News you can use
News you can use
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About 50 years ago, outer space was the future, with the USA and USSR battling to see who go farther and explore more. After the Soviets went broke and America declared victory and moved on, computers and the Internet ended up fueling scientific and technological progress. Now, the unimaginable mountains of cash that early Internet pioneers earned starting modern giants like PayPal and Google, are fueling a new privately funded and possibly profitable space travel renaissance. Today, possibly as you read this column, a rocket...
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." In my formative years, that level of service was what the post office meant. Ah, sweet memories of a by-gone era. Uncle Sam, in his dubious wisdom, is locking the doors of many of our rural and small town post offices. Sondra Ashton The thought of such misfortune strikes terror in my heart. While Harlem is not on the immediate closure list, ours is a ve...
In the coming weeks and months, the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act. This law has been debated contentiously and has become subject to partisan politics. Through all of the debate, however, it seems we've lost sight of the urgent problems that drove Washington to seek a solution in the first place. The new law is not perfect and still needs work, but we believe it is the right thing to do for the people of our country and Montana. As members of the faith community and leaders in our churches, we...
Eastern Montana's oil fields are leading the way to better American energy security, more Montana jobs and a stronger economy. But Montana needs the Keystone XL pipeline to expand our market opportunities, our energy security and our economy by getting our oil to refineries and to the market. Energy development in the Bakken oil fields started decades ago. Today, the region produces 500,000 barrels of oil per day. Since 2005, production has grown 150 percent. I recently visited Richland County to tour its oil rigs and see...
What a week. I had guests from Port Townsend, Wash. David and Vidya arrived Monday afternoon, just in time to walk with me to City Hall for the council meeting. "This was better than theater," they both exclaimed. "It's got comedy, drama and a strong story line, all in one," said David. "I keep telling people," I said, "government meetings offer more entertainment than reality television. Maybe we should set up the meeting room with recliners, remotes and refreshments." I gigg...
Small-business owners in our state are struggling: struggling to stay afloat in a lagging economy; struggling to plan for a health care law that will take more money away from their business; struggling with regulations from Washington, D.C., that make running a business second in line to understanding compliance; struggling with a tax burden that is unfair and unjust. And now, word comes from Washington, D.C., via the National Labor Relations Board, that may soon force small-business owners to struggle to maintain the...
So I've read a few articles on the power of positive thinking, and I think it's safe to say that when I fell off my pony last weekend, I positively didn't mean to dismount that way. Yes, in an awe-inspiring display of my training ability and current state of physical prowess, I fell off a pony. No, "fell off" is not a understated way of saying "dumped off," "bucked off" or "launched," all terms that create dramatic images of a romanticized rough-and-tumble horse training...
Two weeks ago I received that call that everyone who is me dreads — "Hi, honey, your dad and I will be there to visit over the holiday weekend" — the call to emergency action of the dusting, vacuuming and sterilizing kind. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my parents and have been wanting them to visit for quite a while, but honestly, how foolish can they be to come stay with me before spring-cleaning season? Pam Burke I thought I raised my parents to make healthier cho...
Two weeks ago I received that call that everyone who is me dreads — "Hi, honey, your dad and I will be there to visit over the holiday weekend" — the call to emergency action of the dusting, vacuuming and sterilizing kind. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my parents and have been wanting them to visit for quite a while, but honestly, how foolish can they be to come stay with me before spring-cleaning season? Pam Burke I thought I raised my parents to make healthier cho...
After years of living in Seattle, it is no surprise that I developed a taste for exotic coffee. Certainly more exotic than everyday Folgers. I'm not rigid about my coffee. I'll drink any kind of coffee as long as it is hot. Coffee at the diner, coffee with friends, coffee while traveling; I'll drink it without complaint. But, I confess, behind the closed doors of my own home, I am a coffee snob. Each morning I grind my designer coffee beans fresh. I carefully bring water not quite to the boil. I measure an exact heap of groun...
During every tax season it becomes painfully obvious there are two types of American taxpayers: those who know the federal government wastes millions of dollars and those who are, for lack of a better word, dead. Yet, the living actually believe they can short-change the IRS. Such optimism is rather refreshing — stupid — but refreshing. If I filled out our tax returns I'd be writing this from prison. My wife, who excels at such things as thinking, does them. Thank goodness. She also helps with the Volunteer Income Tax Assista...
We live in Montana for a number of good reasons; one huge one is that our state is home to the best hunting and fishing in the United States. That is why many sportsmen and women across Montana are standing up for backcountry roadless lands by strongly opposing The Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act (House Resolution 1581). Tim Aldrich This bill would harm critically important wildlife habitat, adversely effecting hunting and fishing opportunities by removing protections and opening the door for new road construction...
After living 25 years in Washington, after moving back home to Montana, I found myself unpacking boxes of socks. I stuffed, crammed and shoved socks into four large dresser drawers. Dress socks, floral socks, striped socks, plain socks. Cotton socks, woolen socks, rayon socks, flocked socks. Theme socks, purple socks, white socks, colored socks. Boot socks, sports socks, fuzzy socks, fussy socks. Thick socks, thin socks, long socks, short socks. I realized I might have a...
