News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2347 - 2371 of 3214
When you think about the future of Havre and other Hill county communities, what do you visualize and hope for? Dreams for a vital, thriving community are wonderful but we all know that funding is a critical barrier to actualizing these dreams. Year after year, it becomes increasingly more difficult to support local libraries, senior centers, parks, theatrers, museums and more. On the other hand, few of us may be aware of the vast wealth currently leaving our state. In 2010, The Montana Transfer of Wealth Study was sponsored...
Fear is a mind killer. Take my latest foolishness. My friend Lani, who lives in Etzatlan near Guadalajara has invited me to hop the bus to visit numerous times. I’ve always conjured excuses. I like Lani. Fear held me back. Cousin Nancie is in Etzatlan visiting Lani. The two of them flanked me, out maneuvered me, forced me to face my fear. Stupid fear. Fear of getting on a bus, alone, for the trip into the mountains of Jalisco. My neighbor Ted asked me, “Were you afraid whe...
Wednesday is Veterans Day. In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation." Many...
Montana has a strong military tradition unparalleled by almost any other state in the nation. Nearly 1-in-10 of us hears the call to serve in the armed forces, and in the sovereign nations the warrior spirit is even stronger. Last month, I visited Wolf Point and spent time with the family of Michael Bell, a young man from the Fort Peck tribes who was also a Navy SEAL. Surrounded by friends, family and officials from tribes as far away as North Dakota, I helped honor Michael with a memorial service and naval ceremony. I knew...
All across the U.S. last weekend people were celebrating Halloween and mourning the start of Christmas advertising season. Poor, simple fools. One thing and one thing only mattered: the end of daylight saving time signaling the start of flashlight season. The long cold months of double darkness when both morning and evening chores are completed without aid of sunlight. Daylight saving time changed to battery spending time, if you will. For weeks now I have had to use a...
A day. Not an ordinary day. No connection to music or movie. A day plowing through bureaucratic formalities. Still, if one has a mind to connect the dots, a good day. With Carlos, driver and interpreter, my first stop was the much visited immigration office where I’m now on a first name basis with Amelia, Sophia and Ogla. I’ve left behind reams of paperwork, copies of numerous invasive documents, fingerprints, mug shot and much of my money. Today’s task was simple — I would p...
Recently, the shadowy Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch Brothers, and best known for claiming to speak for millions (and millions and millions) of Montanans, has recently submitted guest opinion pieces to several Montana daily newspapers making wild claims about the costs to Montana consumers and our economy from a clean energy plan that has yet to even be developed. Their “sky is falling” screed claims that Montana electricity consumers will find their electricity costs rocketing to unbearable levels if Mon...
I generally shudder when I see the first Christmas decorations in stores. They seem to appear earlier every year. However, this year I am thankful for them. I have long held that we humans migrate as much as the Canada geese which make semi-annual treks across our Big Sky. The difference is that we migrate through time rather than space. I guess we’re hard wired to do so, with seasonal ebbs and flows. The end of one year and the start of another is a powerful reminder that we ought to be thoughtful, consciously and c...
We both serve on the Havre City Council and work hard to make sure the decisions we make are in the best interest of our community and its residents. We have enjoyed working together in the past and will continue to do so in the future. However, we also have legitimate differences of opinion on certain issues. When we have disagreed on policy or other issues, we have always done so respectfully and tried to find common ground when we can. One issue of major importance to the city of Havre, its citizens and its future on...
I periodically scanned the news and checked the satellite images, waiting for Hurricane Patricia. It was much easier for me to focus on the dangers of the hurricane than to pay attention to the elephant stomping around my living room. My friends aided and abetted in my avoidance, unknowingly, of course. At six in the morning Nancie and Lani called me from Etzatlan near Guadalajara. “No, I’m in no danger in Mazatlan. In fact, if Patricia follows her projected path, you are likely to see more wind and rain than we do.” All d...
In a surprising twist of fate, a man who professes on his own website to be the “world’s best-known warlock,” lost a court battle with self-proclaimed witch priestess Lori Sforza in a little place called Salem, Massachusetts. News just doesn’t get any better than this for Halloween. On Wednesday, Salem News reported that witch Lori Sforza was granted a protective order by Salem District Court Judge Robert Brennan against warlock Christian Day. The harassment case reveale...
I have a cat burglar. Not the stealthy, romanticized thief-in-black who scales walls to steal valuables from upper stories of a home or business. I’m talking about an actual cat who burgles and who, by the way, is an unpleasant sort, a sneak-about in the dark and a brutish thug. And, yes, that last one is the real rub. This mean bully is picking on my Tony-O kitty, our resident, one-quarter feral shop cat who is often referred to as “handsome man” and “best cat ever,...
"You lie," the note from my friend said. "You said you were in Montana. If that were the case, you would have stopped in to see us." Immediately, as I often do, without thought, I shot back a reply. Afterwards, I began thinking. Was I flippant? I certainly did not mean to be. I had sent what I felt at the moment was an explanation. On later consideration, I felt I had sent a poor excuse. True, I had popped my head in the door and John wasn't there. I only had a five-minute win...
