News you can use
News you can use
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In Montana, we pride ourselves on working together, fair dealing, finding common ground, and protecting our Montana values. Our fellow Montanans might not expect a former Republican governor, the current chair of the Libertarian Party, and the 2022 Independent candidate for the Eastern Congressional District of Montana to agree on a variety of issues. But, like our friends and neighbors, we too have a deep and abiding love for our state along with some fear that we’re losing the Montana we raised our families in, from H...
John stopped by and plunked a book the size of a dictionary onto my table. When we get together we invariably weave words into a maze of history, philosophy, politics: world situations as we see them. “Ah, just what I need,” I said as I scanned the title. “A large dose of depression.” He and I speak a similar style of tangents, so John rejoined with, “I read an article in the WP yesterday that implied we are lacking one main element in our outlook.” “Intelligen...
In looking back at the list of bills and resolutions the Education Committee has heard or are going to hear, this is what I found: 68 total bills were heard, of which 31 were potentially going to be a cost to the state, 21 of the total had at least one amendment, with one of those bills having three amendments. As an aside, let me take a moment to get into amendments. Now, amendments can come as friendly, which was most cases in our Education Committee. That being said, other committees have seen amendments that totally chang...
My husband, Peter, is trying to impress a local collie. Peter knows better than this. He had a collie for many years. Collies are not easily impressed. They have their own priorities and their own agenda and if it happens to coincide with yours, you can pretend they did something on your behalf — but you’d be lying to yourself. But Peter still loves collies. The current object of Peter’s affection is named Lassero and lives on a road Peter takes every day on his hike. Peter...
April is Alcohol Responsibility Month. As the weather begins to get warmer, it’s a great time for Montana families to start conversations about alcohol at home to prevent underage drinking. As the father of two adult children, I know firsthand that kids grow up fast. I also know it is critical parents are aware of risky behaviors. For some, discussing the dangers of underage drinking may have taken a backseat, but the conversations need to happen. Not only is underage drinking illegal, but it can have adverse effects on t...
I was going to move on from the whole drama of my illness, but I have one more thing to say about being sick and then I’ll let it go — my pets deserve a shout out for their cuteness during my time of need. It all started with the cat, Tony-O, who thought my having a fever was about the best thing ever, like having a cushioned furnace tucked into “his” bed, which, as a bonus, had a quilt and a down comforter add under his fuzzy blanket to give it extra cushiness. His life co...
School shootings and the bloody murders of totally innocent children and their teacher caretakers is a societal tragedy that Americans have become numb to. Without the common sense outlawing of the assault weapons used in most of these atrocities, the preventable horror will relentlessly continue, in our schools, most of them public schools. On the front line of the onslaught are the teachers. Until recently those who had an affinity for kids, and enjoyed learning and sharing with young people the joys of learning, entered...
A few weeks ago, well, several weeks ago, well, a whole lot of weeks ago, Michelle ordered a throw or small bedspread made from pieces of used saris. She spread out the throw for show and tell, differently patterned on each side, stitched together with white cotton thread, in a long running stitch, lines spaced a half inch apart, a very light quilt. I guessed the sari throw to be about 60 by 90 inches. Despite being made with used saris, the colors were vibrant, the patterns...
Anxiety likes numbers. I only recently realized that a lot of my anxiety fixates on meaningless numbers. I like to know how many there are of a particular thing and then attach meanings — usually sinister, sometimes hopeful, always unreasonable — to these numbers. How many words are in this column? Six hundred exactly. Why are there 600 words? Because I once read that 600 words was a good length for a column, I have always written exactly 600. Never more. Never less. But if...
We are now past the transmittal cutoff, which means the bills that did not make it from one house to the other in time are now dead, so to speak. No need to worry however, there are still plenty of bills to watch as they move through the bill-making process, some of which I have concerns about. The concerns are either wanting a bill to pass or hoping it dies. We had one of these concerning bills come through the Senate Tax Committee this last week. The short title of SB 511, introduced by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings,...
My grandma developed Alzheimer’s in her early 80s, which isn’t a particularly funny way to start a humor column because, of course, the disease is not funny. There were moments we could laugh, of course, because that’s what Burkes do, find humor. Like the time Dad stopped to visit Grandma, his mom, and found her playing cards with another care center resident. He asked them what they were playing and Grandma said, “Gin rummy.” At the same time, her fellow card sharp said, “Pi...
Over the past two years, Montanans watched the president’s attack on oil, coal and natural gas bring our nation to the brink of an all-out energy emergency. Gas prices rose to more than $5 a gallon and many Montanans are worried about how to heat their homes without breaking the bank. We aren’t the only country grappling with the effects of a leader who is unrealistic about our nation’s domestic energy needs. Over the course of the last decade, Europe tirelessly pursued a green agenda with the goal of being “climate-neutral...
