Information that is important and relevant to the people of Montana.
Senate Bill 379 is a bill drafted almost entirely by NWE, as its, “…glide path out of Colstrip.” That glide path would be made possible by dumping the undepreciated costs of NWE’s 25% ownership interest in Unit 4, and its share of remediation costs (read as pollution of ground water), upon the ratepayers and not […]
By BRIAN SCHWEITZER Guest columnist I didn’t study political science in college. I’m a soil scientist. So when people sling political terms around, I have to look them up in Webster’s Dictionary. Webster writes that “socialism is when government takes over the means of production.” Webster’s says that “crony capitalism” occurs when business thrives not […]
A couple of weeks ago I submitted a letter entitled “Are we insane?” related to the Republicans deciding that every gun loving lunatic should be allowed to carry a gun anywhere they wanted to. This seems like an insane idea from any direction that you approach it. Any use of weapons results in more collateral […]
By LEI-ANNA BERTELSEN, JAN STROUT and RACHEL KRUG Guest columnists It has been an exhausting year for women. Many have lost their jobs and businesses. Others are still contending with shuttered schools, an ever-increasing workload and a to-do list that never ends. While much has changed, some things have stubbornly persisted. We are more aware […]
If the passing of House Bill 259 doesn’t represent the warped and skewed priorities present in our state and federal governments nothing does. “Of, by and for the people” once again takes a back seat to the monetary interests of the few and our elected officials’ corporate masters. The working and less fortunate portion of […]
I sometimes wonder why my ancestors in South Carolina owned slaves before the Civil War. How could they possibly have not realized the horror and evil they inflicted upon others? Why did they not immediately correct their wrongdoing and free those who suffered under them? To the modern mind, the relative excuse that my ancestors […]
It seems all the Republican “wannabes” won in the November election. Even “their” President won in Montana. Even after 16 years they won the office of the governor! Now the special interest legislators are springing their surprises. Home construction owners don’t want individual cities to set rules regarding low income housing requirements. They lose dollars […]
Senate Bill 267: Authorizes bounty on wolves, disguised as reimbursement of expenses. House Bill 138: Legalizes trapping on private property without landowner permission. Senate Bill 314: Allows for the reduction of wolf population from 1200 to 150. House Bill 468: Allows hound hunting and chasing of black bears, outlawed since 1921. House Bill 225: Extends […]
Thirty percent of Montana is public land but, according to the Montana Wilderness Society, only 3.7% is protected as wilderness. In the United States, 12% of the land has some protected status. These places provide vital habitat for fish and wildlife, recreation and solitude, and clean water storage. Yet, wildlands everywhere are undergoing rapid change […]
By KATE BURNABY WRIGHT Guest columnist As spring’s fickle weather unfolds, these longer days offer fresh energy after a dark stretch of winter. South-facing walls in warmer pockets of the valley harbor the first tulips of the season, the COVID-19 vaccine is increasingly available, snowpack is near normal, and people are out walking snow-free paths. […]