The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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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...
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...
The 2021 Montana Legislature passed major health care reforms to empower patients, reduce red tape for doctors, and provide access to more affordable care. We’re now seeing those changes have a major positive impact, and as the sponsors of the bills enabling this progress, we couldn’t be more excited. The bills we passed expanded telehealth, protected Direct Patient Care, and allowed doctors to dispense medicine to their patients. Importantly, all three bills followed con...
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...
Know the consequences before signing the petition to put CI-121 on the November ballot. At face value, CI-121 and freezing your residential property taxes may sound like a good idea. But if you further investigate the details of this misleading ballot initiative, you will find several adverse consequences. What is CI-121? It is a ballot initiative proposing a constitutional amendment that would freeze residential property value at the 2019 level and changes the assessed value...
"The Legislature shall provide by law the requirements for residence, registration, absentee voting, and administration of elections." It doesn't get much clearer than that line in Article IV, Section 3 of Montana's Constitution. Unless of course you're an activist judge who doesn't like common sense laws duly passed by the people's representatives, the democratically elected Legislature. In that case, you'll just go ahead and block those laws in favor of your political...
We would like to thank all of the generous folks and businesses from Lincoln, Helena, Missoula and Great Falls, and all the areas in between, for donating either money or auction items. We couldn't make our department what it is without your help! We would also like to thank all the wonderful people that helped put it on. Jackie, Kathy, Diane, Ellie, and Susan back in the kitchen with the 8th grade middle school class making food magic back in the kitchen. KD, Hayes and Jim...
Idaho and Montana's successful recovery of the gray wolf was a significant achievement in species conservation. In less than ten years, not only were biological recovery targets for gray wolves met, they were exceeded. Unfortunately, delisting of the wolf has been mired in politics rather than informed by science. Last month, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland authored an editorial, devoid of facts but flushed with alarmist rhetoric, perpetuating the false narrative that Idaho...
Our property taxes now increase by double digits every year. They are being driven in large part by wealthy out-of-state transplants with sacks of money from selling their Seattle and Silicon Valley homes. Montanans of all economic backgrounds are now considering selling their homes to forestall tax foreclosure. Without change, the number of Montanans facing the same dilemma will skyrocket in the coming years. Property taxes should be based upon the value of your home when you...
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 even Malta-housing is rapidly becoming more expensive and harder to find. Many of the factors causing the housing crisis, such as migration, supply costs, and the labor shortage,...
As one of seven kids growing up in Butte, Montana, the holidays in our house were equal parts chaos and celebration. But one thing was a constant-when you reached a certain age, you could expect to find your first hunting rifle under the Christmas tree. But with that gift came responsibilities-hunter safety, fair chase hunting ethics, and an understanding that public lands are an essential part of our hunting heritage in Montana. In one way or another, the opposite of these...
In 2015, a group of Montanans from Lincoln, Helena, and nearby communities set out to accomplish something that today would seem, in retrospect, extremely daunting, given the deep political divisions that unfortunately characterize the public arena these days. We set out to draft a proposal for how the Forest Service can manage 200,000 acres of public lands that stretch across the upper Lincoln Valley and along the Continental Divide northwest of Helena, a proposal that would...
Montana has been discovered. We were the second-fastest-growing state in the country last year. Our rapidly increasing population presents many challenges and opportunities, and it's also driving a lot of unease among many of us who've lived here for a long time. Whether you love it or hate it, that growth looks like it's going to keep happening for a while. We need to deal with that reality and reform many policies very quickly to respond to it, especially when it comes to...
When running for the U.S. Senate in 2018 the number one issue I discussed was the massive and unsustainable national debt, which is now over $29 trillion, or $229,706 per tax payer. All the issues important to Americans, from education, to social security, to national defense and global warming, can only be addressed if we have resources to address them. If we go insolvent as a nation, which will lead to poverty, unrest, and civil strife, these issues go by the wayside as we...
We've all heard the quip, "how do you know when a politician is lying?" Answer: His lips are moving. But there's another obvious question that begs an obvious answer. WHY do politicians lie? Answer: Because they can. The American media – or what could once be legitimately called the media – draws our attention every day to the lies they have caught their least-favored politicians saying. Often they are incredibly blatant. The furrowed brows on the left (CNN, MSNBC and the majo...
Like you, we're tired of COVID-19. We want it to be done and over with. But unfortunately, it's not. And even if things get better for a few months at a time, people in our communities are still suffering on a daily basis, with their lives changed forever. Omicron is here, just the latest variant to enter our community. Cases and hospitalizations are up nationally, and we could see those numbers rise here locally. Some people say that Omicron, while more contagious, is...
It is very awkward for me to do this, but to lend credibility to what I have written below, I will state my background. I have a doctorate degree in immunology from The University of Notre Dame. I spent a career at the National Institutes of Health and in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry studying the regulation of the immune response. I have authored or co-authored over 70 scientific publications on the same. Enough said. In the past two years, I have spent hundreds...
If there's one thing Montanans are about, it's common sense. We work hard, play by the rules and don't like when Washington elites impose laws that go against what works for Montana. That's why I fought against President Biden and the Democrats' attempt to pass their partisan bill to enact a federal takeover of elections every step of the way-because what they were trying to do didn't make sense, and it's not what Montanans wanted. In Montana, thanks to the leadership of...
On January 1st of this year, the No Surprises Act (NSA) went into effect protecting individuals with private health insurance from surprise medical bills. In other words, if you are insured from a company that is not Medicare or Medicaid and receive emergency medical care or a scheduled procedure at an in-network facility, then, in most circumstances, you will not be billed at "out of network" rates. This law, signed by President Trump in 2020 and now being implemented under...
In August of 2020, we wrote an opinion opposing Modern Monetary Theory (or MMT, the "too good to be true" idea that the federal government can spend unlimited amounts of money, regardless of revenue, in order to benefit the country and the economy). We disagreed with MMT on the strongest terms. Since that time, the federal government has added $8.4 trillion dollars to our national debt, which now stands at $29.2 trillion. We appealed to the common sense that the government...
China has a plan. It wants to be the dominant technology country by 2035. If you look, it's clear to see how they're executing on that plan. They're massively investing in hardware and software development to catch up to, and eventually overtake, the United States. If they're successful, we'll experience serious ramifications for our economy and national security. We've been the world technological leader for so long it's understandable that many Americans take it for...
Montana families across the state are feeling the pain in their pocketbooks from inflation and higher prices on everything from gas to groceries to heating their homes. What's causing this? President Biden and Congressional Democrats' wasteful spending problems, and their multitrillion dollar reckless tax and spending spree bill will only make matters worse. Last week, inflation hit a nearly 40 year high, backing estimates that families will spend an extra $4,600 more this...
From my very early days, I have questioned groupthink. I colored outside the lines and succeeded in some roles and not in others. Through it all, it has always been my desire to raise others up to help them realize their own goals. Throughout my life, public service has been an avenue to see this interest realized, giving me purpose and energy. From my high school days in Key Club, to the honor of being selected to attend Boys State, to serving as chairman of the Helena Citizens Council and various other service...
