I was raised in a conservative, Christian household and attended a conservative, Christian university. I’m also a gun owner. During my 4 years of college neither I nor any of my friends ever felt the need to carry a gun to class. Or anywhere else on campus. Is there that much crime at MSU? Or […]

By KATE ELLIS Guest Columnist Gov. Greg Gianforte got it right in his first proposed state budget: We need more district court judges in Montana. Montana’s judicial system is under strain. Last year, over 61,000 cases were filed in the state’s district courts. A troubling number of those, over 12,000, were family law matters and […]

Dear Sen. Tester and Sen. Daines, The US Senate must take a strong position against the use of FEMA funding/taxpayers’ dollars to pay outrageous, predatory utility bills to utility companies that are predicted as Texas recovers from last week’s electrical power and gas delivery failures. While FEMA’s funds for the care of people impacted, for […]

As a physician working in Bozeman’s local emergency department, I bear witness to the escalating mental health crisis in Montana daily. Year after year Montana is one of the leading states in the nation in terms of suicide rates, and the rate of individuals in mental health crisis is steadily rising under stressors like COVID […]

Rep. Larry Brewster, of Billings, certainly is not out of step with the 67th Montana legislature. The political atmosphere in Helena seems to be “Trump Light,” or maybe not so light. One can only wonder why a representative would put forward a bill so out of touch with the current science of global warming. It’s […]

By PHIL KNIGHT Guest columnist Yellowstone National Park, the original “Best American Idea”, turns 149 on March 1 this year. We tend to take for granted that we have lots of great national parks and that ones like Yellowstone are protected. But Yellowstone was the first national park and we almost lost that wonderland. In […]

Usually being a live and let live type of guy is my ‘norm’. But the pure and blatant disregard for the safety of the staff, administrators, educators and student body blazingly obvious in this travesty is abhorrent! And Greg Gianforte along with any and all supporters of this screaming mistake should be called upon the […]

As a physician, I am deeply concerned about multiple bills being discussed in our Legislature that discriminate against LGBTQ+ youth and adults. Each bill on its own is extremely troubling; the sheer number of discriminatory bills is truly frightening. When legislatures pass bills that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals, the suicide rate among this population increases […]

Unless concerned citizens speak up, we may lose the opportunity to spend our days enjoying one of Montana’s most beautiful natural resources, the Gallatin River. Development in the river floodplain for private gain is at the expense of the river quality and community, and especially dangerous in the floodway. Foamy mounds of pollution collecting in the […]

By STEVE CHARTER AND JOHN WICKS Guest columnists Our approach to managing the land begins from the ground up. The overall health of our soil translates directly into the productivity of our crops and the grass which feeds our animals. Healthy soils help us weather the dog days of summer, drought, and extreme weather events […]