"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" To keep reading, please log in to your account, create a free account, or simply fill out the form below.B.C. rescuers warn of trusting online apps after helping 2 overseas hikersArmy has increased operational footprint in Jammu region: Senior Officer Rajouri/Jammu: The Army has increased its operational footprint in the Jammu region, including the strategic occupation of the upper reaches of the Pir Panjal range, a senior officer said on Saturday. The Army is playing a pivotal role in military-civilian coordination in creating a stable environment in the region, the officer said. The officer emphasised that the Army will continue its efforts to promote peace, security, and development in this region. “In recent times, the Indian Army has significantly enhanced its operational capabilities. We have strengthened our patrols and posts, even in the highest mountains and ridges. This progress has been made possible thanks to your unwavering support,” said General Officer Commanding (GoC), White Knight Corps, Lieutenant General Navin Sachdeva. Lt Gen Sachdeva visited Rajouri to strengthen civilian-military ties by taking parting part in a ‘Kaumi Ekta meet’ which aims to recognise the role of local communities and veterans in maintaining peace and stability in the region. He said that new posts have been set up in upper reaches and movement of security forces at night have been increased in a bid to improve security and peace in the region. “Helicopters, UAVs and several types of sensors are being used as a part of technology to ensure peace”, he said. During the visit, Lt Gen Sachdeva praised the synergy between the civilian population and security forces, particularly in the sensitive border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. Lt Gen Sachdeva commended the Ace of Spades Division for its critical role in fostering trust through welfare programmes and engaging local communities. The Corps Commander also participated in the Mendhar Cricket Premier League (MCPL) felicitation ceremony. He emphasised the importance of such events in channelling energy positively and promoting community harmony.
By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. India’s central bank interest rate decision grabs the spotlight in Asia on Friday, as investors digest yet another record high for the Nasdaq and adjust positions ahead of the weekend. The U.S. employment report for November later in the day is released after Asia closes, so investors across the continent may be inclined to square positions as best they can in preparation for Monday. The main event in Asia on Friday is in India. The Reserve Bank of India is overwhelmingly expected to hold its key repo rate at 6.50%, after a sharp rise in inflation past the RBI’s 6% tolerance ceiling in October prompted many economists to push back their forecasts for the first cut to early next year. With the rupee at record lows against the dollar, standing pat makes sense. But economists at Nomura, one of the five out of 67 houses in the Reuters poll predicting a rate cut, argue that weakening growth dynamics must be taken into account now. Although the rupee has never been weaker, benchmark bond yields are at their lowest in almost four years, Indian stocks are lagging many of their regional peers, and the economy is growing at its slowest pace in nearly two years. Maybe the RBI should start the easing cycle sooner rather than later? Investors go into the final trading session of the week against a relatively calm global backdrop, all things considered. Any market impact from the political ructions in South Korea and France appears to be fading and contained, and the dollar’s dip on Thursday will be welcomed too. The dollar fell 0.5% on Thursday. It’s probably too early to read anything too deeply into it, but that was its third down day in a row, a losing streak not seen since September. It will take more than that – perhaps a return to the September lows, around 5% below current levels – to really call into question the dollar’s resilience, but could fatigue be setting in? Fatigue is something the U.S. economy doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of yet. The Atlanta Fed on Thursday raised its GDPNow model estimate for Q4 growth to a remarkable 3.3%. As investors fret about growth in Europe, China and many other key economies around the world, America appears to be the exception that continues to prove the rule. This is a double-edged sword for Asia. On the one hand it’s clearly good news as booming U.S. markets should lift all others. But if it lifts the dollar and Treasury yields, then global financial conditions tighten and capital is sucked towards the US. Indeed, net selling of Asian equities by foreigners in November was the highest since June 2022. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: – India rate decision – Japan household spending (October) – South Korea current account (October) (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Deepa Babington) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );With Republicans taking the Senate on Election Day, the new Majority Leader Sen. John Thune is set to make some big changes to the lawmakers’ work week. Considering the is set at $174,000, the American taxpayer should be dissatisfied to hear that under Sen. Chuck Schumer, they were in session just 102 days. Thune’s schedule was released by Punchbowl News Senior Congressional Reporter Andrew Desiderio on Thursday, showing the plan increased that to 180 days in session. NEWS: Here’s the 2025 Senate calendar. Just unveiled at GOP lunch. 