The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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As a fifth-generation Montanan, I didn't choose Montana - Montana chose me. Over 100 years ago, my great-great-grandmother homesteaded 23 miles east of Conrad, and that's how my family made it to the Last Best Place. And I'll be forever thankful for that. There is a lot that makes America an exceptional place to live, and the Thanksgiving tradition is one of them. It's an integral part of our uniquely American story. For the last 400 years, we have gathered with our families,...
The Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting that is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Thursday Nov. 10 at the Lincoln Library will center on how to keep the business organization viable for the future. The future of the LVCC remains in doubt as the two current remaining directors - President Laurie Welty and Vice President Victor Johnson are set to leave when their terms expire at the end of this year. Former treasurer Erin Dey stepped back into the role on an interim basis, but...
Election Day is around the corner, and one of the most fundamental rights we have as American citizens is the right to vote. With so much at stake this year, I encourage you to ask yourself the following: Who will push back against the Democrats' reckless tax and spend agenda that has left Montana families choosing between gas or groceries? Who will defend our Montana way of life and protect our Second Amendment rights? Who will work to secure the southern border? And lastly,...
Do you like scary movies? You don’t have to rent a horror movie this Halloween to feel spooked—just take a look at what President Biden and the Democrats have done since they took control of the White House and Congress. Inflation is clocking in at forty-year highs. It can cost Montana families over $100 just to fill up their tank. Fentanyl from the open southern border is wreaking havoc across Montana. Good-paying energy jobs have been nixed. Our small-town communities are...
Americans, and Montanans in particular, are blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants. Fortunately for us, wise and brave leaders have shown us the way forward to fulfill the idea and ideals of America. While our country has fallen short of those lofty goals from time to time, those aims are true and worthy of pursuit. And America soldiers on. As a young girl I thrilled to the courage and wisdom of American leaders, long dead, whose thoughts and actions provided a road map t...
‘A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’ The Constitutional right to keep and bear arms that is enumerated in the Second Amendment is not something that was written with the intent to be subject to exceptions. It wasn’t written to change with the times, but to stand the test of time. Our Founding Fathers knew how important this right was in their time, and how important it was to include it in the Constitution for the st...
It's election season, also known as the season of misleading information. A prime example is what appears to be Montana Democrats' main talking point on legislative races: "If the Republicans can flip just two more legislative seats, they're coming after the constitution." What the Democrats fail to mention is that the Legislature cannot change Montana's Constitution. It says right there in the constitution that any proposed amendments have to be voted on by Montana voters....
As a pediatric hospice and palliative medicine physician for many years, I can speak directly to the unfathomable harm that a ballot initiative called LR-131 would cause. Titled the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, the initiative is an extreme, unnecessary, and cruel limitation of family decision-making that you'll see on the ballot this November. Although LR-131 purports to be about protecting infants, it requires health care providers to perform invasive and painful...
This November Montanans will vote on an important referendum called "An Act Adopting The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act." This act will do just what the title states, protect babies that are born alive, even those born after a failed attempt to abort a child. A few that are opposed to this protection are trying to spin this referendum to be about terminal babies or women's health. However, the ballot language is clear; "A health care provider shall take medically appropriate...
In 2019, WWII veteran Forrest Allen passed away, bequeathing 5,677 acres in Golden Valley County to the Shodair Children's Hospital. Today, as a member of the Board of Land Commissioners, I was proud to vote in favor of purchasing this land for public use. The purchase, known as the Snowy Mountain Acquisition, is a win for all Montanans and embodies our state's spirit and generosity. Public lands near this property have been nearly inaccessible to most Montanans for years....
For the past ten-and-a-half years I've seen Lincoln move from a town stuck in an economic rut to one that began to take control of its own destiny. The successful development of Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild showed Lincoln can do something new and unexpected and be more than just "stinkin' drinkin' Lincoln." People began look at ways to grow the economy beyond that, without making too many drastic changes to the community. Discussions that had been going on...
The only reason you're not rich is you're lazy. My mother told me that. She didn't buy my moaning about low pay in the state bureaucracy. Mom had a point. If I had been willing to get off my duff and campaign for the Public Service Commission, I could be on my way to a life of well-paid bureaucratic leisure. You win your election to the PSC and the State of Montana will give you $112,000 a year. No qualifications needed nor much work required. The hours are great. You show up...
This is sort of a surreal column for me to write this week. While it’s not my last column ever, it is the last one to be in print…for now. If you would have asked me, almost three years ago, I never would have thought I’d have been writing for a newspaper at all. I never went to school for journalism and didn’t have a ton of experience writing for the public. Sure, I wrote a lot, but it wasn’t always for everyone else’s eyes to see. Roger and Erin needed help, and they took a...
