News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 2898 - 2922 of 3214
Last week, 24 U.S. senators, including Montana's Tester and Baucus, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the members to take "the necessary actions to protect consumers and ensure that the widespread and frequent occurrence of undelivered calls to rural areas is addressed." Rural telecom networks, which consistently provide superior voice and data services to their customers, are getting blamed for the failure of telephone calls to reach their customers. In fact, the calls are blocked "upstream;"... Full story
What better way to spend the last evening before the end of the world than with friends at the North Harlem Colony for their children's Christmas musical program. And a musical extravaganza it was, topped off with good food, hugs and fellowship. Had the world ended the next day, as feared, it would have been a good way to go, filled with love and joy. In the days prior to the projected end of the world, I heard stories about people preparing for the dastardly event, stories that baffled me. What part of "end of the world" did...
Through the past year I have learned to largely ignore a majority of the emails that have clogged my inbox. There's only so many ways I can read that Jon Tester cares about farmers and veterans and Montanans and Rehberg doesn't, and vice versa, before the gray TV static that we have lost to digital televisions resurrects itself in my mind. But I received an interesting email recently, in my junk box no less, about a website, the non-profit ProCon.org, and its debate over the merits of traditional textbooks over the new...
A century ago this year, the people of Montana stood up against some of the most influential corporations in history with a powerful message: People and their ideas — not corporations and their money — decide our elections. Sen. Jon Tester At the turn of the century, wealthy mining magnates literally bought elections, power and influence in Washington, D.C. So in 1912, Montana voters passed an initiative limiting corporate influence on our elections. That's because ensuring that citizens are in control of America's dem...
Mom decided to take off for the balmy warmth of Mexico and left my brother and I to fill in for her. There is no way I can fill her creative shoes, but I'll give it a try. This summer I came back to Montana for the first time since I graduated from college. Oh, I've been back for visits, but flying in and out is just not the same as driving. Driving makes the experience more solid for some reason. Dee Dee Robart I loaded the typical mom van with husband, two daughters (18 and 5), luggage for two months (after all we would be...
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is reported to be running out of money because of decreased hunting license purchases and is considering asking the Legislature for license fee increases. This is the first obvious symptom of something known as agency "death spiral" for FWP. Over the past two decades, FWP has come to focus on wildlife and biology, when it should have been focused on fish and game. This includes FWP's shocking tolerance and support for large predators. FWP's total, willing, even eager cooperation with fostering...
With the new session of Congress about to begin, the U.S. Senate has an opportunity to reform its filibuster rule, an arcane parliamentary device which has paralyzed the proceedings of the entire legislative branch of our government and crippled our nation's ability to meaningfully address the issues of our time. Anders Blewett Long before cable television, 24-7 news cycles and Super PACs, the filibuster was created via gentleman's agreement and enshrined in the rules of the U.S. Senate. The filibuster allows the minority...
Just because St. Nicholas is hundred of years old doesn't mean the old guy isn't up on the latest technology. Back in 1955, a Sears promotion in Colorado Springs, Colo., allowing children to call Santa up directly, accidently misprinted the number, redirecting calls to the Continental Air Defense Command Center, or CONAD, the main base of Cold War nuke tracking that has since become North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Zach White The typo led to an annual tradition, in which the U.S. military, besides looking f... Full story
Newsweek announced last week that this year will be their last printing physical magazines, moving entirely to their website and apps. "We have reached a tipping point in the industry at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach ... readers in an all-digital format," Newsweek spokesman Andrew Kirk said. There has been a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking on the announcement, with many "industry" folks using the announcement to insult Newsweek and predict it's imminent demise. Even the commenters on a Yahoo news... Full story
In 1920, KDKA Pittsburgh became the first commercial radio station in the country. It's first broadcast was on election night, and it told the country, or at least the dozens of people listening, that Warren Harding had been elected president of the United States. Almost immediately, pundits started talking about the pending demise of newspapers. Why would people go to the bother of reading the news when the guy on the radio would read it for you? John Kelleher Twenty-five years later, WGY television in upstate New York went...
There is no get-out-of-jail-free card for America's small business owners—when times are tight they have to find new ways to stretch their resources in order to keep their doors open and stay competitive. That is why it is so disappointing to see how our leadership in Washington is handling our current financial situation Rep. Mike Mille Instead of addressing the fiscal cliff by ratcheting back unnecessary spending and making government more accountable, some of our elected officials are looking to the taxpayers to provide t... Full story
I generally accept what is rather than focus on what isn't. But every now and then I get a hankering to have a man around the house. The way I figure it, it's like a disease, neither all pervasive nor life threatening. It's more like a nebulous yearning for someone with whom to share experiences, someone to whom I could hand a "honey-do" list. My wanting comes and goes, doesn't stick around long; often months pass between attacks. Sondra Ashton Maybe the approaching holiday season is a factor; another could be that I...
