Columns

I’m a recent transplant - from a northern state to a southern one. I now spend winters in Florida, but for most of my life, I endured the (harsh, frigid, bitter, unending, Arctic, hyperborean) winters of Minnesota, aka Minnesnowta (cold nose, warm heart).  I like to think it made me stronger. Hell, I know it did. You can’t survive and endure 30-degree negative temperatures (with a windchill of unspoken proportions) without cultivating some sort of inner fortitude (not to mention frostbit fingers). It’s been a cold winter in the Florida. By, cold, I mean about May or September in Minnesota terms. The lows have hovered around the 40’s and 50’s. We&rsqu...

Gallatin County is a close-knit community, and as one of your commissioners, I see so many helpers across our communities working to support their vulnerable neighbors and make our community safety nets stronger. A recent act of goodness came in the form of a successful mill levy in 2022 that voters approved...

(This column is part of a seven or perhaps 11-part series.) Chapter one, number one. You know what they say: sometimes you just have to laugh. And why not? Laughter can be healing. It can be an escape. It lowers stress. It gives a boost to your immune system. It is relaxing. It is stimulating. It ...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began just over two years ago, and the devastating war that has followed has been a catastrophe for Ukrainians and Russians alike. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, tens of thousands more have been wounded and maimed, and an almost incomprehensib...

The Credit Card Competition Act has emerged as a controversial bill that Congress is expected to take up early this year.  Under the guise of increasing competition in the credit card market, this legislation presents some serious threats to small businesses and credit card users.  As is so often t...

“Equal justice under law” is such a foundational principle in our constitutional republic that the phrase is carved in stone above the entrance to the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.  Unfortunately, here in Montana, it appears that justice is not applied equally. ...

Excuse me as I ponder eternity — briefly. Like it or not, this is the essence of … uh, aging. As I wrote a year ago: “ …once you actually hit it — that three letter word, “old” — watch out: “An aged man (as William Butler Yeats pointed out, as he sai...

It seems like every day I open the newspaper and read a new decision issued by a Montana court. I’m not a lawyer, but it’s becoming apparent to me that our courts are increasingly out of control.  There have been many questionable decisions issued by our courts in recent years. One decisi...

My family and I are amusement park geeks. Always have been.  Non-amusement park aficionados see the long lines as a deterrent. Why spend so much time in line just waiting for the 90 seconds of roller coaster wonderment?  Seems like a waste. Admittedly, there is a lot of waiting time while ...

Montanans have always been serious about governing themselves in the way they see fit.  While we have a representative government—i.e. one in which we elect officials to represent, lead and act on our behalf in governing—Montanans have never ceded complete control over our lives, liberty and...