News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2033 - 2057 of 3210
This morning, Ricardo, our waiter, kept track of us by name. Lu became, forevermore, “Hello, Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart,” accompanied by Ricardo not-Nelson, with Spanish accent, embedding the song in our minds for the rest of the day. Ha! Now try to get the tune out of your head! The two couples were Jerry and “Jerry’s wife” and Jesse and “Jesse’s wife.” Lola threatened to stab Ricardo in the leg with a fork. Sharon just laughed. I began calling Jerry Lola’s husband just to keep things even. Karen, he renamed Carmen and she im...
A highlight this week during session was visiting with administration and staff from Montana State University-Northern and Montana State University in Bozeman. We were presented with their past accomplishments, future goals, and building ideas. A number of Northern Stock Growers Club members also were in to visit with the senators from north-central Montana. I’m proud to see how far Northern has advanced since my college days, but so have many other things. This week was Montana Association of Counties’ time in Helena for...
Jan. 30, more than 1,000 Montanans squeezed into the Capitol building to tell our elected officials in Helena and Washington, D.C., "Keep public lands in public hands." Sportsmen and women, conservationists, outdoor recreationists, kids and families traveled from as far as Fort Peck, Miles City and Thompson Falls. We blew the roof off the Capitol in defense of our shared outdoor heritage, making clear that we won’t stand for any legislation that even considers transferring, selling or otherwise divesting citizens of our publi...
Our own Sen. Jon Tester recently said the Senate should “have a hearing and a vote” on President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch of the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sen. Tester should go one step further by supporting Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation without any unnecessary delay. Judge Gorsuch has both the personal and professional experience that will suit him well on the nation’s highest court. Born in Denver, Colorado, Judge Gorsuch comes from similar Western roots as many of us. An avid o...
I’ve spent three decades involved in improving public safety. The people that know me recognize it remains one of the great passions in my life. It’s that passion that’s driven me in my life as a police officer, as a community volunteer and in my role in our legislature. It is why after seeing the information in the TRIP report I recognized we have to change the rate at which we are funding road and bridge work in this state. The TRIP report is an independent study commissioned by the Infrastructure Coalition that paint...
Great, a Russian spy ship is sitting off our East Coast and we are so far removed from the Cold War era that the internet, our goddess of all information, has us better prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse than a real life Red Dawn. By now you’ve heard from multiple news sources that the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov has been cruising the Atlantic Coast waters off Delaware, Connecticut and now Virginia since Tuesday. The ship has stayed in international waters about 30 miles off the coast, but this incident has come hot on t...
Montana is broke. As subcommittee chairs of House Appropriations, we are the first stop for spending bills in the Montana Legislature. We are responsible for hearing testimony in our area of focus, then making decisions and moving bills to the full Appropriations Committee. In a low budget situation, like we are currently experiencing, we are responsible for making spending cuts and doing the difficult work of prioritizing needs in order to create a balanced budget. We recognize that there is a need for us to do a better job...
Rich? Poor? By which stick do we measure? It is no secret I chose to play house in a small village in the mountains of Jalisco because I can do so and live well on my bare minimum pension. I live quietly, unobtrusively. By diligently shuffling pesos into my bottom drawer savings bank, similar to under the mattress, I can spend a week now and then on the beach. I am rich. Sometimes I lose sight of how wealthy I am. The other day I was walking down Calle Del Pulpo, the street where I used to live in Mazatlan, turned the corner...
The congressional death in 1945 and the appointment of a federal judgeship appointment in 1969 triggered two Montana special congressional elections like the one we’ll have in 2017 once Rep. Ryan Zinke is sworn in as Interior Secretary. On Jan. 15, 1945, beginning his fifth term, Montana Congressman James F. O’Connor of Livingston, 66, passed away in Washington, D.C. O’Connor had been a Montana District Judge, served one term in the Montana Legislature, and unsuccessfully tried three times in Democratic primaries to get t...
In 2014, a large majority of Montana voters cast their votes for Steve Daines to be our U.S. Senator. That was done primarily with the belief that he embodied and promised to protect the things that we in Montana held dear. This was mart of his message to the people of Montana as he marched around our great state asking for our vote. It worked and Sen. Daines won easily in all but a few of our large cities. In the two years he has served as our junior senator, he has served his conservative base in a fashion that one could ex...
The office of the Commissioner of Political Practices is a hot topic at the Montana Legislature. Montana has had 11 commissioners of political practices since 1975, when the current model for the office was created by a group charged with de-politicizing the COPP. Ask anyone who has run for office in Montana about the services they received from the office of Political Practices, and every one of them will say that the office and its staff are knowledgeable and helpful to an extreme. When legislative candidates call to ask...
Week 6 has seen more House bills moving from the House to the Senate. Things, in general, seem to be moving a little bit faster as we move into the full swing of session. Elsie Arntzen, superintendent of the Office of Public Instruction, gave a presentation to the Senate this week. She stated that, in her opinion, more funds need to be assigned to education from the General Fund, even as her department currently uses around 40 percent of the general fund. Her budget calls for $3 million in cuts from education, while the...
