005

There were few shockers in Idaho - most everything in southwest Idaho was predictable, and was predicted, with maybe excepted the small size of the Swindell vote. But every election has its surprise, and for that we turn to Idaho Falls.

Idaho Falls city hallThat city has a new mayor, since three-termer Linda Milam, long assumed to be in effect a moderate Democrat, opted not to run again. In this conservative city, the ongoing expectation was that her replacement would be the man she defeated eight years (two terms) ago: Bill Shurtleff, then a county commissioner who went on to serve on the city council, and clearly a conservative Republican. He is more experienced now than he was then, a number of people noted. And some of his then-rough edges have smoothed over a bit.

But so much for making assumptions. Shurtleff's main opponent (there was a third, minor, candidate too, nicknamed "Huggy Bear") was an 18-year Idaho Falls police officer named Jared Fuhriman, a new member of one of the local school boards but not terribly well known. But he presented himself well, and he picked up Milam's endorsement. His status as a public employee and backing from a political moderate would not seem to be good medicine in a community as "conservative" as Idaho Falls. But who knew? He took 58% of the vote to just 36% for Shurtleff - a stunning win.

Maybe there's more going on under the surface in Idaho Falls than most of us think. Or maybe even that city caught a whiff of the Tuesday night political air.