Opinion

We have successfully kicked off our annual Summer Reading Program with over 100 attendees at our first program and 289 registrations on the first day. It’s not too late to register – you actually have until Aug. 10. Visit our website or stop in the library for details. We have wonderful incentives from local businesses, great prizes, and fantastic programs. A library card is not required to participate, and the program is open to everyone from newborns to super seniors. Each Thursday at 10 a.m. we host a special program for preschool and elementary aged kids. We are so grateful to our community partners for their participation and support in hosting these programs. Upcoming p...

Having proudly served as former Secretaries of State in Montana, we understand how important democracy is to the people of our state. It’s not a matter of what side of the aisle you stand on – it’s a matter of what you value. Recently our state’s Supreme Court reaffirmed that Monta...

I write to encourage a call to action. We must immediately address the illegal immigration happening in Montana. I, as well as many Montanans have seen the numbers – fentanyl confiscation in Montana up by 20,000%, sex trafficking up by 116%, illegal immigration at our northern border up 597% with over ...

Editor, We can all relax. We can feel fine. We can put aside any worries we may have about our nation’s future. We can know that all our political and personal lives will continue in relative  How do I know this? I know it because of this most wonderful and vivid dream I had last night. It s...

Editor, From 2019 to 2024, the congressional Commission on Native Children was tasked with examining federal, state, and tribal youth programs across the nation. As a Commissioner on this commission, I can attest that most of the witnesses chosen by federal agencies received federal funds in one manner...

Editor, On June 5 the U.S. Senate voted on advancing a bill to protect access to contraception. Senator Steve Daines (R) voted against it. Senator Jon Tester (D) voted for it. The bill did not advance because it did not meet a 60% majority vote to advance. The federal government is not interested in...

If there is one thing every business owner, rancher, and manager agrees on, it’s that if you don’t have good people, you don’t have much. And if there’s one thing Montanans (and, increasingly, outsiders) know, it’s how good our hunting and fishing opportunities generally are....

Editor, To the citizens of Lake County:  As you may be aware, we are on the eve of Lake County withdrawing its consent to bear the costs of PL280, a law which provides that the state, and therefore my office, have jurisdiction over tribal members who commit felony crimes. Because it has been widely p...

No one plans to date after 50, but you never know the details life will hand you: divorce, death of a spouse, boredom, aloneness - it all leads to one thing. You find yourself being half of a couple in a couple’s world. Such a conundrum. You were once half the age of 50 and probably a couple, now...

Montanans appreciate locally grown food, from vegetables to fresh-picked huckleberries, raw honey, and grass-fed beef. Can we say the same about our wood products? Your community would rally to keep a local rancher in business… won’t you do the same to keep a local sawmill in business?  ...