I am a native Montanan who has recently returned home. I am pleased to see that Montana has stayed true to her roots, but also have noticed those roots are slowly being invaded. A perfect example is the Sept. 2 Beacon guest column titled, “A Fiscal Conservative Looking for Candidates.” The author states that he […]

Our nation is involved in one of the most important debates in a long time. The issue of having affordable, quality health care for all Americans has the attention of our representatives in Washington, D.C., and they appear ready to move on some big reforms before the end of the year. In the rush to […]

Why the Republican Party feels so strongly against the concept of welfare for American citizens has always confounded me. Ever since early childhood I noticed the phenomenon of Republicans spending gazillions of dollars on foreign aid to other nations, annually, while they fought with every ounce of their strength against the Democrats who wanted to […]

Ever messed up a bid? One of the hardest things to do accurately is bid a sizable time and materials-based project. If you’re in the software business, you know all the reasons. Oddly enough, the reasons aren’t much different from industry to industry. Stuff changes. Requirements aren’t necessarily what they really are. Features get added, […]

Politicians who didn’t hold town halls last month had a variety of excuses as to why not. And those offered by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus were just as weak as any of their congressional colleagues. Baucus said he was listening to Montanans’ concerns while visiting public places across the state – […]

I support a public health insurance plan. Our current for-profit insurance options create great inequities in the delivery of quality of care. One insurance company may provide benefits that another will not; one may have different limitations on things such as pre-existing conditions, out-of-pocket expenses, or types of providers covered. The COBRA plan was created […]

This is an open letter to Gov. Brian Schweitzer: I have been, in general, happy with your service as governor. Of course, it would be impossible for all of your actions or stances to be agreed with by the citizens and example of that is on clean coal and carbon sequestration. These are policy decisions […]

I have always been a fiscal conservative and a social progressive looking for the candidates from either party that best fit the type of leadership needed at any time. As a social progressive, I believe in investing in the continuous improvement of civilization and, as a fiscal conservative, I believe that the ensuing bills should […]

Everyone just loves performance evaluations – whether they have to give or receive them. Employees tend to find them annoying because they’re often a useless exercise of “well, you’re doing ok, see you in 6 months or a year or whatever”. Sometimes you’ll hear that you need to improve something, but more often than not […]

Wolves Hunters are literally lining up for their wolf tags. While bad-state Wyoming won’t get a season, Idaho has set a quota of 220 tags, Montana 75, pretty timid limits. Such a small take from hunting might “educate” wolves regarding humans and livestock, but it won’t slow the eating down of game by wolves. The […]

Whatever your view of the so-called “castle doctrine” bill passed by the 2009 Montana Legislature, the fact remains that a Billings man who shot his Wal-Mart co-worker in the head at point-blank range has still not been charged with a crime. And the county attorney there blames the recently enacted self-defense law. To be sure, […]

In less than a month and a half, the Badger-Two Medicine Area will be closed for good to all ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles. It’s amazing how a handful of environmentalists and outfitters can get the Forest Service to shut down an area that has been open for years. We the users need to contact our […]

With each passing day, public confidence in President Obama’s proposed government-run health care experiment erodes even further. Over the last few months, he has crisscrossed this nation in a desperate attempt to shore up support, only to find hardworking Americans becoming increasingly skeptical. And so it should come as no surprise that President Obama recently […]

In 1960 Montana and the other states of the Rocky Mountains were the campaign stomping grounds for Ted Kennedy. That summer and fall the 28-year-old Ted was out here working for his brother Jack’s presidential campaign. The youngest Kennedy was travelling, most often by car, up and down the Rockies going door to door, working […]

It was the early spring of 1945 and we had four, 2,500-horsepower, radial engines working hard to gradually overcome the drag of San Francisco Bay. We lumbered along for what seemed like forever, until the 200-foot wingspan provided enough lift so we could leave the choppy bay south of San Francisco. Once airborne, we turned […]