180 in-session days. Compare that to just 102 this year. And 136 for House next year. Of note: —No recess until mid-March —Fridays! Reflection of Thune’s promises during leadership race — Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) Needless to say, we want our lawmakers working toward making President-elect ’s agenda a reality. Thune needs to use this time wisely and prove to Trump supporters he’s the right man for the job. Thune’s announcement as the new majority leader was not met with applause from fans. Commentator Gunther Eagleman gave Thune a stern warning on social media platform X, telling him, “We don’t want you. We don’t like you.” We don’t want you. We don’t like you. Best piece of advice, DON’T STAND IN OUR WAY. Either you’re with Trump or you’re not. Choose wisely. We are watching closely Thune. — Gunther EaglemanTM (@GuntherEagleman) Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called Thune “ 2.0.” McConnell 2.0 — Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) MAGA supporters have been quick to bring up Thune’s past , and The new work schedule is a start for Thune if he looks to prove his naysayers wrong. reported Tuesday on his plan to address the border and expiring tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term within the first 30 days of the President-elect’s next term. If we couple this schedule with those priorities, Thune should be able to make solid progress with a 53-47 majority, if his fellow do what voters expect in backing Trump. The humor behind the situation shouldn’t be lost when we consider Schumer’s calendar against Thune’s. The Senate seems to work less than the conservative one. Go figure. But until we see real action from Thune, this is all just wishful thinking, believing that the time will be used for what MAGA supporters want. We will know soon enough. We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. .BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took the helm of the Peronist party on Wednesday, vowing a comeback to take on the highly popular libertarian President Javier Milei, who took office last year. Kirchner has a daunting task ahead: reuniting the long-standing party that fractured after Milei's election. Until then, Milei was known as an eccentric economic commentator. Milei promised to oust those he deemed as the political elite and to take a chainsaw to the subsidy-heavy state. "When you have a crazy-looking neighbor who comes out in his backyard wielding a chainsaw ... even if he swears he won't do anything to me, I'm still going to lock myself in my house," Kirchner said of Milei on Wednesday. Kirchner ran in last year's election as the Peronists' vice presidential candidate, alongside then-Economy Minister Sergio Massa. Milei's approval rates after a year in office remain high as his austerity measures have steadily brought the South American nation's triple-digit inflation rates down. Kirchner was once the face of Peronism. She served two consecutive terms as president from 2007 to 2015, and was vice president under President Alberto Fernandez from 2019 to 2023. She has lost popularity in recent years as her legal challenges mounted. Last month, a court upheld her conviction for doling out state contracts to a friend, carrying with it a six-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban from holding office. Kirchner has denied wrongdoing and is expected to take the case to the nation's Supreme Court. (Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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More than 200 classrooms in Winnipeg public schools don’t meet the provincial target for teacher-to-student ratios in kindergarten through Grade 3, and that number is likely far higher due to incomplete data. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * More than 200 classrooms in Winnipeg public schools don’t meet the provincial target for teacher-to-student ratios in kindergarten through Grade 3, and that number is likely far higher due to incomplete data. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? More than 200 classrooms in Winnipeg public schools don’t meet the provincial target for teacher-to-student ratios in kindergarten through Grade 3, and that number is likely far higher due to incomplete data. the end of November, all city school divisions had published online dashboards in line with the provincial directive to make class size averages available to the public. The Kinew government asked divisions to meet a 1:20 ratio for all K-3 classes in 2024-25. Grade 4 to 8 class sizes have more leeway, with the goal of 1:25. Where those ratios were not met, school leaders were asked to devise a plan to bolster support for children — be it via reassigning educational assistants, introducing rotational teachers or otherwise — and submit it to the province before Nov. 30. From a divisionwide standpoint, River East Transcona, Seven Oaks and Winnipeg are meeting or come under the targets for both groups. Louis Riel and St. James-Assiniboia K-3 averages are slightly higher, at 20.3 and 20.2. Pembina Trails is an outlier with an average of 21.3 students in K-3 classes and 25.4 in the older elementary grades. Cameron Hauseman, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba with expertise in educational governance, called the rollout of new dashboards and their utility “very disappointing.” Hauseman noted the NDP initiative sought to make divisions more accountable to the public, but some are releasing high-level information and there is little consistency among the datasets. The Winnipeg School