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  • Help kids stay substance-free

    Updated Apr 4, 2023

    April is Alcohol Responsibility Month. As the weather begins to get warmer, it’s a great time for Montana families to start conversations about alcohol at home to prevent underage drinking. As the father of two adult children, I know firsthand that kids grow up fast. I also know it is critical parents are aware of risky behaviors. For some, discussing the dangers of underage drinking may have taken a backseat, but the conversations need to happen. Not only is underage drinking illegal, but it can have adverse effects on t...

  • View from the North 40: My apologies for the cuteness overload

    Pam Burke|Updated Mar 31, 2023

    I was going to move on from the whole drama of my illness, but I have one more thing to say about being sick and then I’ll let it go — my pets deserve a shout out for their cuteness during my time of need. It all started with the cat, Tony-O, who thought my having a fever was about the best thing ever, like having a cushioned furnace tucked into “his” bed, which, as a bonus, had a quilt and a down comforter add under his fuzzy blanket to give it extra cushiness. His life co...

  • Teachers on the Front Lines

    Updated Mar 31, 2023

    School shootings and the bloody murders of totally innocent children and their teacher caretakers is a societal tragedy that Americans have become numb to. Without the common sense outlawing of the assault weapons used in most of these atrocities, the preventable horror will relentlessly continue, in our schools, most of them public schools. On the front line of the onslaught are the teachers. Until recently those who had an affinity for kids, and enjoyed learning and sharing with young people the joys of learning, entered...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: Old, Used and Flawed

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Mar 31, 2023

    A few weeks ago, well, several weeks ago, well, a whole lot of weeks ago, Michelle ordered a throw or small bedspread made from pieces of used saris. She spread out the throw for show and tell, differently patterned on each side, stitched together with white cotton thread, in a long running stitch, lines spaced a half inch apart, a very light quilt. I guessed the sari throw to be about 60 by 90 inches. Despite being made with used saris, the colors were vibrant, the patterns...

  • The Postscript: Enough steps

    Carrie Classon|Updated Mar 28, 2023

    Anxiety likes numbers. I only recently realized that a lot of my anxiety fixates on meaningless numbers. I like to know how many there are of a particular thing and then attach meanings — usually sinister, sometimes hopeful, always unreasonable — to these numbers. How many words are in this column? Six hundred exactly. Why are there 600 words? Because I once read that 600 words was a good length for a column, I have always written exactly 600. Never more. Never less. But if...

  • Lots on taxes after transmittal

    Updated Mar 28, 2023

    We are now past the transmittal cutoff, which means the bills that did not make it from one house to the other in time are now dead, so to speak. No need to worry however, there are still plenty of bills to watch as they move through the bill-making process, some of which I have concerns about. The concerns are either wanting a bill to pass or hoping it dies. We had one of these concerning bills come through the Senate Tax Committee this last week. The short title of SB 511, introduced by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings,...

  • View from the North 40: Of all the things I still have ...

    Pam Burke|Updated Mar 24, 2023

    My grandma developed Alzheimer’s in her early 80s, which isn’t a particularly funny way to start a humor column because, of course, the disease is not funny. There were moments we could laugh, of course, because that’s what Burkes do, find humor. Like the time Dad stopped to visit Grandma, his mom, and found her playing cards with another care center resident. He asked them what they were playing and Grandma said, “Gin rummy.” At the same time, her fellow card sharp said, “Pi...

  • Canary in a coal mine

    Updated Mar 24, 2023

    Over the past two years, Montanans watched the president’s attack on oil, coal and natural gas bring our nation to the brink of an all-out energy emergency. Gas prices rose to more than $5 a gallon and many Montanans are worried about how to heat their homes without breaking the bank. We aren’t the only country grappling with the effects of a leader who is unrealistic about our nation’s domestic energy needs. Over the course of the last decade, Europe tirelessly pursued a green agenda with the goal of being “climate-neutral...

