News you can use
News you can use
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The rafter rats have returned, and where there’s a pigeon there’s pigeon poop, and where there’s pigeon poop there’s the potential for histoplasmosis and psittacosis. I looked it up. And I know only one preventative medicine against both the fungal and bacterial diseases, and it starts with the source. One clear, calm morning as I was preparing to open the gate to the barn (aka searching for a spot to grab that wasn’t whitewashed), I heard two of the winged varmints cooing in...
I’ve always liked the story of the shoemaker and the elves. In the evening, before he retired, the old shoemaker cut the leather and prepared his work bench to stitch the shoes in the morning. In the night the elves came to the shop of the good shoemaker and stitched the shoes, the most beautiful shoes. When I had my shop in Poulsbo, Washington, often I cut fabric for the following day. Each morning I entered with eyes of hope. The elves never came. Here in Etzatlan, Leo is m...
Made-in-Montana energy means good Montana jobs that on average pay two to three times more than the state average. Montana’s ability to create more good-paying energy jobs is immense — in fact, our state leads the nation in coal deposits. We are the nation’s fifth-largest producer of hydropower, with 23 hydroelectric dams across our state, and fifth in wind energy potential. Montana is at the center stage of the national energy debate and provides the nation a template of a true all-of-the-above energy portfolio — we have co...
I don’t mean to make light of a literally deadly topic, but latest evidence on the mosquito-borne Zika virus shows that my grandmother was psychic in her prediction of this disease invasion. Apparently, even a squat, stern farm grandma can channel the future through a crochet needle. No kidding. The Zika virus, which can cause illness in children and adults and, more significantly, the birth defect microcephaly, has been in Brazil and French Polynesia for years. The virus i...
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont. Terrorism-related deaths are up 800 percent in the past five years according to a new report. That’s nearly 30,000 people who are killed per year by terrorists. While suicide bombers and gunmen have been killing civilians around the globe almost constantly, it was last week’s coordinated terrorist attacks by ISIS in Brussels that violently shook the world awake. I believe in the power of prayer for the victims and their families, but I also believe in the power of U.S. leadership against thi...
Years ago, a builder said to me, “Paint covers a multitude of sins.” I didn’t need convincing. When I was a senior in high school, mere days before graduation and marriage, I rescued and painted a small wooden dresser. I don’t know how many years it had sat neglected in our farm dump, that place through the woods and near the river where we discarded very little. I think it might have come from the labor house, used only during sugar beet and potato harvest. Nor do I remembe...
Dart — The National Association for Gun Rights is back in court trying to strike down provisions of Montana’s strict campaign finance laws, They tried the same tactic four years ago, when the group wanted to send out leaflets attacking Gov. Steve Bullock’s position on guns. They’re gearing up to do the same this year. Montana’s laws are clear. If you spend money trying to influence the outcome of an election, the public is entitled to know where you got your money, There are many examples of rich people seeking special l...
Psychologists love, love, love their theories, and the one I find most refreshing is called the horizon of possibilities. This says that given all the factors in our lives from boring facts like age, physical attributes, finances, location and internal drive, we have a certain number of things we can do or be. It’s a vast number, but it’s not infinite. For example, I am 50, not in particularly good shape, don’t feel much like putting in the effort to change that shape and I’m a touch claustrophobic, so my odds of being a...
“I need a wife,” Ellie wrote. I grinned. I don’t know how many times over the years I’ve been a single Mom and then later on, simply single, that I said those same words. We women keep an ongoing conversation, email obliterating the separation of miles, borders and even an ocean. It means a lot to us that we know one another’s hard times, strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows. Sometimes a person simply likes for another to acknowledge that they see you. They know what...
I would like to warn the community about the perils of the HCG diet. HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin and is a hormone that is produced by the placenta during pregnancy. This diet requires that the individual participating follow a very low calorie diet of 500 calories daily while taking HCG. Such an extreme low calorie diet can lead to starvation ketoacidosis, especially in very large individuals who require more calories to maintain their larger size than normal weight individuals. Starvation ketoacidosis is a...
I had heard about it, yes, but I did not want to actually hear it, you know, with my ears — or worse, see it with my eyes at the same time my ears were hearing it. I am, of course, talking about the news clip of presidential candidate Donald Trump calling fellow Republican Ted Cruz the P-word during a presidential rally. Not that any of the P-words bother me in normal circumstances. Technically, I am a P-word. Also, I’m not running for president. Language like that from a possible future dignitary and I’m thinking, “Real...
When I first visited Lani in Etzatlan, she made me welcome, but came close to threats, bribery and mayhem to convince me I should move to her town. Well, Heckle and Jeckle, I had been in Mazatlan only three months. I loved Mazatlan. Many trips from coast to mountains later, I caved to wishes, friendships, economics and knavery and bought a beautiful little casita which needs love. No surprise there for what I paid. The house is sound, all the services in good repair. My...
The incredible generosity of Montanans during 2015 was a clear testament to the commitment our friends and neighbors have to the future of our state. Because hundreds of donors continued to pursue their high-reaching philanthropic goals, Montana nonprofits, worthy projects and promising students all over the state received nearly $4.9 million from the Montana Community Foundation in calendar year 2015, a 21 percent increase over the previous year. The bar has certainly been raised this year for philanthropic giving....