Division has launched an interactive hub that breaks down Sept. 30 enrolment at each school by grade with an option to review immersion-specific statistics. River East Transcona, the second largest in the province after WSD, has posted a PDF with Oct. 3 data. Others refresh their websites with real-time data. “The fact that they’ve just let their divisions run rampant and left them to their own devices in this regard (has) created a bit of a transparency sinkhole.” Given class sizes affect student outcomes, public reporting is valuable because parents can take ratios into account when enrolling children, and teachers can use it when job hunting, Hauseman said. The researcher said it can also help inform and explain decisions about changes to catchments and division boundaries. “In the event that class sizes are being seen to grow beyond (ratios), it could result in important conversations related to space in schools and/or the availability of teachers and (education assistants),” Sandy Nemeth, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, said in an email. Along with sharing the annual school funding announcement in February, Education Minister Nello Altomare said divisions were to begin reporting publicly on average class sizes this fall. At the time, Altomare – who has been on medical leave for the last two months – said his vision was for all divisions to run similar dashboards to the one operated by the Louis Riel School Division. The St. Vital board is known for its extensive data collection and reporting. Its online class size tracker, which is updated at the end of every school day, allows users to sort through building-level data and grade-specific averages at each site. As of Monday, the tracker shows 14 of LRSD’s 33 buildings with early and middle years programming have average ratios that surpass provincial targets. “The number only tells one part of the story.” Lavallee School has the lowest K-3 average with 17 students. École Sage Creek School is home to the division’s highest average – 22.9 pupils in those grades. Nemeth, a longtime trustee in LRSD, said some divisions would need additional technological or staff capacity to implement detailed dashboards. Superintendents and trustees were sent a reporting template on Sept. 23, and asked to make data public on their respective websites by the end of November. Hauseman said leaders appear to need more direction so there can be apple-to-apple comparisons. “The province has an obligation to step up and show some leadership in regards to transparency,” he said, noting that both Ontario and B.C. have impressively detailed reporting requirements in contrast to Manitoba. “It’s what they ran on as part of their policy platform, as part of their election campaign – and the fact that they’ve just let their divisions run rampant and left them to their own devices in this regard (has) created a bit of a transparency sinkhole.” Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The leader of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society welcomed the public datasets and their potential to be used by members to advocate for fair working conditions. DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES However, union president Nathan Martindale suggested classroom composition is just as important as class size. “The number only tells one part of the story... More often than not, students in any given classroom are presenting with a lot more challenges and needs than in previous years,” Martindale said. In a statement, Tracy Schmidt, acting minister of education, said the data reporting is “a first step” to help her office better understand where there are larger class sizes so officials can work with divisions to reduce them. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the . Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she joined the newsroom as a reporter in 2019. . Funding for the education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the . Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the . Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she joined the newsroom as a reporter in 2019. . Funding for the education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the . Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement Updated on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 6:13 PM CST: Clarifies when reports were submittedAmazon invests another $4 bn in AI firm Anthropic
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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Cornerback Taron Johnson is still agitated over the dud the Buffalo Bills defense produced in giving up season worsts in points and yards, while melting down on third down in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams last weekend. There’s no better time or opportunity to show how much better they are than this Sunday. That’s when the Bills (10-3) travel to play the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (12-1), who just happen to lead the NFL in scoring and feature the same dynamic style of offense as the Rams. