News you can use
News you can use
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When Americans think of Montana, they picture snow-capped peaks, rolling prairies, and rainbow trout darting through the crystal-clear rivers that run through it. Or they simply think of America’s first national park, Yellowstone — or its popular TV namesake. There are also some truths about Montanans: We’re independent-minded, and community-centric. In snowy weather, you’ll never see one car off the road; you’ll always see two, because we stop to help to dig one another out of a ditch. And, in Montana, freedom runs gene...
We Human Beans are strange creatures, are we not? Oh, maybe not you, but me, my hand is raised. My mind works in strange ways. Take yesterday. Yesterday, I seemed determined to feel sorry for myself. Temperatures were flirting with 100 degrees, a mere kiss away, lips smooched into a pucker. It is our hot season. Not unusual for here. April, May, mid-June. Then the blessed, glorious rains and cool perfection at 85. Big deal, right? In July and August in North-central Montana,...
At the point my friend, Kerri, asked me last weekend what I was doing, I was at the tipping point into the realm of too tired to make words happen, so I let my cellphone camera do the talking, snapped a photo and hit send. I’m so modern and tech-savvy. Kerri messaged back: “What am I looking at?” What? Duh. She wanted my tired brain to type words using my overworked and blocky peasant fingers on this cellphone’s teeny tiny screen-typewriter? Sure, my photo wasn’t a professio...
A bill to prohibit critical health care for transgender Montana youth sits on Gov. Gianforte’s desk. His signature will come despite the objections of Montana’s health experts, child advocates, parents and the people who will be directly impacted. The Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization representing pediatric care providers in Montana, has sought to give clear and consistent information on the harmful health impacts of this bill, SB99, on a small but vulnerable group of Montana youth. For...
Earth Day 2023 was April 22 – that date marked 53 years since the first Earth Day in 1970. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event. This led to passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States,...
When we first came to the 68th session in January, the goal was all about removing red tape and clutter from our laws. Having gotten to the final stretch, I can only hope we have removed more clutter than we added. There have been 1,644 bills introduced as of this past week, which is 331 more bills than last session, and short of the record set in the 1973 session (2,211 bills). As some of you may remember, 1972 was when the Montana Constitution was last updated. It was followed by a big rewriting of many outdated laws. At...
I start noticing the planes overhead when it’s nearing the time to go. Planes don’t fly low over this small Mexican city. San Miguel de Allende doesn’t have its own airport, so the few planes flying overhead are high in the sky, headed off to somewhere else. I rarely notice them at all — until it’s time to leave. Now I’m watching them leave a trail in the sky and wondering about the people inside. Are they happy to be going wherever they’re going? Are they sad to be leaving wherever they were? After almost three months...
The Leadership Montana Flagship class will be in Havre this week. This is a class of 40 leaders from across Montana representing business, healthcare, labor, education, non-profits and government coming together to form a strong partnership for the betterment of our state. While here this week, they will learn about Havre and also have an opportunity to explore our community and Rocky Boy through tours and engagement with local leaders. At the center of Leadership Montana’s work is the flagship program, an eight-month e...
1. “The vent pipe is not regarded as lost until you realize it’s lost” — Mehmet Murat Ildan. The vent ducting had to be installed on the range hood before any other major progress could be made on the house project. Of course, this was both simple and problematic. Welcome to my world. We — mostly my husband, John — had gotten to the point that everything was there, in place, ready to go — except one 10-inch piece of vent pipe. So close, but it was gone. Lost? Mistakenly us...
This is the way we wash our clothes, early Monday morning. Mid-cycle, my washing machine quit working. I mean quit. Dead in the water. I mean, dead, full of water and soggy clothes. The machine gave up, quit, somewhere in rinse cycle. So I had to swish and wring the entire soggy mess out by hand and pin everything on the line, slightly drippy. I knew the clothing would dry quickly, afternoons hang out in the high 80s or lower 90s these days. The day the machine quit, my...
It was a couple of weeks ago that the main state budget bill — House Bill 2 — passed the House of Representatives. I voted against it, and I want to be clear about why. HB 2, as it stands now, falls far short of meeting the scale of crises facing northern Montana and most Montanans, for that matter. We came into this session with a $2 billion surplus. We have the funds to pass a budget that will have a meaningful and noticeable difference in the lives of the people in our state. Budgets are about priorities, and, unfortunatel...
I would not have believed there would ever be a drag show on the Capitol Steps of the Montana State Building. Not only that, but most of the participants were also in the gallery of the Senate when we started our floor session. They were more of a peace-loving group than the LGBTQ+ folks who were here last week. I guess I never expected to experience such a display; you had to have been there. It looks like Montana will be the first State to outlaw TikTok. I don’t know much about TikTok, but the word is that the Chinese t...
More than 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day. That’s more than 3.6 million new people learning to navigate Medicare each year. If you were born in 1958, you are joining the over 250,000 individuals in Montana eligible for the government’s health insurance program this year. Here are the key things I recommend you understand before enrolling in Medicare to get the health insurance coverage that best fits your lifestyle. 1. Know your Initial Enrollment Period. If you’re already getting Social Security, you’ll likely automat...