  • It's a big club, and you ain't in it

    Updated Mar 24, 2023

    If you want to know what's happening in America today, a good place to start is late comedian George Carlin's rant, “It's a big club, and you ain't in it.” In the Carlin worldview, people with money and connections run the country, and the most important club rule is: members always get theirs first; for everybody else it's maybe later or maybe not. March 13 Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte gave the club a win when he signed legislation providing more than $1 billion in tax relief, in the form of income tax cuts, business equ...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: The Onion Fairy and Other Tales

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Mar 24, 2023

    I grew up reading Hans and the brothers Grimm and Aesop. I love fairy tales and fables. Back then, we had the unexpurgated versions, full of blood and guts. I’m not saying that was better. I’m simply saying that is how it was. The stories, which I read over and over, never gave me nightmares nor did they leave me pining for the handsome prince to hack his way through the brambles and rescue me from the wicked step-mother. Naïve as I was, I knew that wouldn’t happen. A few mo...

  • The Postscript: Tourist town

    Carrie Classon|Updated Mar 21, 2023

    My husband, Peter, and I are staying in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, which is, according to a lot of folks, a tourist town. Sometimes, the person saying this means it is not a place they would want to spend time. This puzzles me. I’m not sure why a town known for meatpacking or manufacturing would be a better place to spend time than a town known for tourism. But I respect anyone’s right to spend time wherever they want, and Peter and I are happy in San Miguel, in large par...

  • Back after transmittal break

    Updated Mar 21, 2023

    As we come back after the break, we are beginning to see and hear many of the House bills that were moved to the Senate just before the transmittal deadline. I thought it might be helpful to recap just some of the types of bills we see over the course of the session. Many bills are agency requested legislation that cleans or fixes language in existing law. An example of one cleanup bill would be HB 266. An advisory council was set up for a concealed weapon permit back a few years ago. Now a bill has been passed to eliminate...

  • Montana sportsmen groups oppose HB 635

    Updated Mar 21, 2023

    Montanans have long fought to make sure that hunting is available for all, equitably, and not just reserved for the wealthy and well-connected. This is so important that when many of us agreed to join — and some of us helped start — the Montana Citizens Elk Management Coalition (MCEMC), we made sure that this was paramount to our many goals. The group agreed, to the point that the “Who We Are” page of the website states, succinctly: “we are a diverse group of Montana hunters who seek to improve relations with landowner...

  • View from the North 40: It's an exercise in lunacy

    Pam Burke|Updated Mar 17, 2023

    It seems only fitting that a recent push to define and enforce some kind of time zone system on the moon has a link to the word lunacy. The Associate Press reported Feb. 28 the European Space Agency requested that the moon to have its own time zone. In response, a joint international effort, with all the countries participating in the race back to the moon, is being launched to create what one navigation system engineer called “a common lunar reference time.” The current spa...

  • Keeping our judicial branch independent

    Updated Mar 17, 2023

    Every student of government learns about the three independent branches of government. Succinctly put, the legislative branch writes the law; the executive branch administers the law; and the judicial branch interprets the law. The key word is “independent.” I have been fortunate to work for both the legislative and judicial branches. My 15 years in the judicial branch — as a law clerk, mediator, and court administrator — put me in the circle of a number of outstanding state district court judges including the Honorab...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: An interrupted peace, Or, Lola the Wonder Dog

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Mar 17, 2023

    Lola is a dog. See Lola run. Lola barks. Hear Lola bark. Lola is a working dog. She takes her duties seriously. She makes sure her master (Mistress? Mattress? Whatever.) goes outside her garden gate for regularly scheduled walks along with frequent unscheduled walks. Lola sees that I get regular doses of cool wet nose on my knee. She assures that I sink my fingers into her thick neck hair with great regularity. Lola keeps me safe. As Lola became acquainted with my friends and...

  • Working Montanans look to lose out?

    Updated Mar 17, 2023

    Montana state legislators are grappling with what to do with the state’s historic $2.5 billion budget surplus. This surplus is a result of higher-than-predicted income tax revenues as well as federal legislation that provided billions in funds to states over the last year. Many good options have been put forth by both political parties on how to best spend the surplus, but another tax break for the wealthiest folks in the state is not one of them. Senate Bill 121, Gov. Greg Gianforte’s tax cut proposal, aims to lower the tax...

