News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1243 - 1267 of 3210
Montana’s small businesses are the fabric of our economy and their success is dependent on the ability to freely market products and services to communities across the state. As Americans face the new reality of “social distancing” measures, our local small businesses are bearing the brunt of that impact and are addressing serious concerns regarding declining customer traffic. In order to assist businesses adversely impacted by the coronavirus and COVID-19, and at the request of Gov. Steve Bullock, the U.S. Small Busin...
It’s probably been centuries since our world has been so united in purpose. We are concerned — concerned for our own health, our families, our neighbors, concerned for those around the other side of the globe. A few weeks ago I bought tickets for a quick trip to Glendive. Let me modify that — there is no quick trip into Montana from Central Mexico. I bought tickets for the long trip, short stay. I felt I had little choice since on my birthday, my Montana Driver’s License...
There are myths of COVID-19 that need to be addressed. This is not another flu. Some data suggests that the mortality rate of COVID-19 is 10- to 30-times higher than seasonal influenza (flu). There are no drug treatments. There are no current vaccines and a vaccine is not expected for another 12-18 months at best. Yes, most people will have a mild illness with COVID-19, roughly 80 percent, but the most vulnerable in our population will pay the price if nothing is done. Persons aged 60 and above and those with preexisting...
It’s a very gray day. Today is exactly the sort of day I am most grateful for dogs. Walking in my neighborhood, everyone feels the need to share the latest dire news. Meeting in the street, we almost feel irresponsible if we don’t express our concern and our dismay and our confusion. The people with dogs, however, have it easy. Because dogs don’t care. Nearly every day, I encounter dogs. There is Graham, the black Lab, who is supposedly being trained as a service dog. Graha...
I want to remind adult Montanans with disabilities that we have the right to vote. With a very narrow exception for people with guardians who have explicitly had their right to vote suspended as part of guardianship proceedings, we have the right to vote along with all other vote-eligible Montanans. Our right can’t be impeded by polling locations or ballots that are difficult or even impossible for us to cast independently. A slew of laws had to be passed to remove these barriers. Starting with the Voting Rights Act of ’65, V...
Montanans, along with all Americans, will soon be asked to do something we haven’t done in a decade — fill out our Census form. Every ten years since 1790, citizens throughout the United States help determine how federal funds are distributed, and how we are represented in the halls of Congress. Beginning this month, all Montanans will be asked to respond to the 2020 Census by answering nine simple survey questions. For the first time ever, households can respond online at https://2020census.gov . It’s an easy way to make...
If you want to know who to blame about this toilet paper hoarding craze in the midst of a pandemic that does not affect your gastrointestinal tract, blame a gang of knife-wielding men in Hong Kong. The Agence France-Presse reported the theft Feb. 17. Hong Kong, at the time, was experiencing shortages of many household staples, including hand sanitizers and some foods, due to panic-buying in Hong Kong early in February. I don’t know what fueled the theft of 600 rolls of t...
My friends, who shall remain anonymous, sent me money to donate for them to a good cause of my choice here in Etzatlan. These good folks have visited me several times. They like my little chosen town. Several years ago a Franciscan friar, a wealthy man, sold all he had and built a lovely hacienda among the trees to house those who need special care, the aged who can no longer live with family as well as the disabled in body, the infirm in mind, both men and women. One hears...
I think Pollyanna might have gotten a bum rap. More than once in my life I’ve been accused of having a “Pollyanna attitude.” I didn’t actually know what this meant, except that it was not a good thing. Being “a Pollyanna” implied having an unrealistically sunny view of whatever was happening. Since Pollyanna and I had been linked so often, I thought I should finally read the book. For children’s literature, “Pollyanna” is one dark book. Spoiler alert for those of you who...
Two of the current Hill County Park Board members’ terms will expire soon. The 2020 posting of these positions could be any time now in the Hill County Courthouse. The Hill County Park Board has nine positions. Six members of the park board have staggered three year terms appointed by the county commissioners. The other three members of the park board are the elected county commissioners. Other than a public comment period at commissioners’ business meetings, the public has no official opportunity to participate in who is...
I have been working to better understand politics and — with Super Tuesday behind us and the Montana primary election still so far in the distance that we can’t see our relevance beyond our in-state races — I’ve stumbled across a New York Times article delving into voting processes in the animal kingdom. The article, “Sneezing dogs, dancing bees: How animals vote” by Elizabeth Preston, was cute, a lot cuter than you would expect out of the Times, which is known to publish nov...
Day three with an unwanted, invasive, intimate companion — the flu. So weak, I feel like a newborn kitten without a mama. While alternative health methods have a long and checkered history of purposefully and purposely cleaning out one’s digestive tract as a measure for optimum good health, if you ask me, such drastic measures are total nonsense. The first 36 hours I spent every 20 to 40 minutes, literally, on the commode, plastic lined garbage can on my lap, inv...