Our landlord, Jorge, loves his suns. I am sure he loves his son, Jorge Jr., as well, but I am talking about the other kind of sun. This is why there are nearly 3,000 smiling sun faces decorating the hotel where we stay when we are in Mexico. Two more were added yesterday. Much of the time my husband, Peter, and I are in our little apartment in Jorge’s hotel, there is a team of artists working. Fabricio is the father, and usually at least two and sometimes three of his sons w...
As a new resident and homeowner in Havre, I was surprised to learn the city does not allow backyard chickens within the city limits. Historically, throughout the U.S., as small towns transformed into small cities, they prohibited livestock within city limits, including horses, dairy cows, rabbits and chickens. But over the past two decades there has been a marked shift to allow “urban hens,” even in very large cities. I lived for 10 years in Billings, which is one of more than a dozen major cities in Montana that allow urb...
While I was talking with an avid fisherman in late February, he confessed he was tired of ice fishing and had put all of his ice fishing gear away, even though it meant he may not get to fish for one or even two months, depending on the weather. In a show of solidarity I also made a confession: “I don’t like fishing. At all. As in I. Do. Not. Like. Fishing,” I said to the ex-fishing guide. Fishing is boring, I added for good measure — as one does when lacking the social...
Remember when you couldn’t wait? When each additional year brought joyful anticipation, jumping up-and-down glee? What? When you were 6. Then 10. 18. Even, in a different way, 21. That was then. I have a dear friend who still gets that excited. For years she has extended birthdays from The Day to The Birthday Week and celebrates herself every day. She’s healthier than I am. Me, I skulk around hoping nobody remembers. I don’t want any fuss. So I keep schtum. I also have frien...
I saw the burro wearing pants and carrying a basket filled with paper flowers. “Oh, my gosh!” I said. “That poor burro.” There are several burros with this job in this Mexican town and, as burro employment goes, it’s a pretty easy gig. The burro wears a rustic basket filled with bright paper flowers and is led by a man in a similarly rustic costume, and they follow wedding processions, providing photo opportunities for the guests. The burro is photographed dozens of times and...
This past Monday we had a push to get all Senate bills through our Senate chamber for another transmittal cutoff, this time for budget bills. In order to accomplish this, we had early committee meetings and ran an all-day floor session from 10 a.m. until just about 8 p.m. We started with 25 bills on third (and final) reading, meaning we had heard and voted on them twice previously. At that point we began hearing presentations on 42 of the bills that had to get moved to the House by cutoff. Of the 42 bills, I could not vote fo...
Yes, folks, it’s finally that time of year we’ve all been waiting for — the annual running of the snowmelt. The celebration has, as we all know, experienced several delays this year due to lingering winter weather conditions needed for the snow to actually melt. For the uninitiated to this sport, or if it’s just been so long since you participated in your last one you’ve forgotten what melting snow is, the traditional running of the snowmelt could best be described as one pa...
With slightly over 20 days left in Montana’s 68th Legislative Session at the time this was written, a record 1,640 total bills, resolutions and other measures have been introduced. Working through this amount of potential law can be a challenge, with long hours on the floor and in committees day after day. However, this volume of legislation shows a robust democracy and a supermajority ready to take on some of the big challenges facing Montana. I am excited that House Bill 816 sponsored by myself and Sen. Steve F...
In Montana, we pride ourselves on working together, fair dealing, finding common ground, and protecting our Montana values. Our fellow Montanans might not expect a former Republican governor, the current chair of the Libertarian Party, and the 2022 Independent candidate for the Eastern Congressional District of Montana to agree on a variety of issues. But, like our friends and neighbors, we too have a deep and abiding love for our state along with some fear that we’re losing the Montana we raised our families in, from H...
John stopped by and plunked a book the size of a dictionary onto my table. When we get together we invariably weave words into a maze of history, philosophy, politics: world situations as we see them. “Ah, just what I need,” I said as I scanned the title. “A large dose of depression.” He and I speak a similar style of tangents, so John rejoined with, “I read an article in the WP yesterday that implied we are lacking one main element in our outlook.” “Intelligen...
In looking back at the list of bills and resolutions the Education Committee has heard or are going to hear, this is what I found: 68 total bills were heard, of which 31 were potentially going to be a cost to the state, 21 of the total had at least one amendment, with one of those bills having three amendments. As an aside, let me take a moment to get into amendments. Now, amendments can come as friendly, which was most cases in our Education Committee. That being said, other committees have seen amendments that totally chang...
My husband, Peter, is trying to impress a local collie. Peter knows better than this. He had a collie for many years. Collies are not easily impressed. They have their own priorities and their own agenda and if it happens to coincide with yours, you can pretend they did something on your behalf — but you’d be lying to yourself. But Peter still loves collies. The current object of Peter’s affection is named Lassero and lives on a road Peter takes every day on his hike. Peter...
