News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2601 - 2625 of 3191
Keep your promise. Honor your word. Most of us learned those lessons early in life and realize the value in making sure we follow those guidelines.in our daily affairs. A recent lawsuit by state and local government retirees attempts to hold Montana state government to the same standard, the same moral obligation. In 1997, Montana legislators created the “guaranteed annual benefit adjustment,” or GABA, to ensure state, county and city retirees receive a stable source of income in the form of a pension that recognizes the con...
Too often in our debates over Montana’s public lands, we seem to forget just how incredibly lucky we are to have these lands at all. This is especially true of the 2.4 million acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the Hi-Line District of central and eastern Montana. These lands are the grasslands, sagebrush, hoodoos and coulee country that may lack the breathtaking scenery of Glacier National Park or the Beartooth Plateau but are every bit as valuable for livestock grazing, energy development, hunting a...
You’ve probably been in a similar situation. I drove to Great Falls for a day a year or two back. With my gas tank near empty, I drove to a gas station to fill up the tank. I reached for my wallet. Oops. I suddenly remember leaving it on my dresser that morning. There I was in Great Falls. No identification. No driver license. No money. No one could wire me money since I had no ID. How does one get back to Havre in such a predicament? Fortunately, it was a day that North Central Montana Transit was running. I drove over to B...
John Henry “Gatling Gun” Parker had earned his moniker by providing the covering fire for Teddy Roosevelt’s immortal assault on San Juan Hill. Nearly 20 years later his 6 feet, 3 inch frame made him an easy target while charging at the head of his command, the 362nd U.S. Infantry. As the heroic Parker went down with a wound, behind him came the cries “Powder River!” “Powder River!” Colonel Parker’s regiment, made up nearly entirely of men from Montana and known as the “Powder River Gang,” emerged from World War I as one...
Today is International Day of Radiology. One hundred and eighteen years ago, German physicist, Wilhelm Röntgen, discovered the X-ray. More recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans have revolutionized medicine, virtually eliminating exploratory surgeries, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and shortening hospital stays. Deaths from breast cancer and other serious illnesses have plummeted largely due to early diagnosis and treatment made possible by imaging scans. Most recently, lung...
A while back I mentioned here in my column that I have zero ability to speak foreign languages, now, according to a pack of smart researchers, this failing has put the future health and well being of my brain in great peril. Scientists from Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India, and from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland studied people in a memory clinic in India — a country where even the average person speaks as many as four languages (4!)— and they...
There have been some hard times on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation recently. There is an exceptionally bitter battle, over who should lead the tribal government, that has gone into tribal court and will probably end up in civil court. Federal prosecutors have charged nearly a dozen people — on and off the reservation — for corruption. The sad goings-on in Washington, D.C., have had their effect on Rocky Boy, too. People have been furloughed and laid off by the tribal government and the school districts. This means even more...
When it comes to developing our energy resources, Montanans have grown accustomed to the federal government getting in the way. But as coal development projects in the state move forward, the latest roadblock is coming from right here in Montana. On a recent visit to the Crow Indian Nation, we learned how local opposition to coal exports is impacting one of the poorest communities in the state. Some cities along rail routes in Montana are trying to limit coal-train traffic, citing concerns about quality of life, traffic conge...
Recently, I had a spirited Facebook conversation with a friend who was upset about the government shutdown. He was not happy that Yellowstone and Yosemite parks were closed because it was hurting his vacation property rental business. And like many, he blamed the tea party and the GOP. Let’s look at some facts. Due to mandatory spending, 87 percent of the federal government was considered “essential” and unaffected by “shutdowns.” Only 13 percent requiring annual budgeting is discretionary and subject to shutdown. The Adminis...
By the time you read this, Halloween will be over, and, for the 25th year in a row, I will have had no trick-or-treaters and I will have had to eat all the candy myself, thus making Halloween the best holiday ever. Not that I can't buy and eat all the candy I want whenever I want — it's an adult perk — but Halloween candy is better. Everybody knows that. Even the candy you didn't really like on a regular basis was eaten at Halloween because it was a little gift from a neighbor...
I will do anything to avoid any mall in any large city. I don't know what possessed me to suggest the mall. It was a nice day. My 5-year-old granddaughter Lexi and I could have hung out on the waterfront. For 25 years I had lived within 10 miles of the Silverdale Mall. Frequently, two or three years would pass without me needing to mall shop. But I wished to buy one more thing for my trip. A store there carried the exact underwear I wanted. There is a "playland" center at the...
This letter is to address the concerns that Fran Buel had with me using my “opinion” while serving on the Hill County Park Board, as I wonder if she would still feel the same if I had the same opinion as she. As I serve on the Park Board, I plan to use what little knowledge I have, knowledge I can gain, research I can do, my best judgment, my own conscience and listen to people (even Fran), plus my own opinion, to try to do the best job I can do, while being fair to all the “inhabitants” of the county parks. Just to clarify...
