News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1933 - 1957 of 3210
June 1, Great Falls was the center of our nation’s agriculture conversation as I hosted the Montana Ag Summit, a conversation about the future of jobs in our state’s number one economic driver: Agriculture. We had two of the nation’s top agricultural leaders at the Montana Ag Summit: the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, and the U.S. Senate Ag Committee Chairman, Pat Roberts. The day before the Summit, Secretary Perdue and Sen.Roberts joined me in Cascade, Montana for a listening session at Rick Bogde...
I hate physical therapy. Writing with a computer means you’ll give me no sympathy. If we were talking face-to-face, I’d be able to mumble, “It’s my own fault. I quit too soon. It’s been mumble-mumble-slurred-words since I quit. Arturo told me I should do these few simple movements forever. Sheesh!” And you’d pat my hand and say, “There, there. Poor thing.” And if I were using pencil on depleted rain-forest, I could smear the tell-tale number with my tears of frustration and y...
Greg Gianforte eventually apologized to the reporter he manhandled on election night. For some the apology was late and inadequate. For others Gianforte shouldn’t have apologized to the “liberal” reporter at all. Such is the divided nature of these times. If Gianforte owed an apology, though, it was to the people of Montana for reaching the age of 56 and showing the maturity of a 7 year old. Gianforte was under stress when he attacked the reporter. Political campaigns are stressful. But so is holding public office. In this...
So I lived beyond the summer cold, with some lingering signs, but life just keeps throwing it at me like I’m a fan, and I’m really thinking I should have something like worker’s compensation, but I wouldn’t have to work for it, just live for it — maybe survivor’s compensation. “Oh,” I would say. “I never would’ve lived through it without my survivor’s compensation that paid for the help I needed after, y’know surviving.” As I have battled the last hints of cough and sniffl...
Two weeks ago I had declared, “New window glass all around; new patio roof; I love it all. These are my final projects. My home is complete. My garden is full and lush. No more projects!” This isn’t a full-blown project. Really. Honest. Sorta. It began with a bedraggled hibiscus. She hadn’t flourished since she’d been planted, several months ago. Her sister plants were “blooming healthy,” to borrow a British expression. Leo, my partner in digging dirt, asked if I wanted to g...
Road safety is something that benefits us all and should not be a polarizing political issue. Period. During this recent legislative session road safety, specifically a bicycle safe passing law that died in the Senate, became politically divisive. Why is bicycling such a hot button political issue at the state Legislature? Is it due to the misperceptions and myths about bicycling being spread by anti-bicycling political forces? One myth is that bicyclists don’t pay for the roads. Local and state road maintenance is p...
Dear Summer Cold, I hate to be rude, but I see why nobody likes you. I realize it was unrealistic of me to think you would just go away that first day. But, seriously, all you did was sneak in and annoy my tonsils until they became angry and red. You seemed relatively harmless and I underestimated your determination. I see that now — but you’re no flu bug, Summer Cold. You are definitely not the mighty flu. Yeah, I know. I couldn’t do anything about it when you moved into my s...
Tell me, what is all the foo-foo-rah over being fit and healthy? I have friends who abstained from meat (?Not eat meat?), ran marathons, contorted themselves into pretzels with an hour of daily yoga, no sugar, no dairy, no smokes, no booze. Died young. One in his 40s and one in her 50s, each skinny as a rail. Recently, prior to eye surgery, my doctor insisted I go through a whole-body work-up: blood, lungs, heart, the full-meal-deal of medical tests. The heart man told me my...
Every 23 hours, a person is raped in Montana. Last year, over 800 sexual assaults and 4,000 domestic violence crimes were reported statewide. However, this accounts for only a fraction of the total number of crimes that actually occur, as most go unreported. What these statistics show is clear: We must improve how we address crimes of this nature in Montana. Fortunately, recent changes to state law will go a long way in reducing the frequency of these crimes, as well as provide victims the justice and support they deserve....
Montana is on the verge of a moment when our state can unite. It’s a chance for Montanans, including Native Americans and non-Indians alike, as well as Montanans of different backgrounds, to come together to make a change for the better. Greg Gianforte’s candidacy for Congress offers us a unique opportunity to bridge our divides and create better outcomes for all Montana citizens. I saw Greg in action and paid close attention as he visited all seven Montana Indian reservations over the last two years and I can see that his...
Today, as every day, teachers called the names of more than 140,000 students, as they took attendance in Montana’s 821 public schools. For the thousands of children who file into our classrooms, school is more than a place to learn. In-school programs and practices ensure children across the state stay healthy, well fed, safe and enriched. However, recent efforts by Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could severely alter our public schools’ ability to foster all students’ development. In Montana, rough...
Public lands have become a major issue in this campaign, and for good reason. Whomever Montanans elects as their next congressman, he will have the opportunity to vote on congressional budgets that will have an enormous impact on our public lands. Budgets are more than numbers; they’re also value statements. And the budget President Trump recently proposed makes clear that he does not value our public lands the same way Montanans do. His budget would cut the Department of the Interior’s budget by 12 percent, representing a d...