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekLIVINGSTON — From the hillside above her home on Suce Creek, Maggie McGuane has a clear view of the property a Miami-based investment firm is eyeing for a luxury resort development. The lower boundary of the empty three-lot parcel is easily identifiable. It’s been planted in winter wheat, highlighting the right angles that form the property’s lower edge. The upper lot has more relief, stretching up a pine-dotted hillside. McGuane has climbed above the cottonwoods that shelter her house from Park County’s infamous wind — blowing moderately on a late October day — to explain why she finds a proposal to put 100 cabins, a restaurant and a spa in this tucked-away slice of Paradise Valley a “uniquely mysterious” prospect. The mystery pertains to peculiarities of the 90-acre property, which is still listed for sale, and the inscrutability of the parties involved: an out-of-state landowner named Robert Pappert whom McGuane has been unable to reach outside of communications with his attorney and Realtor, and Flex Capital Group, an out-of-state real estate developer that’s an unknown quantity here. McGuane has been unofficially appointed by her neighbors to lead the charge against the development, which has generated difficult conversations about zoning in the two months since the proposal came to light via an email exchange unearthed by a local nonprofit. McGuane and others argue that the development is out of alignment with the area’s predominantly rural character, and a poor fit for a community eager to avoid the breakneck development that’s reshaping nearby Bozeman, a rapidly growing college town of 57,000 that was recently crowned one of the country’s “coolest” small cities. Though McGuane is well aware of an outpouring of interest in the amenities Paradise Valley has to offer, aesthetic and otherwise, several features of Flex’s plan have challenged her understanding of the voracity of the land lust transforming Paradise Valley, the place she scattered the ashes of her mother, actress Margot Kidder, and the home she said she can’t imagine leaving. Suce Creek is a relatively tight drainage perpendicular to Paradise Valley, a wider valley that has long been a thoroughfare for ranchers raising cattle, anglers casting for trout in the Yellowstone River, and tourists eager to spot geysers, grizzlies, wolves and bison in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Even without a zoning district precluding the type of commercial resort development Flex has in mind, McGuane finds it hard to imagine more than 100 structures and 400 parking spaces packed into a 90-acre property with so much slope. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” McGuane said, going on to describe the land as “rattlesnake-crusted, barren [and] windblown.” “Barren” pertains to water availability, which McGuane said is “core to this battle,” especially given an active lawsuit between Pappert and neighboring landowners and the fact that several of her neighbors have had to redrill their wells in recent years in search of a reliable water supply. Pappert, a North Carolina-based dentist, acquired a right to some of Suce Creek’s water when he purchased the property in 2014. Since it’s not a particularly senior right, scant water is available to the property owner during the dry months. A three-year legal battle produced a recent water court ruling finding that Pappert is entitled to 40 miner’s inches of water (roughly 450 gallons per minute), but whether he has access to that water via an easement across his neighbor’s property remains legally unresolved. Another access issue pertains to roads. Though the property is just a few miles from two major north-south routes — Highway 89 and its cousin to the east, East River Road — Suce Creek Road is a gravel road prone to drifting in with snow when Park County’s winter winds kick up in earnest. Finally, there are concerns of the horned, hooved, furred and fanged variety. On a recent fall day, dozens of cattle roamed above a cattle guard posted with an “open range” sign. The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, just a couple of miles up-drainage from Pappert’s property, supports the kinds of large mammals that need distance from people to thrive, including moose and rarer animals. In 2006, a trio of teenage hikers spent nearly two hours tucked into the fetal position to protect themselves from a charging grizzly bear. Up on the hillside, McGuane takes a break from throwing a stuffed octopus for Penny, her copper-colored mutt, to relate the story of a black bear that frequented the drainage from 2018 to 2022. He was first seen as a small cub near her house. Her husband dubbed the bear Darren. McGuane’s not sure what happened to the bear, but she suspects a neighbor shot him. She knows plenty of people in Park County don’t share her views about large carnivores — or any number of natural resource issues, for that matter — which is part of the reason she’s been so struck by what she describes as consensus around the Suce Creek development. “It’s amazing to see everyone in agreement — and this is Park County-wide. I have grown up around these things being huge battles. This is my first experience with a proposal that, across the board, everyone thinks this is a bad idea,” she said. “This development has challenged all of our notions of how far things could go, how nonsensical the growth could be.” Like other residents of southwestern Montana, McGuane learned about the development from the Park County Environmental Council, a 34-year-old nonprofit perhaps best known for a successful multiyear campaign to fend off an exploratory gold-mining operation in nearby Emigrant Gulch that state environmental regulators permitted in 2017. Curious if murmurs about a new development in Suce Creek were founded, the group submitted a record request to the county planning department in early October. “This is my first experience with a proposal that, across the board, everyone thinks this is a bad idea.” The request produced about a dozen emails between Park County Planning Director Mike Inman and