Baseball, like the swallows, is again moving north. It is spring and the national pastime with its civility and elegance is arriving in Montana just in time. Our four-month winter is over and, hopefully, so is the recent public frustration shadowing a few of Montana's student athletes. Baseball, despite doping allegations about some of its players, is, nonetheless, a curative played on green fields under warm afternoon high skies. Pat Williams As the majors celebrated opening day, we here in Montana are eager to take our...
So what's all the fuss about fracking? Its most vocal opponents charge that fracking will burn your water, pollute your air and cause the very ground to shift beneath you. The oil and gas industry obviously disagrees. So who's right? Well, not being a scientist I have to base my opinions on information I get from trusted sources, as do most of fracking's detractors. And based on that information my conclusion is that, just like the Keystone XL pipeline opposition isn't about pipelines, coal dust alarmism isn't about coal...
Few people would consider it right to let a child go hungry, though odds are many do not consider the implications of such hunger beyond the discomfort of a growling stomach. However, the cumulative consequences of children growing up without proper nourishment are much more far-reaching and serious. Food influences a child's health, beginning during pregnancy. When a mother lacks nutritious food during gestation, there is an increased risk of the baby being born at low birth weight, perhaps with cognitive and physical...
I recently read Pam Burke's column titled "Confessions of a former plastic bag fan" (page 4, April 27) with great interest as parts of our property are located directly west and directly east of the new landfill. Our east property fence and coulees have become increasingly impacted by and filled with blowing debris, mostly plastic, which has also moved into the pastures and trees. It's a horrible sight. The beautiful landscape now cruelly punctuated by man's plastic creation. One of my favorite places is the pasture benches...
One year ago, on May 6, 2011, Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed House Bill 106 into law. That law authorized a new program — the 24/7 Sobriety Program — and heralded a new attitude toward repeat drunk drivers in Montana. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Steve Lavin, R-Kalispell, a Highway Patrol sergeant who had recently lost two colleagues to drunken drivers. Under the 24/7 Sobriety Program, anyone arrested for a second or subsequent DUI is required to submit to a breath test, twice a day, every day — paid for by the offen...
Let's talk about hackers. It is a more complicated word than people realize, largely because it is a more complicated word than most reporters realize. Contrary to the popular notion of a greasy, basement-dwelling, malicious nerd trying to guess your email password or trick you into giving over your social security number, a hacker by the most general definition is basically interchangeable with the word programmer or coder. It is just a person who writes computer programs, whether for keeping financial records, infecting...
From a diatribe of mine a few weeks ago, some readers may have gotten the impression that I have disdain for media companies, copyrights and associated law. But that's not it. I respect those companies a lot. They create opportunities for creative people to share their vision. They are culture creators. Zach White It is because of these companies and their products that the entire world shares a base of knowledge that allows us to relate, reaching beyond ethnic or national boundaries, with iconic characters, images or stories...
For many years now, I have been hearing comments from many Havre and Hill County residents concerning the visual problems associated with blowing plastic sacks throughout the county. Plastic sacks that are used to carry various items from local stores have a brief life of service, and then they are disposed of. I have seen many people purchase large volumes of groceries, collect 8 to 10 plastic sacks to carry the items to the car or their home. Then the bags are discarded. As...
Grandparents Paul and Belinda Berloni were arrested Sunday by Sarasota County Florida sheriff's deputies for driving their SUV down a public access road while drunk ... and towing their 7-year-old granddaughter in her toy plastic car. A good time was being had by all, reports NBCMiami.com, with drunken Paul driving the SUV, drunken Belinda in the SUV's cargo area shouting encouragement through the open hatch and the presumably sober little girl wheeling along in the toy car....
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is raising awareness this spring about the prevention of child abuse and neglect and the need for foster parents. For most people, child abuse and neglect is difficult to grasp. Yet, it continues to happen all over our nation and Montana is no exception. Thousands of calls are made every year to our toll-free child abuse hotline at (866) 820-KIDS. To raise awareness about the hotline, DPHHS has launched a media campaign called "Raise Your Voice for Montana Kids" that...
Zach White The Internet is the most significant human invention since the printing press, at least. In the 20 years that the World Wide Web has been used publicly, it has already caused drastic changes in how people live, work, and play. At its most basic, the Internet is a tool for exchanging ideas. Some of those ideas are as simple as "This cat is funny." Others, as seen in the Middle East in the past two years, can be ideas that a government or media outlet can't or won't share about secret oppression and brutality. I...
The United States has a long tradition of keeping church and state separate. The U.S. Declaration of Independence was based on Virginia's Declaration of Rights, which was written by George Mason. When it became clear that the Bill of Rights would not be in the U.S. Constitution, Mason refused to sign it. He wanted to make sure that our country did not have an established religion. Fortunately for all Americans the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, was ratified just three short years after the...
