Columns

I   like so many Montana hunters have been blessed to enjoy a lifetime of world-class hunting and fishing. It’s why so many of us live here, and it speaks to the decades of work that Montanans have put into conserving and managing our public wildlife for the benefit of everyone. But after this legislative session it is clear that Montana is on a different path, one that disregards science and places the ability for some to profit off of our wildlife as the highest priority. As we have seen in other states this will mean less opportunity for public hunters, and more exclusive access for those who can pay. This last legislative session brought numerous wildlife bills that had...

The world is changing faster than ever before. If we want Montana to continue to be a place where you can make a living and raise a family, we must build the infrastructure we need to seize the opportunities of the modern economy.  Right now, Montana ranks as the worst state for broadband Internet co...

In response to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s recently published opinion and the opinion of the Montana Attorney General regarding critical race theory, the undersigned members of the Montana Legislative Indian Caucus offer the following response.  In 1972, the Montana legisla...

It’s been five months. Five long months, but there are still so many things to do. So many goodbyes left to say. Most of them are symbolic and silent, but they are goodbyes nonetheless. Between just him and me.  Everyone else has said their goodbyes in their own way. They were done long ago. I&...

I wanted you, and I had you. It was beyond wonderful. But you had to leave and now I am alone. It was so comfortable between us. There was never any question of tomorrow. When I called, you answered. When you texted, I texted back. We never doubted one another’s loyalty. You were there for the birth...

Numerous enough to notice, infrequent enough to startle at seeing, they stimulate reverence, sorrow, sympathy, curiosity and caution. They affect us all to one degree or another. They are the white crosses marking the sites of fatal traffic crashes along the highways of Montana. For over 68 years, these whit...

Fairness is not a partisan issue. Fairness is the goal of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act currently being considered in the United States Congress. The bill has bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. H.R. 1735 / S.673 is critically important to protecting t...

Due to the reduced number of COVID-19 cases in Lake County, the Library Board of Trustees voted to suspend the mask policy. Masks are still recommended and will be required of staff and patrons on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9-10 a.m. Outside of these hours our doors are unlocked Mondays – Frida...

Last summer, the Polson Chamber of Commerce made the incredibly difficult decision to cancel the annual Fourth of July fireworks and parade events. This generated an outpouring of impassioned opinions that — regardless upon which side of the argument they fell — were all driven by the same fundam...

My toes are always the first to come and the last to go.  As the seasons change, and the weather warms in the spring, I can’t wait to get rid of my real shoes in exchange for sandals. Weeks before the warm weather actually arrives, I polish my toes in anticipation of the big event.  The...