News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2798 - 2822 of 3210
Essen The ability to comment on proposed state and federal government regulations is an important right for all Americans. Since we live in a republic, not a direct democracy, public comment helps our representatives make informed decisions on our behalf. No one expects public comment to be the equivalent of voting. But even so, public comment should not be ignored. After all, if our representatives just did what they pleased, they could hardly be considered representatives. This is especially true when government officials...
Few federal tax policies are as immediately revolting as the death tax. The idea that the government has the right to confiscate a set percentage of an individual's assets after his death strikes us as downright immoral. It punishes grieving family members, adds stressful burdens both before and after death, and lets government step between the dying person and their bequest to the designated inheritors. Moreover, it's double taxation because the deceased person already paid taxes on the income used to buy his assets. Henry...
The Montana Legislature is cruising along at a nice pace, however I'm not convinced that Montana's business is being conducted in a prudent and responsible manner. On Wednesday, March 19, the House of Representatives passed HB 2, the appropriations bill totaling $4,546,622,698, out of the general assembly on second reading by a unanimous vote. That is unheard of in Montana history and even more surprising, they only deliberated for about 70 minutes. At issue, from my perspective, is that there is no way for some legislators...
What does "home" mean to you? In your own words, think about: "To me, home is … ." We all have our own answers, but they can be summarized in a new national initiative, Home Matters. Home Matters is building public support for the essential role that home plays as the bedrock for thriving lives, families, and a stronger nation. Home is at the core of all of the aspirations that we have as individuals, neighborhoods, communities — and as a nation. Home is where we as individuals dream, study, plan, and recharge for the day...
Would you believe that the Senate Taxation Committee would get a letter from the ambassador from Lichtenstein claiming that Montana tax laws are an insult to his country? And would you believe that the largest association supposedly representing Montana businesses would suggest that letter is evidence that Montana has a hostile business climate? Never mind that the topic about which those claims are made is one small part of an obscure little Montana law that gives a big income tax break to large, international corporations...
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Montana. As luck will have it, it will also be the 100th anniversary of the Havre Daily News. Most people consider the centennial of suffrage more important, so we are planning to celebrate that in our pages. Martha Kohl, the historical specialist for the Montana Historical Society, was in town for the Montana Association of Museums meeting. The group conducted its statewide convention in Havre this weekend. Montana beat out the United States as a whole by six yea...
The last week on the Hi-Line has shown once again of the growth of environmentalism in our daily lives while environmental causes along the Hi-Line. While environmental causes have been losing ground at the governmental level — things haven't been going all that well in Congress or the Montana Legislature, people in their personal lives are taking actions that will help preserve the environment and improve the general day-to-day livability of the planet and our particular part of it. There was a massive increase in the n...
Pamville News reporters bring you the latest events gripping the nation, and notes on planned follow-up coverage ——— The tiny town of Luttrell, situated in a holler in northeast Tennessee, was experiencing a Girl Scout crisis of epic proportions: Troop 21118 was having trouble finding enough customers to buy their famous Girl Scout cookies but undaunted, they used their Scouting ingenuity and a little down-home practicality to fix the problem. The troop's sales trouble was their lack of a major hub that attracts people in th...
I just celebrated my 100th birthday. I enjoyed Gary Wilson's article on East Hall. I attended college there, and each time I go by the site, a mental picture comes to me. I earned my elementary teacher certificate there. My teaching certificate was instrumental in important events in future years. I worked for my board and room to be able to attend college. I worked for the E.O. Smith family. They had two children, a girl, Doris, in second grade, and Earl "Buddy," who was 9 months old. They hired another lady for work when I...
Clarence Gideon was convicted of burglarizing a Florida bar and sentenced to five years in prison based solely on the testimony of one questionable eyewitness. But Gideon's side didn't adequately challenge that eyewitness at trial. You see, Gideon handled his own defense. When he requested a public defender be appointed to him, the judge said that the state only had an obligation to do that in cases eligible for the death penalty. Scott Crichton Gideon disagreed and penciled his plea to the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 18,...
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, has been used since the 1940s. The purpose is to fracture the shale, allowing the natural gas, or oil, to flow more freely up to the wellhead. The original vertical fracking was much less damaging than is today's method of horizontal fracking, where the well is first drilled vertically, then the drill bit is turned to drill horizontally into the rock formation. A solution of from 3 to 8 million gallons of water per well, 5,000 to 7,000 gallons of chemicals, and silica (sand) in...
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, has been used since the 1940s. The purpose is to fracture the shale, allowing the natural gas, or oil, to flow more freely up to the wellhead. The original vertical fracking was much less damaging than is today's method of horizontal fracking, where the well is first drilled vertically, then the drill bit is turned to drill horizontally into the rock formation. Norman Bernstein A solution of from 3 to 8 million gallons of water per well, 5,000 to 7,000 gallons of chemicals, and...
