Columns

There is no singular cause for Montana’s housing crisis. Rising costs of land, materials, and labor combined with people moving into our communities, further straining our infrastructure, has made for an increasingly critical housing situation. On top of that, developers, builders, and local governments are trying to build housing under old, outdated land use and planning statutes from the 1920s. As an attempted quick fix, many of the housing bills this legislative session mandate the same zoning rules for all communities across the state. Given my planning experience, I am the first to admit that it is time to update Montana’s zoning rules. But we know that Miles City, Misso...

2022 was the year of celebrating the 50th birthday of Montana’s Constitution – its visionary provisions and the unique bipartisan approach adopted by the citizen delegates who wrote it. Our perspective is from a combined total of over 30 years of legislative experience under both our current Cons...

A very smart woman once told me, “Pain is greedy.” And now I use that sentence more times a day than I can count. Pain IS greedy. It can consume us with not only physical sensations, but can build on our mental and emotional burden. Being in pain can even challenge our brain power to perform simp...

No doubt everyone grows old in their own way. But once you actually hit it — that three letter word, “old” — watch out: “An aged man is but a paltry thing,/A tattered coat upon a stick . . .” So wrote William Butler Yeats, back in the last century, conjuring a mystic...

Republicans’ number one goal this legislative session has been to provide financial relief to Montanans struggling with Joe Biden’s inflation and the high cost of living. An early, priority package of eight pieces of legislation is aimed at delivering on that mission. Together, these bills combin...

One of my top priorities this legislative session is strengthening Montana’s position against hostile foreign nations like China. National security is primarily a responsibility of the federal government, but as a Marine who served in Iraq, I believe elected officials at all levels of government should...

Montana farmers and ranchers face numerous challenges. Some of these challenges such as weather, commodity prices, and bank loan rates are beyond a single farmer’s ability to manage. On the other hand, there are challenges faced by Montana producers, which one could reasonably consider as manageable ye...

The grizzly bear is a unique and vital part of Montana’s wildlife heritage. Our state animal, the great bear once roamed throughout the plains of central Montana, before being extirpated from the flatlands by settlers, and relegated to the mountainous country of western Montana. Now, after decades of p...

The last couple of years have been doozies - for just about all of us. The world has changed before our eyes, in ways we never would have or could have imagined. I’ve found - often the hard way - that difficult times are opportunities for growth, new perspectives and outlooks. Two years ago, my w...

So much is happening this month with our renovation project and we have some updates to share.  Please visit our website and our Renovation FAQ page for more information. The library will be holding a surplus equipment sale on Friday, Feb. 24, from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p...