Opinion
As the 69th Montana Legislature gears up to meet this winter, lawmakers are spending time thinking about policies they believe will make the state better. The Montana Transparency Project believes one straightforward option is a law standardizing fees for Right-to-Know requests. While we’ve been assisting Montanans with information requests this year, we’ve heard time and again from folks confused and concerned about how much and when they’ll have to pay for their public information request. Frustratingly, many of these Montanans have abandoned their requests when presented with a bill for information they haven’t even seen yet. Despite our best efforts, it’...
In recent opinion pieces, Evan Barrett, a longtime Democratic consultant, and Mike Jopek, a former Democratic legislator, have repeatedly provided their “simple solution” to our high property taxes in Montana: just lower the residential property tax rate to 0.76%. If it truly was that simple, bot...
Editor, This letter expresses my personal opinion and explanation of where we are as a nation today. This has nothing to do with politics. I know many others feel and express this same view. It all has to do with human nature and how Donald Trump’s negative human nature aspects have enlivened oth...
There are three words many of us agonize over. I know I spent much of my lifetime doing so. They are words with great meaning and connotations and one shouldn’t take them lightly. “I love you.” It’s an easy sentence to utter out loud. Eight letters in total. Three simple s...
Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude, but it’s also so much more, not the least of which is food. Oh my goodness, is there food! It is the start of the food season, also known as the holidays, where eating is akin to breathing and a variety of homemade cookies somehow become a staple in everyone&rsquo...
Montana’s 130,563 small businesses make up 99.3% of all Montana businesses. These small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities; they drive innovation, create jobs, and provide economic stability in towns and rural areas across Montana. As we enter the holiday season, the U.S. Small Business Ad...
Editor, “I will never get over it!” a friend emphatically stated at a recent gathering. Y’all know what “it” is. And so I write. I write on behalf of my entire family, a multitude of tender-hearted friends, half of the country, the sensitive creatives, the hurting quiet on...
“When hate feels easy, be very wary, lest your hate becomes greater than the one who is hated. Because it is at that point you turn the corner toward evil.” Today, I’ve been contemplating hate. It’s a definite switch for me. I prefer for focus on love, because love is so m...
Editor, As Thanksgiving approaches, the members of the Bread Basket Board reflect on the many, many individuals and organizations that support our efforts to assist food insecure families in the communities of Ronan, Pablo, Charlo and Moise. Businesses who regularly donated goods to the food bank inclu...
In an era of political polarization and widespread civic illiteracy, an unlikely group is spearheading a movement to reinvigorate American democracy: middle school students. Over 6,000 students in 28 states devoted countless hours to prepare for the National Civics Bee this year. Their enthusiasm highligh...
