News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2923 - 2947 of 3218
Last week, 24 U.S. senators, including Montana's Tester and Baucus, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the members to take "the necessary actions to protect consumers and ensure that the widespread and frequent occurrence of undelivered calls to rural areas is addressed." Rural telecom networks, which consistently provide superior voice and data services to their customers, are getting blamed for the failure of telephone calls to reach their customers. In fact, the calls are blocked "upstream;"... Full story
My needs were simple enough. From time to time I make custom lamp shades. Recently two different people brought me two sets of lamps for new shades. Unfortunately, the old shades were missing. Most lamps come to me with their old shades, ragged and pitiful, but the frames are usable once I strip them down. I have a generous collection of my own vintage frames, but as I sorted through them I discovered that I had none that could be used for these jobs. Sondra Ashton So I fired...
I would first like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season from the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Chamber staff. During this time of year, many people give unselfishly of their time to make the holidays a little more special for all of us. And we are very grateful to their efforts and time. Those who volunteer during the holidays and throughout the year are community members who are willing to step up and undertake a service and give back unselfishly to something they believe in and support. W...
E.B. Pearson On Election Day, Montana voters strongly endorsed I-166, the Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act, giving the citizen initiative a vote of 75 percent. Montanans of all stripes — independents, Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats — want fair elections, free of the corrupting influence of big money and campaign money from corporations. Unfortunately, the 2012 election was marked by unprecedented amounts of big money and secret money. Montanans, and our country, nee...
C,B. PEARSON On Election Day, Montana voters strongly endorsed I-166, the Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act, giving the citizen initiative a vote of 75 percent. Montanans of all stripes — independents, Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats — want fair elections, free of the corrupting influence of big money and campaign money from corporations. Unfortunately, the 2012 election was marked by unprecedented amounts of big money and secret money. Montanans, and our country, nee...
Contrary to what's happening in newsrooms across the country, we here at Pamville News feel the country's pain this election season; we just want it to be over, too. We want an end to the bickering, the mud slinging and the money flashing. We think that two years of campaigning for office and the new limitless campaign spending are an embarrassment to our country and to our democratic process. Pam Burke But we here at Pamville News are not whiners, we are complainers. More...
My human calls me Penguina for my alleged resemblance to a penguin. That silly name is not my true name but, never mind. I write this with keyboard assistance from Dee Dee, Sondra's daughter. We cats have a superior means of communication. But that is another story. Sonddra Ashton The first clue I had that something was up was when my servant, Sondra, was late coming home from work. Work, hmmm, something I don't really understand. But she smells so delicious when she comes...
Newsweek announced last week that this year will be their last printing physical magazines, moving entirely to their website and apps. "We have reached a tipping point in the industry at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach ... readers in an all-digital format," Newsweek spokesman Andrew Kirk said. There has been a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking on the announcement, with many "industry" folks using the announcement to insult Newsweek and predict it's imminent demise. Even the commenters on a Yahoo news... Full story
In 1920, KDKA Pittsburgh became the first commercial radio station in the country. It's first broadcast was on election night, and it told the country, or at least the dozens of people listening, that Warren Harding had been elected president of the United States. Almost immediately, pundits started talking about the pending demise of newspapers. Why would people go to the bother of reading the news when the guy on the radio would read it for you? John Kelleher Twenty-five years later, WGY television in upstate New York went...
Despite my best intentions to follow this wisdom, I lapse into performing the occasional good deed, as if I didn't know better. As if I didn't know it would circle back to bite me in the back pocket … or the finger or something. When Part One of new-cat's story ended last week, he and I were enjoying a good laugh at my expense over my failed and, ultimately, unneeded rescue attempt. Turned out he actually could get himself out of the shop's wall through the kitty escape h...
In Montana, a teenager under age 18 can't get a tattoo or a body piercing without a parent's permission. Yet most people are stunned to learn that a girl of any age — even 12 or 13 — can be taken for an abortion without her parents even knowing about it. This is totally legal under current Montana law. There are 37 states that require parental notification or permission before a minor can get an abortion. Sadly, Montana is one of just 13 states without this common-sense policy. Legislative Referendum 120, on this year's bal... Full story
I've been in the news business for decades, and prior to last week, two reporters I worked with have been subpoenaed to testify about stories they wrote. In both cases, the newspapers fought the subpoenas and won, Last week, Havre Daily News reporter Zach White doubled that number. He was ordered to testify in two cases pending in Hill County courts. John Kelleher In the most immediate case, Zach was ordered by the prosecution to testify against City Councilman Rick Dow, who was later found not guilty in Havre City Court...
If Public Policy Polling is right, Montanans will see a lot of close elections this year. The poll showed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Bullock with a slight lead over former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill, 44 to 39 percent, and Sen. Jon Tester with a slight lead, 45 to 43 percent. Libertarian Dan Cox is third with 8 percent. John Kelleher Steve Daines, the GOP hopeful for the state's lone congressional seat, leads Democrat Kim Gillan 40 to 37 percent, a closer race than many had thought. Mitt Romney leads President Barack...
