News you can use
News you can use
Sorted by date Results 3077 - 3101 of 3210
I wish I were one of those people who is totally self-assured — you know, the kind who never starts a sentence with "I wish." They always think in absolutes and speak in declarative sentences that start with phrases like "I will" and "This is." They say "I am the answer to all the questions worth asking." Usually not out loud, of course, except maybe into the mirror in the morning. Pam Burke "Would you ... ?" "Could you ... ?" "Should you ... ?" do not enter into their c... Full story
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;"...
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... Full story
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...
Childhood hunger is an invisible but very real problem not only in Montana, but in every state. More than 16 million children in the U.S., including more than 48,000 in Montana, can't count on the nutritious meals they need to lead healthy, active lives. When children go hungry, they often suffer from a series of health and educational setbacks. Studies show that kids who face hunger are sick more often, are more likely to be hospitalized and suffer from growth and developmental impairment. They also do more poorly in school... Full story
My cousin Shirley and I motored to Havre for a nice meal and to take in the Montana Actors' Theatre's latest production. Shirley had a bit of shopping to do, so we left early, adding a splash of minutes for the unexpected. My theory is that when you allow for the unexpected, the unexpected is what you will get. In the best western tradition, we headed off into the sunset, which glared in our eyeballs all the way to Havre. Although we both were hungry, we decided to take care...
Montanans are not shy about saying what we mean and spelling out common-sense solutions to the challenges of the day. Angel McLean As an educator and volunteer regent of higher education, I enjoy hearing what people think the Montana University System should deliver to Montana citizens and our 48,000 students. We value the public input we receive as it is wise, candid, and refreshing. As a state, our wants for higher education are quite consistent and logical. We want access to affordable education for ourselves and our...
A recent rant submitted by Gary Marbut of Montana Shooting Sports Association is so void of fact that it requires rebuttal. If left unchallenged, stories can be accepted as the truth, so I provide some facts to balance his attack on common sense. His claim of Fish, Wildlife and Parks' "shocking tolerance and support for large predators," stems from a federal reintroduction of gray wolves and federal courts treating wildlife management as abstract legal theory rather than science. Fact is there was nothing FWP could do to chan...
The U.S. Congress is reconvening after a long holiday recess. Its approval rating has hit an all-time low of just 11 percent. Our representatives could not even agree on a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension prior to the holidays, so they kicked the can down the road with a very short term extension that got them home for the Holidays and delayed facing the music into the new session. Both political parties are sticking to their ideological philosophies like sand dabber crabs stuck... Full story
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... Full story
We hear about transparency frequently. It's become a buzz word used by politicians, and especially by their critics, so frequently that it seems too often to have lost its meaning. Everyone wants transparency, but we've learned that achieving it is rare. I am among the fortunate few to be employed by the government to promote open government. The New York Committee on Open Government was created in 1974 (when I was loaned, temporarily, to get this new office off the ground) as part of the state's Freedom of Information Law,...
Most of us grew up with every adult in our lives telling us to "make smart choices" — sometimes that came out as "don't be stupid," but we knew what they meant. Last week, Montana's Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull did not make a smart choice when he passed along a now infamous, anti-Obama, pro-racism joke from his official email account to six of his friends. That incriminating email made its way to the newspapers, and now there's a great hue and cry from the p... Full story
Since the 2008 elections, we've seen a battle at both the state and federal level over the power of organized labor and its effort to forcibly unionize workers. Big Labor has found a president who will carry its water, pushing legislation and enacting regulatory changes that favor union bosses over workers and job creators. The extent of their influence became all-too apparent in the national controversy that culminated with Obama's labor relations board prohibiting a Boeing manufacturing facility from being located in a... Full story
Last week, the Susan G. Komen national organization changed a policy that was revised in mid-December recognizing the importance of removing the perception that politics were involved in our grant making. Nancy W. Lee We want to apologize to our supporters for casting doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives. While it is our responsibility to rebuild trust, remember that not funding Komen in the future would hurt those in most need. The real losers would be underserved women and their families across... Full story
Political corruption. It weakens democracy and demands our attention. Defined by Wikipedia as "the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain," political corruption "erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold." State Sen. Jeff Essman Disturbingly, the most recent example involves the Commissioner of Political Practices, the office charged with ensuring compliance with ethics, lobbying and...
I am planning a train trip to North Dakota and — as hard as it is for me to contemplate going to an exotic foreign country without my husband, my dog and that herd of four-legged free-loaders — it's the thought of traveling by public transportation that is really disturbing me. You've read the headlines. You know what happens when a bunch of strangers are crammed together in a vehicle of mass conveyance. Mental switches that are better left in their upright and locked pos...
The Keystone XL Pipeline project jumped through every hurdle that the government could throw at it. It went through extensive environmental assessments and grueling public hearings in every state through which it would pass, yet in the end it seems that no amount of effort would have been good enough. The Obama administration has taken a pass on Keystone XL, and Montana stands to be one of the big losers. A stunning disappointment One of the reasons that the White House rejected Keystone XL was because it was not considered...
Political impasses are becoming the norm today. It seems that from the perspective of the political insiders and power brokers, government's role is to align with party politics, instead of common sense. Unfortunately even with a vital job-creating endeavor like Keystone XL Pipeline, there are still games being played. I won't even address the ridiculous notions that this pipeline would be harmful to our country for they are rooted in what Mitch Daniels accurately described as "extremism." Jim Lynch As governor, I wouldn't wa...
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....
The U.S. Postal Service needs to work toward balancing its books while fulfilling its mission of delivering mail to homes, businesses, hospitals and schools throughout the United States, including in our rural areas. Recently, under the banner of fiscal responsibility, the USPS has targeted more than 650 post offices for closure, including 85 in Montana, all in small, rural communities in our state. Lesley Robinson No one suggests the Postal Service shouldn't tighten its belt. In fact, it should consider eliminating post offi...
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... Full story
It really just drives me crazy that I am the only person in the whole world who is defective. All y'all out there in reader-land run around perfectly normal in your perfectly normal lives and you look at me and you judge me by my cover, wrongly assuming everything is perfectly hunky-normal for me, too. But you're wrong and if you weren't so perfectly, normally self-absorbed you'd see that I have issues. Real issues. Pam Burke And don't even think about pulling the "oh how can...
In response to Sen. Jon Tester's guest column on Jan. 26, I would like to offer an alternative thought on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Citizen United. I have heard several Democratic speakers voice their concern over the Citizen United Supreme Court decision and have yet heard or read a rebuttal, so I will attempt to offer up what I believe are credible arguments supporting the Citizen United decision. The statement that Sen. Tester began with, "A century ago ... the people of Montana stood up against some of the most...
As the Pamville News editor I stand four-square in favor of our First Amendment rights to free speech, but I worry that a recent court ruling will leave our country's visual learners at an horrific disadvantage. U. S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Wednesday that government requirements for tobacco companies to label their products with graphic images — like rotting teeth and cancerous lungs which are intended to illustrate the dangers of smoking — violates free speech law...
