Columns

My middle son flew in (on a plane) to visit his brothers and me in Florida. As it was just me and the three boys (#testosterone), it fell to reason we’d want to do something both athletic and outdoorsy. Kayaking on a river seemed like a good fit.   I’ve kayaked lots of times - during the summer, at the lake. We have a little trek we take whenever the whim hits us. We go up a narrow river - against current - until we hit a small rapids (turn around time) and head back - with the current. It’s a course encompasses about a mile and a half. The Florida river website (I thought) offered two courses. One was 4.7 miles, the other 2.5. Gosh did the 2.5 sound doable...

When Americans think of Montana, they picture snow-capped peaks, rolling prairies, and rainbow trout darting through the crystal-clear rivers that run through it. Or they simply think of America’s first national park, Yellowstone – or its popular TV namesake.   There are also some tr...

You may believe that Montana is debt free following actions by the legislature earlier this year to pay off state debt. It is great that we passed legislation to pay off over $100 million of state bonded debt, but there is another debt obligation rarely discussed but costing us dearly.  Unfortunately...

Two autumns ago, we wrote a report and op-ed documenting the state of representation and democracy in Montana. To no Montanan’s surprise, we found our beloved Treasure State to be in poor political health, suffering in recent years from ever higher rates of uncontested elections, partisan vitriol, and ...

It doesn’t happen suddenly. At least it didn’t for me.  You live your whole life as a normal person, taking it all in. Appreciating, yet taking it for granted. But not really seeing it, or hearing them, for what they are. It is a gradual process. First you see one. Then you might hear ...

I recently introduced a good friend of mine to the original Jurassic Park movie. A film that’s won over 20 awards and is considered by some, (or at least me), to be the epitome of filmmaking, I couldn’t imagine anyone disliking such a classic.  “Huh,” she said to me as the cre...

The 2023 Montana legislature began its legislative session with an unprecedented surplus, mainly due to the over-collection of state taxes from Montana taxpayers. Since this is ultimately taxpayers’ money, I - along with other conservatives in the legislature - were determined to return money to Montan...

Where did March go? Things have been a little crazy for us at the library, but so many exciting things are happening this month. At the beginning of March, we moved library operations into the western end of the United Methodist Church at 301 16th Ave. E. (you can park anywhere in the parking lot and the chu...

School shootings and the bloody murders of totally innocent children and their teacher caretakers is a societal tragedy that Americans have become numb to. Without the commonsense outlawing of the assault weapons used in most of these atrocities, the preventable horror will relentlessly continue, in our scho...

Some friends of mine recently decided to take a family member into their home and as an enthusiast of organizing I’ve been helping them go through their things to make room for the new addition. With the sun out lately, what better time for a spring cleaning?  Making room for an entire addition...