I am sadly reserving judgment about whether to continue membership in the National Rifle Association. I own about 20 guns, and have taken elk, antelope, whitetail mule deer and many game birds. If all the gophers gunned down by me were placed end to end they would probably extend from Whitefish to somewhere east of Billings. As a state legislator I was proud to receive a commendation from the NRA for my support of gun rights. I am a firm believer in our Second Amendment right, as individuals, to bear arms. Bob Brown The... Full story
(Ila McClenahan, the director of pastoral care and activities at Northern Montana Care Center, talked to some care center residents about the Christmas that brings back the best memories. Join in the conversation. Send stories of your most memorable Christmas to [email protected]. ) Jim F.: It was Christmas Pageant Night at the Faber school. We were getting all cleaned up for the evening event. I slipped on a bar of soap and split my chin open on an old laundry tub that we used for bathing. My most remembered present... Full story
When Victoria's Secret shows off their next year's line of lingerie, it's more what's in them than on them that draws attention. But this year, a group of feminists hijacked the social media buzz around the event to change that, and Victoria's Secret was not happy. The artist collective, Force, launched a sweep of blogs and social networks like Twitter and Facebook with photos of underwear that were supposedly a part of the new Victoria's Secret line being released that day. Zach White In opposition to real items in the...
Like most people I know, I spent much of the weekend glued to the television set, sickened and depressed. Like most people I know, I kept vowing to turn it off and give myself a respite from news of the horrific Connecticut shooting that killed 28 people, including 20 young people. John Kelleher Like most people I know, I couldn't do it. I became fixated on the picture in Friday's Havre Daily News of a teacher. It's a teacher whose job it is to help first-graders learn the basics of life, to teach reading and arithmetic, and...
Despite President Obama's best attempts to stimulate the economy through massive government spending programs and corporate bailouts, our economy remains in a slump. Unemployment is stubbornly high, business and consumer confidence has lagged, and growing public debt problems at home and abroad have complicated prospects of a recovery. The pundits are quick to point to the occasional economic indicator that hints that things are getting better, but that type of optimism isn't shared by many of the business owners and workers...
The Pamville science news editor tasked Pamville reporters to bring forth the latest hard-hitting dope on the recreational drug scene, scientifically speaking, that is. ——— University of Connecticut officials in an internal review have found that their famous heart researcher, wine connoisseur and cheese cutter, Dipak Das has fabricated, falsified and manipulated data in the last seven years of his studies on red wine's benefits to cardiovascular health. UConn officials recently turned down $890,000 in federal grants award...
Living in the sprawl, dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains and there's no end in sight I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights. — the Arcade Fire An image has been circulating around the Facebook timelines of my Montana friends. It's a satellite photograph of North America at night, a deep navy blue blanketed with a spiderweb of pale yellow lights. The east coast is almost completely lit up — science fiction author William Gibson named this "The Sprawl, " a densely populated mass of human suburb...
Winter sports do not excite me. In my daydreams I do not yearn to plunge down ski slopes, roar astride a bucking machine through snow-clad hills, or etch figure eights over the frozen river. As the daylight hours diminish, I harbor no nostalgia for mounting winter tires, finding the window scrapers or digging out the snow shovels. A roaring fire in the fire place, a pile of books in front of me, a steaming mug of hot chocolate at my side — that's a picture to paint a smile o... Full story
When we're lucky, we receive signs from the cosmos that we are where we are supposed to be, doing what we are meant to do. For instance, there are reasons why I did not join the armed forces or become an emergency responder-type person in my post-adolescent, pre-middle age days. Pam Burke Sure, I have my issues with taking orders (let's just leave it at that) and I have a problem with the whole running into action thing (if the running is farther than 50 yards and the action i...
As the debate in Washington rages over how to avoid the fiscal cliff before the Jan. 1 deadline, some lawmakers are using Social Security and Medicare as bargaining chips. Among the proposals under consideration by legislative leaders is an effort to reduce the Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA that is regularly made to Social Security benefits. Joy Bruck The proposal on the table would change the way the COLA is calculated by moving to a chained consumer price index, or chained CPI. The proposal is complex, but the result...
The following is an excerpt from the introduction of the highly acclaimed book "Beyond the Kite: 101 Uses for a High Wind" written by Windy Erenell and published by Pamville Publishing Company Inc., LLC, PDQ, FTW: Philosophers have long debated whether or not a tree falling in the woods makes a sound if no man is there to hear it. So too, the best minds of many centuries have debated whether or not the wind actually blows in places that have no man there to get annoyed by it.... Full story
It's Sunday, the first day of January. Today I received a love letter. It didn't arrive in the conventional manner, tucked in my box at the post office, enclosed in an envelope with my name in the center and a cancelled stamp in the upper right-hand corner. It fell out of a book I was reading, a used book, "Garbo Laughs," a novel by Elizabeth Hay, a writer from Ottawa, Canada. Who knows how long it had held a place between the pages. I turned the page and a small piece of...
While the Democrats will spend election night at the Eagles Club, Hill County Republican Chair Andrew Brekke last week was advising the party faithful of the election night plans. Republicans will gather at the party headquarters on 1st Street starting early in the night "until it's all over," Brekke said. John Kelleher Glancing at polls and talking to polls on both sides of the political aisle, I wonder of Brekke might want to come up with a different choice of words. Given the number of close races, from president of the... Full story