Forget my wedding day — Thursday, yes, this Thursday was the happiest day of my life. Not even my 27 years of wedded, you know, marriage can compare to having a crew of professionals install 300 yards of fence posts in some of the most maddening ground known to mankind. The ground on my property is like bipolar, schizophrenic sociopath of Earth soil substances. It has a crazy quilt mash-up of layers of gravel, river-bottom sand, gritty sand, gumbo, hardened-to-almost-cement sand, more gumbo, more gravel, some pure, pottery-qu...
“Just think,” my cousin Nancie said, “We are re-creating ourt lives.” I pondered her statement. I decided creation is a vastly over-rated and messy business. Take a piece of graph paper. Beginning on the bottom left-hand corner, draw an arrow straight toward the upper right-hand corner. Label this page, “What I planned.” Take a second sheet of graph paper. Begin your arrow at the same bottom left-hand corner. No straight line this time. Squiggle and curve it in all directions. Label this page, “What happened.” In...
Earlier this week I read an editorial on how everyone should support Montana House Bill 245 because it is our right as adults to buy raw milk. First, there is no question in this debate. Individual human rights are always the most important, but with that comes personal responsibility. Public health over the past 200 years has tried to educate everyone on how to eat the correct foods, vaccinate against diseases and learn how to keep ourselves healthy. Being sick is no fun and it can be very expensive. Public health officials...
In an interesting turn of health news this week in Pamville, Hollywood stars are itching for the rights to get lice. Fox News has reported that Southern Illinois University researchers are saying that 25 states across the country have a case of "super lice." Researcher’s data shows that this genetic strain of lice is resistant to both over the counter and prescription treatments that traditionally kill lice. The lice are the size of standard, or traditional, lice but the o...
When I was a child growing up in Indiana, I loved Christmas for one reason: The mailman delivered the annual box of clothes sent by Aunt Ann, practically new hand-me-downs from cousin Nancie, a year older. Back then my grandma made most of our clothes. Back then, home sewn dresses were not “cool.” I lived for Nancie’s clothes. Attitudes are vastly different today. There is a world of difference between “homemade” and “Hand Crafted.” Each year Grandma sent me off to school wit...
This week the Havre Daily News published a series of articles which indicate the county has a mystery afoot in the housing market but, fear not, I am a font of answers that will set your mind at ease. A mysterious entity is buying up properties with delinquent taxes and not doing anything with the properties but letting them go derelict. It’s causing a noticeable blight in this county and others across the state. It’s aliens. I was going to lead into that better, maybe giv...
Silly childhood ditties often carry substantial wisdom. Consider “Row, row, row your boat.” On second thought, I’ll come back to that in a moment. First I announced that I bought a finely maintained old-Mexican style casita in the little village of Etzatlan. Next thing you know, Kathy and Richard from Victoria, British Columbia, made inquiries about a neighboring casita. Then Crin, Kathy’s sister, began asking questions, eliciting more interest in a possible retirem...
In a world where men and women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from military and law enforcement service and unimaginable tragedies, I seem to have gotten PTSD from my kitchen drain being plugged. I know it sounds ridiculous, but in my defense, that drain pipe was plugged for several months, and if you have never had that experience, then you cannot imagine the psychological damage a tragedy like this can cause. For sure there is a way to explain why the drain...
Where do I start? At the beginning, you say. That was almost three years ago so let me start with last week and back track to the beginning, what say? Last week in Etzatlan I bought a casita. A beautiful brick Spanish style casita with arched windows and doors, tiled roof, and plenty of wrought iron. Sounds like an impulsive buy, doesn’t it? Like I said, the process began three years ago when I first went to Etzatlan to visit my new friend Lani. Etzatlan is a small village, about 20,000 people, sprawled in a wide and verdant...
February? Oh, right, I’m supposed to hate February. It’s the second month in a row without a vacation-worthy holiday — after that Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year glut of free time. The rest of the world is talking about spring and that liar Punxsutawney Phil, but up here in the near-Arctic no skunks are out, no bears have emerged looking for tourists to eat, sewer lines haven’t thawed, horses aren’t shedding, only the impatient cows (and the ones seduced by errant, vagabond...
Back in the day, I loved that song. I suspect it was my “whistling past the graveyard” attempt. Believe me, I was anything but the “Happiest Girl in the Whole USA.” I was full of pretense and misery, unemployed and broke, a single mom, newly divorced. In those days women bore the onus and responsibility for a “broken marriage.” Men were simply labeled “single and up for grabs.” It was not a pretty place for a woman to be. So I had a bit of an internal giggle at myself when the words of my once-favorite song looped through...
By Robin Cunningham, Dan Vermillion and Ed Tompkins As Montanans we live close to the land. Our unique way of life is directly tied to the quality of our lands, waters, fish and wildlife. We are people who are counting on cold, clean waters and an abundance of trout. The quality of that resource directly impacts not only our personal recreation but also our business interests and our livelihoods. Each year guides, outfitters, fly shop owners, restaurants, hotels and their employees watch Montana’s snowpack anxiously. In an e...
