News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 1923 - 1947 of 3191
Montana is on the verge of a moment when our state can unite. It’s a chance for Montanans, including Native Americans and non-Indians alike, as well as Montanans of different backgrounds, to come together to make a change for the better. Greg Gianforte’s candidacy for Congress offers us a unique opportunity to bridge our divides and create better outcomes for all Montana citizens. I saw Greg in action and paid close attention as he visited all seven Montana Indian reservations over the last two years and I can see that his...
Today, as every day, teachers called the names of more than 140,000 students, as they took attendance in Montana’s 821 public schools. For the thousands of children who file into our classrooms, school is more than a place to learn. In-school programs and practices ensure children across the state stay healthy, well fed, safe and enriched. However, recent efforts by Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could severely alter our public schools’ ability to foster all students’ development. In Montana, rough...
Public lands have become a major issue in this campaign, and for good reason. Whomever Montanans elects as their next congressman, he will have the opportunity to vote on congressional budgets that will have an enormous impact on our public lands. Budgets are more than numbers; they’re also value statements. And the budget President Trump recently proposed makes clear that he does not value our public lands the same way Montanans do. His budget would cut the Department of the Interior’s budget by 12 percent, representing a d...
Visiting family is like looking at yourself in a funhouse mirror. You know you are seeing yourself reflected back, but everything is skewed, cockeyed and out of proportion. Some of the reflections scare you, but some make you laugh out loud. Half my family tree was lost in the divorce. Not my divorce, but my choice of tree branch to follow. Admittedly, I was young and very much interested in self-preservation of my early teenage psyche, but still I lost touch with half my...
I didn’t want to go. I was still recovering from burning the soles of my feet on the hot sands of Mazatlan. The plan was for Lani, Kathy, Crin and me to go to Tonola for the tianguis, the huge street market, and from there to Best Buy for Kathy to buy a washing machine. It’s hard to pass up a day in Tonola. But the bait that hooked me was Best Buy for a shop vac. My house is all brick walls, tile floors. I really don’t need a vacuum cleaner. But you go around the walls with...
Thirty years ago, the Montana Legislature passed a bill to establish a one-of-a-kind program to conserve Montana’s best wildlife habitat. Habitat Montana, as it is known, has done just that. With over 600,000 acres of conservation easements and fee-title lands owned by the people of Montana, the program has helped conserve areas vital for the continued abundance of elk, deer and hundreds of other species that need a place to call home during the stressful winter months as well as year round. The program is wildly popular w...
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., recently introduced a bill in Congress at the behest of a group of mountain biking proponents that would eviscerate the 1964 Wilderness Act and allow bicycles in every wilderness in the nation. The bill, House Resolution 1349, was introduced March 15 on behalf of the mountain biker organization, the Sustainable Trails Coalition — STC. This bill would amend the Wilderness Act to allow bikes, strollers, wheelbarrows, game carts, survey wheels, and measuring wheels in every unit of the National W...
As a 28-year registered nurse, I can tell you that I have been intimately involved in the outcomes of people’s lives. Their physical, mental and spiritual health is a tremendous responsibility that deserves thoughtful attention, knowledge and expertise, and a genuine commitment to protect patients, nurture their healing, and advocate for them at all costs — and do no harm. Last week, members of Congress passed the American Health Care Act more commonly referred to as Trumpcare; 217 Republicans voted in favor of passage and...
In Montana, we know how important agriculture is – to our economy, to jobs and to keeping food on our tables, and on tables around the world. I’m thrilled to have former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as our new Secretary of Agriculture. I know Secretary Perdue will be a champion for Montana agriculture. Don’t take my word for it – come hear from him yourself when he is the keynote speaker at the Montana Ag Summit 2017 in Great Falls May 31 – June 1. During a time of historically low prices, we need to find ways to maintain...
I could be writing about a lot of really interesting things that happened this week, but instead it’s all about the water. Again. This time, though, I now have it, but apparently don’t know how to use it. Sure, no one who really knows me expected me to go into a frenzy of cleaning after regaining running water in the house, even if it was a four-month dry spell. You would think I could transition back to using it at least out of habit, though. I mean, I wasn’t raised by wolve...
For years, I’ve been privileged to be Kathy’s guest, generally on the 24th floor of the El Moro Tower, fronting the Great Pacific Ocean, in Mazatlan. When we were young and foolish, we might, and I hedge my bets, have run up and down the stairway for exercise; an attempt to balance the effects of the rich food nobody forced down our gullets. We might have. If we were young. And foolish. Without hesitation, we head for the elevators. (In all fairness, I’ve never seen anybo...
Folks, It has been an honor to serve as your representative to the 65th Legislative Session of Montana. Although this session will be over by the time you read this, I will be busy working for you throughout the interim on various committees and staying in touch with you to make sure that I have all of the information that I need to represent you in the 66th Legislative Session. Until then, I will leave you with a final report on this session. Outdoors and Wildlife There were so many wonderful, and — let’s be honest — terri...
