Columns

Did you get your elk yet?  This rifle season has been mild, and elk and deer have been widely dispersed and hard to find.  Is changing climate influencing wildlife and hunting?  While our weather is variable from year to year, Montana has been warming and drying with increasing greenhouse gas levels.  During 1950 to 2015, average temperatures increased 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit (F).  Snowpack has been declined roughly 20% over the last 80 years, especially at lower elevations.  Climate change during the rifle season is most relevant to hunters.  November average maximum temperature across the state has increased 3.6-4 degrees F during 1980-2025 and drou...

The holidays are meant to be a joyous and celebratory time for the masses.  We jingle and we jangle. We carol and we herald. We send cards and decorate yards. We prep and we wrap. We elf on the shelf. We deck the halls and trim the tree with ornate balls. Our nights are bright with festive lights. We...

I don’t claim to be a master of many things. I’m rather more of a Jill of all trades. I’m simply interested in everything, which stops me from being an expert in anything.  Except for maybe two things. I like to think I’m rather a master of words. I’ve always loved wo...

I do the Wordle each morning. For those of you living in a bubble, Wordle is a puzzle that gives you six guesses to find a five-letter word.  Before we go any further, I have to get two things off my chest. Wordle is a game about five-letter words, yet the name of the game - Wordle - has six letters....

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act recently signed into law by President Trump contains important reforms to Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion program. It helps control taxpayer costs and incentivizes able-bodied adults to work, go to school, or otherwise meaningfully engage as productive commun...

Take charge and lower your utility bills by using energy and water more wisely and at the same time make Montana healthier. What’s the connection? Most of the energy used in Montana is from fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil) resulting in the release of pollution and greenhouse gases when the ...

This column deals with a subject steeped in controversy, and we all know sometimes that can surround the most simplest of tasks, habits or preferences. Which way to hang the toilet paper – over or under? Ketchup as a dipping sauce for pickles and potato chips  - yes or no? Wearing pajamas to th...

Emotions are powerful forces within each of us. They can impact our day, our year - perhaps even our life. How we feel about something influences our reactions to it. How we feel dictates our response to the world, the environment. And by and large all of this is beyond our control, correct? Maybe so, may...

I grew up poor, that is, American poor. I fantasized about food at night–mashed potatoes, buttery dinner rolls, raspberry cheesecake. I would wake up and imagine a breakfast–strawberry waffles with whipped cream, cold orange juice–then, talk myself toward accepting what I knew was there&nda...

Over the last four-plus years  I’ve given a lot of time thinking about emotions - joy, bliss, sorrow, anger and everything in-between. I’ve struggled. I’ve failed. I’ve crawled out of the rubble. I’ve found glimmers of sunlight. I’ve had moments of success, amidst the...