The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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On the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal, somewhere between Rangoon and the northeast coast of India, a ship packed with migrant workers returns to Andhra Pradesh. One of the workers stares out at the waves and has a dream about the 2-year-old son he hasn’t seen since birth. The dream is filled with colors—and promise. When he returns to his village, the man requests a meeting with the elders. Although he is low in the caste system, the father declares his son to be the chosen one of the village. After much time in the sma...
There is a reason Montana is the Last Best Place in the country. Over the last decade, the Montana Republican Party has made tremendous progress in advancing our priority of protecting the future generation. This continues to be a priority for House Republicans as we advance SB 99 this legislative session. SB 99, a bill that prevents gender transition surgery until our children become adults is an important step in safeguarding our youth. Within the last few years, the...
Montana's state Legislature is proposing a host of extreme anti-wildlife bills despite widespread, diverse, strong, and credible opposition to these unnecessary measures. The onslaught on wildlife by locally elected officials began in 2021 and continues in this legislative session with the introduction of bills that go from bad to worse. Snaring and night shooting wolves, placing bounties on a hunt, loosening stipulations for killing grizzly bears, hounding black bears - the...
In the pantheon of political attacks on sitting legislators, probably none is more damaging than the charge that they've lost touch with the people back home. If they're in Congress, it's usually couched as having caught "Potomac Fever"; in a state legislature, that they don't care about the views of the people who put them in office. The ranks of ex-legislators are filled with people who faced this. Even Abe Lincoln, who served a single term in Congress, was accused as a fres...
Q: I read a lot about blending various faiths from around the world and many support a one-world religion. Years ago, this was frightening to some, but now people from all faiths are coming on board as "people of faith." We're told that we should concentrate only on the common ground of our beliefs, which is to be the best we can, do the best we can, and love others. The world says this is what can bring humanity together. Is there room in Christianity for this kind of...
Is it just me, or has the world - and by world I mean everything - seemed really heavy? I'm not just talking about lately, I'm talking about in general for the last several years? I think I've noticed it before, but it's really hitting home for me even more lately. There always seems to be some sort of controversy, some tragedy or some new threat being thrown at us. When I visit with close friends and family, it continually feels like there is more illness, death and...
Q: It's surprising to see young people fighting for social action and at the same time completely steeped in the pursuit of self-pleasure. It doesn't seem that these two lifestyles can work together. – S.A. A: Human nature seeks to please itself. When something brings pleasure, we are inclined to call evil good, even if we know that down deep it is dead wrong. To make ourselves feel better when things go wrong, we blame others. Evil cleverly disguises itself as good, and human...
Q: My teenagers think their mother is quite old-fashioned because of my warnings about pornography. The culture has done a very bad thing by teaching young people that there is nothing wrong with obsessing about sensual images, cleverly changing the meaning of words to take the sting away. - P.P. A: Pornography is both a symptom and a cause of the widespread immorality and corruption of modern society. It reaches people of all age levels through a multibillion-dollar industry...
Republicans' number one goal this legislative session has been to provide financial relief to Montanans struggling with Joe Biden's inflation and the high cost of living. An early, priority package of eight pieces of legislation is aimed at delivering on that mission. Together, these bills combine to immediately put money in Montanans' pockets, provide long-term tax relief, and reduce taxpayer obligations into the future. House Bills 192 and 222 return over $700 million of...
Apparently, somebody won something last week, because MEIC and other anti-coal groups are claiming a VICTORY! On Friday February 10, 2023, Donald W. Molloy, US District Court Judge, Missoula, ordered that mining cease at Bull Mountains Underground Mine (north of Billings) in the 5 sections of federal coal that have been leased since 2012, until a new environmental report is written (20 months). This is not a new or future mining area. This "expansion" area has had all the...
The grizzly bear is a unique and vital part of Montana's wildlife heritage. Our state animal, the great bear once roamed throughout the plains of central Montana, before being extirpated from the flatlands by settlers, and relegated to the mountainous country of western Montana. Now, after decades of protection and conservation work-catalyzed and supported by its protection under the Endangered Species Act, the grizzly bear is beginning to recover in at least two out of six...
All Montanans have seen the bumper stickers and heard the chatter warning potential newcomers against changing Montana. This proud defense of our state often emanates from folks a lot like me; from hunters, anglers-people who love to hike our mountains and camp in the backcountry. Most of us have been quoting those bumper stickers assuming that any change would probably come from interlopers in rainbow-painted VW vans, or maybe from dangerously liberal urban yuppies with their...
Raising the minimum wage is one of the many policy ideas peppered with tradeoffs, but one of the few that have such a direct impact on businesses and employees alike. Lawmakers in Idaho and Montana have introduced legislation intended to raise the minimum wage. The legislation in Idaho has been introduced by Rep. Steve Berch. House Bill 48 would repeal a prohibition on local governments setting their own minimum wage. Meantime in Montana, House Bill 201 introduced by Rep....
