Columns
As a parent, grandparent, and advocate for public education, I am urging you to support Shannon O’Brien for Superintendent of Schools. Shannon is the only candidate who can bring the change we desperately need to support our teachers, parents, and students. Under Elsie Arntzen’s leadership, Montana’s education system has suffered. Our state ranks last in teacher pay, contributing to a severe teacher shortage. Susie Hedalen, Shannon’s opponent, served as Elsie’s deputy and is complicit in this failure. We cannot afford more of the same ineffective leadership. They have not respected our public schools, our teachers, parents, and children. They have made thing...
As hard as I try, in the privacy of my own being, not to get caught up in the scathing absurdities of the moment — e.g., the presidential election, America’ looming fascism, our love of money and war (to name a few) — yikes, here I am, caught up in it all. And all I can do is reach for a...
My grand daughter likes to watch a certain movie - over and over again. In it, the protagonist belts out a message in song: Let it go. There’s lots to be learned from Elsa. We should all be better at simply letting it go. Letting things go. Letting the past go. Forgive. Forget. Lik...
When my kids were babies, I took lots of photos – always hoping to get the one perfect shot. This was during the prehistoric, pre-digital age, when cameras required film and film required developing. You couldn’t take a million pictures and preview them on your screen. You had to send them away a...
Our search for meaning is nearly as old as time. I’ve been round and round and round again (and again) with widowhood. To say I overthink it is the understatement of understatements. It seems like something this big and this life-changing should have meaning. Big meaning. I can&...
In a biblical passage lies a parable of two builders: the wise one who constructs his house on a stony foundation, and the foolish one who builds on a foundation of sand. When the storms come, the house built on rock withstands the floodwaters, while the foolish man’s house is forever swept away. In...
What do a retired businessman, Miss Montana Teen USA, Miss Montana USA, a forester, a fifth-generation Native-American Salish woman, and an MSU sophomore all have in common? We live in Montana, vote, and volunteer with the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL). We’re focused on solving cli...
In our previous columns, we introduced our organization and explained our constitutionally granted Right to Know, underscoring its importance. This time, we’ll talk about the accessibility of this Right for individuals from Carter County to Kalispell, how “fees” can disrupt the right, and w...
As the Executive Director of the Montana Nonprofit Association, a membership association that supports more than 850 organization across the state, I’m dismayed by multiple recent incidents of political leaders and influencers casting local public charities across Montana as “dark money” gr...
A very good friend shared a written message regarding thoughts on aging with me. It was about growing old, but not feeling like you are growing old. It gave me pause to ponder. Your hair may be graying. Your skin thins and sags. Laugh lines - aka wrinkles - provide evidence of the happiness you&rsqu...
