Opinion
Editor, As Congress deliberates voting rights, we should remind our representatives of just how bad things were in a “United” States that was segregated. I grew up, many decades ago, in Jim Crow Texas. My father was a schoolteacher with five children, but, because African Americans commanded insignificant wages, we could always afford a maid. I never knew a black person, except as a servant or laborer. Black people were not in my schools, not at church, not at gatherings, and not in my family. Lynchings were not talked about much, but they were part of life, and I remember adults talking about whether the civil rights workers somehow got what they deserved. Today, this sou...
Our rights to not have our property or persons searched or seized without a warrant, to not be harassed by the government without good reason, and to conduct our own peaceful affairs with minimal intrusion are increasingly challenged by new technology. Our smartphones track our every movement, many personal ...
There’s something about a new year that often has me reflecting on time. I guess that’s fairly natural. For many of us, January is a time of assessing priorities, setting goals, wrapping up the old year and planning for what’s to come. This year, those thoughts were punctuated by a note ...
One of the great motion pictures of all time was the 1939 Academy Award blockbuster directed by the legendary Frank Capra called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The movie was based on an unpublished manuscript by Lewis R. Foster with the title, “The Gentleman from Montana.” Columbia pic...
Editor, Good job Bob McClellan. I hope we see more letters like this. I hope we see more letters like this. We need the laughs and not all the depressing letters. Let’s lighten this year up. Last year was bad enough. Ethel McCready Missoula
Editor, When I first moved to Montana, decades ago, I was impressed with the level of friendly debate between friends and neighbors - something I did not often see in the state I came from. Sadly, with the extraordinary stressors that we have today, many of us are circling the wagons, thinking of others a...
We are really looking forward to 2022 here at the library with the return of some favorite programs and some big changes on the horizon for our building. Story Time returns on Thursday mornings at 9:15 a.m. starting Jan. 13. This program is geared toward kids ages 3-5 and their parents or caregivers. Each...
Editor, Here is some “fun stuff” I came across. Do you ever wonder: - Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin? - Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word? - Why is it that doctors call what they do ‘practice’? &nbs...
Editor, Looking back over the past year, I see the work that Senator Jon Tester has done. I thank him. He’s helped to secure disaster relief to farmers and ranchers who face drought, get federal money for MT and local school districts to procure domestically produced food during supp...
When I was a little girl, my most prized possession was my Fisher Price hospital. I took it with me everywhere I went and I would play for hours with the little round blue people with their surgical masks and blonde ponytails. Even though the figure dressed like a doctor was clearly a man and the ponytailed ...
