The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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If the past year's challenges posed by the pandemic have taught us anything, it's that Montanans in all corners of the state need increased, more affordable access to health care, and my bill moving through the state legislature will do just that. I'm sponsoring Senate Bill 101 to authorize Direct Patient Care in state law and expand access to affordable health care for Montanans all across the state. Direct Patient Care is a system where patients pay their doctors directly...
Sportsmen Beware. SB-143 Montana voters passed I-161 in 2010 to limit guaranteed outfitter tags. The current legislature (sponsor Jason Ellsworth (R) SD 43) has introduced SB-143 which negates I-161 thus bypassing the will of Montana voters. This Bill proposes to double the number of guaranteed outfitter licenses thus reducing non-outfitted non-residents. States which provide unrestricted landowner tags like proposed in this bill have experienced significant loss of public...
Letter to the Editor: Dr. Neimeir made several good points in his letter in response to Liz's, but the one that I feel compelled to echo, endorse, and shout from the top of Dalton Mountain is "make no mistake . . . it's all about politics." My Poli-Sci 101 textbook described "politics" as the means by which power is distributed and redistributed in any society. Politics is the machinery that produces power over people and resources. At its core, politics is about who has...
Do you hunt with out of state family and friends? Do you hunt private lands without an outfitter or guide? Have you been applying for a Missouri River Breaks or Elkhorns bull tag for every single year? If so, you better pay attention. SB 143, sponsored by Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, would turn the vast majority of non-resident big game licenses offered in Montana to "outfitter sponsored" tags favoring hunters with money who use outfitters. It would also create landowner...
Dear Liz Cain, Your response to my Christmas letter has just been brought to my attention. My first reaction was, aren't you glad that we both live in a free society where we can both express divergent, but open and honest viewpoints? (although that perspective seems to be rapidly disappearing in the stampede to flatten the curve and save the planet. I also believe your letter deserves a response. You took me to task for not following medical guidelines of health care...
Well, here is a little follow up story on Jim and Trooper’s crusade of good cheer that started here in Lincoln on Dec. 6. It was my very first show and it was great being able to see everyone and kick off the holiday season. The following Sunday I headed up to Phillipsburg to play at the nursing home. Trooper and I got set up outside in the garden area while the residents sat inside and listened. I was not sure if they could hear me, but I did see one of the gals inside f...
This week, I’ll be turning 51. At one point in my life, age was something for me that was difficult to talk about. Now, it’s more of a number that doesn’t have a ton of value in the way I think about it. Twenty years ago, this was not the case. I remember the number, age 30, causing me an incredible amount of anxiety and, believe it or not, a terrible amount of grief. I cried almost the entire year before my 30th birthday. Turns out I was following in my mother’s footste...
I’ve been spending time the last couple of weeks helping my step-mom pack up her house in preparation for her move to North Carolina. She and my dad had their house in Lincoln built about 13 years ago. There are a lot of memories in that house alone: Christmases and other holidays, family gatherings, spending time with my dad during his chemo treatments, and while we lived with them when we moved back to Lincoln in 2018. I’m sad that it sold, for sentimental reasons, but hap...
If the months since the November elections have shown us anything, it’s that the US is more deeply divided than we’ve experienced in a very long time. This has been building at least since the 1990s, starting in Congress and ultimately coming to be reflected in a polarized electorate, but it’s reached the point where, rather than take pleasure in the success of a politician elected to the presidency, you have to keep your fingers crossed on his behalf. For starters, we now h...
We know most folks that come in our little country store, the rest are strangers for only a short time. Wearing a disguise or a mask, alarm bells would have rung load and clear. A lawman and I exchanging hellos outside a local bank with masks, cuffed and stuffed comes to mind. What a difference a couple weeks can make on how we interact. Here we are now, corona virus time, with masks and all the other restrictions. Yes the virus is deadly serious to some as is influenza,...
Welcome to the second official week of January, where it feels like the world has gone completely mad. We've seen and heard horrible things in this past week, which to me feels like more of a science-fiction novel than reality. If you're anything like me, the events and actions of what's going on in the world right now have you feeling things on an entirely different level than you may have before. My feelings range from sadness, to fear, despair, anger and everything in...
Welcome to 2021! It’s a brand new year. One filled with promise of new things, new endeavors, and new and different beliefs. Rather than address a couple of recent letters that were published in the BVD separately, I thought I would take this opportunity to address them both simultaneously within this week’s column and hopefully give myself and others a chance to grow and see things from other points of view. Just before Christmas, there was a let-ter from Pastor Don Nie...
