News you can use
News you can use
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Last week, Montana hunters and anglers got our first sense of the direction that Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte wants to take public land, access to critical hunting and sport fishing habitat, state parks and Montana’s $7.1 billion recreation economy. Gianforte offered an unbalanced slate of names of those who will be advising him on new leadership for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and the Fish and Wildlife Commission. Hunters and anglers in Montana better be prepared to speak up and act to protect our s...
That famous movie clip from “Man from Snowy River” showing the epic scene, with the hero launching his horse off the top of a mountain and galloping headlong down the near-vertical mountainside, made its rounds on the internet again this week. I remember when the movie was released and horse people couldn’t get enough of that scene, some out of excitement, some horror, and everyone wanted to own or at least ride in an Aussie stock saddle. That’s all pretty much still true to...
Editor, I respectfully request that Congress pass the Recognizing Motorsports Act, H.R. 5434/S. 2602, in 2020. The bipartisan RPM Act protects the right to convert an automobile or motorcycle into a race car used exclusively at the track. Modifying a vehicle into a race car is an integral part of America’s automotive heritage. Many types of racing, including NASCAR, were founded on the premise that street vehicles, including motorcycles, can be converted into dedicated racing vehicles. Racing events are an economic driver f...
I have always loved Thanksgiving. I love that it is a holiday built around a full table and homemade treats. I love the recipes handed down on index cards that only get made once a year and traditions that bring back childhood memories and the chance to use linen napkins and the idea that sitting around a table — just sitting around a table — is reason enough to celebrate. I think it might be my favorite holiday. I like that expectations are reasonably low and yet the hol...
We the undersigned clergy, representing diverse faith communities across the state of Montana, pledge to do all in our power to keep our congregations and communities healthy and safe in the midst of this pandemic. While we have varying practices and theologies, all our traditions hold life as sacred and believe the imperative to protect and preserve life outweighs all other considerations. Our state and our country are facing a crisis and we must meet this challenge together. As people of faith, we trust in a higher power...
I don’t remember not loving words. I could read and write before I entered school. Granted, it was pretty rudimentary stuff – because, y’know, I’m clever, but I’m not that level brilliant – but still, once you have bat down pat cat, fat and sat aren’t much of a stretch. (See what I did there? Just a wee, little crack-me-up.) I don’t remember it, but I figure my parents must’ve read to me a lot when I was a kid. I do remember asking my dad to spell things for me or tell me wha...
The Montana Nurses Association continues to be incredibly proud of the Montana nurses serving our communities during the COVID pandemic. As they have done from the start, nurses are heroically serving at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis to care for Montanans despite the severe risks to themselves and their families. Nurses working across all health care settings and specialties are essential to combating COVID-19. Unfortunately, nearly 400 nurses in the United States have died due to COVID-19, and many others have been...
Some weeks are like this. Nothing happens. My mind is either too restless to settle or too restful to notice. My son Ben and his girlfriend, Kristen, are recovering from the COVID virus. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry. He told me only this much, “We are getting better but have no energy.” I am grateful for all your prayers and best wishes for my kids. Beyond that, I have nothing of importance to impart. This week nothing more obnoxious than silverfish has invaded the intimat...
“I’m going to bake bread!” my husband, Peter, announced. Inwardly, I said, “Oh, no.” Baking bread is not easy — until it is. Every person I know who bakes bread will agree. If there’s someone out there who tried baking bread for the first time and it was a great success, I would like to hear about it because, in my experience, you have to bake a lot of bad bread before you bake anything close to edible. I was afraid Peter was about to find this out. But what I said was, “Gr...
First off, I want to congratulate and thank our local county election officials for a job well done. All four of the counties in my district, Cascade, Chouteau, Liberty and Hill, have handled the new rules that were handed down from the state and implemented them in time for election night. Having been directly involved in elections for over 20 years, I have personally seen the strain these folks are put under to make sure our elections are done right. Again, thank you. The national election and Montana elections are over...
A May 31, 2017, headline on NBCNews.com says, “One in Four Americans Has a Clutter Problem.” I know that’s true because my husband and I are related to every last one of ones with the problem, evidence that my point has validity. I don’t know this scientifically, but I have a pretty good hunch that by the time we are of adult age we start having moments when we think about our parents and grandparents getting older, ourselves getting older, too. We intellectually underst...
My son and his fiancé are both sick with the dread coronavirus. I had not heard from him so I hounded him, knowing something was wrong. Ben managed to send me a two line email letting me know they were home in bed with a nurse coming regularly. Aside from that, I know nothing except they are too ill to be in communication with me or with anybody else. I understand all they do is sleep. Sleep is good. Washington State has good health care and I hang onto that as a life line....
I am a celebrity among the neighborhood dogs. By now, I have been giving out dog treats on my daily walk for several months. If you think this has gone unnoticed among my town's dog population, you would be very much mistaken. If Gwyneth Paltrow or Brad Pitt were to walk down the street, I am quite certain the dogs in my town would be completely unimpressed. Their owners might behave foolishly and start jumping up and down and salivating, but for the dogs, it would be a...