I've written a few columns about a recurring bond between the Internet and space exploration, as several Internet billionaires look to use their resources to explore the cosmos. And while there haven't been any new rockets launched or asteroids mined since those last columns I wrote on the subject, the Internet did just return one of the main reasons I have been so interested in space travel, and science in general. Zach White Last Thursday morning, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, hosted a live streaming science show at...
That morning when I checked the NOAA weather map, the entire northern tier of Montana blazed scarlet for "Blizzard," poised to pounce mid-afternoon. I walked to coffee and the post office, knowing I would not see my friends or my mail for days. The heady wine scent of fallen leaves dominated the air. Negative ions foretold the approaching storm, shifted and danced to the slightest breeze, kissed me with an overwhelming feeling of well-being. Back home, I watched as the red...
"Are humans becoming less intelligent?" That's how the Monday headline from LiveScience.com read, and I said what everyone is thinking, "Well, duh." This was an election campaign year, what more evidence do you want? We all felt our brains getting sucker punched every day, what other result could come of it? Pam Burke But writer Tia Ghose reported that researcher Gerald Crabtree isn't looking at evidence from just this year. He made genetic studies of mankind through the ages...
Although election season is over, citizens and elected representatives will continue to discuss many serious economic issues. One critical topic on the 2013 legislative agenda is funding of the Montana Teachers' Retirement System; a defined benefit pension plan. Views on the retirement system vary widely — from solid support to severe criticism. A crucial role of the TRS Board and staff is to ensure legislators and the public have accurate data and information about Montana's pension systems. We want to support policy d...
The average adult takes 15 to 20 breaths a minute — more than 20,000 per day, according to the American Lung Association. Healthy lungs are important to deliver clean air to our bodies' organs and tissues, which convert oxygen into fuel to support vital body functions. When a smoker lights up, it affects not only the health of the lungs, but also the body structures that depend on the lungs for oxygen. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death, claiming the lives of more than 440,000 adults in America e... Full story
Yesterday was Veterans Day, where people remember their friends and relatives, alive and deceased, who put their lives on the line for their country. Many organizations are observing it today. Vets from every war and skirmish should get their due respect Veterans Day, even if they are like a friend of mine who served during the Vietnam era at Fort Dix and other New Jersey locations. He laughed about fighting the Battle of Bayonne. Still, he and all other vets took time out of their lives to contribute to our safety, and we...
As the debate in Washington rages over how to avoid the fiscal cliff before the Jan. 1 deadline, some lawmakers are using Social Security and Medicare as bargaining chips. Among the proposals under consideration by legislative leaders is an effort to reduce the Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA that is regularly made to Social Security benefits. Joy Bruck The proposal on the table would change the way the COLA is calculated by moving to a chained consumer price index, or chained CPI. The proposal is complex, but the result...
A few months ago I wrote about the MyFitnessPal.com app that I had started using "to preserve my orangutan-like figure." I've been happy with the results. I'm down to chimpanzee-like, and appear on track to hit lemur-like sometime in the spring. Seeing how well having a plan, and empirically and simply following that plan, worked for physical problems, I wanted to see how the approach might work with another problem of mine, finances. Zach White When I first started working here, my college-student mind was blown by the idea...
One of the most divisive debates at the center of this year's election is the role and value of government. How much regulation is too much? Have we crossed the line? Would our economy benefit from a few cuts? You could probably find someone for every possible answer to those questions who would insist that they are right and everyone else is trying to ruin the world. And I would say that all of them are probably right, except for the last part. Zach White It's like our entire nation is caught up in an argument over whether...
I've been a bit down in the dumps this last week, entertained by garbage mind. Well, maybe not crouched in the absolute bottom of the pit. More like I stood on the edge of the dump, toes hanging over, wondering if I should just go ahead, jump in and wallow around a bit. Maybe emerge sprinkled with coffee grounds, decorated with potato peels, a rotten cantaloupe shell for a hat. In the movie, Scarlet O'Hara said, "I'll think about it tomorrow." I decided I would think about it today. I generally don't get too upset when today...
When taking a young, green-broke horse out on his first big trail ride, the time for adventure is not now. Now, in fact, is the time for great success at modest tasks to lay a strong foundation for all adventures, and misadventures, of the future. With that in mind last weekend, I planned ahead clever ways to avoid adventure on my trail ride on this little green-broke horse. Pam Burke Because, yes, the odds were favorable that unsuitably high adventure would find us. First of all, the terrain in the pasture is nice except... Full story
As I write this, it is a year to the date and almost the very hour that I received a phone call from Jim Donovan, Havre Public Schools director of operations, informing me that our high school roof had collapsed. I would like to say that was a distant memory, but the emotions stirred by that thought are still quite fresh. I do not imagine that is something that will change for quite some time. The positive memory that remains with me from that day was the manner in which our high school staff and students reacted to the unexp...
