Columns

As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, there’s a sense of relief and optimism that things will return to normal.  Long-awaited family gatherings, birthday parties and graduation ceremonies are finally happening in person. Sporting events have fans in the stands, airports are busy, and we all are in the process of reclaiming those elements of life we’ve missed the past year.   However, with that optimism is the reality of the impact the pandemic had on local communities. Local businesses that struggled through the past year, if they were able to stay in business at all, are still trying to recover and regain lost revenues. These locally owned restaurants, shops ...

How is it that a picture of our dog ended up on our neighbors’ Christmas trees? I smile every time I think about it. Her name was Holly. Holly Noel. Born on Halloween, she was a Christmas gift to my husband Boone. He’d wanted a hunting dog and I’d always wanted a golden retriever. I foun...

It’s not too late to sign up for our Annual Summer Reading Program. We have lots of great prizes and incentives from local businesses, and so many awesome programs coming up. On July 15 we have Georgia Smies from Salish Kootenai College to talk about aquatic invasive species and the impact they could h...

I   like so many Montana hunters have been blessed to enjoy a lifetime of world-class hunting and fishing. It’s why so many of us live here, and it speaks to the decades of work that Montanans have put into conserving and managing our public wildlife for the benefit of everyone. But after this ...