Nancie sent me photos of the vibrant leaves along the highway and streets of Leavenworth, yellow and orange and red against the green backdrop of Douglas fir and cedar. Immediately I could imagine the golden snake of cottonwoods slithering across the plains, hugging the banks of the Milk River. I love this season with a tinge of sadness, knowing it is short-lived, knowing winter could arrive before the next calendar page is turned. Those years when early frost, heavy with...
“Love your columns,” the email starts. No “Hello.” No “Dear Pam.” Not even a “Hey.” It just jumps right into the middle of a declaration of my awesomeness. Welcome to my beautiful life. A girl dreams, for years, of something like this happening. You work toward the goal, but sometimes you can’t bring yourself to belie— You do know that when I said “girl” I meant that as a nice, light-hearted, casual, way of saying woman, chick, broad or whatever to mean me since I started...
I hope your week has been good. I hope your week has not been like everyone else’s. The only thing I can attribute it to is astrology. I’m sure you must believe in astrology just as religiously as I do. I’m sure the Moon is in Mar’s pocket, Venus is flirting with Jupiter, Pluto is in the 29th house of Disney and the Sun has measles spots. None of the planets are tending to business. One of my close friends had three deaths in her family this week. Another friend had stomach...
Like a wine expert, a chocolate connoisseur, an opera singer with perfect pitch, a movie sound director, an artist, a sniper, a braille speed-reader, a plush-pile inspector who runs his or her hands over soft, fuzzy fabric and says “Oh, yeah, that’s so soft and fuzzy” (it’s a job, I'm sure), like any of these people, I have a sensory gift. I hear things. If it buzzes, whirs, taps, hums, squeaks, rings, dings, grinds, taps, knocks, clicks, whistles, snaps, twangs, thumps,...
Festival Days weekend’s success would not have been obtained without the continued support from the many volunteers and willingness of the many different entities of the community to come together on this third weekend in September to throw a community celebration for all to enjoy. Our many thanks go to the numerous volunteers, the businesses, community organizations, the vendors and our Festival Days sponsor partner, Montana State University-Northern, for helping the Havre area Chamber of Commerce make the weekend a huge a...
Tragedy has been stalking my house, doing dirty deeds. Tragedy, as you may know, is one of the lapdogs of the Universe, which likes loose its lapdogs to nip at my heels and bite me in the backside, maybe cause a stampede or an avalanche of irony. The lapdogs are kind of like the hounds of hell, but with a cruel sense of humor that tends to make their irony worse than their bite. Still hurts, though. Late last week the valve connected to the floaty-thingy inside our toilet tank...
Few things bring fear or dread into my life. When my car breaks down, I admit to approaching a state of near panic. This is mostly imaginary. When I was 23, a truck plowed into the side of my pick-up while I was driving east of U.S. Highway 2. I went into shock. I nearly lost my life. I have absolutely no memory of fear. And in actuality I cannot bring up one instance of car trouble, in which I didn’t know help was nearby or AAA would gallop to my rescue. My car problems w...
As a 20-year classroom teacher, I’ve seen first-hand how schools constantly work to make their education dollars stretch as far as possible. From textbooks and lab supplies, to technology and instructional tools, Montana educators are ensuring that the resources that are allocated to schools are used in the most efficient way possible. An often forgotten cost of educating students is the expense of keeping lights on and water running in our schools. This is why I’m pleased, this week, to be kicking off the second annual SMA...
I don’t mean to be bossy, but you need to sit down, take a few deep breaths and remain calm if you intend to continue reading. I am, at this very moment on this Friday afternoon of this beautiful fall season, experiencing a major medical crisis. I have an angry, inflamed pimple on my nose. Yes, thank you for your sympathy, prayers and good vibes. Believe me, I’m feeling you feeling my pain, and you will never know how much your emotional support means to me in these try...
My parents did their best to teach their children to be fair to a fault. It made thinking hurt sometimes. Despite our demands for sympathy in disagreements, moral disputes and a wide variety of emotional issues surely destined to ruin our lives — forever — their first response to drama was to tell us to consider how the other person, group or entity felt and to think about other viewpoints of any story or issue. I'm sure they would not approve of my current, and ironic, int...
How do I talk about something about which I don’t even want to think? Give me a good strong dose of denial. Cover my eyes with a blindfold. Bury my head in the sand. This summer I’ve had a good dose of talking with friends about what to do next, about downsizing a life, about disease and death. Two of my friends lost their husbands. Two more are suffering the downward spiral of Alzheimer’s. One friend is struggling to maintain by herself a life she loves which feeds her passi...
My dog and cat have entered into the next phase of our big, life-changing, house project with all the emotional balance and fortitude of your average neurotic, cross-species, counter-crosswise twins. The beginning of this adventure saw the cat happy that we were spending time up at the shop, but the dog angry because he wanted to be in the comfort of his home. It didn’t help that every time we put down a bed for the dog to lie on, the cat would strut across the floor, put one...
