The front being created that Montana is “behind the times” as far as “school choice” is a myth. We have many choices in our state: public education at a school of choice, private academies (Montessori for example), church affiliated schools, online classes and home school programs. Students are blessed with many choices in Montana. Just […]

Conservative. That’s how I would describe the way Montana has managed 5 million plus acres of public land held in trust for the schools and universities on Montana. While Oregon holds only one quarter of its original land grant, Montana holds 95 percent. These lands, particularly the 13,000 acres around Whitefish, provide valuable conservation, recreation […]

Obama’s wind energy scheme has been filled with “ill wind” of economic impracticalities, and now “gone with the wind” reports of stimulus funding funneled into overseas wind machine manufacturing plants, providing jobs elsewhere to supply our tax-supported wind energy program. Urgent demands for alternative energy production get more ridiculous as time goes on. Absolutely no […]

Despite my 20 years of research and experience with wolves, I remain appalled at humanity’s intolerance toward these animals. This mindset is supported and perpetuated by those responsible for wolf management. Where I live, this is Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). The agency claims that management and public wolf hunts are based in science. […]

As you may know, the Corrupt Practices Act was put in place by a citizen’s initiative in 1912. It was a reaction by the people of Montana to copper king William Clark buying a seat in the United States Senate by paying each of Montana’s state senators $10,000 (the equivalent of about $250,000 in today’s […]

It is no coincidence that the five Kalispell city councilors – Jim Atkinson, Randy Kenyon, Jeff Zauner, Kari Gabriel and Wayne Saverud – who voted to cancel a referendum on the future of the City Airport, are the same five who defeated a motion to maintain the airport as it is and who voted instead […]

For decades, the Kootenai has been caught in a tug-of-war between factions wishing to set the future of this lush and productive piece of national forest. The good news is, some of those folks – including loggers, timber mills, local communities, and conservationists – have realized they can get further when they pull together, instead […]

Congressman Denny Rehberg is doing a lot of chest-thumping about how he’s in the fight to repeal Obamacare. While thousands of Montanans suffer without access to affordable health care and health insurance, he and the GOP are using words like “socialism” and “unprecedented” to alarm their base. What they call socialism is actually similar to […]

I’d like to respond to State Sen. Verdell Jackson’s recent thoughts on climate change (July 4 Beacon: “We Do Not Control the Climate”). 1) Mr. Jackson asserts “there is no replicable (verify by reproduction) scientific evidence that human-caused carbon dioxide emissions cause climate change. It doesn’t exist.” I don’t know whether he’s lying on purpose, […]

I appreciated the “health care” reporting by Myers Reece (July 4 Beacon: “Mixed Reactions to Health Care Ruling”). As part of the team who facilitated several preliminary public meetings regarding the so-called, “Obamacare” issue, I was privileged to listen to public officials (including U.S Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger […]

Scientists pay attention to a very specific scorecard that most clearly indicates how the battle against man-caused global warming is going. That scorecard is the measured level of CO2 in the background atmosphere. That number is presently 393 parts per million (40 percent higher than the preindustrial era) and is rising at an alarming rate […]

We have been flooded with global warming and climate change claims stating that the evidence is clear, that the debate is closed, that we must act immediately, etc., but in fact there is no replicable (verify by reproduction) scientific evidence that human-caused carbon dioxide emissions cause climate change. It doesn’t exist. Studies of a variety […]

Glacier National Park is a sanctuary to wildlife, backcountry enthusiasts, and international visitors. Teddy Roosevelt and his contemporaries guaranteed us access to and preservation of such lands in the spirit of both protecting the natural landscape and inviting individuals to enjoy it in a leisurely fashion. HR 1505, supported by our Congressman Denny Rehberg, is […]

Greg Gianforte of Right Now Technologies in Bozeman stated, “It is clear our states policies are not in line with the needs and desires of its citizens,” regarding school choice (June 20 Beacon: “Montana a Battleground for School Choice”). In canvassing hundreds of homes in the Columbia Falls area, as a Senate candidate, I ask […]

I am guessing that everyone who reads this newspaper has inherited and needed to fix a difficulty that was generated by someone else. The tendency in that situation is to rail against/whine about the person responsible for the trouble. But most sensible people end up doing their best to fix the problem. Sadly for people […]