Columns

With the holidays behind us and Congress gearing up for a new session, I look forward to continuing my mission fighting for our Montana way of life in Washington, D.C. Under President Biden and Democrat congressional leadership, Montanans are facing the highest inflation rate in three decades, driving up prices of everything from groceries to used cars. In addition, the wide-open southern border is allowing record amounts of fentanyl to devastate our communities, and the attacks on made in Montana and made in America energy are costing Montana jobs and raising prices at the gas pump. As I travel across the state, there’s one question I hear over and over from Montanans—why ca...

I had a passing moment of wonder the other day – as I read about the latest . . . you know, mass shootings. Troubled souls with guns. Big problem. My thought was simply this: What if . . .? And then I lapsed into uncertainty. What if    . . . violence were not the simplistic and obvious...

What is more ubiquitous at parties than balloons? For generations, balloons have been a fun and colorful pop added to all kinds of festive celebrations, particularly birthdays. While balloons have been around since the 1800s, the last decade has seen a fascinating shift in the age-old tradition: enter foil b...

Timber is at the top of the natural resource world for Northwest Montana’s lifestyle and economic health. I learned that many decades ago.  Late in the day, Dad would unload his crosscut saw from the work panel. I got to carry his lunch bucket to the house. My younger sister and I shared the ha...

How often do we consider how differently we all view the world? Our views aren’t only formed by our own life experiences, but by the way our brains work at a fundamental level. They work so differently, and yet we tend to assume they all work the same. A good friend recently asked me if I think in v...

I went to many birthday parties when I was a kid. I don’t remember most of them. One I do remember, vividly, however, is the party to which I didn’t receive an invitation. It was in celebration of one of my good friend’s tenth birthdays. I was unaware of the occurrence of such a mega event,...

What do hunting, huckleberries, honoring our veterans, and accountability for taxpayer money have in common? Two things. The first is that they’re all strongly supported by Montanans. The second is that we’re already well on our way to putting big wins on the board this legislative session that i...

Affordable housing shortages. Rising food and childcare costs. Protecting our state constitution. There are a number of pressing issues facing Montanans that our representatives could (and should) be addressing during the 68th Legislative Session, issues that we elected them to handle. Instead, we’re l...

For this New Year, I splurged during a sale and bought myself a countertop ice maker.  I’ve never lived in an apartment with an ice maker built into the freezer. Ever since I left home, I’ve just used those little freezer ice trays, and mostly gone without ice at all because they never fe...

Happy New Year!  We are all so excited for 2023 and the wonderful updates and changes it will bring to our building with our renovation project. We hope you are excited as well. We will continue our music in the library series after our renovation is complete. We have several programs scheduled for J...