News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 810 - 834 of 3212
We do not need to repeat history. In 2020, COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in Montana and by the year’s end, more than 1,100 COVID-related deaths occurred. For the first time since 1907, when birth and death reporting began in Montana, we had more reported deaths than births. Now, a year later, key facts seem familiar. COVID is on track to be the third-leading cause of death in Montana for a second-straight year. There have been over 600 COVID-related deaths so far this year in Montana. However, the landscape h...
The trouble with COVID is that it is a public relations nightmare. Where’s the angle? The hook? For starters, the name. COVID-19 hardly strikes fear in the heart of mankind let alone respect for its power. Even when some people were calling it a flu, it was, as the misnomer was intended to do, hard to take it seriously. Black Death, though, now there’s a name a PR person could do something with. Shoot, even the kids’ plague-tribute song “Ring around the Rosie” has lasted ne...
After our mutual agreement last week that Ariel’s car with Four-in-the-Floor and not enough wiggle room would not be a good car for my needs, Ariel went on the search for the “Right” car. Ariel’s morning routine includes a strong coffee, sweet roll, and Guadalajara newspaper at the Oxxo out on the highway. The Oxxo is a convenience store with the usual. You could walk in the door and feel right at home. The sweet roll might be a disappointment because Mexican sweet rolls,...
Controversy and conspiracy continue to shadow COVID-19 policies of many organizations. Despite decisions being thoughtfully considered and evidence-driven, the divide witnessed in our community and nation continues to widen. Most recently, hotly debated topics were discussed at our local school board; “Our Children;” “Their future;” and “Their childhoods.” The stresses COVID-19 placed on our children were highlighted, but the decisions of the parents and the adults of our community were somehow left out of the equation. T...
Normally I like baked goods, but when the good being baked day after day after day is me, not cookies or caramel rolls or those little personal-sized quiches, I do not approve. The laughter remaining in me after the grasshoppers got done with it got cooked to an unrecognizable lump then set out on the counter to wither away to a crusty husk of itself. My struggle is so dire that earlier this week I was reduced to cussing out little birds for their crime of being obnoxious. We...
“Mom, are you having a mid-life crisis?” asked my daughter. “I can’t have a mid-life crisis. I’m too old.” “Last week a dog. This week a car. What are you thinking?” It wasn’t really even my own idea. When I first moved to Mexico, I lived in Mazatlan, a large city with excellent public transportation. I soon realized I didn’t need a car. Buses and pulmonias and taxis were easy, cheap to use, and could get me anywhere I wanted to be. It’s not the same here in Etzatlan, but...
The dogs are missing me. My husband, Peter, predicted this after we moved. “All the dogs will miss you!” he said. “They are going to be looking for the Treat Lady. Don’t you think that’s sad?” I did not. First of all, I didn’t believe it. Just because I passed out treats for a couple of years to the dogs didn’t mean they would expect to see me again. Just because they remembered me when they saw me didn’t mean I would ever cross their minds if they didn’t see me. But yesterday...
Montanans used to joke that we had two distinct seasons: winter and road construction. Now we have three: winter, road construction and fire season, the latter of which is punctuated by searing temperatures and long dry spells brought on by a never-ending high-pressure system that stokes smoky weather and obscures the iconic Big Sky. Tourists who come here expecting the advertised bluebird skies are quickly disappointed by the amorphous haze that hides the state’s towering peaks and expansive great plains. Now, like w...
It’s astounding. Some people seem to have the attitude that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. It is not. In response to a story published last Friday in Havre Daily News about Hill County Commission approving the county health department making new hires to help with an anticipated surge in COVID-19 in the fall, Facebook posts went up with comments questioning why a surge would occur and hinting that the concerns are fake. While the federal government said earlier this year that due to the effectiveness of vaccinations, r...
When I see people celebrating three multi-billionaires racing to get into space I have that same visceral trigger I get when I watch scary movies and nobody, but nobody, turns the light on when they walk into a dark room. I know it’s an artificial plot device directors overuse to create suspense, and yet, I yell at the screen, “What the what are you doing? The light! Turn on the !@#$ light! Even a toddler knows you have to turn on the light to find the scary monsters, you moron!” So don’t clap when private companies are getti...
My friend Peggy used to ask me, in her booming voice, "What's your motive?" She caused me to examine stuff I'd really rather have left swept into the bulge under the rug. Peggy is gone these many years. But Peggy's big Irish voice lives on, in my head, whenever I make a decision, large or small. "What's your motive?" I hear as if we are sitting at the table, coffee mugs in hand. Voice followed by laughter. Months ago I began thinking about getting a pet. Motive? Not that I nec...
In Montana private land elk hunting is moving toward 11 weeks for people who can pay thousands of dollars for trophy bulls, while others are left to hunt cows in deep snows and bitter cold when they’re struggling to survive the winter. That’s the proposal of the Gianforte administration, one that extends “elk shoulder seasons” through Feb 15 annually, and onto your National Forest in 19 hunting districts. This proposal is ill conceived, premature and not in the interest of elk hunters, landowners and all Montanans who enjoy t...
