News you can use
News you can use
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Let’s start with the back story. Way Back. Last year, because of the pandemic, I took my travel money and gutted my bodega which was a mishmash of shelves cobbled together from scrap wood. Shoved in rather randomly were what I call man tools and that which I didn’t want stored in the house. It was a mess, but needs must. Once my bodega transformed into my guest bedroom, I kept imagining how nice it would be to have a bathroom alongside my bedroom. In back and along the out...
What were you doing June 29, 2022? Whatever is was, you did less of it than you think you did because that day was not a full 24 hours. That’s right, we were all bilked out of our precious time together by 1.59 milliseconds. The website Timanddate.com which is a go-to site for things atomic clock-related said that this was the shortest day recorded since the atomic clock got fired up in the 1960s. The atomic clock tracks actual length of days through the modern magic of s...
Editor, I would like to address the city officials about the deer “problem” solutions you have suggested. I quote “problem” because it is not a problem for me personally. I enjoy seeing nature and I enjoy sharing my space with them. I strongly feel this is not just a planet for humans. If the deer bother me, I should move to the big city. I am not interested in doing that. I am not sure what kind of problems others are having with them, but if they are in areas that they “really need” to stay out of then I am sure there...
It was a sad day in early July when we laid my District 14 predecessor, Kris Hansen, to rest. Kris was a mentor who was not afraid to let, not only myself know her thoughts, but anyone willing to listen. Kris lived a lot of life in her 52 years, which was very evident at the funeral where friends told quips of her life. She was a very proud veteran and active Christian; her steadfast wisdom will be missed. July has been very hot and dry for the most part. Having driven around my district from west to east and north to south,...
I’m not a millionaire and neither are 95% of Montanans. My campaign isn’t funded by millionaires, but instead, our contributions have come from hardworking Montanans who are putting their money on the line to create real change in our state. I’m proud to say the majority of our donations are small dollar donations. For example, between July 20th and July 26th, 2022, our average individual donation was $64.19. I believe in campaign finance reform and believe most Montanans and most Americans do also. I believe most people are,...
I don’t know about you, but I never can tell when I’m going to have a revelation. Like last weekend, I went with a friend to a quiet gem of a lake in central Montana and — boom — there it was a profound moment. I know what you’re thinking, water tends to inspire such things, and this water was clear, warm, glass smooth in a mountain setting, blah, blah, blah. It couldn’t have been more picturesque, but, no. I didn’t even touch the water. I was in a long-sleeved shirt, jeans...
Rain fell all night long. The ground was soggy, spongy. Flowers hung their heads from weight of water. The morning sky looked like moldy cottage cheese. Around noon, the sun broke through with promise. Every morning I take a small basket out to my mango tree and fill it with what wants to be picked. Today I put another quart of mango pieces in my wee fridge-freezer. It is jam-packed, literally, since I made two batches of freezer jam and the remainder of the space is...
I don’t think I’ve been a particular target of the Fates or anything specifically paranoid like that, I’m just saying that they’ve been busy this month testing my human endurance, with casualties and costs still rising. In no particular order, we have had bloodshed, breakage, wastefulness, unprovoked attacks, decay, disarray and pestilence. I sharpened my kitchen knives, which means — contrary to that old adage that you cut yourself worse with a dull knife — I’ve cut my...
Hurricane Estelle blew in lugging a heavy cloud blanket behind her until the sky looked like cry me a river. Day after day after day, darkness reigned and time warped, smudged and dripped down the mountain walls like Dali-esque clocks. If one took the sky and flattened it out like a topographical map, it would be criss-crossed by rivers cascading off the edges in waterfalls. (Flat sky, flat earth, what’s the difference!) Under cover of day as dark as nightfall, somebody sneake...
Argument is a way for people with differing perspectives on an issue, abortion, for example, to test and reshape each other's ideas and, sometimes, even reason out a new idea together. Unfortunately, not much reasoning together happens when everybody insists on the kind of high minded principles that inspire Facebook memes and protest signs, such as Life Begins at Conception versus My Body, My Choice. Arguments on the order of--Abortion is always wrong-- based on grand...
The package arrived last week and, I have to admit, I was surprised. I knew what was in it, of course. It was a painting that my friends Angel, Nora and I co-own. I had it for one year 11 years ago. Then I brought it to Paris, where Angel was living. But Angel had no time to hang the painting. She had just moved to a new condo and was diagnosed with cancer. And so it remained rolled up under her bed for two years. That’s when Nora decided her turn had come — and she was rig...
OK, I tried to stay out of it, I had a whole column planned about the pitfalls of the most adult activity of my life, then a political candidate from Missoula threw out the right bait at the right time and now I’ve been lured into the Roe v. Wade free-for-all debate. A bear can resist only so many garbage cans, and I could not resist the lure of this anti-abortion regulation argument: Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, who is running for Senate District 49, said in an email to m...
