2004 a year of growth, grizzlies and Democrats

Here's our top 10 stories of 2004.

1 Growth. The Flathead Valley continued to grow at a breakneck pace in 2004. Columbia Falls was no exception, with dozens of homes going up, including Teakettle Vista II, an expansion of a subsidized senior housing complex. With growth came plenty of fights. South Nucleus Avenue residents complained about a subdivision at the end of the street because of the density of housing units there. Riverwood Estate folks weren't too happy about annexation into the city, as were folks living in the Vans Avenue neighborhood.

Why?

Annexation into the city limits ultimately means a stiff hike in taxes and other fees for folks living there.

Meanwhile, the city and the county argued about planning boundaries. The city wanted a say as far away as Columbia Heights. The county put the kibosh on that. Meanwhile, a county study showed that growth costs more than its worth.

Why all this growth? There's a couple of reasons. For one, the draw of the mountains and rural lifestyle Montana has to offer is attractive in the post 9/11 world. Secondly, money is cheap. Interest rates are at all time lows, fueling the building boom. Lastly, one planner pointed to the "fifth migration," where folks are moving to idealized sections of the country. With advances in Internet technology and an international airport just minutes away, folks are finding they can do business anywhere.

Unless interest rates skyrocket in 2005, or there's a large recession, the Flathead looks poised to grow even more in the next year.

2 Democrats. While the rest of the nation was going decidedly Grand Old Party, Democrats in Montana and the Flathead made significant gains. In Flathead County, Democrat Joe Brenneman defeated Republican Denise Cofer by just 135 votes. Brenneman, after Cofer requested and got a recount, won 18,675 to 18,540. It was one of the largest election turnouts in Flathead County history.

Brenneman ran as a moderate Democrat and garnered support from moderate Republicans. Cofer ran on a conservative platform and had the backing of former county commissioner Dale Williams. The result was a squeaker race.

Statewide, Montanans elected Democrat Brian Schweitzer over Republican Bob Brown. Both are Whitefish residents. Democrats also took over the state Senate and are tied in the House. Tuesday, the Montana Supreme Court ruled Democrat Jeanne Windham tied Rick Jore in House District 12 after it found fault with ballots that were credited to Jore.

Now that Windham has prevailed, Democrats will tie Republicans in the House, 50-50. The ruling also creates a Democrat majority leader in the House, because the majority leader, under state law, is the same party as the sitting governor.

3 The War in Iraq hit home on several fronts. Several local soldiers either left for tours of duty or came home from tours of duties. Memorable story was of Mickie Gibson Pearson, a Navy medic who treated wounded soldiers and wounded Iraqis during her tour of duty. Pearson saw the worst of the war-horrible injuries the result of "improvised explosive devices," military speak for homemade bombs designed to blow up troops and civilians.

More recently, Marine Cpl. Raleigh C. Smith, 21, of Troy, was killed in action Thursday in Iraq.

4 The Going-to-the-Sun Road. Once again the Sun Road made news as Glacier National Park gears up for a massive overhaul of the highway. The only glitch? Federal funding. Congress failed to pass a multi-year highway spending bill, which included funds earmarked for the highway.

Still, the highway is undergoing about $3 million in repairs and should see $5 million more this year. The Park is also testing out buses to use as shuttles to reduce traffic on the road if, or when, construction gets in full swing.

5 Train derailments. There were three local train derailments in 2004, including an April derailment that spilled hundreds of tons of corn. The spill took most of the summer to clean up and the area was patroled to keep bears from the con. Even so, one sow grizzly was killed by a train.

6 The threat of a coal mine in the Canadian Flathead as well as coal bed methane development there had folks here in a stir. The coal mine died after the British Columbian Ministry of mines canceled the mine. A plan to lease coal bed methane development rights in the Canadian Flathead also died after no company bid on leases offered by the Canadian government. Both projects could have had significant impacts on water quality in the North Fork of the Flathead here in the United States.

7 Hantavirus. Deputy Glacier National Park Superintendent Jerry O'Neal died of hantavirus in March. Despite an investigation by Flathead County Health officials, they were unable to pinpoint exactly where he contracted the deadly illness. The park has yet to name a successor the post.

8 Plane crash miracle. After a Forest Service plane went down en route to the Schafer Meadow Airstrip in the Great Bear Wilderness, it was presumed everyone onboard was killed when it slammed into the side of Mount Liebig. Somehow, Forest Service employees Jodee Hogg of Billing and Matthew Ramige of Jackson Hole managed to survive and after two days in the wilderness were able to find help.

The story garnered international attention.

Killed in the crash were Forest Service employees Ken Good, Davita Bryant and contract pilot Jim Long of Columbia Falls.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

9 Bad year for grizzlies. The number of grizzly bears killed this year in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem was at its highest level since 1974. Humans killed at least 31 grizzly bears in 2004. The big increase was due in part to a poor huckleberry crop, which had bears in the valleys more than usual, and folks not taking care of garbage. Thirteen bears were killed due to management reasons, while 10 were poached or killed illegally. Also, 30 black bears were killed on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, most because they were getting into garbage.

10 School funding. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit organized by School District 6 Superintendent Michael Nicosia. The suit, which eventually garnered support by districts across the state, claimed the state's school funding formula was unconstitutional. It also claimed the state was failing to adequately fund education. The state Supreme Court agreed. Now lawmakers are expected to work on different ways to fund schools this legislative session. There's a variety of opinions out there, from a statewide sales tax to simply putting more state money into schools instead of elsewhere.