Years ago, I had trouble with my septic system. If you’ve ever had that kind of trouble, you know what kind of trouble it can be. I was living in my old farmhouse out in the middle of the woods and had no idea where the sewage went until it suddenly went nowhere. That’s when I called the septic guy. The house (and presumably the septic tank) was 100 years old, and I had never had occasion to get overly curious about where the septic tank was or exactly how it worked — until...
I have been a fan of comic books and their movie adaptations since the first “Spider-Man” film featuring Tobey Maguire came out in 2002 I was roughly 7 or 8 years old then, so I understandably lost my mind. Fast-forward to the release of 2008’s “Iron Man” — the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a fan of comic books in general, I was excited for the MCU. Then, even as a child, I started to notice the trend of quantity over quality with blockbuster superhero m...
As someone who grew up on "Space Jam," I walked into Havre's Cottonwood Cinema 4 this past weekend fully prepared to hate "Space Jam 2: A New Legacy" but some 48 hours removed, I can only say I have mixed feelings. First let me just point out the obvious, I'm reviewing this film with an already acknowledged bias and as a 26-year-old. This film was never intended for people beyond Warner Bros. counting on nostalgia to get people to open their wallets. This film is intended for...
President Joe Biden signed 72 directives in a series of executive orders to try to rein in corporate abuse and to create a more competitive marketplace. These directives are instructing agencies to investigate anticompetitive practices and to create a more level playing field. One of the directives instructs the Federal Trade Commission to force equipment manufacturers to allow us the right to repair our own equipment. Another directive instructs the USDA to stop corporate monopolies from labeling imported meat with a...
Barrington, New Jersey resident Louis Angelino III has earned the title of Cleaning Fairy after a Cherry Hill, New Jersey, couple arrived home to find that Angelino had mistakenly entered their home June 28 and not only cleaned the entire townhouse, which was messy from a remodeling project, but also played with and fed the couple’s cats. Angelino has been cleaning homes on the side to make some extra money and that morning had set out to find and clean the home of a new c...
If only I could live my life over knowing what I now know? Well, guess what. If you woke up this morning still breathing, you can indeed. Live your life over. Start right now. What? You think you need a special invite? A ticket? An epiphany? I’m not preaching to the choir here. I’m preaching to myself. After a miserable few days of standing knee deep in the mud of an alligator swamp, of feeling like I should be more Important, like I should be Special, maybe better edu...
I’m not sure when a house becomes a home, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet. My husband, Peter, and I have moved into the new place. All our stuff is here, but that doesn’t mean we know where anything is. “Have you seen the strainer?” “Which strainer?” “You know, the fine one.” “No.” We have about two dozen conversations like this every day. We got rid of a lot of stuff and now it’s hard to remember what we kept. Then I unpacked by myself, so Peter had to go on a scaveng...
This whole thing started, as many trips down the rabbit hole of research do, with a random shared post on Facebook. This one shared a lot of cool things about horses, my passion, … buuuuuut there were just so many unsupported “facts” littered into this short essay that the nerd in me just could not let my finger hit the share button. It’s kind of an illness in itself, being a nerd, and it’s not the easy road. It’s kind of like the thug life, but with fewer bullets and less se...
Are we in a drought or aren’t we? Is it dry here or isn’t it? The National Weather Service and USDA both say we are and say it is. And it’s those kinds of institutions that I trust. So, if we’re in a drought, and Hill County has already been declared a disaster area, then I just have one question for the people who make these types of decisions. And that question is, why were fireworks allowed over this past Fourth of July holiday? I just don’t understand the thinking...
You know how I love the rains, right? As with grandchildren, I love them more when they behave. You know. Sunshine days and rain in the early evenings. Another morning listening to rain pound down while the stupid birds are singing at the top of their lungs, “Here comes the sun.” Stupid birds. There is a lesson in here somewhere. After a leisurely trip visiting relatives along the route from Mexico to Minnesota, John and Carol wrote that they are home, having been towed the...
It was a good party. Of course you would expect me to say that, since it was our going-away party and I am bound to be biased. But there were six dogs and plenty of food and lots of laughter and some tears and even a little barking and if that doesn’t qualify as a good party, I don’t know what does. Jake, the mixed-breed pup who showed up first, was pretty chill when the entire family of border collies showed up — all on leashes and looking like they owned the place. The b...
I just spent a week on a tractor cleaning my corrals and doing some dirt work, which gave my brain far too much time to get lost in philosophical contemplation, and this week my brain settled in to ponder the Law of Unintended Consequences. I know, that sounds intriguing, right? Most of us are familiar with Murphy’s Law — Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong — but Unintended Consequences is like Murphy’s intellectually deeper and marginally more optimistic cousin....
My back yard is full of baby doves foraging. Worms? Could be any number of bugs. They have a huge, juicy selection. All sizes, all colors. Last night we had a Bing-Bang-Boom-Jingle-Jangle-Whoop of a storm, precursor to rains tonight, all courtesy of Hurricane Enrique. I had to get up in the night and put rugs in front of the door and towels on the window sills to soak up the water. Did I tell you my house is anything but tight? When I went out to survey my kingdom I found a...
