Opinion
Editor, Arlee Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Department (AVFD) was awarded a $45,600 grant from Phillips 66 in 2021 to replace outdated and worn turnouts. The grant has allowed AVFD to purchase 12 sets of new turnouts that are essential to protect the volunteer firefighters that are serving their community in emergency situations. Without grants and external funding like this one, rural volunteer fire departments, like AVFD, have difficulty affording some of the necessary equipment used to protect volunteers and serve their communities. AVFD would like to thank Phillips 66 for their donation that helped strengthen a local Montana community and AVFD’s ability to serve and protect live...
The birds outside my bedroom window go crazy every morning. I love it. They wake up – sometimes one by one, other times as groups - all with something so say, something to contribute. Perhaps they are calling out to friends or family; perhaps they are marking their territory or chasing squirrels fro...
As the Ukraine invasion enters another week, our gas and diesel prices now eclipse the old record set in 2008. Mindless partisan haranguing on causation and solution play out with hackneyed ‘Trump did it better’ and ‘Biden has the vision.’ Our energy conundrum is best addressed by an ...
We are five of the youngest lawmakers in the Montana Legislature. At 20, 21, 24, 29, and 31 years old, we are in various stages of renting and home ownership, and all of us are concerned about the housing crisis facing Montana. In every one of our communities—Billings, Belgrade, Columbia Falls, and eve...
Editor, Each person gives differing weights to issues such as empathy, compassion, and justice, and would judge a person’s character uniquely. Some would include that the person is stalwart and not to be swayed. Others, however, might define character as having the willingness to consider life&rsquo...
Editor, “Now you see me – now you don’t” – and so it is with the Magic 30 feral cat colony in downtown Polson. The Magic 30 needs to be renamed to the Magic 20 due to winter casualties. It is now their season to be out and about hunting, raising young and exploring. I will mi...
Editor, As reported in the Feb. 16 edition of the Valley Journal, at a special Flathead Irrigation District (FID) meeting on Feb. 8 the FID board approved an agreement that would establish with the CSKT, subject to U.S. Department of Interior approval, a Board of Directors (BOD) to operate the Flathead In...
Editor, President Biden has nominated a candidate to fill the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy who is now participating in Senate confirmation hearings. I submit that the nomination of another be considered. A person who: 1) Is an unmarried male, Middle Eastern born of humble beginnings, a teacher of ...
Editor, In response to Republican talking points about the partisanship and lack of accomplishments of the Biden administration, I wrote earlier about the progress made in the areas of jobs and children…but that is only part of the picture. Another accomplishment has been the bipartisan Infra...
Editor, Hats off to Marc Racicot for his recent opinion piece “Donald Trump is Wasting Our Time.” The former Republican governor and RNC chair focuses on human character, including, “decency, honesty, humility, honor and faithfulness.” He urges all Americans to vindicate the truth....
