News you can use
News you can use
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Selena Not Afraid. Ashley Heavyrunner Loring. Kaysera Stops Pretty Places. For decades in Montana, Indigenous people — mostly women, like these three — have gone missing, many times murdered and leaving behind families to search desperately for their loved ones. And many times, these families of Native people have had to go it alone, to search for their missing loved ones without the aid of authorities and with limited resources. We’re keenly aware that some of our neighbors are treated differently, invisible and left behin...
The weather has warmed up and so has the legislative process. Up until now, the bills have been trickling into my committees. I picked up a bill, Senate Bill 284, that I am carrying for the counties. It is what folks are calling the Gravel Bill. More on that in a bit. There are now 284 Senate bills picked up and are either moving forward or stopped along the way. Transmittal, which is the deadline when all non-revenue bills must be in and moving, will be a week from this coming Wednesday. We were informed today that it is pos...
I clearly voted against the Board of Health’s mask order last week in our meeting, and I’d like to comment on that meeting. We are in direct opposition to all surrounding counties and the entire Hi-Line with our order. It will be interesting to watch the numbers in those counties and see if there are perilous spikes as is presumed. Mayor Tim Solomon’s comment that we need to be the “bad guys” and not local entities is quite convenient as it will clearly be the county and not the city that is the “bad guy” here. He also clear...
Helena’s contentious debate on the role of taxes has brought Montana to a critical crossroads: Do we follow the path of states like Kansas, which paid for tax cuts for the wealthiest with major cuts to education infrastructure, and more? Or will Montana stand up to wealthy interests and instead invest in our people and the services that will move our state’s economy forward? Supporters of tax cuts for the wealthy disguise those cuts as an economic growth plan. In reality, tax cuts do very little for the average Montanan and...
I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but I almost died of a heart attack Wednesday night and, frankly, I’m too old to be having this kind of heart trouble. Specifically, my heart issue was not of the coronary thrombosis type, but rather the emotional-slash-psychological type seen most in excitable young people who lack years of experience to make them jaded, bitter and numb to random stimuli like a proper adult. The moment, with its unexpected rush of fear-based adrenalin, com...
I love it when Leo comes from the post office with a real letter in hand. Here it is mid-February and I just received your Christmas card. Denise’s arrived last week. I’ll not see Karen’s for a while because she mailed it mid-December! Our post office was closed for weeks; both postal workers were down with the COVID virus. Simultaneously, the lockdown closed government offices. In ordinary times, mail in Mexico is slow. We never get over worrying about our children, do we? I...
Since winning the Legislature in 2011, Republicans have introduced multiple pieces of legislation undermining Montana’s great hunting and fishing. Fortunately, successive Democratic governors vetoed them. The veto pen now belongs to Greg Gianforte. The 2021 Legislature is considering a bevy of legislation changing Montana’s hunting and fishing. Montanans who voted for these legislators and who love to hunt and fish, should contact legislators and let them know you do not support these bills. Senate Bill 143 sets aside big...
I am not exactly a connoisseur of contemporary culture. I haven’t seen the latest series on Netflix or anything else. I don’t follow Twitter or Snapchat or Instagram. But somehow, a TikTok phenomenon came to my attention that I found too delightful to ignore. Sea shanties are all the rage among Generation Z. “Sea shanties?” I thought. “That can’t be right.” But I checked it out and, yes, teens and young 20-somethings are singing sea shanties on TikTok, and listeners add...
We just finished our 30th day of the 67th Legislature, making one third of this biennium session complete. The bills have been coming slower than normal, maybe because of COVID, the fact that two thirds of Democrats are Zooming, or folks are just not introducing polarizing or irrelevant bills. No one knows the “why” to that question; I am hoping it is the decision to focus on the important things, like putting people to work. Also, making sure all opportunities for the best education is available for the type of ins...
Editor, Friday, Feb. 12, was a dark day. On a 30-19 vote, the Montana Senate voted not to confirm Margie Campbell, a former legislative colleague, to complete her four-year term on the Montana Human Rights Commission. She was appointed by Gov. Bullock after the 2019 session adjourned, so required Senate confirmation this session. The sponsor of the resolution to confirm her, SR 17, asked his colleagues, at the hearing, to vote “no,” as requested by Montana’s newly minted Gov. Greg Gianforte. The Senate obliged. At the time...
Maybe this winter is getting long for everyone, but it definitely has been too long for some people aching to get into the Guinness Book of World Records — those folks have been out in droves recently. UPI reported Monday that David Rush of Idaho dramatically recaptured his Guinness World Record for the number of CDs thrown into a bucket with a 12-inch opening. Rush set the new standard for CD-tossing to a record-breaking 50 CDs sunk in one minute. And he did it to help p...
Into every life some rain must fall. Okay. I understand. Go throw up and come back to let me explain. Our particular metaphoric “rainfall,” the whole world over, no humans exempt, the great equalizer, is the COVID 19 coronavirus. Hang in there with me a minute. I get smarmier. Behind every rain lurks a rainbow. Are you still with me? Do I hear the echo of an empty-room? I’m serious. I’m not saying this is a universal truth or anything like that. But a lot of good things...
