News you can use
News you can use
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“The Democrats killed two of my brothers.” That was the reply my 9-year-old father received from his great grandmother on her rural Iowa front porch when he asked her why she was such a strong Republican. Her comment reflected the bitter legacy of the Civil War. As it left the American South solidly Democratic for decades, it also made the Union upper Midwest just as solidly Republican. My father couldn’t remember ever knowing a Democrat until moving to Montana in his early teens. My mother’s family, on the other hand, was gr...
Is this the last time we’ll get to call Montana the “Last Best Place?” It seems that it could be the case if some Montana lawmakers get their way. As of this writing, more than 60 constitutional referenda have been drafted, some of which would change Montanans’ right to “a clean and healthful environment.” In 1972, I was one of 100 Constitutional Convention Delegates that enshrined this groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation right to protect Montana’s land, air, and water for future generations. Like others, as a candidate for...
Back when the earth was still cooling, back when I was a student at Harlem High, algebra was a high school subject. Now they start the kids learning simple equations in pre-school. Or near enough. Up until algebra, I’d made A’s in math. Our algebra teacher was an aerospace engineer the year the field was overbooked, clogged, with aerospace engineers and those who could not follow that path, taught math. Class consisted of Mr. X, or was it Y, ordering us to memorize the equ...
As the executive director of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence — MCADSV — for 17 years and lobbyist for the coalition for 19 years, I cannot tell you how many bills I’ve heard claiming to protect children but are poorly disguised attempts to outcast people in our communities. These types of legislation often hurt children in the process. The Drag Story Hour bill at the Legislature is a prime example. First, let’s be clear. Child sexual abuse is a problem in our state. I know because it’s an issue MCA...
Last week was the last week to get bills transferred over to the opposite legislative house in time to beat the bill cutoff known as transmittal. If the bill hasn’t moved by this week, unless it is a revenue bill, it is likely dead. With that deadline looming, it seems votes on certain bills are being leveraged for votes on other bills. This is too bad, as, in some cases, good bills can get lost in the fray. In order to meet transmittal cutoff, many Senate and House committees are running long in order to get public h...
The Montana Republican Party’s Executive Committee recently approved a resolution rebuking former Montana Republican Gov. Marc Racicot, saying Racicot’s actions in recent years disqualify him from saying he’s a “REPUBLICAN.” In a true over-reach, the resolution from this 13-member clique tries to order the news media to no longer refer to Racicot as a Republican. The news media knows, as most of the mainstream Republican voters in Montana know, that Marc Racicot represents the thinking of hundreds of thousands of Montana G...
Did you hear about the climate rally at the state capital? Nobody desecrated any paintings, but it was about what you’d expect: a chorus of progressives calling for “climate justice.” Except, we were there too. We were there: • Knowing greenhouse gas emissions threaten our natural landscape and economy • Rejecting the false dilemma of the Green New Deal vs. climate denial • Trusting free markets more than big government to solve problems • Understanding that industrial problems need industrial solutions • Believing in th...
In a good two week’s worth of miscues and mishaps and daily trips to the plumbing store on our way to a fully functioning kitchen sink, my husband, John, won the Video-worthy Fail Moment of the Project award, which doesn’t exist, but should. We’d been trading off different duties on the project and John tagged in one morning last week to install the shut-off valves on the hot and cold water lines — a task for which he had formulated a plan. I suspect somewhere there exists...
Here in Montana, tens of thousands of seniors will get relief thanks to a new law that helps to reduce out-of-control drug prices. After years of urging Congress to make prescription drugs more affordable, older Americans won the fight for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and help millions save money on their medications. Two key provisions of the new law took effect Jan. 1 of this year: First, the new law limits the out-of-pocket costs of insulin to $35 a month for people on Medicare, saving money for an estimated...
The Montana Legislature is in full swing. Over 1,000 bills and resolutions are making their way through the House and Senate. As busy as it has been, the pace will pick up as we near the first transmittal deadline on March 4. The deadline requires bills without spending or revenue attached to them to transfer from one house to the other to survive. It also marks the halfway point of the 90-day session. I am fortunate to serve on the Appropriations Committee. This is the busiest committee in the Legislature, as we are...
Please don’t grimace like that, Mrs. Hunter. I’m drunk on spring love and language is ours to play games. Spring arrives quickly here in Jalisco, the Garden State of Mexico. I declare, we are definitely in the Sprang stage of Spring. Boing. Boing. Boing. What fun it is. Light opens the sky a little bit earlier. Not much, here closer to the Equator, but a little. And it stays around a little bit longer in the evening before it drops behind the mountains. And the day warms up...
Editor, In week 7, the Senate confirmed a number of Gov. Greg Gianforte board appointments; a couple of north-central Montana locals were on the list. The governor appointed Tony Miller from Joplin to the Board of Respiratory Care Practitioners. Travis Brown, who grew up in Havre and the Hi-Line and who has since moved to Helena, was also confirmed by the Senate for a board position. He now sits on the Montana Tax Appeal Board as a public representative. A bill that brought a lot of attention from the educational community...
