Opinion
Editor, Please join me in honoring the invaluable contributions of our nation’s public servants. Public servants daily carry out critical work that allows our society to function. We rely on public servants for our daily safety through emergency services and for preventing crime and terrorism. They ensure we build and maintain the physical infrastructure allowing us to move from place to place, communicate across long distances, power our homes, or drink clean water. These public servants educate our children, administer critical social programs like Social Security and Medicare, and much more. Too often, their work goes unnoticed until something goes wrong. Yet public ser...
When browsing products sold in hardware aisles, nothing is as universally recognizable as WD-40. The distinctive yellow and blue cans are wildly associated with mechanics, handyman repair, and general fixing. Used for everything from loosening old bolts to fishing lure preparation, there seems there is scar...
My middle son flew in (on a plane) to visit his brothers and me in Florida. As it was just me and the three boys (#testosterone), it fell to reason we’d want to do something both athletic and outdoorsy. Kayaking on a river seemed like a good fit. I’ve kayaked lots of times - during...
When Americans think of Montana, they picture snow-capped peaks, rolling prairies, and rainbow trout darting through the crystal-clear rivers that run through it. Or they simply think of America’s first national park, Yellowstone – or its popular TV namesake. There are also some tr...
Editor, We are hearing and reading this prediction over and over again these days: “Our democracy is in peril.” President Biden knows this and has been attempting to promote many of the policies which form our democracy. But our severely divided Rep...
Editor, When I want to buy a new car, I want to be able to negotiate a price rather than blindly pay the asking price. That’s because I’m a smart shopper. A recent letter to the editor in the Valley Journal stated that Medicare Advantage is being cut by $307 billion and criticiz...
You may believe that Montana is debt free following actions by the legislature earlier this year to pay off state debt. It is great that we passed legislation to pay off over $100 million of state bonded debt, but there is another debt obligation rarely discussed but costing us dearly. Unfortunately...
Two autumns ago, we wrote a report and op-ed documenting the state of representation and democracy in Montana. To no Montanan’s surprise, we found our beloved Treasure State to be in poor political health, suffering in recent years from ever higher rates of uncontested elections, partisan vitriol, and ...
Editor, I’m writing this letter regarding DUIs on the reservation. I had my share of trouble in my life and quit because I’m older now and don’t look for trouble in my life. In my life I have seen many things that weren’t right. Alcohol is a drug and it is a choice of w...
It doesn’t happen suddenly. At least it didn’t for me. You live your whole life as a normal person, taking it all in. Appreciating, yet taking it for granted. But not really seeing it, or hearing them, for what they are. It is a gradual process. First you see one. Then you might hear ...
