News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1312 - 1336 of 3212
It’s been several months (a couple years, even?) since I first started reading letters to the editor about the APR — American Prairie Reserve — and started learning people’s opinions about what its presence in central Montana meant for our rural communities. I have to admit, when I first heard of them, I was intrigued. The idea of hiking and recreating across millions of acres of open prairie land did — and still does — appeal to me. What could be so wrong about this group that seemingly shares so many of the same values...
Have you decided who to support in the next race for governor? It seems early but the primary election is six months away and it’s less than a year to the general election. Mike Cooney is the best choice for governor. Most of us know who Cooney is and some of the things he has done for our state. Most people know he is currently Steve Bullock’s lieutenant governor. Others recall that he was our secretary of state for two terms. A smaller number remember that he was president of the Montana Senate. A few may even remember tha...
On a Saturday I saw an orthopedic specialist. He said, “I can fix your hip and leg.” I’m kind of backward when it comes to medical issues. I didn’t go to him for a fix. I went for a referral to somebody who could make me those horrid ugly black shoes where one shoe is built up with a two or four or six inch sole — you know the kind — the ones I’ve been too vain to consider. The doctor also told me the ugly black shoes would not help. I like to think I am smart. I like to thi...
I have spent the past month-and-a-half catching up with family. My two brothers and I, who have not been together for over five years, were able to meet up in Oklahoma and had a great time. Our youngest brother flew in from Las Vegas and thought he was freezing to death at 35 degrees. I mention this not only because it was great to visit and tell stories with family, but to segue into the feral pig problem and overpopulation in Oklahoma. After seeing what the pigs can do, believe me, Montana wants to avoid encroachment of...
At a gubernatorial campaign fundraiser, U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., pledged to cut taxes 30 percent over his first two years. The promise of “huge tax cuts” is attractive, but voter beware: Tasty bait often hides painful hooks. State government runs on income taxes. Local cities, counties and schools run on property taxes. Of state taxes, 91 percent support locally delivered services, the big three being education, health care and incarceration. Montana’s Balanced Budget Amendment prevents deficit spending, so … und...
I shamefully have to admit that my husband, John, and I have been participating in a long-standing act of profiling. It started innocently enough, as these acts often do. It is a game, a kind of new-age slug-bug game when we’re driving together. Instead of trying to spot the Volkswagon Bug first, we compete to be the first person to point out white vans, and some of the sketchy looking other-colored ones, and say “Un-sub!” because 1) It’s hard to find a VW Bug anymore...
I’ll dither around before I talk about that which I need to talk. Because that is the way I am. Look the other way. Put my head in a bucket of sand. Pretend I don’t need you. In truth, it’s been a rough couple of weeks, what with losing phone/internet service for one of those weeks. That was an eye-opener. Try it. I’d have sworn I didn’t use my computer, except for writing, more than an hour a day. Well. Well. Well. Fooled myself. Sure did accomplish a lot of small put-aside...
My husband, Peter, and I are returning from Spain by boat. The whole idea started when Peter read a book about the sinking of the Lusitania. “That sounds like fun!” Peter told me, as he read. “Death at sea?” I asked. “No, the part before that!” Peter clarified. Peter thought the idea of a cross-Atlantic ship sounded fun and romantic. He began investigating transatlantic trips and once Peter starts investigating a thing, it’s as good as done. Peter discovered that a number...
We are entering the holiday stretch. Many Montanans will spend extra special time with friends and family, giving thanks and reflecting on the previous year — and decade! During this time, our social medias flood with entertaining photos comparing how our hairstyles, families and communities have changed. All this celebration and reflection reminds us that what matters most usually are not things, but the people, community and connections in our lives. It is also a great time to talk with your loved ones about health i...
I don’t ice fish. I don’t enjoy winter enough to stand on ice watching a bobber do nothing, and I’m not a good enough drinker to sit in an ice house trying to drink that bobber under the water table. Dad used to take us ice fishing when we were kids. I don’t know how he and Mom thought it was worth it. I guess they didn’t know any better. The day started well before dawn, especially the times we were taking the snowmobile into a snowed-in lake. Dad, Mom, Brother and I would b...
Good afternoon, this is not Sondra. After calling my mom for several days, and impatiently wondering where she has gotten up to without alerting me to her travels, I found out her phone and internet lines have been cut. Leaving her all out on her own, with only her friends and local animals to talk to. She does have a Mexican cell phone which costs about $13, so you know how great it works. I never call it unless I know she’s traveling, so this wasn’t my first thought. Whe...
I lost a feather the other day and I understand this does not qualify as news. But I want to say — for the record — that this was a really nice feather. I paid good money for it and pinned it to my favorite blue hat. I wore that hat out for a walk, one evening, when it was chilly. This was the last night that my husband, Peter, and I were in Frigiliana, a little town in the south of Spain. I walked to the top of the very steep hill where, 400 years ago, a Moorish castle sto...
Montanans from all walks of life have a deep connection to our state’s fish and wildlife. Those of us lucky enough to live here and visitors from all over the world enjoy unmatched hunting, fishing and wildlife watching opportunities. Fish and wildlife don’t see government borders, and the state of Montana shares authority to manage wildlife with Montana’s tribal nations. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks works in partnership with tribal agencies like the Natural Resources Department of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tri...