Nir Balboa, one of Flex’s managing partners. Balboa described the property’s location and inquired about what sort of environmental reviews would be required for a 100-cabin development sketched out in renderings for Flex projects in Utah and North Carolina that he described as “identical to” the company’s plans for Paradise Valley. The documents show small, flat-roofed cabins with lots of right angles and glass situated near 27,000 square feet of shared amenities: an airy 200-seat restaurant, a pair of indoor pools with a view into surrounding green space, an event space and a storefront for recreational gear. The renderings generated an immediate stir on social media. (“Tell these derivative traders that don’t give a flying damn about this place that they are not welcome here,” software executive and local lodge owner Jeff Reed wrote on his Facebook page shortly after Park County Environmental Council shared the renderings. “Make this an election issue for our county commissioners.”) Park County fields inquiries from developers trying to understand the regulatory lay of the land in the county “fairly frequently,” Inman told Montana Free Press in a recent interview. It doesn’t take long to give interested parties the broad outlines: There is a sign ordinance along Highway 89 as well as five smaller citizen-initiated zoning districts scattered throughout the county, but there is no county-wide zoning. Local review requirements for most commercial projects — including those like Flex’s — are therefore extremely limited, he said. Substantive project reviews would instead go through state agencies such as the Montana Department of Natural Resource and Conservation, which would examine the water-availability piece of the equation, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which would review project components pertaining to wastewater management and public waterworks. “Nobody wants things in their backyard, which we hear a lot, but there are no guardrails,” he said. Inman and the appointed, volunteer-staffed county planning board he works with spent several years developing a proposal for an agricultural and residential preservation zoning district (previously dubbed a “conflict mitigation zoning district”) that would have allowed local elected officials to weigh in on proposals like Flex’s, as well as other commercial enterprises such as tire dumps, asphalt plants, wind farms, chicken processing facilities and shooting ranges. County commissioners voted to put that proposal on ice in 2022, partly due to the logistical challenges of taking public comment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It generated intense interest: 226 pages of comments regarding the zoning proposal landed in county employee inboxes. In an interesting twist, anti-zoning and pro-zoning contingents banded together to halt it. One side argued that it went too far, and the other said it didn’t go far enough. “Fear runs both sides,” Inman said of the two camps’ unusual cooperation. “When you are operating out of fear, it is really difficult to have consensus and productive conversations.” The community fears that county planners are grappling with now underscore why it’s better to discuss growth before conflict around a specific proposal sharpens the debate, Inman said. “I’m really amazed at how [the Suce Creek proposal] has blown up, for something that may not even get built.” Whether Flex is casually interested in Pappert’s property or fully committed to pursuing a Paradise Valley development is a source of widespread speculation in Park County seat Livingston and beyond. Billed as an “innovation-oriented real estate investment firm with fully integrated acquisition, development and property management expertise,” Flex was founded in 2020 by real estate and hospitality executives with experience in the Miami and New York City real estate markets. The company did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment. Property owner Pappert declined to be interviewed, but the Realtor representing him told MTFP on Dec. 3 that Pappert is still accepting offers for the property, which has been listed intermittently since 2021. It’s currently listed for $3.9 million. In 2014, the year Pappert bought it, it was listed for $800,000. Park County Environmental Council Co-Director Max Hjortsberg said the Suce Creek proposal strikes him as a “very Big Sky-esque” development slated for an area that has retained its agricultural foundation and “quiet social fabric.” “This is indicative of a new type of development,” he said. “[We’re] being sought after by a different level of developer and investor.” Since the nonprofit received its record request, Hjortsberg said, it’s learned that Flex has approached at least two other Park County property owners with purchase offers. (They were declined.) “They’re doing their due diligence, so we think they’re very serious and definitely making a play at this development opportunity,” Hjortsberg said. Erica Lighthiser, Hjortsberg’s co-director, said she doesn’t particularly relish the marathon time commitment involved with zoning questions — “the ‘Z’ word,” she calls it — but she’s grateful that the Suce Creek prospect has reignited conversations about community planning. “We need something, because otherwise it’s this slow erosion of this ecosystem and this area where there’s a little development here, a little development there. And all of a sudden, we’re like everywhere else.” To Lighthiser’s relief, conversations about the Suce Creek development aren’t confined to social media — they’ve spilled over into the City-County Complex, the