Columns

I can’t believe it’s been a year already. Where did the time go? We’re still moving in. Please join us on Friday, Feb. 14, as we celebrate our one-year anniversary in our beautiful building. We will have cake and punch (from a vintage recipe we found while moving out) and a drawing for a gift basket with library swag and a Joyful Cup gift card. The Joyful Cup will have drink specials along with their winter menu. This is a great time to stop in if you haven’t visited us yet. Our children’s programming has had some major changes. We have added a brand new program, Toddler Time, on Thursdays at 10 a.m., have moved Mother Goose to Fridays at 10 a.m. and now off...

There’s a morbid thought to start your day or week or year.  But it is – unfortunately – true. Let’s start with the obvious: divorce. A marriage ending in divorce is a bad ending. It is something none of the participants saw coming – at least not in the beginning.&nbs...

The United States cannot continue its current economic trajectory; it’s as simple as that. We are more than $36 trillion in debt and on track to hit $55 trillion by 2034. Our country has to pay more than a trillion dollars annually – nearly half of federal individual income tax revenue – ju...

I am a hick.  There, I said it out loud. I am a hick from a small, rural town in a northern state that gets a lot of snow in the winter. (But has many lovely lakes.) Not everyone wants to live there, but the people who do enjoy it. Embrace it. Love it.  Much like I hope you love the nei...

When President Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States this week, it marked a new day in America. Voters rejected Joe Biden’s policies that led to unaffordable prices, open borders and weakness abroad, and together with a Republican Congress he is already delivering on his America...

To provide a better understanding of what climate change means for Montanans, we are hosting a new monthly series, entitled Montana Climate Matters. Each month, you’ll hear from experts knowledgeable about climate science, impacts, and solutions.  Our goal in this endeavor is to facilitate unders...

Property taxes in Montana are an incredibly complex issue, but that isn’t stopping Senate Republicans from working hard to reform them this legislative session. On January 22, the Senate Tax Committee heard SB 117, a bill I’m sponsoring that reforms how local governments in Montana calculate thei...

Montana’s property taxes are out of control. That’s why our top priority this session is passing permanent property tax relief for Montanans. And we’re not alone: Governor Gianforte signaled property tax reform is at the top of his to-do list this session in his recent State of the State ad...

Senate Republicans have numerous pieces of legislation to consider during the 2025 session, but few are as important as bills to reform Montana’s overreaching courts. The state’s judicial branch has ventured into the realm of making laws instead of interpreting them, endangering the system of che...

I read something on grief the other day that struck a chord. The person writing lamented the fact that losing your spouse causes you to lose not only the person dearest to you, but in the aftermath you also lose most of your friends as well. I can personally attest to this. And that is not pointing any fi...