The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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ready for electric vehicles. Sen. Usher is correct that Montana's electricity system has fallen behind, leaving us unprepared for modern technologies. Sen. Usher noted that Montana's power grid is strained. I suppose one solution would be to never add any new electricity uses so we can preserve our precarious status quo. But other states are taking a different approach: they're improving their grids to get ready for the new ways we Americans are using energy. Compared to...
Though the pace won't really pick up until the fall, federal election campaigns are well under way. And we're hearing a lot about a welter of key issues like abortion, immigration, the ethics of the Supreme Court, wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the like. But at a time when candidates should be engaging the electorate on the country's biggest challenges, here's something they're not talking about: the national debt. We've been in uncharted territory on this front for...
Last month, the Biden Administration published their finalized tailpipe emissions rule, an electric vehicle mandate which will upend the daily lives of Montanans. The EPA's new emissions rule calls for EVs to account for 56 percent of all cars by 2032, with two-thirds of all cars being electric or hybrid. However, with the state of Montana's electric vehicle usage and electric grid, this mandate spells disaster for our state's energy economy, electric grid, public safety, and...
Having proudly served as former Secretaries of State in Montana, we understand how important democracy is to the people of our state. It's not a matter of what side of the aisle you stand on – it's a matter of what you value. Recently our state's Supreme Court reaffirmed that Montanan's right to cast a ballot is not a mere privilege – it is a right guaranteed by our Constitution. A coalition of lawmakers in Congress, including Montana's Senator Tester, are working to uph...
Back in mid-May, the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University released the latest of their studies looking at bipartisanship in the US House and Senate. They summed up the bottom line in their first sentence: "The results show a slight improvement in bipartisanship in 2023 but remained near record lows." In the scheme of news stories coming out of Washington, the "Bipartisanship Index" rarely gets much ink, except for a one-day piece in...
Until recently, it seemed like you couldn't turn around without finding a headline lambasting the current Congress as the least productive ever. There was good reason for that, which we'll get into shortly, but it's worth noting that they've suddenly disappeared. Clearly, that's because of April's passage of the foreign aid package that includes significant aid for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, and Taiwan, and a measure that attempts to force a sale of TikTok. There was a great...
A recent University of Montana survey confirms what legislators have been hearing from our constituents: Montanans are seriously concerned about several issues that they say are negatively impacting quality of life. Among the findings, 90 percent think that urban sprawl eating up open lands is a problem, 84 percent are worried about Montana's changing character, and 78 percent think outdoor recreation is becoming overcrowded. The 2023 Legislature passed legislation to take...
I recently announced that I'm in the process of appointing a new committee of the State Legislature. The Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform is a bipartisan committee that will be made up of state senators, representatives, and members of the public. It will be charged with addressing violations of the state's constitutional separation of powers by the Montana Supreme Court and certain district court judges. A series of troubling judicial rulings at the di...
More than 100 years ago, my grandparents made a life for our family on a homesteaded plot of land outside of Big Sandy that we still farm to this day. I've been blessed to call Montana home my entire life and to always have a place to rest my head after a hard day's work. Unfortunately, finding an affordable place to live has become a challenge for far too many Montanans. As I travel across Montana, I hear about how housing challenges are hurting working families. From...
Dear Montanans, This is a hopeful time for so many of our students. The future is bright as graduation nears and families beam with pride, anticipating their child walking across that stage. As a legislator, a former classroom teacher and the mom of a high school student, though, I must admit I worry. Are we doing enough to make sure all our students have the opportunities they deserve? That is why I'm running to be your next State Superintendent of Schools. We've essentially...
The Upper Blackfoot Valley, specifically the community of Lincoln, is not just where I live, it is also where I serve. As a native Montanan, I moved to Lincoln 20 years ago and found my place. I was surrounded by country where I could fish, hunt, and enjoy the backcountry whether on a snowmobile or a mule. I first served as a volunteer firefighter, and now serve as the Lincoln Fire Chief and as a member of the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council. Almost ten years ago, I...
Let me first introduce myself. My name is Todd Devlin and I am 4th generation farmer/rancher in eastern Montana. I have been a Prairie County Commissioner since 1995. I was President of the Montana Association of Counties (MACo) in 2016 - 2017. I have been very involved in public land and natural resource issues both at the state and national level for over 30 years and currently am the Chair of the National Association of Counties Public Lands Steering Committee. And,...
Disagree Better. That's the name of an interesting initiative at the National Governors Association this year, spearheaded by the organization's current chair, Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. The idea, in a nutshell, is to "reduce partisan animosity and foster healthy debate by modeling a more positive and optimistic way of working through policy problems," as the NGA puts it. It would be easy to scoff, of course. In this era of bitter political hostility, as we head into a...
