Every so often, my writing work requires a road trip. My latest sent me (and my pal Murphy) to the Olympics in Washington. Because freelance writers are so massively overpaid, we took my 1965 Ford van, which I bought in 1985 or so with the idea of carrying my Kawasaki rice rocket in the back. […]

The Public Service Commission has an important, if often overlooked, job. It’s responsible for regulating everything from Montana’s utilities and private water companies to taxi and phone services. At one point, the 2011 Legislature considered tapping the PSC to oversee the medical marijuana industry. That, thankfully, didn’t happen since the five-member board struggles to hold […]

I read with interest the guest column by former Congressman Pat Williams (May 25 Beacon: “When Civility Ended”). Because I ran against Pat in 1984, I feel obligated to publicly respond to his column. I think Pat would agree that ours was a “civil” race, although at that time, I was a virtual unknown. We […]

One of the lessons my dad impressed on me when I was old enough to begin to “get it” (or so I thought) was “Be a good listener.” Naturally, the meaning of that phrase changed for me over the years. As a teenager, it had a rather obvious meaning, “Pay attention and you might learn […]

Last year was a bumper crop in commodities like wheat, corn, soy and rice. Production was up, demand stable, but food prices still skyrocketed. Early this year, governments across the world began stockpiling food staples in an attempt to contain panic buying and social unrest. Algeria bought nearly a million tons of wheat while Saudi […]

Hundreds of Flathead Valley Community College students graduated earlier this month and many of them will have a better shot at getting a job than they did two years ago. It was the school’s largest class ever, attributable partly to economic necessity. Many so-called nontraditional students returned to class when the recession swept through the […]

The Missoula City Club recently hosted Congressman Denny Rehberg at one of our monthly public lunches. Rehberg was introduced by the president of City Club Board. As Rehberg approached the podium, I arose from my chair, walked across the room and greeted him; the two of us, alone at the front of the room. We […]

My favorite story about setting expectations comes from a really smart real estate agent. When you decide to buy or sell your home with her, she gives you a pre-printed list of all the things that can happen during the process of buying or selling. The list has checkboxes on it and is designed to […]

By now, everyone is getting pretty sick and tired of the megaloads of hypocrisy spilled in the battle over the so-called “megaloads” that the oil folks are trying to haul from the Port of Lewiston in Idaho to the Kearl oil sands patch in Alberta. Because National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is leading the lawsuit to […]

Lawmakers went to Helena to clean up the freewheeling medical marijuana industry, which most agreed had grown too big, too fast, with little oversight. Instead, the legislation they passed is so convoluted it’s unclear what, if anything, it fixes. Some of the new rules took effect over the weekend. And the assumption by the bill’s […]

The Navy special operations unit which recently took out Osama bin Laden proved that the SEALs are indeed specialists at what they do. As the world becomes more technical and specialized, so does warfare. Just days after the brilliantly executed mission into Pakistan I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Army Special Operations Command […]

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler Learn, unlearn, relearn. Are you doing the same things in your business that you did when *everything* worked? If so, is that still working for you? If it is, […]

More than 200 years ago, the political convictions of our founding politicians were based in agriculture. Not only did former Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all believe that farming was a noble occupation, they were also avid food growers. The first presidents helped craft a nation of laws but were […]

Late last year, speculation surrounding Columbia Falls Aluminum Company’s reopening ramped up again. It never happened. Instead, five months later CFAC asked for a 95 percent reduction in property taxes, hoping to take advantage of a little-used law that at once requires the plant to be shuttered for six more months and shortchanges a school […]

A major new chapter is beginning in the Northern Rockies wolf saga. Last month, Congress attached a rider to budget legislation directing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to remove Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in Montana, Idaho and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington. Last week, the agency implemented that directive. This decision […]