Thanksgiving is coming up this week and before you know it, we will head from our turkey dinners right into the high-pitched shopping season. If you’ve ever watched the news on Black Friday, you may have seen the lines of people who make a sport of getting up at 4 a.m. to rush into stores for the hottest deals or discounts. And then there are those who spend hours on their computer cyber shopping. But do you know of anyone who, at 4 a.m., has rushed into a foundation to donate? Or who has stood in line with a mob of people t...
Traditionally, I shy away from anything that reeks of studied analysis of my psyche, but I was recently tricked into taking a three-question quiz because I thought it was just a funny thing. I mean, three little questions delivered by a comedian, how serious can that be? Then the person said noted father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud came up with this quiz. That’s unconfirmed. Either way, it’s simple. It’s three questions. How painful can that be? You have been forew...
Farming and hunting are two of the defining qualities of Montana. For decades, hunters and landowners have worked together to maintain our public wildlife, our working agricultural lands and our outdoor heritage. Landowners know hunters are the best management tool for wildlife; hunters appreciate the habitat and access that our farmers and ranchers provide. That strong relationship is as essential as ever in the fight against the newest threat to Montana: invasive feral swine. Montana currently has no confirmed cases of inva...
Rain, “lluvia” in Español, pinging on my Mexican tile roof, sounds like the clatter of typewriter keys hitting the platen. Do you remember that rapidly rattling noise? Woe is me. These old bones are having a down in the damps kind of day. Two tropical depressions off the Pacific coast ganged up to slather the sky with black clouds, each pregnant with rain. Rain every single day since my party a week ago. Rain in November! This is the dry season — isn’t it? I am contrary...
The Public Service Commission has always been a somewhat surly bunch. The PSC’s devoted staff has often had to deal with varying degrees of political game-playing, deception, threats and intrigue. Sure. Politicians politic. The question is, at the end of the day, can elected officials bury their egos and ambitions long enough to put the people’s business ahead of their own? Recent events would suggest that where the Montana PSC is concerned, the answer is “no.” That might surprise you, given that the commission is entirel...
“I like the edge season!” my husband, Peter, said, as we watched the moon rise over the mountains and felt a chill breeze rise with it. As far as I know, Peter invented this expression. He might have meant the “season’s end,” but I like the idea of the “season’s edge” better. Peter and I are staying in the south of Spain and, even here, the season is changing. Restaurants that have been open all summer and fall are finally giving their employees a few days off. Menus are...
Though a “news junkie,” I’ve grown deeply weary of the unrelenting impeachment coverage, and so was grateful to escape for a recent vacation to the Emerald Isle of Ireland. I’m a typical all-American mix of ethnicities, but primarily Irish, and like many Montanans I’m proud to be Irish. In Ireland there was coverage of the U.S. impeachment, but Brexit news dominated, followed by the riots in Spanish Catalonia, and the tragedy of the British boy killed by a car driven by...
If you are recycling, you are well aware that many of the items you used to recycle can’t be taken by the recyclers or your solid waste program. This is the result of Americans sending filthy recyclables to China, our biggest recyclables customer, only to be shut down until literally, we clean up our recycling methodology. But, this depressed opportunity to recycle is only a bump in the long road. Keep in mind recyclables are a commodity marketed similarly to other commodities such as grains and livestock. Anyone in the a...
Sometimes, in these modern times, it’s difficult for us to make sense of the world but, rest assured, I am here to tell you that there are very good reasons why things don’t make sense. The world of sports is fueled by longtime rivalries. One of those epic rivalries is between Australia and England who have been, and I kid you not, fostering a cricket rivalry over an urn filled with the ashen remains of the cricket bails burned after a cricket match in 1882. The rivalry isn...
This was not my idea, to have a party. It was sloppily put together. Any party, even pot luck, takes a lot of work. I didn't really want to do it. I was tired and in pain from the long bus ride. Bah humbug. I rode the bus, one more trip to Mazatlan. In the four-year process, all that was left for me to do was pick up the card moving me from temporary to permanent status as a resident. This is not citizenship. I'm not dual. Too old to think about that. In October, the senorita...
November is not only National Veterans Month but also National Family Caregivers Month, a time to recognize and thank the more than 40 million family caregivers in the U.S. This November, we should honor and pay respect to both: those who served our country in uniform and the hidden heroes caring for our veterans at home. There are about 20 million veterans in the U.S., with the majority having served during the Vietnam Era. More than 90,213 veterans live in Montana. Additionally, Montana has the second highest per-capita...
My husband, Peter, and I are spending a month in Spain and we have left our worries behind. As a result, we have had to come up with new, temporary worries to occupy us until we get back home. Peter ran out of lotion and for several days used something he found in the house which turned out to be soap. (“I wondered why it wasn’t soaking in!” Peter said.) He doesn’t like my lotion (“axle grease!” Peter complains) so he ventured out yesterday to buy some more. He came home with some lotion in a metal tin and immediately...