I would like to inform everyone regarding our Montana State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab that is managed through the Board of Livestock. The Diagnostic Lab is located on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman. The lab is where producers and veterinarians send all the specimens for animal testing of disease in our state. We currently perform all livestock testing, as well as all brucellosis testing of bison in the designated surveillance area around Yellowstone National Park. We perform all rabies testing of both wild...
This week, many of the Governors Board appointees have come to the different committees. In the Energy Committee, we confirmed the new members of the Hard Rock Mining Board, the Coal Board, the Pacific NW Electric Power and Conservation Planning, and the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, of which a local young man from Shelby was nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Congratulations go to Mac McDermott; I am looking forward to hearing from him on energy issues. These boards are made up of folks who have...
Consumers have the right to know the origin of their beef purchases, and ranchers have the right to a fair and competitive market. This is a reasonable expectation. However, since 2015 Congress specifically exempted beef and pork from labeling laws. Consumers do not know where their beef comes from, and ranchers do not have fair prices. If you are a consumer learning of this for the first time, you might be incredulous. The last time you purchased beef from the supermarket, the labels clearly stated “USDA Graded” and “Pr...
When I was a unionized worker for 18 years, my worksite was twice as safe and my wages and benefits were 23 percent more than a non-unionized workplace in my field. The union was my choice and was optional. Now, I work for that same union because I believe in what unions do for employees. I represent over 1,000 workers from Great Falls eastward and each of them has that same choice. These union workers are the essential front line before, during and after COVID. They maintained the roads you drove on today, the safe drinking...
Gov. Greg Gianforte and other high-ranking officials within his administration don’t trust their colleagues or Montanans to make their own decisions. Despite a majority of legislators and voters agreeing a piece of legislation was bad for Montana, Gianforte insisted on pushing his national agenda onto the people of Montana. A bipartisan group of legislators in the House State Administration Committee voted to defeat and subsequently table House Bill 176. This bill would end Election Day voter registration, a process that has...
That 2019 news about scientists teaching rats to drive a car is making the rounds again like it’s been cruising the drag and is coming back up the street. I was going to sit at my stop sign and let the fast and the furriest drive on by without commenting or even waving. But, I don’t know, it’s a story about lab rats being happy about driving a car to a spot where someone brings food to your window like going to an old-fashioned drive-up restaurant where a carhop brings you you...
My last two were heavy-with-grief. I received unprecedented response. And lots of questions. I’ll talk about that in a minute. First, the good news. My son is back, truly the Prodigal Returned. He is returned to his life. He is grieving, hurting, yet doing the hard work of a multi-faceted recovery. My daughter’s family has a plan, well, more an examination of possibilities and potentialities for when Sweet Jess, and she is a dear woman, slips and lands on the hard ice of add...
My husband, Peter, is taking no chances. I knew this about him before I married him. Peter has a plan for everything and a plan in case the first plan doesn’t pan out. My father would call this “belt and suspenders” planning. Peter’s been walking around in a belt and suspenders ever since I’ve known him. Peter’s planning has made surviving the pandemic a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. We never run out of anything. That might sound impossible, but it’s almost...
The honeymoon is over. The gloves are coming off. No more Mr. Nice guys. We are beginning to see more and more dissension in chamber. Little jabs and uncalled for remarks; it is not the way I like to see business conducted. If you watch the State of the State and the minority rebuttal you would have seen what I am referring to. This is not happening as much in the Senate, as there has not been near the turnover of legislators during the last election cycle as the House had. Many are new lawmakers to this process and want to m...
Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte, for the first time since taking office, shared his vision for our state — a vision that is limited to massive giveaways for Montana’s wealthiest, and gives quiet approval for an unprecedented barrage of attacks on the freedoms of Montana’s women and children. Democrats have a better plan that aims to meet the challenges of our time by creating jobs and opportunity for Montanans. Rather than prioritizing out-of-state interests, Democrats are investing in the people who live here, have roots...
For the past 20 years, I have called the Havre Daily News my home, so nearly half of my life has been dedicated to putting out the best community newspaper possible, but while I celebrate this anniversary I am also announcing that, as of today, I have moved on to another pursuit. Though I am excited about the opportunities that await me in the future, it is with sadness that I say goodbye. My time here has been marked by both challenges and triumphs, and each has made me feel...
I think we’re in trouble when the phrase “everything old is new again” applies to the writing of instruction manuals. Prehistoric drawings all over the world show images of all types of animals that lived in the region when the paintings were made – and we’re talking 20,000 to 100,000 years ago, maybe more. Those paintings serve as Basic Hunting 101 instructions for hunter gatherers: We need to eat. Go to the “store.” Kill one of these. Of course, some of the paintings sho...
Nobody could have written a soap opera to equal the drama of these pandemic days. It’s not just me and my family. We are all part of the drama. Nobody would believe it. No soap would sponsor such a program. Last week’s episode of my family drama left us hanging with my son struggling with seizures resulting from the COVID virus, on strong medication, and Oops — The Secret Storm we were not supposed to know — drinking. He was a mere month away from celebrating six years o...
