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  • Looking out my backdoor: Give thanks in all things

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Nov 25, 2022

    I remember the Thanksgiving when Ben first brought his girlfriend, Shea, to dinner. We had the traditional meal, turkey nicely browned, all the side dishes. I asked everyone to share some one thing they felt especially thankful for that day. Years later my daughter-in-law, Shea, told me how my request had terrified her. None of her family talked about gratitude. Poor Shea. On top of being scared to share something personal, she had been scared to meet me. My children! Both of...

  • Letter to the Editor - All bereaved parents, grandparents, siblings, and those who support them

    Updated Nov 22, 2022

    The North Central Montana Compassionate Friends, along with the National Compassionate Friends, is participating in the 23rd annual World Wide Candle Lighting in remembrance of those children gone too soon. The death of a child is devastating and it’s important to the family that the child always be remembered. That’s why our chapter, based in Fort Benton, will take part in this worldwide event designed to honor the memories of all children, regardless of age, who have died. The North Central Montana Chapter, along with hun...

  • The Postscript: Newcomers

    Carrie Classon|Updated Nov 22, 2022

    My husband, Peter, and I feel like social butterflies. We certainly are not. But it feels as if we are because we are staying in a new city and finding it is easier to make new friends than any time since we were children. When Peter and I moved back to Minnesota to be closer to our family, we missed our old routines and the friends we used to spend time with. Moving to a new city did not bring with it a lot of new friends. Everyone already had friends. Peter and I saw a lot...

  • From the Fringe … : Thank you, Craig Mueller, you will be missed

    George Ferguson|Updated Nov 18, 2022

    As our district and our community pay tribute to Craig Mueller Saturday, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you, something I wish I could have said more often. Craig was an incredible ambassador for Havre Public Schools, and as someone who has coached in the district for 20-plus years now, I couldn’t be more appreciative for the way he worked diligently to help make HPS and everything within our system what it is today. I got to know Craig first as a principal...

  • View from the North 40: FYI, change is hard

    Updated Nov 18, 2022

    Turns out, change can be like fertilizer for the brain. I was in a rut. Then I moved into a home that’s very much under construction, and now life is a struggle to achieve an average, everyday level of existence. The drama from last week continues, but we’re better fed. The biggest update on our move into the home construction zone is that we now have a stove. I know it’s rude to brag, but I just have to gush about the fact that the stove has an oven, too. We’re trying to stay grounded, cook simple foods that the common...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: Old dog, new tricks, old tricks

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Nov 18, 2022

    Michelle, knowing me to be, shall we say, frugal, loaned me a copy of a reprinted book entitled “The American Frugal Housewife.” The book, written by Lydia Child, was first published in 1833. Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy. In caps. Mrs. Child wrote the lyrics, but was not well known, but wrote a song for children, “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.” Anyone my generation knows that song. I’m sure you youngsters can find it o...

  • Letter to the Editor - Congress needs to follow Tester's lead on pharmacy benefit managers

    Updated Nov 15, 2022

    Dear editor, Last month, at a constituent town hall, Sen. Jon Tester stood up for patients not just in Montana, but across the country. He said pharmacy benefit managers — PBMs — have been preying on our pharmacies and Medicare patients for years, and he cannot identify any real value that they bring to the health care space. I appreciate that our senator is being so vocal about this issue because I couldn’t agree more. For the last serval years, PBMs and their sneaky practices have gone under the radar. For far too long...

  • Thanks to our veterans

    Updated Nov 15, 2022

    Firstly, I want to take a moment to recognize our veterans. Many Montanans, including myself, have served in a branch of our military. I am proud to be a veteran and thankful to every single one of you who have kept our country safe through your sacrifice, combat duty, and dedication to protecting our country and our freedom. Well, the 2022 election is over. I want to thank everyone for the great support in this past general election, with a special thanks to folks who allowed a campaign sign on their property. The wind did...