  • The Postscript: More useful

    Carrie Classon|Updated Mar 13, 2023

    I spent last week trying to be useful. I volunteered for a writers’ conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where my husband, Peter, and I stay. I love writers’ conferences. I love that people will travel from far away just to talk about writing, to meet other writers, to learn about writing, to listen to established writers, and to eat. It was a terrific week, although it was tiring because I ended up as the designated conference sheepdog. Every event of this kind nee...

  • Who should be rebuked? Not Marc Racicot

    Updated Mar 13, 2023

    I’ve spent considerable time pondering the Montana Republican Party’s rebuke and excommunication of Marc Racicot. It’s clear to me and other conservatives who know Marc well that it’s the party’s leaders—not him—who have abandoned principle. My family has called Montana home for six generations. I served in Republican Gov. Judy Martz’s cabinet and as chief of staff for Republican Attorney General Tim Fox. I’ve spent plenty of time living in the Helena political world, and I can’t recall anything quite as embarrassing for my...

  • Montana wants freedom from disease

    Updated Mar 13, 2023

    State lawmakers are considering two bills that would put at risk the lives of the most vulnerable Montanans. Bills moving forward in both the Montana House and Senate would allow parents to send an unvaccinated child to a daycare or school simply with a signed letter saying they have a personal objection to the vaccination. If either SB450 or HB715 becomes law, Montana will become home to one of the nation’s most lax policies when it comes to bypassing school vaccinations. Montana already allows parents to opt out of s...

  • View from the North 40: This is how our world ends? Pigs?

    Pam Burke|Updated Mar 10, 2023

    Really, Canada? Super pigs? What were you thinking? I mean, of all the countries in all the world we might’ve imagined would bring about the end of mankind in some manner, did any of us pick Canada? Russia? Absolutely. China? 100 percent. The U.S.? Be honest. France even? You’ve seen them riot, right? But Canada orchestrating events that will make the world uninhabitable for mankind — using pigs? It all started in the 1990s when the Canadian government and some pig farme...

  • Looking out my Backdoor: The worst possible scenario

    Sondra Ashton|Updated Mar 10, 2023

    “The pain ran from the outer edges of my rib cage, across my diaphragm, here to here,” I told Kathy. “It started right after I got out of bed and got worse during the morning. It hurt to move.” “Sondra, you had a heart attack!” she said. “Did you go in to the hospital? What did you do?” “Funny, that’s what Dee Dee said, too, but I didn’t tell her about it until yesterday evening when it was all over.” “What happened? Do you still hurt?” “I figured it was a pulled muscl...

  • Transmittal break underway

    Updated Mar 7, 2023

    We just completed the first half of Montana’s 68th legislative session. This week had a few long days as we made our way to transmittal. Wednesday and Thursday were particularly stressful days as they were both right at 12 hours on the floor taking action on over 150 bills that had to get to the House before transmittal or die. At times, it can become a bit tense during marathon sessions like we had. I would say that some good things have come this session thus far. We passed legislation to get more money to schools. When w...

  • The Postscript: Mr. Muscles

    Updated Mar 7, 2023

    My husband, Peter, is learning Spanish his own way. I do Duolingo online. It is free. It is easy to do. The whole thing is designed like a game, and dancing animated creatures hop up and down and celebrate every time I get five answers in a row correct. This shouldn’t matter to me — yet I find it deeply satisfying. Peter doesn’t do any of this. Peter learns Spanish by talking with the sandwich shop staff. Since we started staying in our little apartment in Mexico, Jorge, the resourceful owner, has converted what used to be...

  • On second thought: The new quiet time rule

    Updated Mar 7, 2023

    What if the losing candidate went away after a presidential election? Suppose the nation had heard nothing from Donald Trump these last two years, except, perhaps report of the day he scored the greatest golf tournament triumph ever? Many lament the ferocity of presidential campaigns, but the after-campaign season has become pretty nasty too. A few months after her 2016 loss to Trump, Hillary Clinton found plenty of people to blame in her book on the lost cause, from Barack Obama to James Comey to the media, but a recurrent t...

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