Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
A Havre native’s candidacy for the state Legislature has been featured with a national interview on MTV’s “Think” Web site. An interview with Republican Kyle Austin, who faces third-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Bob Bergren in the race for House District 33, has been posted in the politics section. 1997 Havre High School graduate K’Lynn Sloan, who has been covering the Montana election as a correspondent for MTV’s Choose or Lose Street Team '08, interviewed Austin and posted the three-minute interview, “Reppin’ on the Range.” In a press release, Sloan said she realized that after almost a year of covering the election, she had written nothing about her hometown. She thought that, as her coverage has focused on the involvement of youth in the election, profiling Austin, 26, who returned to Havre after receiving his degree in pharmacy from the University of Montana and announced his candidacy for the Legislature this year, could inspire other young Montanans to become involved in the political process. The interview includes a video of Austin in Havre and at his grandfather’s farm east of Havre, of which he is taking over the operation. In the interview, Austin outlines several of his positions including his knowledge of the health care industry as a pharmacist, which he says will help him address issues in health care if elected On Tuesday, Nov. 4, and his knowledge of the agricultural industry. Austin also is pushing for labeling Montana agricultural produce as Montana-made, which he says would allow marketing the produce worldwide for a higher premium. Bergren has also pushed for ag labeling, sponsoring a bill which passed in the Legislature requiring country-of-origin labeling. Last February, Bergren said he hoped the state law would help Montana’s Congressional delegation pass a national law implementing labeling, which did pass this year. Austin said that is a good first step, but thinks a Montanaorigin label will help state producers even more. Austin also discusses his view on the Second Amendment. Austin says he wants to deregulate gun ownership, that everyone has a right to defend themselves and everyone has a right to own a gun. Bergren, while not proposing deregulation, has said that as a gun-owner himself he will also stand for Second Amendment rights. Sloan, a graduate of the UM Department of Radio- Television, will also be appearing on the Montana PBS election night coverage, the release said. The Austin interview can be found at www.streetteam08.com and clicking on Sloan’s profile or directly at: http://think.mtv. com/profile/KLynn_MT.
