News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1255 - 1279 of 3210
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...
My name is Elizabeth Marum and I serve on the board for Big Sky 55+. We are a nonprofit social welfare organization that seeks to provide a voice for Montanans 55 and older. Today, I hope to draw support for Medicaid despite rumors looming of President Donald Trump and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., working to cut funding for the program. President Trump’s 2021 budget blueprint reprises the same harmful proposals we’ve seen in previous budgets, doubling down on policies that cut health care and services for the people who nee...
It is 2020, a leap year; happy birthday to those with birthdays on Feb. 29th. And, if you have been hiding somewhere without communications, it is also an election year. Everyone running wants endorsements and much needed contributions. I remember this phase of elections, having run for office four times in the last 20 years. There are candidates I respect and support, as I am sure most of you do, too. The question is, how invested and involved do we want to be, which is personal. As I look around and visit with folks, I see...
We address this letter to all people of faith and of good will in our state of Montana. We are at a crucial time in our nation’s history, as well as that of our state, where racial, political and religious divisions have regrettably deepened. People on all sides have spent so much time fanning the flames of division that the higher callings of our religious traditions have been neglected. While we cannot speak for everyone from the various contexts of our siblings in faith, we also cannot remain silent. So we call out to y...
When I was a wee small human, among my prized family possessions were an impressive 6-inch thick Webster’s dictionary and the full, multi-volume faux-leather bound Encyclopedia Britannica. One day, after a second-grade class lesson on home safety, I pulled all these books out and stacked them into manageable piles, so that I could determine how many trips it would take me to save all that information from a fire. Six. It would’ve taken six trips. Still, rescuing those boo...
It was the moonless night that became a radiant source of light for a new generation. The Fifth Crusade brought the epic clash of civilizations to a climactic intensity. Giant Christian and Muslim armies had been facing each other in the Egyptian desert for over two months of sporadic but bloody fighting. Sept.1, 1219, outside of Damietta, Francis of Assisi with just one companion and with unimaginable courage, crossed the dark No Man’s Land at the center of the front line. The two men were immediately captured as they e...
I could have said “outright lies” but I have no blessed idea how I am going to fill this page so “guesses” seemed the more appropriate word. Most weeks I know exactly what I want to say. It never comes out the way I think it will, but I have a definite idea to start. “I can’t wait to talk about that.” Or, “I want to tell them this little story.” This has been a strangely blank week. Maybe it is the gray skies, make me feel like I followed my son Ben home to Poulsbo, Washingt...
Last week, I started doing something I’ve never done before. I started writing fiction. I realize this does not sound shocking since I’m writing every week. My husband, Peter, says I write fiction all the time — every time I write about him. But the truth is, I have not written a word of fiction since I was in the second grade and wrote, “The 500-Pound Mouse.” I can’t take credit for either the title or the protagonist, as they were assigned by my teacher, but I have to tak...
Dear editor, During the 2019 Legislature, Gov. Steve Bullock, legislators and Montanans across the Treasure State worked tirelessly to keep history alive in a variety of ways. Senate Bill 338, also known as the Montana Museums Act, is best known for providing a portion of the funds to build the new Montana Heritage Center. But the legislation also creates an ongoing historic preservation grant program for counties, incorporated cities or towns, tribal governments, associations and incorporated non-profit groups. Feb. 28 is...
I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but the United Nations has set out to ruin my entire year, and they’re pretending that they’re doing it for my well-being. Their website says that the United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 to be the International Year of Plant Health. I’m not making this up. They are. They said they’re doing this “to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment and boost economic de...
My first husband was quite the — uh — storyteller. Some of you knew Harvey and can verify my statement. Some of his stories even had elements of truth. Others were pure fabrication, even when they sounded verifiable. I was 18 when we married. A naïve 18. This was back in the day when the farthest most people ventured from home was the county seat for official business. Worldly, I was not. I was well-read. However, the majority of books available to me in our little libr...
My sister learned to whistle at age 2. She was precocious in other ways as well. She knew how to read by the time she started kindergarten. She demonstrated a physical dexterity I never did. She was much more talented at the piano. But it was the whistling that really got to me. I was 6 when she started to whistle and I remember it clearly. She sat in her highchair at my grandparents’ house and started whistling her heart out. She could see, even at 2, that she was creating qu...
My husband, John, and I do not have a stereotypical marriage. I hate to brag, but we are so much odder than that. A friend sent me a message a few weeks ago to say that she would try to let me know when her husband was coming to my house to pick up something — “Hopefully he lets me know what he’s thinking ... LOL!” she wrote. I replied with the obligatory laughing emojis, as if I totally understood where she was coming from. Chick solidarity and all. But, really, I wanted...
