Columns
Dear governors, thank you for your leadership in response to this unprecedented health crisis and the action your administrations have taken to prevent the outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes and assisted living communities to protect our residents and dedicated caregivers. However, with the major spikes of COVID cases in many states across the country, we are very concerned this trend will lead to a dramatic increase in cases in long-term facilities. Recent independent research by Harvard Medical School, Brown University’s School of Public Health and University of Chicago showed the level of COVID cases in the surrounding community was the top factor in outbreaks in nu...
We’d been taking care of our granddaughter during the weekdays since September, and although getting up early in the morning to care for her was a bit of a yawn, our dear granddaughter was anything but. We thought we’d have her with us until the end of May. We sort of thought we’d ...
Readers of this column will attest to the fact that I like words. Heck, you might even use the “love” word here. I love playing with words. I love learning about their origins. I love words that are my friends or at least they seem like friends. I love lengthy words that stretch their syllables t...
Due to the pandemic situation affecting our world, many of our social conventions have been altered to suit the current situation. We have implemented social distancing, employed the use of masks and numerous other changes to daily life; however, no other convention has been impacted as much as the humble an...
There’s currently a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court, led by Republican Attorney Generals, to repeal the Affordable Care Act and eliminate protections for Montanans with pre-existing conditions. This is a dangerous lawsuit that, if successful, would rip healthcare away from over 400,000 Monta...
In 2018, paid political operatives in North Carolina went door-to-door, enticing voters to hand over their unsealed absentee ballots. The operatives then altered the unfinished ballots to support Republican candidates and failed to return ballots that already supported Democratic candidates. This b...
My aging dad lived alone for nearly 10 years after my mom died. But recently, we all came to the conclusion that living alone was a lonely endeavor. That, accompanied by his increasing need for assistance with some things, led us to find him a new home. His moving to a new home meant cleaning out th...
The senseless death of a black American has ignited civil protests around the globe. We will always remember George Floyd’s name and the eight minutes forty-six seconds that Minneapolis police officers assisted a fellow officer in pinning Floyd’s neck to the ground until he remained motionless. ...
Our Partners Sharing group has restarted service. You will now begin receiving holds that were placed prior to the COVID-19 shutdown and you can begin placing new holds on items held by all Partner Sharing libraries. The library is currently open Monday – Friday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and from 3-5 p.m....
As the country celebrates its birth as a nation, one of the most patriotic things Montanans can do is stand up and be counted – in the 2020 Census. Or, more accurately, go online and be counted. Or mail in the census form. Or chat with a census worker. Every 10 years, the country counts how ma...