As one of the most challenging years in Montana history comes to a close, we want to call Montanans' attention to the important role our state parks and fishing access sites have played during the COVID crisis. As social distancing became necessary and isolation common, Montana's parks and access sites offered a way for families to "be alone together" in the great outdoors. In the first half of the year alone, four out of five state parks experienced increases in visitation,...
Remember last January, when I really began writing this column on a regular basis? Yes, January, at this point feels like yesterday, and five years ago, all at the same time. When I began writing it, my idea was to give people ideas of other perspectives besides their own and inspire people to think a little differently. Turns out, it’s also helped me to see other perspectives than my own too, which I consider a deeply valued and treasured gift. In January, we thought this c...
Don Niemeir, what is wrong with you? Maybe you should stick to preaching the gospel, which I hear you're very good at, because you seem to know nothing about science. You could be a respected voice for following the guidelines of medical experts who are trying to save our lives! It's not as if they are asking us to fly to the moon (probably a safer choice these days), just THIS ONE CHRISTMAS, since Thanksgiving produced 1,500,000 more cases of COVID: avoid crowds, indoor...
There has been a lot of talk in my world of Facebook, blogs, and books I’ve been gravitating to lately about “self-care.” It seems like such an easy thing, like something we should all just automatically know how to do, right? Well, I’m not exactly sure it’s as easy as it sounds. We get so buried down with the weight of work, responsibilities to our families, friends, sometimes even strangers, there’s little time, or even energy, to practice any type of self-care. By definiti...
Tomorrow we celebrate the most important day in the history of the world and the holiest day in the Christian world: The birth of Jesus Christ. My one hope is that as a Christian nation, we can do a better job of being a Christian nation. Have a Merry Christmas and may the Lord be with you on your journey through life. And please pray for our Republic. Mike Dey Missoula...
As I wrap up my four-year term as your State Auditor, I'm reminded of a common lesson Montana parents teach our children: leave things better than you found them. On a family camping trip that might mean picking up a forgotten piece of litter and leaving behind some extra firewood for the next folks to use. To me right now, it means leaving this office in great shape for our next Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Troy Downing. When I was sworn in, Montanans were...
Just wanted to send out a little Hey Howdy Hey of thanks to the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch. When I left Lincoln this last time it was mainly because I was worried about my dog. He was needing a little surgery done and with his age I thought it would be best that he be closer to his vet. His surgery went well, and he is doing great now. After we had left Lincoln, we went on close to a month long camping trip. We stayed at Flint Creek Campground between Philipsburg and...
Dear Editor, America is suffering from a mental health tragedy. Forty percent of Americans – and a whopping 75 percent of young adults – are struggling with a mental health issue or drug-related problem during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the onset of winter, and Seasonal Affective Disorder, the situation is likely to deteriorate further in the coming months. Companion animals can help many people cope this winter....
Lewis and Clark County 911 Center received twelve calls for service during the week of Dec. 6 to Dec. 12 in the Lincoln area. Deputies performed two traffic stops. One of those calls generated a case report last week: Deputies responded to the 500 block of Main Street Sunday, Dec. 6. Deputies observed a male who appeared under age drinking a beer. The male was identified as under age and given two notice to appears for Minor in possession and possession of a fake ID. Other...
It’s been a year, hasn’t it? It’s been good. It’s been bad. It’s been difficult. It most definitely has NOT been easy. It’s brought sickness, loneliness, anger and depression, in ways we’ve not ever experienced before. But, it’s brought hope, too, in its own way. Hope for things to be different. It’s brought awareness. Awareness in a way that we can’t deny, about the way we’ve lived, as people, as a community, as families and as individuals. There are those who have made it th...
I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped make Santa’s Workshop 2020 a reality for our local kids, and for all of the flexibility around getting the crafts to the kids who would have normally participated in person at the school. First, a thank you to the Lincoln Council for the Arts for their continued financial support. To Jill Frisbee, who normally puts everything together, for sitting down and meeting with the committee and getting us items to put together in kits for the kids. To volunteers Laura But...
The term, "blessings in disguise" is use to describe good things that happen in our lives that, at first, may not seem like a blessing at all. Losing, or even leaving a job may seem like the worst thing ever. I know; I've been there. But losing "that" job may have opened a door that normally would have remained closed, or offered you a different path leading you to something better or more fulfilling. That's what happened to me. I had a job I liked very much at the University...
The COVID pandemic has brought healthcare affordability into the spotlight like never before. The question is whether this crisis will be an impetus to rein in the alarming growth in healthcare costs or if we will go right back to business as usual. At both the state and federal levels, reformers are working to make improvements to both the quality and affordability of healthcare. In Congress, support is building to take up legislation to curb surprise medical billing. The...