Yes, it’s a great place to live (for me) but you wouldn’t want to visit. I’ve been accused of having a Paradise Complex, but it is not true. I’ve been told Paradise is full of snakes and liars and have no reason to either believe it or not believe it. Nope. I live in a dusty little cow-town, farm village in Mexico and though I often say I live in Paradise, I mean Paradise for me. For me. Amen. And Awomen. When Dr. Landazari, eye specialist, who lives in Mazatlan, the Pearl of...
If there’s one thing that Montanans can agree on, it’s our fondness for wildlife. From eagles and ospreys to bull elk and bighorn sheep, we still have plenty of what so much of the country has lost. These natural riches are partly why we’re known as the Last Best Place. But it wasn’t always this way. By the early decades of the 20th century, market hunting, poaching and habitat loss had driven many species to the brink of extinction. Then, in 1937, hunters asked the federal government to tax the sales of guns and ammunit...
With the primary elections in the rearview mirror, most of us have a good idea who’ll represent us in the Montana Legislature come January. A new legislature means new ideas and, of course, recycled ideas from past sessions. The only thing our citizen legislature is required to do is balance a budget, but darn near every politician has an agenda. Their ideas got them this far and they’re going to go to Helena and create change … or something. It’s in that spirit that I’m writing this letter to all the returning and likely ne...
My mother has found the perfect pet. She just doesn’t realize it yet. A clever little red squirrel has been trying to get my mother’s attention for months. “He’s such a pest!” my mother complains. But the squirrel does not give up. He has become quite tame, hanging out below the bird feeder, waiting for seeds to drop. He would much prefer to get them from the feeder himself, but my father has inconsiderately installed a length of stovepipe on the pole that holds the feeder, a...
If it ain’t broke, why fix it? That’s an honest question, and one that can apply to a lot of different things. For me, it applies to Havre’s policy on Fourth of July fireworks in the city limits. I just don’t understand what was wrong with the way we as Havreites did it for so many years. Of course, for so many locals, what I’m about to say won’t be popular, but being a columnist isn’t about winning popularity contests, it’s about offering up an opinion, and here’s mine. I...
Why do memories come to visit, often at inopportune times? I’ve questions but no answers. I distinctly remember once telling a minimalist friend how much I admired her way of life. An entire bare wall with one picture. A vase with one sprig of flower. “But I know me. I couldn’t be minimalist in my surroundings. I like it. I just can’t do it.” My home was never cluttered. But wherever one cast one’s eyes, one would find a vignette of simple beauty. That’s my passion. Maki...
Man oh man, has the Supreme Court of the United States of America, land of the free, really taken it on the chin, from mostly liberals, over some of their home-of-the-brave decisions they’ve made lately. But all this angst is clouding people’s thinking. The most recent SCOTUS decisions have fallen like a one-two punch bellow the belt for separation of church and state, or at least church and state-funded schools. June 27 the justices ruled, 6-3, that a Bremerton, Was...
This Fourth of July will be celebrated by a nation in conflict, more politically divided than it’s been since the Civil War. In virtually every community, the rift has grown wider and more contentious, with less common ground. But while reasonable people may disagree about certain political issues, most genuinely want what’s best for their country. Most, but not all. There is a substantial group of rich Americans who are proud to wrap themselves in the flag and declare their love for the country while at the same time usi...
I have been on tenterhooks for a month now, not just about the excitement of having a practical use for a juicy, old-timey word like tenterhooks, but also, and mostly, about science and specifically whether a salt crystal will prove to be Pandora’s box, Spiderman’s arachnid or, like, a dud firecracker where you’re anticipating drama and excitement but get pffft. NPR reported May 24 that large crystals of salt were found in central Australia, and the crystals show signs they...
One day in the far distant future, back when I was God, time is relative, one of my very intelligent earth persons proved that, but more will be revealed, anyway, one day one of my other earth persons requested a visit. Which I granted. I set up times for personal visitation, one hour in the early morning and one hour late at night, since most hours in between, I seem to be out of sight, out of mind. I quite like visitation. No matter whom I am scheduled to see, visitation is...
Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the only active farmer in the U.S. Senate, identified the problem when he said, “I just came off the worst year ever on my farm. We need to do something on climate change. I think we spent $144 billion this year on disasters and I don’t think that included crop insurance. So we need to do something on climate, too.” Agricultural producers are on the front lines of climate change and are experiencing the impacts now. Mega droughts, fire, floods and other extreme weather events cost $145 billion in 2021...
At the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Montana’s 1972 Constitution, there were many memorable moments, including the presentation of Jim Rice, Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, during the panel discussion about “The Basic Rule of Law: The Backbone of a Constitution.” Rice, who prior to his 2001 Supreme Court appointment had been a Republican legislator, spoke out boldly and clearly about the role of the judiciary in defending the institutions of our democracy. Rice said, “we live in a time of extremi...
“The damage is catastrophic,” a Red Lodge business owner said. “We’re between a rock and a hard place. And if we don’t get some assistance, we’re not gonna make it.” He speaks for all of us who were hard hit by the flooding last week. We know that there’s a risk of fires and smoke interrupting our summer revenue stream. However, an extreme weather event, like this flooding disaster at the beginning of tourist season, and following on from the coronavirus pandemic, has devastated businesses, infrastructure and households. Man...
