News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1729 - 1753 of 3210
Montanans expect a lot out of their elected officials, as well they should. Without regard to political party, they expect us to work together when we can and explain our differences with honesty when we cannot. They expect us to spend less time on spats in Helena, and more time on getting to work and strengthening our communities. More than anything, Montanans expect their elected officials to talk straight and be honest. Unfortunately for all Montanans, some Republicans in Montana are starting to act a lot like Republicans...
We perhaps agree that we will continue to use some form of energy for industry, home heating and lighting and transportation. We need energy to continue to live a lifestyle similar to what we have now. We will continue to eat. Food production will need to continue on a commercial basis to produce enough food for there to be opportunity for every citizen in the USA to consume adequate nutrients. We can agree that open spaces are important for many reasons, wildlife habitat, recreations and solitude and agriculture production....
It’s a pretty sure sign I’m in a crabby mood when I read the headline “Homeowner finds naked intruder in her tub, eating Cheetos,” and my brain says “Meh, whatever.” The story seems to have all the elements I would normally find appealing: the suspense of a break-in, the mystery of the man who supposedly told the female intruder to intrude, the surprise of finding her naked, the absurdity of her lounging in the tub rather than ransacking the house and the confusion of the intruder having brought her own cooler full of foo...
We don’t see ourselves. We aren’t able. Even surrounded by walls of mirrors, we only see glimpses and reflections. And I’m talking broad scope here. Not just the outside package of who I am. But the me beneath my skin and the life I create. So I delight in being able to share bits of my daily life with friends from afar who come visit. Sunday morning Steve and Theresa from Washington arrived tired and bedraggled after an overnight flight. Steve and Theresa are beneath the s...
The Bureau of Land Management just completed a series of public scoping meetings on the American Prairie Reserve’s request to convert 17 federal grazing leases from cattle to bison. The take-away from these meetings is that BLM is trying to balance the concerns of ranchers with the steps APR needs to advance their bison reserve agenda. Because the conversion of grazing leases from cattle to bison assures APR’s bison restoration goals, landowners firmly believe the real issue BLM should be examining is the big elephant in the...
Community diversion and re-entry programs rehabilitate offenders, save state tax dollars, and prevent mass incarceration. These programs help drug and non-violent offenders obtain treatment and get a job, rather than emerge from prison as hardened criminals. That much is clear. It’s also clear that American Indians, compared to our non-native peers, are disproportionately imprisoned in Montana’s correctional system. Indeed, Native people constitute around 7 percent of Montana’s population but account for 21 percent of the s...
As we move further away from the governor’s rejection of CoreCivic’s offer, I believe it is imperative that Montanans understand the true nature of the deal our governor inexplicably refused to take with the private U.S. prison operating company. CoreCivic’s final offer was for a two-year contract extension at a daily rate of $75.48 per inmate. Given that the state can house up to 600 prisoners in Shelby, the maximum total value of the contract extension would have been approximately $33 million. In exchange for this new d...
The Bureau of Land Management is asking for the public’s help in determining what it should analyze as it considers proposed changes to several grazing leases. American Prairie Reserve, or APR, controls private properties tied to 18 BLM grazing allotments in Fergus, Petroleum, Phillips and Valley counties. They have submitted a proposal asking the BLM to modify their grazing permits. Note that Page 2 of their proposal lists “other terms and conditions of APR proposed action.” Item 2 of this says, “Split BLM East Dry Fork al...
The Havre High Key Club would like to take a moment and share with the Havre community a summary of the past year of service. Our 47 members owe many thanks to a supportive Havre Public Schools administration and staff who encourage and supported our service projects throughout the year. The Key Club also would like to thank our local Kiwanis Club who support our members by sharing in the participation of service projects, fund raisers, and their financial support. It is because of the backing of our administration, local...
If sympathy was a tangible thing that you could use to fill a room, all the sympathy my siblings and I got from our parents when we were children would amount to a vast, empty hall filled with nothing but echoes of our complaints. Maybe a few crickets taking advantage of the awesome acoustics. I claim three parents so, sure, the odds are that there were moments of sympathy. Let’s put one box of sympathy in that room, in a far corner — one of those sturdy, but little, box...
Setenta tres. Seventy-three. I bought a fancy chocolate cake yesterday at my favorite pasteleria. I’m invited to dinner at John and Carol’s house tonight. Nobody knows it’s my birthday and I ain’t telling. But I’m taking my cake to share and will get great and secret pleasure from having a party when nobody else knows it’s my party. Day on top of day, the years have a way of rolling past. Getting older doesn’t hold the same pizzazz and crackle for me that earliest year...
The East Fork Fire Foundation Board is pleased to announce that funds so generously donated by our community have been dispersed, and all funds have been allocated. We wish to thank the Hill County Commissioners, with cooperation of the Blaine County Commission, for allowing our board to appoint individuals to evaluate applications and award funds based on those applications. Hill County had not removed any funds from the account and allowed us to disperse 100 percent of the donated funds. We asked that our board who made the...
As much as I am totally into dramatics, I do not think my adopted hometown of Havre deserved to be labeled as the worst city in the whole United States of America this winter. Yeah, I get it, our weather has sucked this year, truly, I’ve lived through it, but the worst, as in THE worst is a stretch —by hundreds of miles. I think it’s an ill-disguised attempt by those Weather Channel people to get more mileage out of the video they shot last year of the aftermath of the Oct....
