Last week, federal prosecutors moved to drop charges against the final defendant in the W.R. Grace trial. Most of Libby likely shrugged. After a decade, nearly 2,000 sickened townspeople and hundreds dead from asbestos exposure, Libby is accustomed to bad breaks. This, an anticlimactic end to a federal case that made national headlines, was just […]

The other day I was asked to play golf with some friends of mine after they had exhausted calling all of the good players they usually play with. Since the local golf club only has 70 members, good players sometimes have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to make up a foursome during the […]

After 60 years of suffering the enormous, costly inequities in private health insurance, Congress finally recognizes that only a common effort, led by the national government, can reform what is an obsolete, broken health insurance model. For the first time in many decades, Americans are experiencing reform impulses and once again have a healthy skepticism […]

A long time ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop talking to a guy from Jackson Hole about our family’s dream to move to the mountains. At the time, I had a great paying job and was negotiating to take it to the mountains with me (that later fell through). He gave me some […]

Famed EnviroSue staff attorney Worthington P. Greene IV and his beautiful wife Buffy had just finished the process of filing yet another lawsuit to block removal of the wolf from the endangered species list. To help recharge their passion (renowned as “Greene Fire”) for the upcoming trial, grateful EnviroSue directors awarded the couple an all-expenses […]

Gov. Brian Schweitzer made an East Coast swing last week to stump for a pair of gubernatorial candidates, including failed Democratic primary hopeful Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. Inside the Beltway of Washington, D.C., the endorsement was considered a gamble and, when it didn’t pay off, Schweitzer was mildly panned. Why would Schweitzer endorse McAuliffe for […]

As we honored our veterans on Memorial Day, I stood troubled at our Commander-in-Chief’s position regarding Guantanamo Bay, a.k.a. Gitmo. As much as I respect our President, I fundamentally disagree with his assessment that moving the detainees to U.S. territory is in our nation’s best interest. His argument to close Gitmo is based on three […]

By now the series is probably over, but as of a couple days prior to my writing this, the Lakers appear a little vulnerable against the Magic. In the Lakers’ game three loss, the Magic seemed to focus a little more and work a little harder on fundamentals than the Lakers. As a result, their […]

I first met Sen. Max Baucus five years ago in a Bozeman cafeteria. He was eating a hamburger while talking trade (one of his favorite topics) and boasting about the potential of RightNow Technologies, a burgeoning company in which he had volunteered his time during one of his trademark “workdays.” Employees there were well aware […]

Sunday, May 31, a friend and colleague was murdered in his house of worship while he was handing out church bulletins. His name was Dr. George Tiller, and he was murdered because he cared about women. Here is an except from a speech he gave at the Feminist Majority Foundation last year: “I personally see […]

In February of 1949 after two months of teaching snowplow turns on Half Dollar in Sun Valley, Idaho, I was still very excited about my job. I was always given the absolute beginners. They were people that had never had a pair of seven-foot, stiff, wooden skis in their lives. Otto Lang, who ran the […]

Imagine you’re talking with a prospect or client on the phone and right before the critical word or phrase that almost always closes the deal, you suddenly hang up. You’d never do that, would you? I mean, you’d think that might make it a tad difficult to close a sale. What if I told you […]

With all the junk on television these days, sometimes I like to score some live entertainment. So, on June 1, at 7:10 p.m., I plunked down in the hallowed chambers of the Whitefish City Council. Oh, for a couch, a beer, and some pizza. There was one item on the public agenda. Property management entrepreneurette […]

On a 4-3 vote, the Montana Board of Regents voted last week to raise tuition at Montana’s flagship campuses. Regent Todd Buchanan, who opposed the increase, said it best when he told his colleagues prior to their decision that “we better prepare ourselves for one heck of a conversation in our communities because one is […]

Just like Montana families, the state of Montana has to live within its means. We have to look carefully at all expenditures we make in tough economic times. We weren’t surprised to read that Republican leaders – Sens. Bob Story, John Esp and Dan McGee – wanted to spend more money. After all, it was […]