Visiting family is like looking at yourself in a funhouse mirror. You know you are seeing yourself reflected back, but everything is skewed, cockeyed and out of proportion. Some of the reflections scare you, but some make you laugh out loud. Half my family tree was lost in the divorce. Not my divorce, but my choice of tree branch to follow. Admittedly, I was young and very much interested in self-preservation of my early teenage psyche, but still I lost touch with half my...
I didn’t want to go. I was still recovering from burning the soles of my feet on the hot sands of Mazatlan. The plan was for Lani, Kathy, Crin and me to go to Tonola for the tianguis, the huge street market, and from there to Best Buy for Kathy to buy a washing machine. It’s hard to pass up a day in Tonola. But the bait that hooked me was Best Buy for a shop vac. My house is all brick walls, tile floors. I really don’t need a vacuum cleaner. But you go around the walls with...
Thirty years ago, the Montana Legislature passed a bill to establish a one-of-a-kind program to conserve Montana’s best wildlife habitat. Habitat Montana, as it is known, has done just that. With over 600,000 acres of conservation easements and fee-title lands owned by the people of Montana, the program has helped conserve areas vital for the continued abundance of elk, deer and hundreds of other species that need a place to call home during the stressful winter months as well as year round. The program is wildly popular w...
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., recently introduced a bill in Congress at the behest of a group of mountain biking proponents that would eviscerate the 1964 Wilderness Act and allow bicycles in every wilderness in the nation. The bill, House Resolution 1349, was introduced March 15 on behalf of the mountain biker organization, the Sustainable Trails Coalition — STC. This bill would amend the Wilderness Act to allow bikes, strollers, wheelbarrows, game carts, survey wheels, and measuring wheels in every unit of the National W...
As a 28-year registered nurse, I can tell you that I have been intimately involved in the outcomes of people’s lives. Their physical, mental and spiritual health is a tremendous responsibility that deserves thoughtful attention, knowledge and expertise, and a genuine commitment to protect patients, nurture their healing, and advocate for them at all costs — and do no harm. Last week, members of Congress passed the American Health Care Act more commonly referred to as Trumpcare; 217 Republicans voted in favor of passage and...
In Montana, we know how important agriculture is – to our economy, to jobs and to keeping food on our tables, and on tables around the world. I’m thrilled to have former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as our new Secretary of Agriculture. I know Secretary Perdue will be a champion for Montana agriculture. Don’t take my word for it – come hear from him yourself when he is the keynote speaker at the Montana Ag Summit 2017 in Great Falls May 31 – June 1. During a time of historically low prices, we need to find ways to maintain...
I could be writing about a lot of really interesting things that happened this week, but instead it’s all about the water. Again. This time, though, I now have it, but apparently don’t know how to use it. Sure, no one who really knows me expected me to go into a frenzy of cleaning after regaining running water in the house, even if it was a four-month dry spell. You would think I could transition back to using it at least out of habit, though. I mean, I wasn’t raised by wolve...
For years, I’ve been privileged to be Kathy’s guest, generally on the 24th floor of the El Moro Tower, fronting the Great Pacific Ocean, in Mazatlan. When we were young and foolish, we might, and I hedge my bets, have run up and down the stairway for exercise; an attempt to balance the effects of the rich food nobody forced down our gullets. We might have. If we were young. And foolish. Without hesitation, we head for the elevators. (In all fairness, I’ve never seen anybo...
Folks, It has been an honor to serve as your representative to the 65th Legislative Session of Montana. Although this session will be over by the time you read this, I will be busy working for you throughout the interim on various committees and staying in touch with you to make sure that I have all of the information that I need to represent you in the 66th Legislative Session. Until then, I will leave you with a final report on this session. Outdoors and Wildlife There were so many wonderful, and — let’s be honest — terri...
By Jenny Eck and Jon Sesso Imagine you were told, as you headed onto the field, that your team would have nearly one-third fewer players than the opposing team … and that the other team would get to set the rules that you would have to play by. For Democrats in the 2017 Legislature, that has been our reality. As the minority and the loyal opposition, our mission is clear: to be a voice and a vote for what is right, and to fight every day for the people who sent us here, all the while knowing that the odds are not in our f...
I was born and raised in Cut Bank, where I learned that nothing gets done without hard work. Growing up on a ranch and wheat farm with five brothers and sisters, I can’t imagine a better place to spend my childhood than in the north country of Glacier County among salt of the earth people, learning the Montana values that we all hold dear ... community, responsibility, hard work and family. Living in rural Montana taught me how to be resourceful and what it means to thrive in sometimes challenging situations. I know the s...
The most significant infrastructure bill in over a quarter of a century was passed by the just adjourned 2017 legislatives session. It was the six-cent increase in motor fuel taxes which will make it possible for Montana to continue to match federal dollars for highway maintenance and construction at a ratio of seven federal dollars to one Montana dollar. The highway infrastructure bill was passed by an embattled coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Its passage was necessary to assure our roads and highways will be...
As I write this, I am exhausted, sun burnt, sticky and salty with dry sweat, gritty and muddy, but I am here to say that one of the greatest marvels of modern civilization is indoor plumbing — water that runs from a well, through buried pipes to places like water troughs, sinks, toilets (for the love of sanitation, the toilet). Regular readers might remember that the universe’s Christmas Eve gift to me and my husband was a totally unusable water system to the house. For...