House Bill 405 proposes a substantial amendment to the Montana Constitution in an attempt to create something known as a “citizens’ grand jury.” Apparently, the bill is meant to fulfill the objective of a “Platform Principle” adopted by the Montana Republican Party which states that: “We … support reforming the Grand Jury laws to better root out corruption, and support limiting the ability of the MT Supreme Court to abuse its power to protect themselves.” If approved by the Montana Legislature, and then approved by the voters...
There is no singular cause for Montana’s housing crisis. Rising costs of land, materials, and labor combined with people moving into our communities, further straining our infrastructure, has made for an increasingly critical housing situation. On top of that, developers, builders, and local governments are trying to build housing under old, outdated land use and planning statutes from the 1920s. As an attempted quick fix, many of the housing bills this legislative session mandate the same zoning rules for all communities a...
My mother has a pet squirrel named Stubby. He is not, technically, her pet, as he lives outdoors as a wild squirrel. But he spends much of his time sitting on the railing, watching my mother, and my mother spends much of her time sprinkling seeds outside for Stubby, so you cannot deny they have a relationship. While my husband, Peter, and I were up north visiting, however, Stubby had a visitor. “That’s not Stubby!” my mother said, looking out the window at the red squirrel who appeared remarkably at home. It’s easy to iden...
Editor, The Friends of Beaver Creek Park was organized in December 2011 to help support our most-beloved park in the Bear Paw Mountains. We assist in off-setting costs associated with maintaining such a large, beautiful facility. Friends’ mission statement is: The Friends of Beaver Creek Park foster recreation and preservation of the park for generations to come. It is at this time that we look to you to join us in our efforts and invite you to attend our next meeting; exact date and location to follow. For more i...
My bar for evaluating news content is pretty old-school: Is it factual, truthful and unbiased? Sometimes, though, I desire more of this than is provided in article, not in the sense that “Oh, that has inspired me to know more on the topic,” but rather wanting to know “What in the heckfire aren’t they telling us, here?” WSAZ News Channel 3 out of Huntington, West Virginia, reported Tuesday that police in Anchorage, Alaska, responded to a call from a concerned citizen in the cit...
6 was the year of celebrating the 50th birthday of Montana’s Constitution — its visionary provisions and the unique bipartisan approach adopted by the citizen delegates who wrote it. Our perspective is from a combined total of over 30 years of legislative experience under both our current Constitution, as well as the one that preceded it. We see Montana’s Constitution as a truly glorious document. It has honorably served our citizens as well as our landscape for half a century, and we are dismayed that, out-o...
I went to Oconahua to Jane’s birthday celebration for cake and homemade ice-cream. Ninety-five full years. From the stories Jane has told and from stories her daughters told with great glee, that woman was a pistol. She’s still a pop gun. She lived fully and outrageously, a registered nurse, from NYC to Alaska to Washington to Mexico. In what order, I don’t know. There are chapters I’ve not heard. Jane is Michelle’s mother and has a casita on Ana and Michelle’s land a shor...
As I started week six, Judy and I had the opportunity to have a 2023 Senior from Havre High join us for the week. Paige Bertelsen signed up to be a 68th legislative page for the Senate, and I was honored to sponsor her. Paige was recommended by a teacher of Havre High, Lindsey Ratliff. I hope Paige had fun and learned as much as I have fun sharing and learning with her. Paige had the chance to witness one of the most lively debates I have ever seen on the floor of the Senate....
My husband, Peter, does not believe in Valentine’s Day. I mean, he knows it is a thing. It’s just a thing he prefers to ignore. “Stupid!” That is Peter’s verdict. Peter takes offense whenever there is a big marketing effort aimed at getting him to buy things in order to show affection. He feels this way about Christmas, believing it has become too commercialized. He feels this way about birthdays, insisting that the day of his birth is nothing to celebrate. Buying gifts for...
Montana farmers and ranchers face numerous challenges. Some of these challenges such as weather, commodity prices, and bank loan rates are beyond a single farmer’s ability to manage. On the other hand, there are challenges faced by Montana producers, which one could reasonably consider as manageable yet in reality are not. One of the biggest challenges thrown in the face of Montana agriculture that falls in this category is when original equipment manufacturers lock farmers and ranchers out of repairing their own e...
The redistricting wrangling is now over. The Commission has made its decision, will formally file the legislative district structure, and the 2024 elections will move forward. For the sixth time that the difficult and politicallycharged redistricting process has been handled by the Commission created by the 1972 Constitutional Convention — ConCon. Montana’s redistricting process over 50 years has stood the test of time. The Commission created by the ConCon called for four partisan members appointed by the legislative leaders...
Valentine’s Day is one of the oddest holidays of the year. I can remember back in grade school being required to fill out little Valentine’s cards for all my classmates and thinking that this was one of the stupidest, most awkward things I ever had to do. I asked my mom when I was in first grade why I had to give cards to all the kids, including the kids I didn’t know, the ones who were mean and the ones I had no thoughts on at all. Navigating social norms is difficult enoug...
Some say confession is good for the soul, and growing up Catholic, I’m a believer. Here is something I seldom talk about. First, though, the catalyst. For the past week, on my sunrise walk with Lola, I’ve been singing. Here is what you need to understand. I don’t sing. Ever. I love music. Songs weave through my days, mostly in my head. Silently. I don’t allow the songs to exit my mouth. Unlike bad words which squeak through frequently and often appropriately. My fear of bein...