Darin Hannum was delighted when he was named superintendent of the Box Elder School District earlier this year. The longtime administrator succeeded Robert Heppner, who had been superintendent for 17 years. But Hannum’s first few months have been among the most difficult in the district’s century-long history. The problems have nothing to do with the Box Elder community, but decisions — and lack of decisions — in Washington, D.C. The district depends on federal impact aid for about half of its operating budget. Impact aid is...
If money management were a muscle, I would have to equate my investment skills, in strength and coordination, to that muscle you use, like never, to raise your ring finger up straight while making a fist with the rest of your hand. Yeah, keep trying. It's not that I can't invest money, or accumulate it in a variety of ways, it's just that I need a goal. Without a concrete goal this money exercise is like doing that finger exercise, and I ask myself what's the point? The abstra...
The artist who brought us “Normal Barbie” — with a computerized rendering of the traditional Barbie doll next to a Barbie in the proportions of the average 19-year-old girl to show that a reality-based doll is more attractive — has now given us a rendering of “Average Guy,” thus, proving that Ken doll has little to fear from the 30-something American male. Pittsburgh artist Nickolay Lamm used body-mass measurements provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for...
Our customers look to us to provide natural gas and electricity safely, reliably and at the best price possible. That’s why, after a decade of primarily being a pipes and wires company that had to rely on market purchases, we are purchasing natural gas production fields and electricity generation in Montana. We are only buying resources that benefit our customers and our shareholders. We have been asking, and continue to ask, the Montana Public Service Commission to include these resources into rates, meaning that the p...
I try to be cognizant of the three-day rule when I am a guest, whether I'm visiting with friends or family. After three days, fish or guest, one stinks. One notices the speculative eyeball, "When do you think she'll leave?" There is a slight difference when one is a paying guest, such as I am at the hotel in Hot Springs where I spend hours each day soaking in steaming pools, sleeping, reading and healing. Just this morning when I was warming a chair in front of the fireplace,...
The Montana Commissioner of Political Practices office has always been something of a hero to us. The tiny office with a small staff has been responsible for monitoring campaigns throughout the state to determine if they are following Montana’s fair, but rather strict, rules and regulations. The governor appoints the commissioner, so it is almost certain that he or she will be accused of political bias in the decision-making process. So, it is likely that will be the case this week. Commissioner Jonathan Motl ruled that he fo...
I never thought I'd say this — ever — but I think Americans should be more like the people of France: We need a good old-fashioned French-fried riot. This point is best served with a little background information about my longstanding disdain of the French over their even longer-standing disdain of, well, everything not French — which is quite a bit if you look at a map of the world. I had no opinion of France or its people, many of which I'm sure are exceptional, until I was...
Last week I headed down the road from Havre to begin my journey to Mexico. I thought I might go to Saratoga in southern central Wyoming for their hot springs. That stubborn van I drive has a mind of her own, that's for sure. She insisted we bop into Missoula and head down I-90 west, never my favorite route. Just out of St. Regis, I tripped over nostalgia, took the exit and contined north another 20 miles to Quinn's Hot Springs. Back in the '80s Quinn's was our favorite family...
I lost my mother 27 years ago to breast cancer. She battled it twice, and lost the last fight. I was 20 years old when she died. To this day there are people in my life that do not know this. In 1976-1980 the odds for five-year relative survival from breast cancer were 59 percent. My mother skewed that statistic when she celebrated her first win over the cancer. A single mastectomy bought her five more years. But then the cancer came back. Her remaining breast and chest tissue were the battleground. She and my father took her...
Pamville News editor’s note: The following column is an editor’s note from Pamville News editor. In a show of solidarity with all of the people placed on furlough due to the government shutdown caused by the complete incompetent failure of the House and Senate members to do their job to keep the United States running, North 40 columnist Pam Burke is not writing a column this week. Upon hearing this, as the editor of Pamville News, I sent one of our bravest reporters aro...
Any economist or sociologist can tell you that the price of all goods and services are based on actual worth and perceived value which is the sum total of both market value and personal value — none of these numbers are the same, and any two-bit salesman can tell you that. For example, consider the humble widget, that symbolic product used in teaching business and economics. It's the equivalent of the X of 2X+3=7; or the N of going to the nth degree; or the snipe of “Hey, gre...
So many decisions. So many choices. After spending hours on the phone with my daughter, under the assumption that two heads are better than one, a cliché not necessarily true but I needed someone to hold my hand, we concluded that there is no wrong road. I am now homeless. My auction sale is Saturday out at the Havre Fairgrounds, so come, say goodbye to me. Early next week I will head out. All the right roads beckon. Being me, I want to drive every road. What way to take?...
Growing up east of Billings, I didn’t ski. I didn’t know anybody who did. So, for me, the first snow meant a few days of exhilaration and about six months of being cold. I know some skiers now. They always get excited when the snow flies. For them, winter is cold — but it’s fun. That’s what Obamacare is like. You don’t have to like it — although people do — but it's coming. On Oct. 1, some of Obamacare’s biggest changes will begin. Montana’s online insurance store — the Marketplace — will open for business. This portal was bu...