Bob suggested we all do push-ups. I guess I should mention that I don’t know Bob. Peter, my husband, knew Bob in high school. To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure Peter and Bob were even close pals in high school. But Bob sent me a Facebook friend request shortly after he became Facebook friends with Peter and, even though I don’t know Bob, I accepted. Then Bob challenged me to do push-ups. “Join me in the push-up challenge!” Bob said. I was delighted that I been invited....
At recent Hill County Park Board meetings it was requested that livestock grazing be adjusted in our Beaver Creek Park during September to accommodate recreation, primarily in the south end of our park. As stipulated in our patent for Beaver Creek Park recreation is the priority use of our park. With haying and grazing, commercial private agricultural use of our park is occurring from June through December, six months. The most active traditional recreational period has been Memorial Day thru Labor Day, just over three...
Do you ever wonder if your priorities should be in the toilet? In a piece written for National Public Radio, Greg Rosalsky extolled the virtues of Japanese toilets, which are, apparently, miracles of modern technology. First, and foremost, the toilets have an integrated bidet that, if you don’t already know, gently hoses down your privates after you’re done with your business. They also come with a blow dryer, in case you were puzzling over the same issue I was. For extra ame...
Late in the day, I read a profound passage in a Swedish mystery novel. The daughter asked her father why life seems so much harder in these modern times. His answer was that we no longer darn socks. This makes perfect sense, of course, food for thought for times to come. My grandmother put needle and thread in my hands before I started school. Two things I learned quite young. I embroidered pillowcases with floral borders and I darned my own stockings. Grandma did not have an...
My husband, Peter, likes buying in bulk. Peter hates paying shipping fees. He never wants to run out of anything and he loves a bargain. This is why we buy coffee in enormous bags, crackers by the case, nuts and raisins 10 pounds at a time, rice in 20-pound bags, and beans in 50-pound bags. It is sometimes a little alarming when the boxes arrive. I’m not quite sure how he got this way. Peter was the youngest child of six, but I don’t think his family went through any ext...
Life’s a funny thing sometimes. Sometimes it’s good, others it’s bad and at times it pulls you in several directions at once. Six years ago, while driving across the country, I passed through a small town way up in northern Montana, driving from Missoula to Washington, D.C., to see some old friends. The small town that I passed through was Havre. I remember very little of Havre; mostly I remember passing by the train yard and thinking of old rail bums with unshaven faces and small packs slung over their shoulder. Rail bums...
As you may have read in the paper, as a park board member, I have brought up to the Hill County Park Board that maybe we can look at other options besides trapping for beaver control in the park. What brought this on is that we had lost our trapper — we have been using trappers for approximately 70 years — so we needed to do something. Of course, the first thought of the board was to “find another trapper.” I suggested that maybe this would be a good time to look at other alternatives, which it appears there are quite a...
I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable by bragging about what went on in my bedroom earlier this week, or jealous of my under-the-covers escapades, but I feel the strong need to overshare: Tuesday night, I slept for six whole hours. That’s right, count ’em, six (6!) — six continuous, glorious, uninterrupted, peaceful, solid, sound hours of sleep. No getting up for the 3 a.m. potty break or just to move around, no waking up to roll over, no feline in my face request...
I am soooo bad. The “like killing snakes” part is hard for me. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been told, “Slow down. You are going at that job (whatever it is) like killing snakes.” Uh, huh. More than one person. Is that a tried and true Montana phrase? I don’t know. Miguel, my physical therapist, tells me the same thing in different words. He says, “No rapido, no rapido!” or “Lento, lento!” “Despacio!”Or “Suave, suave.” Those are the words he says. What I hear is “Sl...
The roof fell in on the church I started attending The collapse occurred after I’d been coming only a couple of weeks. While I have not always been a regular churchgoer, I thought this was kind of an over-the-top response to my unexpected appearance in church. The collapse was pretty serious, as it turned out. Several roof joists snapped and the rest were badly compromised and we were not permitted to return to the sanctuary. So, services had to be held in the basement (...
Several news sources have reported in the past two weeks that Tennessee state Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, has taken his stance against “fake news” all the way to his state’s Legislature, in the form of a resolution that’s kind of like an official motion to make his disgust the official state sentiment about two major news sources. Van Huss’ House Joint Resolution 779 officially is “a resolution to recognize CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and condemn the...
One day Bonnie said to me, “Sondra, you are a turtle. When in a group, you tuck your head inside your shell, listen and watch.” Ever since then, I cannot look in the mirror without seeing my turtle. In a moment of turtle introspection, I realized a turning point has changed the direction of my life. I generally don’t see my turning points until I can look backward. Some positive, others not so much. In my freshman English 101 class at what was then the College of Great Falls...
I was looking at my hair in the mirror. “I think I might need a touch-up,” I noted to my husband, Peter. “Hmmm,” Peter replied, without looking up. (Which means, “If you think so honey. I honestly believe you might be able to hold off a week!” I can always count on Peter for a thoughtful response.) “Maybe I should get it done in time for Valentine’s Day.” This time Peter did look up, with just a trace of alarm. “You know, so I’ll be ready for our Big Night Out!” I smiled...
