Memory often flirts with a singular episode from one’s past. This year’s presidential primary campaign has me remembering a political season from my teen years. Intrigued and inspired by politics done right, I was captivated by the 1952 Democratic and Republican conventions. Many candidates sought their party’s nomination but only two held the imagination and […]

There was a time during the golden age of the conservation movement when being “anti-conservation” or “anti-environmentalist” was akin to speaking up for reinstatement of the Jim Crow laws. This conservation enlightenment reached levels of acceptance almost unimaginable today. An illustrative apex occurred in 1972, when 100 delegates from the largely rural and conservative state […]

Free speech or taxpayer-funded propaganda? Recently both Montana universities sponsored a conference for Power Shift. Power Shift seemingly stands for the promotion of clean energy. Look deeper: The organization is a subsidiary of the Energy Action Coalition and is linked to the Occupy and Greenpeace movements. Power Shift’s motto is “we demand 100% clean energy.” […]

“With the fearful strain that is upon me day and night, I fear that if I could not laugh, I would die.” – Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s humor, in fact any humor, seems noticeably absent from this season’s presidential campaigns. The candidates’ emotions seem limited to reverence, hostility, pomposity and aloofness – each of which, without […]

I am in support of maintaining the Kalispell City Airport and hope that the Kalispell City Council will choose to keep the airport where it is and update the facility using the FAA funds to make a safer and more user-friendly facility. The airplane wreck in early February really should not change anything. The pilot […]

For the past four decades, Montanans have watched in dismay as our state has become increasingly subject to federal legislation and regulation – while jobs and economic activity have dwindled. Our country teeters on the brink of economic disaster – but the majority of elected officials seem paralyzed when faced with producing solutions. Consider the […]

There once were two cats of Kilkenny Each thought there was one cat too many So they fought and they fit And they scratched and they bit ‘Til except for their nails, and the tips of their tails Instead of two cats there weren’t any. Thus, according to the old Irish rhyme, the Kilkenny cats […]

A small piece of Montana’s history, a letter written 65 years ago, recently resurfaced. The stationary’s letterhead reads: “Congress of the United States, U.S. House of Representatives.” The date is typed as April 10, 1946. The letter is to John J. Holmes and is signed by Mike Mansfield. Holmes was a popular Montana politician, our […]

Seriously? Iran threatens to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, America desperately needs jobs and President Obama turns his back on a pipeline project essential to North American energy production – disavowing his own “energy policies.” It’s worse than merely election-year theatrics – it is dismissive of the very notion of actually standing for something. […]

Last month, the Montana Supreme Court overturned an earlier victory for free speech rights won in Helena district court by American Tradition Partnership (ATP), Montana Shooting Sports Association, and Champion Painting, Inc. over government bureaucrats’ right to bar individuals and companies from airing political opinions under a non-profit or for-profit corporate umbrella. The ban on […]

On behalf of the Whitefish School District, I offer my deepest gratitude for our city council’s decision on Jan. 2. During that meeting, our council agreed to unanimously support a resolution of intention to fund our high school redevelopment project in the amount of a $2.5 million contribution from tax increment finance funds. Based on […]

We’ve all been aware for a long time that renewable sources of energy like the sun and wind are better for our health and our planet than fossil fuels like oil and coal. But many have also assumed – and fossil fuel industries have certainly claimed – that renewable sources are more expensive. Fortunately, this […]

As timber mill owners and managers in Montana, we’re disappointed that the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a bill to create jobs for loggers and millworkers, was prevented from passing in Congress last month. Hundreds of workers in our mills, along with hundreds of independent contractors and vendors we work with, all supporting hundreds of […]

The cost of funding public education has expanded exponentially over the last 40 years. Some of the reasons for that include the American Disabilities Act, Special Education requirements, Title IX (gender equity requirements), and the new technology infrastructure. However, the simple fact remains that those escalating costs have far outstripped the inflation rate and many […]

For the third consecutive month, the National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Economic Trends report, a key economic benchmark used by Federal Reserve officials and congressional leaders, showed an increase in small-business optimism – a leading indicator of economic growth.? ? While this news gives a glimmer of economic hope, a closer look at […]