Acting on that truism is the essence of leadership. While it is equally true that you can only get stabbed in the back if you're out front, leaders have the guts to take that risk. Non-leaders do not. Leaders must also earn the trust of others. Trust is built on positive personal relationships. The combination of guts and trust makes an effective leader. So far, Gov. Steve Bullock strikes me as an effective leader. He was up front about his priorities in his State of the State speech, and he's been working hard to earn the tr...
Friday, April 5, the Senate found itself mired in an angry dispute between the two parties. The majority was seen to be railroading several pieces of legislation in a manner that disregarded proper rules of public notice and procedure. The minority reacted by attempting a little-used parliamentary motion called "Call of the Senate." The situation deteriorated. Greg Jergeson As dean of the Montana Senate, an institution that I revere beyond measure, disappointment is the only word that can describe my feelings about the...
My dog Cooper is about 50 percent highly opinionated, opportunistic brat. I wish I were more like him. That's possibly, probably, most likely wrong of me, but to my critics, I say: Whatever. To be honest, I've been called a lot of things, and more than just a few of those things weren't very nice, but of all the names, adjectives, adverbs and cuss words I've been stuck with, brat isn't one of them. Weird, right? Cooper makes a compelling argument for being a brat, though. If y...
Today I lost a chicken. I mean I misplaced a chicken. I don't mean a live chicken. I misplaced an ugly, misshapen, ceramic chicken. This unfortunate bird is no poultry beauty. No self-respecting ceramic rooster would give her a peck. She came into my life, my odd little chicken, from a display at one of the stops along the What the Hay route between Lewistown and Hilger a couple years ago. Her oddity is what drew me to her. She is so droopy of aspect, so overfed, so worthless...
In Montana all taverns are licensed for the retail sale of alcohol, with different privileges available depending on the license held. Breweries in Montana are licensed as beer manufacturers. Since 1999 breweries have been allowed to sell samples of their beer through a special exception to the licensing requirements. Tavern owners across Montana helped support this special exception for Montana's small breweries so that they could introduce people to their products and develop a market for them. We continue to support this...
The other day, as I approached the entrance to a store, I saw another person on their way in too. Since I got to the door first, I held the door open for them to enter without interruption. As they walked through they said "thanks," and I nodded my head in reply. Holding the door open for someone is a small and common courtesy that a lot of us extend to others. Often times we don't know who the other person is, but we still extend the courtesy all the same. One way to think about such a small courtesy is in terms of service....
A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for. — Robert Browning, 1855 About 2,400 years ago, Plato wrote, "Music and dance are more potent instruments than any other for education because the rhythm and harmony find their way in the inward places of the soul." Painting, sculpting, writing, dancing, music, acting, all of the arts, help us to express our thoughts and feelings. They provide us with tools for coping with — and changing — the social landscape. The arts are a connection between history and today...
As the coal debate heats up on the west coast, our state is left hoping and waiting for the approval of five proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. Our state economy is closely connected with the coal industry — keenly feeling the ups and downs of this industry. And, right now, the proposed Pacific Northwest terminals will aide in supplying our state a new export market for sustained, long-term economic growth. Montana has always had the largest coal reserve in the country with over 119 billion tons of c...
John Maresca, Union Oil of California's (UNOCAL) vice president for international relations, testified before the House Committee on International Relations on Feb. 12, 1998, that Afghanistan and the Central Asian region, historically a rich mineral resource region since the days of Marco Polo and the great Silk Road, contains significant oil and gas and other mineral reserves and that the most efficient way of meeting the expanding petroleum needs of Asia and Western Europe is the construction of a pipeline across...
On May 8, the Bureau of Land Management will hold a public meeting in the Triangle Telephone Hospitality Room at 6 p.m. These meetings will also be held in Glasgow, Malta, Chester and Great Falls. The event is a part of the public involvement process required of the BLM in the final stages of the Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS). Currently in draft status, the document consists of two volumes which amount to a total of 1,291 pages making the document quite inaccessible for most people in...
Unknown to most Havre residents, every day tough problems are tackled, and our community is strengthened by AmeriCorps and VISTA members who give their time and skills in national service. Sometimes they tutor and mentor children in after-school programs at the Boys & Girls Club. Sometimes they gather people in roundtable discussions and focus groups so that, together, they can learn what the needs of the community are and, together, decide how to create a better future for us in north-central Montana. Tim Solomon Sometimes...
According to my recent reading, had I been born at any point before about 1940, I would've died or been killed, or at least irreparably maimed, before reaching my teens. It was a brutal world for which accident-prone wimps like me were ill-equipped to thrive, or even survive. Pam Burke As the result of a clever, underhanded plot by a friend who knows my weaknesses too well, I am the newest volunteer helping the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame to prepare the 2013 nominees' biograph...
Generally, we should be grateful that the current Montana legislative session has come to an end for two years — unless we have a special session on some specific issue, such as health care. In general, the lawmakers managed to do some things right. They managed to close their session early, a positive move, and they managed to balance the state budget, which they are obligated by law to do. Most positive is their fix of state retirement programs (if it works), long overdue from past legislative gatherings. What they f...