Several days ago, Marc Racicot and Bob Brown published an editorial arguing Montana should adopt a top-two or a top-four primary election system. While both of these gentleman have cloaked their arguments in favor of these primary systems as methods of saving our "democracy", the truth is these primary election systems are fundamentally anti-democratic and wrong for Montana. In a top-two primary system, the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the...
There is a special event happening in Lincoln Montana Sept. 16 and 17. At Hooper Park there will be joyous celebration of the 50th anniversary of the federal legislation designating the Scapegoat Wilderness. Wilderness is the highest form of public lands protection, this being established by The Wilderness Act of 1964. When that law was signed by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson, Montana immediately gained five Wilderness areas: The Cabinet Mountains, Bob Marshall,...
We would like to express an opinion relating to an article in the latest edition of the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch by Roger Dey, BVD Editor, regarding the future of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. In the article it was stated that the Chamber was facing suspension if it could not get enough people to fill the board of directors. I do not write many editorials but have been moved on occasion to express an opinion when issues hit a nerve. The article called Tipping Point pointed out that the Chamber’s future is in danger if we...
There are legislators working to call a special session 90 days before the next regular legislative session to address the billion plus dollars in surplus taxpayer funds. While the news of a surplus is welcomed, legislators must now decide if a special session is the right format for making decisions on the largest surplus in our state's history. The sheer volume and rarity of this surplus begs us to be thoughtful and deliberate. The short special session format has...
untry to stage dramatic hearings about January 6th. Hiring a TV producer to create the greatest impact on the public. Characterizing this event involving a few hundred people as the greatest threat to our Democracy since the civil war! An event they must be familiar with since Democrats started it to protect their rights to keep slaves. Their objective: destroy Trump and hopefully charge him with a crime, based on speech and actions before the riot and slow response to stop...
The way many of us learn about how the things we own work is when they stop working. Like your toaster. Or maybe your car. And in the year 2022, we all started to learn about global supply chains for the same reason. Because for an astonishingly broad array of goods and components, they struggled to keep up with demand. Getting a promise to deliver instead of an actual delivery has become all too common for businesses and consumers alike. To sort out why, we first need to...
As of July 1, 2022, the US Forest Service has allowed the Big Mountain Snowmobile trail open for clearing and gathering firewood. The Ponderosa Snow Warriors will be having a major trail clearing party, July 16, meeting at the PSW Club House on Sucker Creek Road at 6 a.m., to try to beat the heat and get some trails cleared. We need all hands on deck as this is a huge undertaking and we have to get one of the most popular trails back open. The USFS is allowing access to Big Mo...
Women and men, you do still have a choice. Say no to unprotected sex unless you are seeking to have and raise a child. You can no longer think that you just can get an abortion. Get on and stay on birth control. See that your daughters are on birth control. Talk to your sons and stress the importance of respecting girls and women and to always seek clear consent for sex. Women, if you do not wish to have a child and are approached for unprotected sex, clearly say no, even if...
As we begin to approach the 2023 legislative session, Montana workers, families, employers, and elected officials are all facing a unique combination of opportunities and challenges that we haven't seen before. In many ways, Montana's economy is better than ever. Governor Greg Gianforte recently announced that our unemployment rate remains at a record low while more Montanans are working than ever before. The Treasure State's economy and personal incomes are growing at the...
A number of people -- private citizens, elected legislators and state staff -- achieved a quiet accomplishment recently. During the 2021 Legislative Session, two bills (SB 262 and SB 263) were passed to revise the duties of the Forest Lands Taxation Advisory Committee (FLTAC) and charge that advisory committee to examine and modernize the tax rate on Forest Land (Class 10) properties. Members of FLTAC have been meeting since July 9, 2021. Members include four forestry experts...
Montana's Wild West is alive and well as a rogue subset of bounty hunters commit crimes and abuses against defendants on bail, their families and the public. State law gives bondsmen unrestrained arrest powers leading some to employ dangerous tactics that threaten public safety and infringe on defendants' rights. There is a clear need for Montana to create sideboards, rules, and arrest reporting standards to ensure transparency and establish minimal qualifications for...
Letter to Editor This message is for the ears of all the atheists living in America, as more and more of you teach your children that there is no God. And they, in turn, teach their children there is no God. The world is becoming a more violent place. Just look back at the last few years and you will see I am right. I don't go to church on Sunday – I go to church every day. The last time I rode my snowmobile to the top of Ovando Mountain I touched the face of God. I g...
