Feeding from the trough

John Stokes, owner of Kalispell's KGEZ Radio and Flathead Valley's resident bully, has received lots of bad press over the years. He called a Holocaust survivor a cheap whore. He suggested that local businesses have a sale on white sheets in honor of Martin Luther King Day. He burned swastikas at his station to intimidate local conservationists, whom he calls "Green Nazis." He encouraged listeners to call in bomb threats to the Montana Capitol. He allowed local militia activists to use the public airwaves to promote anti-government ideologies. Overall, he created an atmosphere where threats and intimidation sought to replace community dialogue and the democratic process.

Possibly his next media appearance will be on NBC's regular news feature called The Fleecing of America. Despite devoting hundreds of hours on the radio to bashing wasteful government spending, Stokes couldn't wait to feed from the trough. Recently, Stokes settled a long-running lawsuit against the Montana Department of Transportation. Stokes was awarded $400,000 of state money, which far exceeded the market value for the miniscule piece of property the state needed for the expansion of Highway 93. However, even this amount of taxpayer money wasn't enough for Stokes.

During the lawsuit, Stokes claimed the sliver of land in question was worth $1 million or $4.7 million, depending on his mood. One of Stokes' major claims was that he would have to move his station due to the highway expansion. Like the propaganda he spews over the airwaves, Stokes' reasoning lacked any basis in fact. He stayed on the air during the highway expansion, and his station continues broadcasting today. More likely, Stokes wanted to use millions in taxpayer money to upgrade his archaic broadcasting equipment, build a new station, and pay off the investors who financed his purchase of KGEZ for $665,000 in 2000.

For somebody who champions free-market capitalism, Stokes' desire for the state to subsidize his business sounds very much like socialism. While complaining about excessive taxes and government spending, he hijacked money from Montanans. The next time you find yourself complaining about the condition of a rural highway, send a thank you to John Stokes. Instead of using it on a needed project, $400,000 has been taken from the public coffers to satisfy Stokes' greed.

Travis McAdam.