  • Letter to the Editor - Thanks for your support

    Updated Nov 11, 2022

    Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement throughout this campaign. We all hold unique ideas and ways of thinking, but this campaign showed that, no matter what walk of life anyone comes from, we all can work together for the common good and achieve any goal we set out to do. Most importantly, this campaign was conducted respectfully. Maliciousness and hostility are not required to make positive change, and people saw and embraced that. For the first time in decades, maybe ever, many people stepped out of...

  • View from the North 40: Worse things have happened in the history of the world

    Pam Burke|Updated Nov 11, 2022

    After 33 years of threatening to leave our ancient, cheap trailer house, it finally took charge and kicked us out — which seems like an appropriately blunt-edged end to an often-contentious era and an appropriately chaotic beginning to the next. My husband, John, started the whole thing. I don’t mean that as an accusation, I’m just saying that after five years of plugging away at converting part of our big shop into a house and three years of him telling everyone that we’re...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: Time and time again

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Nov 11, 2022

    Sunday, here in Mexico, we pushed time back an hour. Whew. Hard work, pushing. Guess what? It’s the Last Time. I don’t mean the End of Times. Or the end of time, as relative a concept as time happens to be. The Mexican governing body voted to hang out in Standard Time, forever and ever, amen. I’m happy with that decision. I have no reason to complain. I don’t live by the clock. I don’t need to get up at zero-dark-thirty to go to work. Nevertheless, I’m happy to stay on one...

  • The Postscript: Stubby's chance

    Carrie Classon|Updated Nov 8, 2022

    I am delighted to report that my mother has come around. I have been lobbying my mother for months to take pity on a little red squirrel who had acquired a great fondness for her, demonstrating his devotion by digging up all her flowerpots and gazing at her for minutes at a time through the window. My mother spent the summer shooing him off the deck and telling him to “scram” when she saw him through the window. “He loves you, Mom.” “I don’t love him!” The little squirr...

  • View from the North 40: Art, art, blew me all apart

    Pam Burke|Updated Nov 4, 2022

    Me on Wednesday: I should never, ever, ever listen to myself when I have an idea. Ever. I know this, and yet, I fall for it over and over, again. Repeatedly. Fair enough, I really do know better than to listen to myself. Or I should know that. After all the injuries — physical, mental and emotional. All the wrong roads followed, both actual and metaphorical. All the pride swallowed, the dignity lost, the ego trammeled. After all these years, I still get pulled in by myself s...

  • Letter to the Editor - Mueller will be missed for his support

    Updated Nov 4, 2022

    Editor, As president of the Friends of Music Booster Club for the music department of Havre Public Schools, I had the absolute pleasure to work with Havre Superintendent Craig Mueller. Not only did he support the arts within the school district, but he personally put himself out in front of the School Board and the entire surrounding community to bring attention to these unbelievably talented groups of kids. When we as parents thought we were defeated, he stepped in and made sure the Havre High Marching Band went to...

  • Montana medical students oppose LR-131

    Updated Nov 4, 2022

    As medical students wanting to practice medicine in Montana, it is chilling to see LR-131 on our ballot. This initiative would put medical workers at risk when they provide compassionate care for infants who are born too early to survive or have life-limiting birth defects. We are likely to second-guess our intention to practice medicine in Montana if we can be criminalized and prosecuted for providing medical care that is within the scope of our practice, and the best possible care for our patients’ needs. Parents e...

  • The end of a love affair?

    Updated Nov 4, 2022

    I have loved the state of Montana since I moved here in the fall of 1990. Nothing has ever made me wonder if I should move until now. I have had three children born in Havre and raised them all here. I am the only useful parent my children have. I’m still very active in their lives. There is a referendum proposed in the upcoming Montana election that would threaten my freedom to provide health care to Havre and the surrounding communities. And it threatens my freedom to be an important part of my children’s lives. You may won...

  • Vote!

    Updated Nov 4, 2022

    As the campaign season winds down and we cast our ballots, I want to thank the residents of House District 28 for the kindness they have shown me over the past several months as I have listened to their hopes and ideas for a better Montana. It’s energizing and hopeful discussing the future of our state as I’ve taken my campaign to the porches, driveways, garages and lawns of folks in and around Havre. If there’s one resounding, consistent message I’ve heard over and over again from people of every political persuas...