Have you had “the talk” with your mother or father? You know, the one where you try to convince them to quit driving? It represents everything we fear about aging. How can you stay in the house you have lived in for years if you can’t drive to the grocery store? How can you keep up with your friends and family? What about getting to doctor’s appointments? How can you afford it? Some older people have the resources to afford appropriate housing, transportation and healthcare. Even then, helping a parent or loved one deal wi...
Over the years we inhaled plenty of Montana wilderness trail dust. We’re a couple of long-in-the-tooth recreational horse and mule packers who enjoy wandering in our Montana public lands. We have a few bones to pick with Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte. Mainly, we don’t approve of their land grab of the people’s Wilderness Study Areas, or WSAs. Sen. Daines’ bill S2206 is titled, “The Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act.” Sounds benign right? It ain’t. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This bill was introduced to...
That iguana spit on me today. I stood below him, next to the wall in my front-patio courtyard, watching him soak up the sun. He turned his head, looked me in the eye, and spit. Well, that’s a fine howdy-do. No manners. But, maybe, like many a youngster, he had a valid complaint: “She looked at me.” There’s a pair of what I call teen iguanas, middle-sized, who sun at the top of that particular section of wall. You should see them skitter up — or down — a vertical wall. Yet,...
It's just another week in weird news. First, some people really know how to celebrate the holidays, and some people are just a train wreck. We all know folks who go all out for the Easter holiday with colored eggs and an 8-foot blow-up Easter bunny, or multiple church services or a to-die-for-and-get-resurrected lamb dinner. But we don’t all know Ladonna Hughett, 54, from Ohio who really got into the Easter spirit this year, or should I say the Easter spirits. Hughett showed u...
We have talented people, great businesses, and an unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit in Montana. By raising capital, Montanans can leverage those assets to start new businesses, expand existing ones, and create more good-paying jobs in every community under the Big Sky. As your securities commissioner, one of my jobs is to encourage and help facilitate investment in Montana’s businesses. That’s why I launched my statewide “Invest in Montana” tour to promote capital formation. At our recent Invest in Montana event in Havre,...
This morning after Qi Gong, I told Jim, “I write my column today and my mind is blank. ” “Easy,” his reply. “Write about purple.” We were beneath the Jacaranda, which this week is a purple umbrella, sheltering 50 shades of birds burying their heads in each blossom, milking the honey-nectar. In that disconnected way that one thought leads to another, I knew that what I really wanted to write about is my simple life. “Jim, the more I pare down my life, the more important small t...
Banks and credit unions don’t always agree on much, but they agree on this: Sen. Jon Tester stood up for Montana’s communities, and their small banks and credit unions, when he helped author a bipartisan bill to provide regulatory relief to certain financial institutions. The Dodd-Frank Act was a “one-size-fits-all” congressional response to the 2008 financial crisis designed to address the risky decisions made by “Too-Big-To-Fail” Wall Street banks. It was 2,300 pages long and created more than 400 new regulations...
March 20, I read in the Havre Daily News yet another article speaking out against gun violence toward children. Here again, like so many other letters and statements, it's only against the gun. And it's always the same answer, ban guns. Some blame video games, others, drugs and cults. bullying has been mentioned as well by our top shrinks. Never once have I ever heard that parental guidance was needed or was lacking. Not only are parents needed, but mentors and adult role models are critical for young development. From birth...
Local input is a hallmark of democracy. Good laws should and do bubble up from neighborhoods, country churches, and bar stools, just as bad ideas are often killed by the folks who have to live with the results. That’s why, if you’re running for public office, it’s a smart idea to say that you’re in support of local decisions. Imagine the alternative: “I’m from the distant government and I’m here to tell you how to live your life.” You probably wouldn’t win many votes. But that alternative is precisely what our lone U.S. Con...
I was never one of those chicks who had guys rushing to do things for her or even to save her from herself. I wasn’t one of those uber-pretty and delicate girls for whom guys fell over themselves, and I had enough sarcasm and swearing to make anyone possible rescuers think twice. Plus, my ridiculous parents raised me to be independent. What was that about? That said, I was raised to expect some coddling from loved ones, as I should do for them. My husband, John, does a fair j...
The Rail Passengers Association — a 50-year old passenger train advocacy group — is “pulling the alarm bell” regarding the future of Amtrak long-distance services. There is good evidence that a major discussion going on within Amtrak to consider cutting and reconfiguring its long distance trains — including the Empire Builder across Montana’s Hi-Line — to operate but 3 days a week. These discussions are apparently happening due to presidential influences in the White House, in the U.S. Department of Transportation and Amtrak...
Two weeks ago the neighboring trees out my east window were naked sticks. Today the same sticks are tricked out in every shade of leaf, heavy with green. Most trees here shed their leaves in spring; the old brittle leaves pushed off the branch willy-nilly by the new sprouts. The Jacarandas are still naked, just budding into flower. By next week a giant purple umbrella will fully cover the northwest corner of my yard. The Prima Vera wear great daubs of primary yellow. And over...
