Columns
After sending our newspaper to press last week, we anxiously awaited community response to the news of the shift in our business model. Though continuing to be a free newspaper was no longer an option for us, we understood that moving from free to paid isn’t an especially popular idea. We spoke with hundreds of community members at the annual Women for Wellness event the day after our news broke. We were prepared to encounter resistance. What we experienced was quite the opposite. You told us you understood and you’d support local journalism by subscribing. These were some of your comments: — “It’s about time. I don’t know how you were able to do...
I remember how exciting it was to go on a field trip as a kid at school: the getting out of the classroom, the bus ride to a new place and the endless chatter between seats, the excitement in the air that something magical might take place on this adventure. Those days are long gone for me, or so I thought. ...
The 66th legislative session has come to an end. As Speaker of the House, it was my goal to uphold the integrity of the House. As a leader in my caucus it was my goal to foster unity not conformity. We can be united behind the primary ideals of our party without losing individuality. It has been an honor to ...
The legend of Bigfoot lives on in American folklore, and although I don’t know for sure if the big and hairy creature actually exists in the wild, I do believe in big foot, or at least big feet. I live with a bunch of them. (Big and hairy big-footed creatures, that is.) My husband and sons tower ove...
Is it spring yet? After what seems like the longest winter ever, the library crew is ready for a great spring and summer. So let’s ditch the winter coats, find the sandals in the back of our closets and gear up for a ton of fun at the library. To kick off our May events, local author Maggie Plummer ...
At the start of the legislative session, I delivered my fourth and final State of the State address. I shared my optimism that in Montana we can still be a shining example of how our political system is supposed to work and that as elected leaders we should base our decisions not only on today’s needs,...
In the waning hours of Montana’s 66thLegislative Session, good public policy squeaked through, including Medicaid expansion and an infrastructure bill. But public works can’t fix the deferred maintenance of the outdated way these bills made it through. That takes political will. Montana’...
It was in the wee morning hours; I was summoned from sleep by a grinding and screeching sort of noise that is universally recognized as the sound of a garbage truck doing its business. Panic set in. We hadn’t pulled our garbage to the curb. Did we, gulp, miss garbage day? I was now wide awake approx...