  • Stand with anyone - if they are right

    Updated Nov 4, 2022

    America, and Montanans in particular, are blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants. Fortunately for us, wise and brave leaders have shown us the way forward to fulfill the idea and ideals of America. While our country has fallen short of those lofty goals from time to time, those aims are true and worthy of pursuit. And America soldiers on. As a young girl, I thrilled to the courage and wisdom of American leaders, long dead, whose thoughts and actions provided a road map to America, the beacon of hope to our world. I...

  • Letter to the Editor - Thanks for supporting United Way

    Updated Nov 1, 2022

    United Way of Hill County would like to thank the following businesses and individuals for supporting our 2022 Crab Boil Fundraiser. This event would not be possible without the great support of our community! Lewis Heating and AC Gusto Distributors Taco Treat Valley Furniture Montana Style Events Grateful Bread Ben Franklin Crafts Brandan Nissen Wild Thistle Boutique Northwestern Energy Annette Swinney Cottonwood Theatre Bear Paw Credit Union Betsi Knight Subway Bearly Square Quilting Terry Lilletvedt 406 Roasting Havre...

  • The Postscript: Rushing the season

    Carrie Classon|Updated Nov 1, 2022

    My husband, Peter, says they are rushing the season. I’m not sure who “they” are. The Christmas Cartel, perhaps. The vast conspiracy of premature holiday merrymakers. Whoever they are, Peter does not approve. And he does have a point. There are still life-size skeletons scaling the walls of a huge brick house I walk by every day. The remains of jack-o’-lanterns are still sitting on the stoops — although the squirrels have eaten off most of their faces, making them much scarier...

  • LR-131 will have devastating implications

    Updated Nov 1, 2022

    Nov. 8, my fellow Montana voters and I will decide on a ballot measure that will have devastating implications for pregnant patients and their families. LR-131, or the “Born-Alive Infant Protection Act,” would introduce extreme consequences for clinicians who provide compassionate care for dying infants Proponents of LR-131 will tell you this measure will save babies. And they will tell you that the devastating pregnancy complications that lead to infant loss are “mythical situations.” As a high risk obstetrician who has bee...

  • Providers shouldn't face jail time for providing compassionate care

    Updated Nov 1, 2022

    Montana health care providers shouldn’t face extreme felony penalties when providing compassionate medical care. That’s why our state’s health care leaders ask you to vote no on ballot initiative LR-131. Montanans will find the initiative LR-131, known as the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act, on the back of their ballots, placed there by the 2021 Montana Legislature. As medical experts concerned about misleading information surrounding LR-131, we’d like to make the message clear — the measure poses harm to both families...

  • Letter to the Editor - January 6, 2021

    Updated Oct 27, 2022

    Editor, Here’s what was really happening on January 6th, 2021: • Gas was $1.93/gallon • There was zero inflation • Supply-chain was functioning well • Economy was strongest in 50 years • The border was controlled and secure • The Taliban was not armed with U.S. artillery • There were plenty of workers to fulfill labor needs • The stock market was at a record high • 401K’s had record-high values • Interest rates were at a record low • Our National Oil Reserves were full • We were energy independent with our own oil • We were...

  • Letter to the Editor - Thanks for having an excellent hospital in Havre

    Updated Oct 27, 2022

    Editor, In mid-August, I experienced a very traumatic and serious accident in my own backyard. I fractured most of my ribs an the left side and my left arm. I was transported immediately by ambulance to Northern Montana Hospital. I was treaded by emergency room, X-ray lab and intensive care unit for eight days, medical surgery for nine days, physical therapy and rehabilitation. These medical teams were all professional, efficient and provided excellent care. I am a registered nurse, so I feel very qualified to make this...

  • View from the North 40: You are who you are, until you aren't

    Pam Burke|Updated Oct 27, 2022

    Just be yourself. You are who you were born to be. You are unique and wonderful, don’t ever change. You’re never going to change, are you. Are you? A popular, widely supported theory about personality is that five traits pretty much account for our entire personality: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Don’t worry, each trait is measured on a scale, not as an either/or situation. Yes, the science world agrees that we are a...

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