News you can use
News you can use
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The 117th annual Carnaval. This year the theme is Los Suenos del Rey Momo — the Dreams of the King. Momo — a mythological Greek god who wore masks of satire, mockery and censure, the god of writers and poets. arnival in Mazatlan, similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, is a riotous round of celebration and merry-making with abandon, which screeches to an abrupt stop Tuesday night. Ash Wednesday ushers in Lent, the 40-day period of penitence and fasting in somber preparation for...
(The following piece is writtenn by Sen. Fred Thomas, Rep. Art Wittich, Rep. Nancy Ballance, Rep. Ron Ehli, Sen. Matt Rosendale, and Sen. Cary Smith, Republican members of the Montana House.) We recently introduced our Big Sky Health package, which was developed over two years to address our state’s most serious health care concerns. Montanans have spoken loud and clear, for years, that they don’t want to accept overreaching federal health care programs like Obamacare. Instead, Montanans want a solution that works for our...
The Montana legislative Judicial Committee quickly shot down an indecency law referendum proposed this session. In this display of infinite wisdom, it has also shot down my chance at a job upgrade. Thanks for sucking the joy out of my life Congress. House Bill 365, sponsored by Rep. David Moore, a Republican from Missoula, proposed to the House Wednesday that the state’s indecency law be changed from practical language about criminal deviancy to, well, totally awesome language...
Upbeat. Uplifting. Positive. I like to fill my weekly articles with humor and hope. Re-read the title, an ancient Hopi expression. That’s all the hope I have to give you. This is my second week under house arrest, chained to my walker. I know I am healing. I know it is a slow process. My mind knows. My heart is unrealistic. I want surgery last week followed by entering the 10 K this week and perhaps a full-on tri-athalon next week. I feel like Snow White with the six d...
Because we have now reached a critical point in the aging process of our white trash mansion, my husband and I are now considering the possibility of looking into maybe sometime soon upgrading, or “swapping out,” our living accommodations. I know that doesn’t sound like much of a commitment, but we do have some time before our current home starts to actually decompose. Months and months, at least — or possibly May when the temperature rises. Even then, it will just be the beg...
With a bit of lyrical jiggling, I could write a new hit song. OK. So I’m not Tony Bennett. OK. So not all my good ideas work. I’m happy to be back in my casa. My bionic knee, Ruth, acquired in India, is bonding with my new bionic body part, Rose Hip. With every step, I lean onto the arms of my new best friend, Hopalong Cassidy. I have another supportive friend who lives in the bathroom whom I call Howdy Doody. This sounds like my body is quite cosmopolitan, chic mul...
Cognitive dissonance is just fancy talk for the brain hurt you get from thinking two conflicting thoughts at the same time. I think by natural design I would have no problem with this occurring because A) I’m not that deep of a thinker and B) I am instinctively a self-centered person, so naturally the only thought I would have in my brain is about me and my needs. Of course, my parents had to mess that up. Technically, I am well beyond the age that I should be affected by a...
Holy Smokies. I never know which way the ball will bounce when I get up in the morning. Hey, keeps me on my toes. When I saw my x-ray, I knew I’d soon have to go under the knife, become more bionic than I already am. My hip joint was shot. Hip shot, get it? Whoops! Is it even legal to use “hip” and “joint” in the same sentence? Despite instant knowledge I decided to live with the painful hip as long as I could stand it. Stupid, yes? Why would any normal person make that deci...
Sen. John Brenden Hello again from the Capitol. We are now starting our fourth week in Helena, and the pace is getting faster. Gov. Steve Bullock has a proposed two-year budget of almost $4.5 billion in the general fund. This is $359 million higher than the Legislative Fiscal Division which works for us legislators. The last revenue forecast for our budget is $145 million less in income tax collections and $45 million down in oil and gas receipts. For the love of me I do not know when income is down why the governor wants to...
Mark Douglas The radical attacks in Paris touched the world. In hopes of minimizing the pain, people around the world, in the streets, in parks, and in the virtual commons of Facebook, declared “Je suis Charlie” — “I AM Charlie.” Recently, as we’ve learned more about the attackers, it has come to light that the Kouachi brothers shared a hauntingly familiar background: homeless, abused, neglected, in-and-out of foster care, orphaned with no family, and ultimately graduating into prison and a culture of incarcerati...
I recently took a trip to visit friends, “those” friends, the kind of married friends who get along — even while installing plumbing. It’s sick and a measure of my capacity for tolerance that I like them anyway. When walking through their house and seeing all the remodeling projects they’ve mastered, it’s beyond my comprehension to think of the genuinely reasonable discussion and negotiation skills they demonstrate to complete these projects amicably — without intervention...
When I moved from Montana to the Seattle area in 1984, not my first relocation by any means, I knew it would take a while to develop friendships. Two years later, coffee outings with a couple of women eventually led to trips to Seattle for the symphony or Elliott Bay Books with Lynn and to picnics or family dinners with Karen, who also had children. A couple more years and I had many friends; men, women, couples and singles. Friendships take time to develop. I sorted through a...
