Montana, at your service

It was wonderfully sunny and we wanted to get some fresh air. We zigzagged around the buildings and ended up at the 5,000-pound, bronze Grizzly Bear statue, installed way back in 1969 at the heart of campus. We read the plaque with the names of the visionary folks who did the work more than five decades ago, gazed up at the concrete “M” on Mount Sentinel and admired University Hall at the head of the Oval.

As we headed away from campus, now hours since we had started our day with breakfast, a cup of coffee and the print edition of the Missoulian at City Brew, I couldn’t brush aside that feeling that it was time to check email.

I don’t like emails to pile up, plus I believe I work a job that requires me to stay aware — whether it’s the weekend or not. I loaded my work account on my cellphone and, admittedly, was glad to see only a few messages. I began browsing.

The third email was a good one. Here it is in full (and I asked Susan for her permission to publish and include her name):

Why has there been so little coverage of the proposed Bell Crossing Roundabout? Only the Ravalli Republic ran a story on the MDT open houses, but the Missoulian (we subscribe to both papers) has not mentioned the project although it will have an impact on almost everyone who travels Highway 93 in the Bitterroot Valley. Almost no one to whom I’ve spoken thinks the roundabout is a good idea and would much prefer a signal similar to the ones installed in Victor and Stevensville.

You might be asking, how is this a “good” email? Susan isn’t satisfied with our coverage of a proposed local traffic project and has lodged a complaint, after all.

Here’s how I see it: Susan wants to know more, she cares enough to ask, and she’s putting her trust in us to go find answers for her.

The roundabout at Bell Crossing does, indeed, have some controversy around it, and the Montana Department of Transportation has been working to both raise awareness and gather feedback through a series of open house events in the Bitterroot Valley.

The last of those meetings is Thursday, Aug. 29, from 2-8 p.m inside the library at Stevensville High School, 300 Park Ave. MDT “studied multiple improvement alternatives, including a stop light,” according to its website, but determined a roundabout to be the “safest option.” Construction could begin next spring or summer.

In my response to Susan, I assured her we would pursue additional reporting to publish in both news markets as MDT reveals more about the future of traffic flow at the Bell Crossing and U.S. 93 intersection in Victor.

If you live elsewhere in Montana, what happens at Bell Crossing likely doesn’t matter much to you. What does? Local journalism is meant to be a two-way street; we serve you better when you tell us what you want from us, and you know more about your local surroundings when we do our job.

When there’s dirt being moved around or paper on windows, we have business reporters like David Erickson in Missoula and Lillian Palmer in Billings who will find out what’s going on and tell you.

Want to know what’s happening on the entertainment scene? It’s a good bet Jake Iverson in Billings or Cory Walsh in Missoula could tell you.

I wouldn’t believe you if you told me there’s a more knowledgeable Superfund reporter in Montana than Duncan Adams in Butte. Jessica Abell is a whirlwind of award-winning local journalism in Ravalli County. Our State Bureau crew of Holly Michels, Seaborn Larson, Victoria Eavis and Carly Graf is deeply connected and remarkably talented.

So much of our reporting is complemented by brilliant photography, too, whether it’s Amy Lynn Nelson in Billings, Joe Scheller in Butte or Ben Allan Smith in Missoula. There are thousands of shots every month on our family of local news websites and mobile apps.

I am appreciative when readers like Susan take time to share feedback. We should always be talking, exchanging ideas, sharing thoughts.

I’ll end with the same words I wrote to finish my first column in February …

Local journalism is the heart of my profession. It uniquely matters. Let’s start talking about the stories that matter to you.