In 1841, a physically imposing, twenty-three year-old Frederick Douglass leaned against the rail of a ferry headed for Nantucket. He contemplated the wake widening out behind him and second-guessed his decision to travel after three years of trying to remain inconspicuous as a runaway. But he had been invited by a group of abolitionists to attend a rally on Nantucket Island. The Fugitive Slave Act was still in force and Frederick risked being captured and a sure return to...
Week four of the 68th Legislative Session wrapped up on Friday, Jan. 27. Since my move from the House to the Senate, I've been assigned to the Senate Taxation, the Public Health Welfare and Safety, and the Highways and Transportation Committees. Aside from the committee work, I'm working on a couple of SD 40 constituent-requested bills that are winding their way through the legislative process. As some of you already know, I am currently working on SB 159, an act to remove...
Q: I've had a lot of sorrow in my life and it seems my friends are weary of my troubles. I suppose others have problems equal to mine but for me it can't get worse. My family tells me that I shouldn't share my troubles because it drives people away. How does one go about as though nothing is wrong? Isn't that dishonest? - N.F. A: There are anguishing scenarios of human suffering. All one has to do to hear the cries of the hurting is to listen to the news for just a few...
With the holidays behind us and Congress gearing up for a new session, I look forward to continuing my mission fighting for our Montana way of life in Washington, D.C. Under President Biden and Democrat congressional leadership, Montanans are facing the highest inflation rate in three decades, driving up prices of everything from groceries to used cars. In addition, the wide-open southern border is allowing record amounts of fentanyl to devastate our communities, and the...
Brad's idea of a good time is to swim across the lake at the base of the Grand Tetons, then hike to the top peak and back again on the same day. Sometimes his wife Sheila will join him for the hike portion. He's also summited with his two daughters, ages 19 and 15. They climb frozen waterfalls in the winter and ski the backcountry. In the summer they do 100-mile bike races together and afterward hold family pull-up contests on an abandoned trellis 30 feet above a sandy river....
This week I'll be traveling, and for the first time in a very long time (three years to be exact), I'll be "heading home." I'm excited for the trip and the opportunity to spend some quality time with my mom, and in the sunshine. She says it's been cool there but let's be honest, her cool is Lincoln's spring, heading towards summer. I was going to bring my swimsuit, but instead she said I should bring a sweater. I'll bring both, just in case... This trip will take me back to...
One of the most often used behavioral descriptors today is Attention Deficit Disorder, which basically means unable to sit still or focus for longer than a few minutes. All parents know that ADD worsens when chores or homework are involved. And if we're honest with ourselves we all suffer from Attention Deficit if the task at hand is something we are not interested in, like say counting the stars in the universe. Most of us would drift off into somnambulism in less than a few...
Submitted on behalf of Speaker of the House Rep. Matt Regier, Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Rhonda Knudsen and Major Leader Rep. Sue Vinton The 68th Montana Legislature is officially in session, and the House has already gaveled in. This year the state faces a unique challenge of deciding how to spend a $2 billion surplus. As leadership of the Montana House, our response to that challenge is supporting House Bill 192, introduced by Representative Bill Mercer of Billings. The bill...
As Montanans, we care for each other. Across the rural-urban divide, generational divide, and Brawl of the Wild divide. Of all our constituents across Montana, the most deserving are our elderly neighbors who are on Medicaid benefits. They have served Montana well, and at this final stage in their lives seek the promise of compassionate, medically appropriate care. Most of them are out of money, have used up their care options with family members and loved ones, and cannot...
The 68th Montana Legislature is officially in session. As Senate leadership, we're excited to see Senate Republicans getting to work on enacting conservative policy for our state. The last time the Legislature met, we successfully passed a conservative balanced budget, cut taxes for individuals and businesses, secured our Second Amendment rights, invested in public access to public lands and high speed broadband, and passed legislation to protect the unborn and further secure...
Well, we’re a week into 2023. I’m happy to report I haven’t broken any New Year’s resolutions, but that’s mostly because I didn’t make any this year. Instead, I opted to follow the quote I found on Facebook from Victoria Erickson, author of Rhythms & Roads. It reads: “Just a reminder that you don’t have to make resolutions. Or huge decisions. Or big proclamations. You can just set some sweet intentions and take each day as it comes.” I like this approach to the new year much...
When a sitting elected official resigns ahead of the expiration of his or her term, a flurry of activities is set in motion, as we experienced in mid November and into this month. The Senator from Senate District 40, comprising areas of both Lewis and Clark and Powell Counties, resigned just ahead of Thanksgiving week. News of this filtered in while attending Legislative Caucusing and Orientation at the Capitol. It was then that I was approached to ask if my name could be put...