I’m glad to see an increased effort on anti-bullying campaigns in area schools and youth organizations. It was a long time coming. Havre Public Schools and most schools in the area, the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line, Scout groups and many others are putting emphasis on the long-range effects of being bullied. All of this is a little bit late for a girl I went through high school with. Sheila, I’ll call her, was not especially attractive, a bit overweight and may have had some minor psychological problems going into jun...
It’s no secret. I’ve discussed this openly, even here in my column: One of the great ironies in the history of the world, or my own life — whichever is greater — is that I have to read the news every weekday morning. That is so depressing. You just don’t know. I’m forced to do it, actually, for a paycheck. It’s like I’ve prostituted myself — figuratively speaking, because if I had to earn a living as, you know, an employee of the oldest profession, I would go broke and starve...
Hi John, I understand the weather is a bit on the rough and tough up there. I’ll not talk about the weather down here. Hello Sondra, That’s what a little time in Mexico does to you. You’ve lost your Montana bravado. Don’t you long for the minus 5 temperatures, the minus 20 wind chills, the 8 inches of snow? You’ve become a wimp. Well, that sure shut my mouth! And that after I’d been whining about what a cold winter we are experiencing here, what with the dregs of the cold flow...
With Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us, we are now entering the dark days. Days with long, black nights and the freeze of winter settled into the cold, hard ground. And days upon weeks upon months in which time stretches out before me like an endless frost-heave crack in a sidewalk, like a ragged black rut of the grind and the day-to-day toil of someone who doesn’t have another paid holiday away from work for five months. Yes, five months of inhumane treatment, caught in this nerd-infested hell-hole until the swee...
Against my better judgment, I made a New Year’s resolution. There’s a first time for everything. To me, New Year’s resolutions are nothing more than tongues flapping empty air. No matter how much I might say that in the coming year I’m going to run a marathon, lose a hundred pounds, work out at the gym every day, eat no fat, count carbs, read only wholesome literature, keep up with current events, hone my math skills, make a million dollars, get a man-friend, sail around...
Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to love horses — sure, it sounds like a catchy country tune, but really, don’t. Just don’t. Horse people say things about loving horses — how they’re passionate about them, or how horses speak to their soul — but really it’s an illness, an addiction without a ribbon to help garner awareness or support for this tragic disorder of character. Given the least chance, horse people talk about horses almost as much as they think about them: inces...
For years I have had fun devising unusual “Charlie Brown” Christmas trees. My last several years in Washington, I used a gigantic Montana tumbleweed for my tree, carefully boxing it up for storage the day following Santa’s midnight visit. I’ve also used twigs, various potted plants, candlesticks and imagination. When I moved, every one of my Christmas decorations, hoarded over the years, got parceled out to new homes. I looked around my apartment for materials, ideas and ins...
The Universe will have its balance, if not through blood sacrifice, then through humiliation. A few weeks ago I wrote a column about how a friend from way back found me through the magic of the Internet — and the miracle of my name and column being out there in cyberspace. I felt a little bit like a celebrity that she could do a Google search and find me. I mean, really, this is me we’re talking about. Who am I compared to the price of tea in China? Very minor in value and...
This time of the year in Havre Public Schools the sets take center stage. From the first-graders singing up at the mall to the Hi-Liters touring around the community, Havre Public Schools’ “Tradition of Excellence” in the arts is at its finest. One of the traditions that highlights student talent is the annual Havre High School Talent Show. The spectrum of talent on display often ranges from the not so serious to a performance that leaves the audience saying something to the effect of, “Wow. I had no idea (insert student...
For two weeks the words of that Christmas song floated through my mind. The chorus won’t leave me alone. Think about it. The whole thing is a strange set up. First angels show up. Then they say, Hey. Dude, chill. Don’t be scared. Think about it. If angels showed up at my door, I don’t care what words they used, I’d be terrified. Typically angels might say they bring good news. But what generally comes into play, at least before anything good happens, think about it, long tr...
You live with someone for a few decades and you know everything about them. You’re like “this,” and by “this” I mean the intertwined fingers of oneness — which looks a lot like the crossed fingers used to ward off any bad juju from false promises, but isn’t that “this” this time. It’s for real oneness. Yeah, that’s my husband and me. There we were several months ago, going through life like one person, when I noticed that John usually had a light green towel hanging in his spo...
Dance is different things to different people. To some, dance is pure joy of movement. To someone else, it is forbidden sin. Dance is exercise, artistic expression, communication, a route to seduction. Dance is children cavorting on the lawn in summer, cowboy jitterbug at the Elks Club on Saturday night, the senior prom, the formal ball, the shindig. It is the butterfly flitting flower to flower. For me, at this time and place in my life, dance is my doctor’s prescription. Don...
’Tis the season to be jolly? Not likely! The holidays may make many of us feel more like the Grinch than like little Cindy Lou Who. This is understandable with drop-in guests, shopping demands, tight financial issues, cleaning, entertaining, holiday parities … whew, I need a nap just writing about it! Is it any wonder that this time of year is one of the highest for stress and depression issues? Here are some helpful practical tips to minimize holiday stress and increase good cheer: • Recognize and own your feelings: Just...
