As the president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2609 at Malmstrom Air Force Base I feel it is my responsibility to speak out about the recent government shutdown and the furloughs that accompany it. There are 11,000-plus civil service employees in Montana affected by the furlough. This is because the House of Representatives […]

One of the most positive aspects of the proposed water compact with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is the Unitary Management Board. It creates a local entity for the processing of new uses of water on the reservation. This is a huge improvement over a process dealing with two governments competing for water that […]

It’s been several weeks since Judge David Ortley’s decision. In 2008, it only took the county seven weeks to adopt interim zoning. Had the county moved promptly to begin zoning of the doughnut after the decision, we doughnut folks now would be free of Whitefish’s tyranny. It is imperative that you show Whitefish with your […]

Two recent opinion articles in a local newspaper highlighted the fact that Montana’s forest products industry continues to suffer from two tales of one industry. The first article opined that throwing billions more at logging was wrong and went on to suggest that “parroting of Bush-era ‘Healthy Forests Initiative’ propaganda, is nothing but a smokescreen […]

The most aggressive suppression alternative under the CSKT draft EIS is projected to reduce spending on lake trout angling by less than 12 percent. It would reduce lake trout catch rates by only 0.25 fish per hour over 50 years. A recent editorial, citing no data or economic studies, guesstimates that this small change will […]

It has come to my attention that Bonneville Power is likely going to provide funding for the very controversial gillnetting of lake trout in Flathead Lake. Attached is my written comments sent to the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) after a public hearing in Pablo on Aug. 1: Thank you for the opportunity to comment […]

I reside in the City of Whitefish, inside the doughnut, and I support Flathead County’s total control of the property immediately outside the city limits. Simply stated, my overreaching neighbors find fault with everyone except themselves. I find the doughnut war ridiculous, without merit for the city, and a waste of city resources. I am […]

In Montana, we take care of our veterans – the men and women who were willing to give so much for us. The sad truth is that many veterans in Montana don’t have access to the health care they need. Montana has the highest percentage of veterans without health insurance in the nation. All of […]

The dialogue now underway in these pages about the CSKT Compact should have happened more than a year ago. If it had, perhaps today we would have a CSKT Compact that would have gotten beyond the “we never said that” response to the core of the Compact so that legislators and the public could make […]

The much publicized rape case in Billings is getting press across Montana and now across the country. I spoke with my brother in New Hampshire and he was outraged as well. CNBC has picked up the story and the truth is out. Once again, Montana gets in the spotlight for yet another event that defines […]

Have you noticed all of the opinion pieces and so called “news” coming out of the Associated Press calling for Republicans to compromise? Hardly a day goes by that the talking heads don’t belittle conservatives and call them obstructionists or other names. Why? Simply put, the midterm elections are on the near horizon and the […]

“We are not good at anything else anymore … can’t build a decent car or a television set, can’t give a good education to the kids or health care to the old, but we can bomb … any country.” – George Carlin back during the Gulf War A fact: The U.S. has been in some […]

It didn’t take Rep. Steve Daines long to adopt the ways of the typical Washington politician. He wears many hats, trying to be everything to everyone. Montana’s timber industry has grown so accustomed to receiving federal welfare checks, tax breaks, special grants and earmarks that the entire Montana delegation gives them just about anything they […]

In a recent article titled “Focusing on the Flathead River” (Aug. 14 Beacon) Glacier National Park’s North Fork District Ranger Scott Emmerich all but admitted that the park wants to keep the North Fork Road as dusty and unpleasant to drive as possible —because it will reduce the number of people who want to access […]

During the mid-1970s, a citizens group in and around West Glacier nearly succeeded in creating a bike and horse path to be constructed between Hungry Horse and Glacier National Park. Working together were 4-H kids, horse enthusiasts, bicyclists and many local residents. The initial plan was to have a path on each side of the […]