By Jenny Eck and Jon Sesso Imagine you were told, as you headed onto the field, that your team would have nearly one-third fewer players than the opposing team … and that the other team would get to set the rules that you would have to play by. For Democrats in the 2017 Legislature, that has been our reality. As the minority and the loyal opposition, our mission is clear: to be a voice and a vote for what is right, and to fight every day for the people who sent us here, all the while knowing that the odds are not in our f...
I was born and raised in Cut Bank, where I learned that nothing gets done without hard work. Growing up on a ranch and wheat farm with five brothers and sisters, I can’t imagine a better place to spend my childhood than in the north country of Glacier County among salt of the earth people, learning the Montana values that we all hold dear ... community, responsibility, hard work and family. Living in rural Montana taught me how to be resourceful and what it means to thrive in sometimes challenging situations. I know the s...
The most significant infrastructure bill in over a quarter of a century was passed by the just adjourned 2017 legislatives session. It was the six-cent increase in motor fuel taxes which will make it possible for Montana to continue to match federal dollars for highway maintenance and construction at a ratio of seven federal dollars to one Montana dollar. The highway infrastructure bill was passed by an embattled coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Its passage was necessary to assure our roads and highways will be...
Montana currently has one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation, with historic low unemployment and new businesses being created at record speed. We have a stable business climate allowing businesses across the state to grow, expand and create more good paying jobs. And we are consistently recognized for our innovation, entrepreneurship, and Montana work ethic. Many states would welcome such economics. These trends are by design. In the last three legislative sessions, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to craft...
National Tourism Week 2017 is all about celebrating the many faces of travel. During this week of May 7-13, we will celebrate the power of tourism through the people who make the industry so remarkable. Tourism is America’s third largest retail sales industry. Tourism is Montana’s second largest industry. Locally, tourism is big business, too. While we may not be a destination for summer vacations, we still see a huge segment of the traveling public come to our community from June to October. The answer is simple. For a num...
As I write this, I am exhausted, sun burnt, sticky and salty with dry sweat, gritty and muddy, but I am here to say that one of the greatest marvels of modern civilization is indoor plumbing — water that runs from a well, through buried pipes to places like water troughs, sinks, toilets (for the love of sanitation, the toilet). Regular readers might remember that the universe’s Christmas Eve gift to me and my husband was a totally unusable water system to the house. For...
Big Sandy Rotary celebrates another successful banquet, with a salute to agriculture. We are so pleased with the continued support from the Big Sandy, Havre, Fort Benton and Great Falls communities. The Rotarians would like to send a big thank-you to everybody who helped in any way with the success of the 2017 banquet. For over 33 years, your generosity has been astonishing! This has enabled us to return over $575,000 to more than 60 youth/school activities, civic groups, programs and organizations. Without each and every...
I always like being back in Mazatlan, the town I visited year after year, the town where I lived nearly three years. Familiar places, familiar people, old friends. A sadness, a worry, clouds my holiday. You remember Carlos, my friend who drives a pulmonia? He would take me for groceries, for medical care, for important paperwork. He became my interpreter when I needed one. He and Selena helped me paint my apartment. We shared meals. Three days prior to my leaving Etzatlan,...
Another acrimonious session of the Montana Legislature has come to an end. Montana’s hunters, anglers and other outdoors enthusiasts had several successes in this session. We spoke up for wildlife and our outdoor heritage, we reached across political divides, and our elected officials heard us. In a tough political time, we made the legislative process work by working together. The biggest win for all Montanans is the full restoration of funding for our state’s premier habitat protection and public access program, Hab...
As the 2017 legislative session has come to an end, we want to make sure that Montanans have a clear view of what’s happened the past few months in Helena. The mission of the Senate and House Republicans from Day One has been to help create more opportunities for all Montanans by making our state a better place to work, live and do business. Government should work in service to the people, not the other way around. In large part this means fighting against policies that increase taxes, grow government and take from the c...
Nationally, 33,000 Americans died in 2015 from an opioid overdose — that’s close to the number of casualties caused by car accidents. Montana has seen a 475 percent increase in heroin found during arrests since 2013, and meth usage is rising again. Patients who struggle with substance abuse and mental illnesses rely heavily on mental health care, often to survive. In 2015, Montana had the third highest suicide rate in the nation. Based on Montana DPHHS information, 65 percent of suicides between January 2014 and March 2016 ha...
What separates Greg Gianforte from the rest of us? Geography, issues and wealth. Montana is large and diverse: 144,000 square miles, 56 counties, 537 unincorporated towns and communities, 130 incorporated cities and towns, and 118,405 businesses — 3078 large; 115,326 small. At the same time, Montana has only three members of Congress to represent our wide social, economic and geographic diversity. If Greg Gianforte is elected to Congress, for the first time in Montana’s 128-year history, two of our three Congress members wou...
The 65th Montana Legislation finished up work Friday. I was most fortunate and honored to have served all of you in District 14. It was a great educational experience and fulfilling to contribute to government at the state level. There are many I want to thank for the opportunity: First of all, thank you to those who called convincing me to put my name in for the open Senate seat. Then, much appreciation to the central committees for advancing me to the top three. Lastly, thanks to the commissioners from the four counties I...