On July 13, 2012, President Obama was giving a speech in Roanoke, Virginia, and said this: "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that." Those three sentences sparked a brushfire in that year's presidential election that he spent the next few weeks trying to walk back. "Of course, Americans build their own businesses," he said on...
The legislative session in Montana is a full-contact sport. Bills get introduced that stoke controversy and debate. My bill (SB 442) was no different to begin with, but we ended up with a bill Montanans could be proud of. Thousands of Montanans were able to convince 130 of 150 legislators to vote for SB 442. It was popular because Montanans were able to put aside long-standing disagreements and work with their neighbors to help craft a bill that invests in every single one of...
A majority of the Montana Senate has delivered letters to the Montana Supreme Court, Governor, and Secretary of State outlining our concern that a recent court order is unconstitutional. It's easy to get lost in the weeds of the issue, but the heart of the matter is pretty simple. It's about the separation of powers among our three branches of government. The Legislature is the branch closest to the people. We cannot abide a situation where the people's voice in Helena is...
The 2023 Legislature ended almost a year ago. However, a couple weeks ago, Judge Mike Menahan issued a decision directing the Montana Secretary of State to conduct a veto override poll on SB 442 to determine if the bill will become law. I will not be supporting the veto poll override. Like many Montanans, I live in a rural area and I know we could benefit by improving maintenance of county roads. However, SB 442 is not the solution to our problem. SB 442 is a bill written for...
"This is unconstitutional" has become a frequently used phrase intended to subvert the logic and rational understanding of the Montana Constitution. When improperly applied, it perverts the intended checks and balances of our three-branch state government system. If a person, group, or political party doesn't like the political content of an issue, they cry "unconstitutional". This takes our process of state government that was intended be a matter of adjudication and...
Montana beer is a unique industry. Local breweries are dedicated customers of Montana farmers, buying locally grown raw agricultural ingredients. They brew those ingredients into a wide array of delicious, value-added, made-in-Montana products that routinely win national awards. Breweries have become community hubs for activities like live music and philanthropy. Many are now centerpieces of rural towns. A great example is Libby, where Cabinet Mountain Brewing is known as...
My wife Doreen and I recently returned from a tour of the southern border in the Douglas, Arizona area. Since we once lived there and managed a Registered Charolais ranch between Douglas and Bisbee, we wanted to see for ourselves the differences from when we were there. The evening we arrived in Douglas we stopped at a convenience store and by chance ran into three Border Patrol agents with three horses in a horse trailer just going out on patrol. We had a conversation on the...
Russia's invasion of Ukraine began just over two years ago, and the devastating war that has followed has been a catastrophe for Ukrainians and Russians alike. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, tens of thousands more have been wounded and maimed, and an almost incomprehensible level of destruction has occurred across much of Ukraine and parts of Russia. While the immense human and material toll of the war cannot be undone, the fate of democracy,...
Some readers, especially those with Scandinavian heritage, may be familiar with the stories of Sven and Ole. I grew up hearing them from my late grandfather. One story comes to mind in the context of our current political climate. Sven and Ole, were two farmers with neighboring farms who had always been very competitive. Ole's father had always been a Ford man, and the bigger the better, especially the F-350s. So, of course, Ole grew up as a Ford man, too! Sven's father had...
My wife Doreen and I recently returned from a tour of the southern border in the Douglas, Arizona area. Since we once lived there and managed a Registered Charolais ranch between Douglas and Bisbee, we wanted to see for ourselves the differences from when we were there. The evening we arrived in Douglas we stopped at a convenience store and by chance ran into three Border Patrol agents with three horses in a horse trailer just going out on patrol. We had a conversation on the...
Well, the next step in your residential property tax increase is happening. Banks are sending updated "mortgage bills" to homeowners. Guess what? You owe more money! Recently, a young friend reached out, concerned about his $100 monthly mortgage increase and he didn't know why. That's a lot of money - $1,200 a year. Drumroll for the explanation. Since the bill comes from the bank, it's the lender's fault, right? Nope. By law, a residential mortgage statement must show the...
We're all just "one away" from something. One day, one choice, one decision, one contact, one drink, one hit, one breath away from something different in our lives. Sometimes our "one-aways" are insignificant, or at least they seem so at the time. And other times, they are life-changing. For an addict or an alcoholic, that one drink or one hit and the decision to take it or not is the difference between sobriety and falling off the wagon. For the procrastinator (and yes, this...