If you want to know what's happening in America today, a good place to start is late comedian George Carlin's rant, “It's a big club, and you ain't in it.” In the Carlin worldview, people with money and connections run the country, and the most important club rule is: members always get theirs first; for everybody else it's maybe later or maybe not. March 13 Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte gave the club a win when he signed legislation providing more than $1 billion in tax relief, in the form of income tax cuts, business equ...
I grew up reading Hans and the brothers Grimm and Aesop. I love fairy tales and fables. Back then, we had the unexpurgated versions, full of blood and guts. I’m not saying that was better. I’m simply saying that is how it was. The stories, which I read over and over, never gave me nightmares nor did they leave me pining for the handsome prince to hack his way through the brambles and rescue me from the wicked step-mother. Naïve as I was, I knew that wouldn’t happen. A few mo...
Editor, The Republican party is in the process of destroying American democracy. Its organizers have infiltrated the highest echelons of state and federal government and have instigated acts of violence directed against elected officials. The threat is real and the target is the 2024 presidential election. Trump limped from the White House, roundly condemned for having instigated the insurrection Jan. 6 with the help of Republican lawmakers. The reality was stark and undeniable. Trump is a petty autocrat, willing to torch...
Editor, I was disappointed to hear that the health care focus in President Biden’s 2024 budget proposal is centered around implementing more government price controls and raising taxes on Americans. Our health care system needs work, but this type of policy should not be at the top of the priority list. Instead, President Biden and others should look into the practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). PBMs control a majority of the prescription medications people need in Montana and across the country with little to no o...
My husband, Peter, and I are staying in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, which is, according to a lot of folks, a tourist town. Sometimes, the person saying this means it is not a place they would want to spend time. This puzzles me. I’m not sure why a town known for meatpacking or manufacturing would be a better place to spend time than a town known for tourism. But I respect anyone’s right to spend time wherever they want, and Peter and I are happy in San Miguel, in large par...
As we come back after the break, we are beginning to see and hear many of the House bills that were moved to the Senate just before the transmittal deadline. I thought it might be helpful to recap just some of the types of bills we see over the course of the session. Many bills are agency requested legislation that cleans or fixes language in existing law. An example of one cleanup bill would be HB 266. An advisory council was set up for a concealed weapon permit back a few years ago. Now a bill has been passed to eliminate...
Montanans have long fought to make sure that hunting is available for all, equitably, and not just reserved for the wealthy and well-connected. This is so important that when many of us agreed to join — and some of us helped start — the Montana Citizens Elk Management Coalition (MCEMC), we made sure that this was paramount to our many goals. The group agreed, to the point that the “Who We Are” page of the website states, succinctly: “we are a diverse group of Montana hunters who seek to improve relations with landowner...
It seems only fitting that a recent push to define and enforce some kind of time zone system on the moon has a link to the word lunacy. The Associate Press reported Feb. 28 the European Space Agency requested that the moon to have its own time zone. In response, a joint international effort, with all the countries participating in the race back to the moon, is being launched to create what one navigation system engineer called “a common lunar reference time.” The current spa...
Every student of government learns about the three independent branches of government. Succinctly put, the legislative branch writes the law; the executive branch administers the law; and the judicial branch interprets the law. The key word is “independent.” I have been fortunate to work for both the legislative and judicial branches. My 15 years in the judicial branch — as a law clerk, mediator, and court administrator — put me in the circle of a number of outstanding state district court judges including the Honorab...
Lola is a dog. See Lola run. Lola barks. Hear Lola bark. Lola is a working dog. She takes her duties seriously. She makes sure her master (Mistress? Mattress? Whatever.) goes outside her garden gate for regularly scheduled walks along with frequent unscheduled walks. Lola sees that I get regular doses of cool wet nose on my knee. She assures that I sink my fingers into her thick neck hair with great regularity. Lola keeps me safe. As Lola became acquainted with my friends and...
Montana state legislators are grappling with what to do with the state’s historic $2.5 billion budget surplus. This surplus is a result of higher-than-predicted income tax revenues as well as federal legislation that provided billions in funds to states over the last year. Many good options have been put forth by both political parties on how to best spend the surplus, but another tax break for the wealthiest folks in the state is not one of them. Senate Bill 121, Gov. Greg Gianforte’s tax cut proposal, aims to lower the tax...
Editor: Senate Bill 298 is a bill allowing disabled hunters to use crossbows in archery season. There is adaptive equipment available but does not fit all people. SB 298 would allow disabled Montanans to spend family time in the warmer weather for many disabled people have impaired circulation, putting us at disadvantage during colder weather. I cannot hold a bow horizontally nor for any length of time. Nineteen surgeries on my back and arms makes shooting regular bow impossible. The number of Montanans who would qualify is v...
I spent last week trying to be useful. I volunteered for a writers’ conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where my husband, Peter, and I stay. I love writers’ conferences. I love that people will travel from far away just to talk about writing, to meet other writers, to learn about writing, to listen to established writers, and to eat. It was a terrific week, although it was tiring because I ended up as the designated conference sheepdog. Every event of this kind nee...