I was 33 years old, walking from the house to the shop on a warm spring day, the moment when I realized that I knew my parents when they were my age. I stopped mid-stride and calculated the years while the sun warmed my back and the profoundness of my thought altered reality and possibly opened a portal in the space-time continuum. I turned 10 the year Dad turned 33. My parents were building a house across town. My older brother was one year away from becoming a teen-aged...
A hundred frigate birds dip and soar overhead. Sun glints off the waves. Sailboats provide suitable backdrop in front of Bird Island. A beautiful bride and groom, surrounded by family, repeat vows of matrimony on the beach. Three young flower girls, adorable in frothy white dresses with long pink sashes roll on the lawn. Nobody yanks them on their feet to “behave.” The bride’s train will be filled with sand so, in the bigger picture, what’s a few grass stains? It’s a typical day at the Luna Palace. Kids splashing. Volley ba...
Nov. 8, 2016, the voters of House District 28 gave me a chance and sent me to Helena. During the campaign, my team and I knocked over 19,000 doors. We shared laughs and heartaches, but above all, we heard the stories of everyday Montanans. By the end of my campaign, it was clear that a few issues stood out. I was elected to champion public education, mental health, public lands, and the development of our infrastructure. We are rapidly approaching midsession. I’m proud to report that my voting record has and will continue t...
People in every corner of Montana rely on prescription drugs to treat illnesses and conditions ranging from mild to severe. Our most vulnerable neighbors need access to these drugs even more than the rest of us. Senior citizens, people with chronic conditions, and sick children all use prescriptions to provide them comfort from pain and, in the case of those with the worst sicknesses, keep them alive. Unfortunately, our most vulnerable people are subject to the greed of pharmaceutical companies who use the difficult...
Jan. 20 was my last day at work. Under the Obama administration, I served as a political liaison for NASA on Capitol Hill. I watched up close while 2016 revealed the strengths and weaknesses of our democracy. As the American West opens up before my windshield on the drive home to Montana, I am compelled to say why I pledge to vote in Montana’s upcoming special election. I pledge to vote for many reasons, but this year, I am mostly concerned about the state of our democracy. The Economist Intelligence Unit downgraded the U...
There are several Democrats who represent coal states in the United States Senate. Clair McCaskil of Michigan, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and, of course, Montana’s own Jon Tester. But Tester is unique among this group. While those other coal-state Democrats have established a track record of working to protect coal jobs, Tester has consistently voted to support every Obama-era regulation designed to kill the coal industry. Case in point is the Senate’s vote on the Orw...
Editor’s note: Due to a misunderstanding on the part of the Havre Daily News, regular submissions from state Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, have not been printed. —— I hope this article gets into the paper this week in Havre. Each week I sent an update on what is happening in the Legislature to my District 14 newspapers. The Liberty County Times and the River Press Paper had been publishing the articles but I recently discovered that the Havre Daily News didn’t understand my intention. It’s too bad that the articles didn’t ma...
The first several days of the Donald Trump administration caused me great worry. Not about the substance of his presidency, but about its form; not about the product, but about the process. Based on his first week it looks like the worst instincts of President Trump may be erupting to the surface and there appears to be no one around him who can stop the Mount Trump eruptions. It seems that the President has surrounded himself with enablers, not counselors. That became even clearer when the President started signing...
At some point, nearly every worker faces a moment when they need leave, whether it’s to care for an aging parent, help a family member after surgery, recover from their own illness or injury, or welcome a new child into the family. As the Montana Legislature debates ways to improve the lives of Montanans, I wanted to take a moment to highlight one important issue. Paid family and medical leave has been making national headlines, and here in Montana we have the opportunity to design a plan that is unique to the needs of our st...
If I’ve learned one thing about myself over the years, it’s that I love to eat. I eat like I can’t live without food, and I have zero interest in ending this habit. I don't think it’s just a complete lack of strong will and good character. It feels like a biological impulse for self-preservation, and I am going to continue eating every day, several times a day. Don’t judge me poorly for being happy in this comfort zone. I will admit to one thing that is causing a problem. I recently have been forced to plan meals ahead of...
Certainly, I’ve no need to complain about my life. Today is the sum total of all my choices. I accept that. Yet, I like to complain now and then. Grumble brings a certain satisfaction. If only I had done this or that differently, I’m sure I would be rich, famous, beautiful, all the above, fill in the blank. Egads, of course, my life could have gone the other way; I’d be ugly, infamous and living under the bridge in a cardboard box. I also wouldn’t have my children, grandchildren, and second great-granddaughter, born this mo...
Editor’s note: A front-page article in the Jan. 23 edition of the Havre Daily News misreported that Havre High School required 24 credits to graduate rather than the actual requirement of 22.5 credits. —— This is something I believe requires clarification. I have been asked now by multiple people including current students of Havre High School whether the graduation requirements have been increased to 24 credits. The number of credits required to graduate from Havre High School has not changed. The credit requirements for gra...
Thank you, Daughter, for writing my article last week. Rocking chair, indeed! Next time I’m incapacitated, I’ll ask my son to take my place. I didn’t break that many rules. New eyeballs! There is a huge, vibrant, crisp and clear world out here, just waiting for me to explore. But my most excellent doctor, with whom I nearly fell in love pre-surgery, turned into a growly ogre post-surgery. End of romance. “What do you mean, stay indoors? Don’t garden? Stay away from public pl...
