Opinion

As I was getting ready for work this morning, and enjoying the usual cup of coffee, a television ad started screaming at me telling me how awful my excellent colleague James Brown is as a Public Service Commissioner and as a Montana Supreme Court candidate, all while extolling the alleged “impartiality” of activist judge Ingrid Gustafson. Troublingly, the ad directly references a well-known gas and electric company that does business in Montana. This would be a company that often has legal cases before the Montana Supreme Court and Judge Gustafson. I could not figure how a sitting judge could be running an ad claiming her impartiality while attacking a public utility that reg...

I’m a fourth-generation Montanan who grew up in Dillon, small business owner, private practice attorney and public servant. My entire 15-plus year legal career has been dedicated to protecting the legal rights of Montanans and upholding the rule of law. I have primarily represented Montana’s farm...

I would like to provide the perspective of a hospital chaplain on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, or LR-131, on the ballot this November.   I served as a hospital chaplain for 12 years. On numerous occasions I was called to labor and delivery to provide support to parents facing the heart-rendi...

Editor, To voters still weighing which candidate to vote for in the race for U.S. Congress representing Montana’s new 1st District, I urge you to vote for Democrat Monica Tranel. Not only are you voting for the most capable candidate to represent our district, you are helping to keep the U.S. House ...

Editor, Michael Larson is running for Justice of the Peace. He is currently the Polson City Judge. Prior to my retirement, I was a Montana lawyer for 40 years. I spent the last 12 years as Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Montana Supreme Court. In that position, I headed the Office of Disciplinary Co...

Editor, A few weeks ago, a letter from former Governor Schweitzer, who is doing ads for Monica Tranel, seemed to have trouble defining a Socialist. His diatribe indicting Rupert Murdoch and his ranch revealed to me that the old adage that Socialism breeds envy and entitlement is alive and well. So, what i...

Editor, It’s important that you take the time to write Paul’s name down on a piece of paper. He decided at the last minute to file for Lake County Commissioner and his name will not be on the ballot. You will have to write it in and remember to fill in the bubble beside his name under County C...

Editor, The pollsters are predicting, and the early voters are voting. The pundits proclaim that Trump’s party could do ok in the midterms because it’s always been that way. But this time is all about things no longer being the way they always were before, ever again. We are now on a new road,...

Editor, Last week’s legislative updates by Mr. Hertz were a little short on information. Lots of bluster implying that the Dems will eat your children and are the spawn of the devil of course, and of course very little about how the legislature is trying to get you to curtail abortion rights in Nove...

Editor,  Are things better today than they were two years ago? Absolutely not. Monica Tranel is a former Republican who worked on Conrad Burns’ staff in D.C. Monica ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2004 and lost as a Republican.   Monica changed parties, ran for th...