AARP Montana wishes to thank all of the County Election Administrators and staff across Montana for their tireless efforts and dedication to ensure the voting process ran smoothly this election season. We appreciate all the hard work and late nights that election staff and their families endured to put Montana voters first as they adjusted to multiple rule changes, counted every ballot, found adequate polling locations, recruited enough poll workers and made sure that voters had accurate information available. Election staff...
Mike Mansfield of Montana was a Marine, a miner, and a professor even before he began his political career. He served as Senate majority leader, and later as ambassador to Japan from 1977 to 1988, placing high value on integrity and ethics throughout his career. Even today, his influence can be seen in the strong connection between Montana and Japan. As a Japanese and political science double-major at the University of Montana, I have had the opportunity to witness this connection firsthand. Now is a time when we are made...
Dear Northern, When I step back and look at all the things we have accomplished this semester, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, I can say with confidence that despite it all, we are making gains. We’ve seen our staff and faculty step up to the plate to provide our students with the quality education they’ve come to expect from us, all while handling the challenges of this unique semester. Despite those challenges, we’ve been able to keep classes on campus, and I couldn’t be prouder of the effort our campus...
Welcome to Friday, the 136th day of November, 2020, a mere 227 days after Tuesday’s 2020 election, and — as I write this in the wee hours of the morning — we are still waiting and waiting and waiting for election results. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that the election officials are taking their jobs seriously, and they have my utmost respect for their diligence, but none of that gives me even one ounce, an inkling or a smidge more patience than I already don’t have — espe...
The Governor of Jalisco pushed the Emergency Button. Only food stores and pharmacies are open for business. The numbers for COVID infections and deaths have doubled what they were a couple weeks ago and are rising daily. Like elsewhere, people were getting careless and complacent. Out here in the hinterlands, every day we hear of nearby deaths. Today, five in little San Marcos, just up the road. How is that possible? I feel like Joe Btfsplk from the long-gone comic strip,...
A question was asked to me recently, "Do you think we miss out on everything because we constantly view it through a lens?" My best friend and I were watching our kids play at the park on an unusually warm autumn day. Like typical moms we were snapping pictures here and there among chatting. Before that moment, I had rolled my eyes at the irony of articles I happened to be reading on my phone telling me the world has become too dependent on our cellular devices. However, in...
This has been a year that defies explanations. I spoke with my parents a week or so ago. We have used Zoom and other types of video to communicate but, more often than not, I just call up my dad, he puts me on speaker, and we chat as we always have. My parents were about to go skiing. They live in the north, but they don’t live on the North Pole. It was much too early to cross-country ski, but they’d had an early snow and my mom decided they should give it a try. “You know...
COVID-19 cases in Montana are on the rise, with daily cases approaching 1,000. The public health crisis is real and Montana is now one of the most impacted states. In the early days of the pandemic, we enjoyed a false sense of security that Montana, with our wide-open spaces and relatively sparse population, would avoid the worst. Now, the reality of COVID-19, and it’s impacts to local businesses, is staring us in the face. Montanans are community-minded; we are hardworking, generous and we look out for each other. We need t...
Since 2020 has proven to be about as funny as a pratfall that lands in an actual tiger trap, I’ve felt a little flinchy about humor, like my timing is off just a bit and I can’t quite be confident whether my joke or my whole topic is a helium balloon or one of those doggy doo-doo bags. It seems my weird/funny news sources are having that trouble as well. Take the murder hornets for example. I scoured my weird and funny news sources for some fodder for today’s column and saw l...
A couple weeks ago I wrote Kathy, “I have aged 10 years since I had surgery in January.” Today Kathy wrote me, “I’ve aged 20 years since this coronavirus pandemic.” Since Kathy is close to 10 years younger, that makes us about even. Fears, worries, lack of solutions, illnesses, deaths, feelings of isolation and helplessness — all take their toll, on our bodies, minds and spirits. It was March before most of us realized the dangers which surround us. March when we began to hu...
It's the season for all things scary, and I found myself wondering how many people are actually looking for more things to frighten them this year. There is a new horror movie about Zoom that is supposed to be terrific ... and I won't be watching it. I've never been a fan of horror movies. On the very few occasions I've tried to watch a scary movie, I end up both covering my eyes and plugging my ears (the ominous music is the worst part of it) and I emerge with a pretty...
We are the people of liberty. The family of freedom. In our bloodstream is the inheritance of our common ancestors – men who jump off the pages of human history. Ancestors who, with a terrible fury, consumed the tyrant and built a mighty nation on tyranny’s grave. Imperfect men to be sure. But called by God to change the world. And so they did. On this sacred soil they established a country called America, that would be forever free. We are the people of liberty. The spiritual bloodline of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and...