nexus of local government for the 18,000 people who live in Park County. Lighthiser said she’s encouraged that county residents voted in June to deny Referendum One, which would have repealed the county’s existing growth plan and effectively kneecapped a county-wide zoning initiative. To the chagrin of planning proponents, a sister initiative, Referendum Two, did pass. As a result, any new county growth policies — or amendments to the existing one passed in 2017 — won’t be implemented unless they garner the approval of voters living outside of Livingston and Clyde Park, Park County’s only incorporated communities. On Nov. 20, the commission held a workshop on growth before a standing-room-only crowd in the City-County Complex’s Community Room. Though the workshop wasn’t explicitly about the Suce Creek proposal — the county attorney advised against discussing developments that may eventually come before the commission — the project came up frequently in public remarks during the hour-long meeting. “We need something, because otherwise it’s this slow erosion of this ecosystem and this area where there’s a little development here, a little development there. And all of a sudden, we’re like everywhere else.” First up to the microphone was Suce Creek resident Richard Walker, who said Flex’s project would jeopardize his water and, by extension, his property value. He said five of the “dozen or so” families living in the drainage have had to drill deeper wells in the decade since he moved into the area, and he’s heard of similar issues in more southerly drainages. “If this property goes in at Suce Creek, the water usage is going to render our properties worthless,” he told commissioners. “We won’t have water.” A couple of attendees advised commissioners to consider their legacies, and to act proactively and swiftly to initiate county-wide zoning. Kevin Johnson, who described himself as living “within eyeshot of the Suce Creek project,” implored the commission to preserve Livingston and Park County’s “old-school charm.” Still others cautioned that without guardrails, the area is destined for the growth-related issues that have afflicted other communities like Bozeman and Big Sky. Leslie Fiegel with the Livingston Chamber of Commerce and It’s My Land, a landowner rights organization, offered a different view. Park County residents have had lots of opportunities to participate in planning discussions, she said, and the outcome “has played out the way that it should.” “This is not a time for political division. This is not a time for blaming others or companies that want to start a new business,” she told commissioners. “Thank you for what you’ve done up to this point. ... We have your back.” Park County’s three commissioners stayed quiet through most of the meeting. Toward the end, though, they opened a window into their views about where one person’s property rights end and another person’s start — the tension at the heart of so many land-use debates, both locally and West-wide. Mike Story, who is midway through his term, described the Suce Creek development and the discussions it’s engendered as “an ongoing thing” and encouraged Park County residents to keep reaching out for conversations. He said he’d like to see similarly packed meetings in Park County’s less populous areas — places like Clyde Park, Emigrant and Gardiner — “just [to] have ideas out there that we can look at.” Commission Chair Clint Tinsley, whose term is up at the end of this year, said there are options the commission can pursue now, but they’ll require a lot of hard conversations — a nod to how “beat up” commissioners have gotten in meetings about previous zoning proposals. “If the majority of this community wants zoning, that’s probably where we need to go,” said Tinsley, who formerly led Livingston’s public works department. His seat will be assumed by Jennifer Vermillion, a Shields Valley hay and pig farmer, in January. Brian Wells, an Emigrant business owner appointed to fill a commission vacancy in 2023 and recently elected to serve a four-year term, said in his careful drawl that he would like the planning department to evaluate growth-wrangling options that other counties with similar populations and political leanings have pursued. “We’re a pretty diverse and divided community,” he said, “but one thing we have in common [is] most everybody I talked to would like to see some kind of guardrails, some kind of protection.” For nearly two months, McGuane has made it her mission to learn the public and private tools Suce Creek residents can use to protect their drainage. They’ve mulled over county-wide zoning and citizen-initiated zoning, purchasing the property outright or encouraging a land trust to make an offer. No solution is perfect, McGuane says, so they’ve also hired an attorney to represent their interests if the sale goes through and Flex forwards their proposal to state regulators. (DEQ spokesperson Rebecca Harbage told MTFP on Dec. 3 that DEQ hasn’t fielded any proposals or outreach from Flex.) In the meantime, McGuane said she and her neighbors are “in a weird state of limbo.” But that status hasn’t been without benefits, she said. “This is the most perfect tiny example of the conflict all over the state. So much of it is just the conflict between people from remarkably varying backgrounds with big financial losses and gains on the line,” she said. “If we can do a good job working through this, I would love for this to be a good example for the rest of the state.” Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.
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