It’s hard to believe that a couple of weeks ago I was attempting to cross the finish line of my first 100-mile run, the Swan Crest 100, a much debated about event. Unfortunately, I was sidelined early on due to injury and was unable to finish. With heartbreak and a wounded ego set aside, I […]

It would be difficult to find a better example of wasted stimulus dollars than those already spent to upgrade the Whitetail Port of Entry northeast of Scobey. Many of our readers have aptly compared it to the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” Let’s take a look at the two projects, shall we, and pore over evidence […]

Once again the USDA-Forest Service is asking our opinions after they’ve already made up their own. The “scoping” meeting last week at the Hungry Horse Ranger District was another example of the mill around and talk with employees about concerns with their proposed recreation plan for the east side of Hungry Horse Reservoir. I call […]

The term “public interest” is tossed around a lot and we should think about what it means. Groups sue to stop the construction of a generating plant, transmission line, highway project, or a timber sale and say that the lawsuit is being brought because of “public interest.” This greatly bothers me because I have not […]

Recently there was a bit of a fuss about United kicking people off an overweight plane based on the fare they paid. Since then, there were a number of discussions/suggestions on how to choose which passengers to remove in order to get the plane to flyable weight: By passenger weight By ticket purchase date By […]

An arbitrary ruling in California caused a referendum, initiated by millions of people to be dismantled; that is, a law forbidding men to marry other men was outlawed. Out of nowhere, a ruling by the Federal government overturned that referendum against the electorate of California last week, executed solely by one judge, supposedly uninfluenced by […]

A recent Kids Count survey found that Montana’s students are dropping out of school at some of the highest rates the country. The numbers are disheartening and just another excuse to analyze the area’s youth and discuss what can be done to keep them in line. When reports like this are released, it’s easy for […]

Here we go again: Politicians pandering for votes to save their jobs. Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have cut a deal with our British Columbia neighbors to stop coal mining in the Flathead river drainage of British Columbia. Guess who will pay the ransom? That’s right, the taxpayers of Montana! […]

I recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus as well as with the staff of the Department of Energy, White House Budget Office, and several House and Senate members from other states. Why? Because that’s where the money is. Your money. With the full support of the […]

Last week, we talked about selling air and getting that marketing slot machine cranked up so it works like your favorite ATM. One of the ways that you can take another step up the ladder is to keep an eye open for all the little things you can do to ensure that someone comes back […]

So my friend Wild Bill Schneider is calling on President Barack Obama to throw a “few local ranchers” under the bus “to pay back the millions of environmentalists who voted for him” by declaring a “Grasslands National Monument” in northeast Montana? Wow. If Bill ever tries to introduce himself to one of those ranchers, I’d […]

Like presidents before him, President Barack Obama claimed to have the fanciful goal of moving “beyond partisan politics.” So did former President George W. Bush, who repeated, “I’m a uniter, not a divider” during his campaign for the nation’s highest office. Those hopes, of course, didn’t work out as planned for either of them. I […]

We need energy that’s clean and safe. The disaster in the Gulf forces us to face the fact that oil is neither clean nor safe. It’s time for Congress to pass energy policy that significantly reforms offshore oil drilling while transitioning America to a clean energy policy I learned a lot about offshore oil drilling […]

My website has a survey used to gauge people’s concerns about their business. It’s important to ask because what I *think* might be top-of-mind for them might not be at all – and that’s especially true when readers are from all over the world, much less all over the valley. The current survey asks “What’s […]

There are two extreme camps at each end of the debate over how the economy will fare in the coming years: one that predicts unemployment rolls rising to 20 percent or higher and another that sees the economy sharply turning a corner over the next several months. The reality, most likely, lies somewhere in between, […]